The working Group of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP) held a preparatory meeting in Beirut on June 16-17, 2012 in preparation for the 14th meeting of IMCWP.

The agenda was to discuss a venue, date, and slogan for the 14th meeting of the IMCWP as mandated by the 13th meeting, to get an overview of the activities and mass movements taking place over the last 6 months, to assess new applications for membership, and to prepare a statement on international events and the situation in Arab world.

The Working Group meeting was attended by representatives of the following Communist and Workers parties: Communist Party of Greece, Portuguese Communist Party, Communist Party of Spain, Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Communist Workers Party of Russia, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of Cuba, Communist Party of Brazil (PC do B), South African Communist Party, and Lebanese Communist Party.

The delegates discussed all the points on the agenda and made the following conclusions:

  • The delegates unanimously agreed that the 14th IMCWP will be held between 22 – 24 of November 2012, in Beirut, and hosted by the Lebanese Communist Party.
  • They agreed on the following heading for the forthcoming 14th meeting: "Strengthen the struggles against escalating imperialist aggressiveness, for satisfying peoples’ socio-economic-democratic rights and aspirations, for socialism."
  • They agreed that the Lebanese Communist Party will prepare a note containing the invitation letter to the meeting and the necessary logistical details for its preparation to be sent to all delegates by the 10th of July.
  • They agreed on the statement of common activities, as prepared by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).
  • They postponed discussion of the new parties applications for membership to the group due to incomplete documents.

They issued the following final statement:

The capitalist crisis continues to unfold, and its negative impact and consequences on the working class and the peoples of the world continue to intensify.

The solutions adopted so far by the G7 and G8 summits, together with the IMF and the World Bank, did not go beyond the insolent adoption of even more savage anti-popular policies, with consequences ranging from the bankruptcy of some countries and the deprivation of the social rights earned by the working class as a result of tens of years in their struggle for justice.

This is manifested by a rapid increase in unemployment rates (which primarily affects youth, new comers to the labour market and women), a significant reduction in real wages, and a systematic attack on earned social and health welfare rights. These attacks,combined have led to widespread poverty in developed capitalist states and abject poverty worldwide.

With the sharpening of the crisis of capitalism, the aggression of imperialism against the people of the world intensifies as evidenced by

1. The new NATO plan put forward in Chicago [at the G8 Summit],

2. The increasing wars which the Middle East is being subjected to whether by intensifying divisions and battles within Sudan, and increasing US and EU threats for military intervention in Syria and Iran at the pretext of the ongoing massacres against civilians, and

3. The recently launched Israeli threats of aggression against Lebanon and its people. The objective of all these wars, and others being prepared to breakout in Asia in general, is to perpetuate a new division of the world and prevent the emerging capitalist countries from effecting a change in the balance of power and spreading their influence on natural resources, energy resources, markets and transportation routes for resources and commodities in general.

The people of the world developed significant struggles against the anti-popular policies, which aim to intensify exploitation, decrease the price of the labour force and increase the profitability of the capital.

They have mobilized in support of reclaiming their denied rights through calls for popular changes and democratic rights as manifested by mass demonstrations at the centre of world capitalism in the USA, also by mass and working class demonstration in Europe which succeeded in bringing down governments, and the struggles of the Arab people who, according to their interests, must continue their attempts for revolutionary change against the reactionary, military and political religious forces supported by imperialism in general and US imperialism more specifically.

Against these developments and the threats to the people, the Working Group of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties calls for the intensification of mobilization to improve the struggle being undertaken by the worldwide working class and people of the world against the international capitalist system and corresponding imperialist aggression, in order to effect change and build a socialist society.

We focus on:

1. The development of the struggles to confront new military aggressive plans in order to prevent imperialism from controlling the world and destroying it.

2. Rally to remove NATO military bases and disengagement from imperialist organizations that violate sovereign rights. Overall confrontation with the military imperialist plans, both old and new, to prevent imperialism from achieving its objectives.

3. The further development of forms of solidarity between the Arab people in its struggle against repressive and reactionary regimes and against any foreign intervention in Arab affairs, and stressing the continued support for the Palestinian and Lebanese people in their confrontation of Israeli aggressive and expansionist policies.

Beirut

June 17, 2012