Days to shake the world: statement of the Quito seminar

From En Marcha #1541
July 22-28, 2011

15th International Seminar: Problems of the Revolution in Latin America

Final Declaration

The world is still shaking from the economic crisis of the capitalist system that broke out just over three years ago within U.S. imperialism. Its manifestations and effects spread rapidly, first to the more developed economies and then to the entire planet. The small and brief signs of partial recovery, extolled by the financial groups and economists who are defenders of the system as evidence that the crisis has come to an end, have only confirmed the cyclical nature of the crises, within the framework of the general crisis of capitalism.

The measures tried by the governments and international agencies to overcome the problems have resulted in their intensification. By the logic of the functioning of capitalism the working classes, youth and peoples in general become principal victims of the crisis, but they do not face it with resignation: they resist, they struggle and in important sectors they come out with proposals demanding that the crisis be paid by the capitalists who are responsible for it, not the workers.

Today in various parts of the world the fight for wages, jobs, education, and health care have been joined to the banners of democracy, freedom and other political rights. We are experiencing a period of the rise of the struggle of the masses and its torrent has brought down authoritarian and dictatorial regimes such as Ben Ali (in Tunisia) and Hozni Mubarak (in Egypt) and kept others in check. The questioning of bourgeois institutions is present in these struggles, as in the demands of the "indignant ones" in Spain, in the strikes by workers in Greece and England, and in the mobilizations of the youth in the Americas. It is obvious that the political expressions of the crisis are becoming prominent.

In Latin America the democratic, progressive and left-wing tendency is being affirmed and strengthened in the most advanced sectors. For some time we have seen that there has been a change in the political and social relationship of forces in the region: the neoliberal bourgeoisie and its parties suffered political and electoral defeats in several countries and lost positions in the administrative apparatus of the State; some progressive governments emerged as a result of the search for change by our peoples, of the fights waged against governments openly subservient to foreign capital and to the interests of the local ruling classes.

Without a doubt this new Latin American scenario marked a positive step for the peoples, for the democratic, progressive and left-wing forces because it encouraged the desire for change among the masses, it affirmed their confidence in their ability to overcome a system that has only brought hunger and hopelessness to the workers and peoples. A crucial aspect is that the new situation put the prospect of socialism as an alternative to the decadent capitalist system on the table for discussion.

However, over the years, we have seen the political limits of those governments. Some more rapidly than others have begun to turn to the right, betraying the expectations of the beginning of those new times for those who have always lived under oppression. Free trade agreements with imperialist countries or blocs, anti-popular laws, processes of criminalization of the social protest, handing over of natural resources to foreign capital and neoliberal economic measures have been adopted by almost all those governments that promised change.

Most of the regimes that encouraged the prospect of implementing profound economic, political and social changes, and therefore opened up spaces for the left-wing organizations to advance in the accumulation of revolutionary forces, have become obstacles to the advance of the struggle of the masses, to the perspective of the revolution and socialism; they are, in fact, governments that support the capitalist system.

The turn to the right taking place in the majority of those governments, in spite of the expectations of the ruling classes and imperialism, has not led to discouragement or frustration among the peoples. The desire for change is still present; it is shown in the protests against unemployment, for education, for the land, for water, against taxes, for democracy, because their voice is heard when it is time to make decisions in the spheres of government.

The prospect of the victory of the revolution and socialism is being maintained, it does not depend on what opportunism, reformism or any bourgeois pseudo left-wing faction does; it is in the hands of the workers and peoples, of the genuinely revolutionary forces. For the victory of the revolution, it is essential to utilize and combine all forms of struggle, according to the features present in each of the countries.

Now, in order to put an end to the contradiction that defines the nature of the epoch in which we live, the contradiction between labor and capital, we cannot ignore the fight against the policy that social-democracy in power carries out in the name of social change but for the benefit of the ruling classes and imperialist financial capital.

For the advance of the revolutionary struggle it is necessary to remove the nefarious bourgeois ideological influence in its different forms in the movement of the workers, the youth, women and the popular movement in general; to that end we must combine the momentum of the fight of the masses for their material demands and political rights with the ideological debate to expose the pro-capitalist character embodied in these proposals. The unmasking of opportunism and social democracy is part of the ideological struggle that we revolutionaries raise against capitalism and its defenders in general.

The organizations of the revolutionary left are the most advanced sector of the democratic, progressive and left-wing tendency, their responsibility is to work to ensure that the whole tendency and the peoples in general see and understand the political limits that the progressive governments have and the nature of those of a neoliberal character and above all, to ensure that they take up the banners and program of a genuine revolution that leads to socialism.

In this process, the policy of unity with the sectors and forces involved in the defense of the aspirations and rights of workers and peoples and to defend the sovereign interests of the country is essential.

Moreover, the unity must go beyond national borders, since, while the revolution is a process that must be implemented in each country, in essence it is an international movement. It is our commitment to form a great anti-imperialist front of the peoples, which is expressed in specific struggles and actions. The active solidarity with all those peoples who are fighting for social and national liberation and independence is part of our work. Today we express our support for the struggle of the Palestinian people against criminal Israeli Zionism, to the people of Puerto Rico in their struggle for independence; we reject the imperialist blockade established for five decades against Cuba and the presence of occupation troops in Haiti; we condemn all acts of political and military aggression and intervention by the imperialist powers against the peoples.

With our collective effort we have arrived at the 15th International Seminar that, year after year, has followed-up on the fundamental problems that circumstances impose on the revolutionary organizations. We reaffirm the importance of such events that allow us to sum up and share experiences; therefore we commit ourselves to continue this work and to publicize the agreements and resolutions made on this occasion. We call for a similar event next year.

15th International Seminar: Problems of the Revolution in Latin America
Quito, July 15, 2011

Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina
Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Party (Argentina)
Olga Benario Women’s Movement (Brazil)
Revolutionary Communist Party (Brazil)
Minga Sur Palmira – Alternative Democratic Pole (Colombia)
Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist)
Communist Party of Labor of the Dominican Republic
Caribbean Youth (Dominican Republic)
Communist Party of Mexico (Marxist-Leninist)
Revolutionary Popular Front (Mexico)
National Democratic Front (Philippines)
Caribbean and Latin American Coordinator (Puerto Rico)
Communist Party (Bolshevik) Russia
Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist)
Socialist Revolutionary University Front (Venezuela)
Ana Soto Women’s Movement (Venezuela)
Education Movement for Emancipation (Venezuela)
Gayones Movement (Venezuela)
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela
Revolutionary Youth of Ecuador
Ecuadorian Confederation of Women for Change
Democratic Popular Movement (Ecuador)
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador