From July 1-7 of this year in the city of Saratov, Russia - there was taking place protests and marches against the withholding of back pay for workers and the plan to do away with all social benefits. The local All Union of Communist Party of Bolsheviks organization, trade union of air dispatchers and other trade unions, picketed the regional headquarters of the Duma and against the deputies L. Sliski and V. Tretiakov. There were other organizations and movements that joined these protests. The average age of the protestors was 25 years – this is the new generation of workers.

The total sum of back pay owing the Saratov workers is over half a billion rubles. Some workers did not receive their pay for over two years. These workers tried everything- hunger strikes, letters to Moscow, to other ministries and authorities, even to president Putin himself etc. Thousands of letters did not produce any results at all.

The representatives in the Duma of the "United Russia" faction are gung-ho now to eliminate all of the social services and this whole mess is full of cheating, pay-offs and all sorts of mechanizations to the detriment of the workers.

The protestors used the following slogans:

This last slogan is against the party of President Putin, called "United Russia" and its policies.

In The Russian Duma last June 5, 2004, there spoke the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II – who demanded that all the church lands that were the property of the Russian Orthodox Church under the last Czar be returned back as the property of the Church, with no taxes to be paid, plus the return of all of their properties, dachas, museums, buildings, villas, estates, etc. He did not care that there are thousands of Russian people living on these Soviet lands! Does God demand that the Russian Orthodox Church start building its financial empire as it did before?

The Duma speaker Gryzlov, a former communist member of the CPRF, immediately crossed himself and bowed before the Patriarch. In Moscow thousands of Russians living on these lands that once belonged to the Church will soon find themselves out on the street.

Is history going to repeat itself -when before the Revolution, the Church authorities used to rent out millions of acres of land to peasants at very high prices and these people of the cloth lived of the fat of the land while exploiting the poor peasants?

As an example, just one Monastery Ruzskyk, had 3,434 peasants working for the Monastery as slaves. There were hundreds of Monasteries before the revolution, so you can see that they owned millions of acres of land plus all sorts of cathedrals, villas, mills and buildings.

Byelorussian President Alexander Lukashenko expressed very great concern over NATO troop deployment along the country’s border. "We cannot but notice how a huge military strategic potential once again has been concentrating along our border, acting in a manner that’s far from friendly". Lukashenko told a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Russia-Belarus Union. President Lukashenko also said: "No one asks weak, amorphous nations who have no allies if they want to go to war or not. The leading powers have been guided by their own interests and using force without hesitation to advance them."

Georgian troops were deployed into South Ossetia and Moscow accused Tbilisi of further escalating tensions in the conflict zone.

Meanwhile, the Russian vessel Tsirkony was seized by the Georgian coast guard in the Batumi port for "violating navigation rules in early hours" of June 16, 2004. The Georgian coast guard had seized already 11 Russian vessels for "entering Georgian territorial waters."

The Georgian government spokesman said that the vessels will be freed "if they pay $25,000 US each as ransom".

The European Union (Junior partner of NATO – Editor) is giving $500,000,000 US to Georgian government, according to Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Zhvania and he also said that they will do more "reforms" as requested by NATO, World Bank and EU.

The European Union has been steadily strengthening relations with Georgia, seen as the key route to the Caspian Oil to be shipped to the West.

European Union’s External Relations Commissioner Chris Pattern said that the Georgian government had made good on its commitment to reform as asked by the EU and NATO. "The stakes are high and the challenges ahead are formidable."

For a country of only 4-41/2 million people, the number of police and secret service personnel is way over 56,000 – even EU and NATO asked Georgia to trim this heavy security apparatus!

Most of the youth of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are not very optimistic – the social services have completely collapsed and life expectancy is way down.

As one girl named Katya who was interviewed said that: "I had everything, my childhood was a Soviet childhood, I had resources for sports, I had education, I had culture, travel and status as a young bearer of the glorious communist future. Now I am destitute, in drugs, sex trade, narcotics in order to make ends meet, no jobs available, moving from city to city and going into other countries in search of a better future. There is now a rupture of generations."

In Russia, as in all the present CIS and Eastern Europe, old bonds of stability have been broken. Young people who have lost their roots, with the economic shortages, ethnic conflicts and war have driven millions of young people to migration and immigration. Incomes cannot cover the bare necessities. Infections, malnutrition, pregnancy, violence, murder, suicides – all these are typical situations for the young generation.

This gives rise to far right groupings, like nazis, who promise a quick fix and thus these youngsters fall prey to the powers that are behind these Nazi-Fascist groupings that prey on these young people.

The skills and social values that everyone lived under socialism are irrelevant now. The older generation is blamed now by these young people and they do not believe in politics and are mistrustful even of genuine communists who try to explain the situation. These young people feel that they have been failed by the adults who promised them a beautiful future and a bright life under communism, that for most has turned into poverty, fear and loneliness.

It must be a real CPSU uniting all Communists in all of the former Soviet Republics that will lead the young generation. But what kind of CPSU is it that we have today.

Not too long ago there was a Congress of the Union of Communist Parties-CPSU where a decision was made to combine all parties into one mighty CPSU. (This was written about in the last issue of NSC – Editor) This sounds great! But where was Oleg Shenin and his Council when Trudovaya Rossia (Victor Anpilov) in 1977 when this unity was proposed? But, the UCP-CPSU was under great influence of Gennady Zyuganov of the CPRF. The Communists were put into a quandary - either you became a member of the CPRF or the RCWP. Other parties were not even recognized. We have to remember that Oleg Shenin was in the CC of Zyuganov’s party at that time. Shenin felt that the CPRF is the best party under whose leadership all other parties must join.

But then Oleg Shenin was unceremoniously kicked out of the CC of the CPRF, Shenin then asked Victor Anpilov and Trudovaya Rossia for support. It was agreed that there should start a genuine process to establish the CPSU, headed by Oleg Shenin himself. A Congress took place, but again forces got control and Viktor Anpilov and his party were not allowed to attend this Congress. There was an attempt to brake away the youth section from the UCP-CPSU and thus the whole young Komsomol was liquidated as a unified force.

Again the latest Congress that took place (that NSC reported) and the CPSU again is composed of some parties that are from the Union of Russia and Byelorussia and none from other former Soviet Republics. This new CPSU and its spokesman Sergei Udaltsov tried to split the youth section AKM of Trudovaya Rossia. Does Shenin really need people of that kind inside the CPSU?

Y. RUDIK

TALLINN – This capital city of Estonia hosted the 12^th Congress of the "Union of Freedom Fighters" last July 6, 2004 - which is dominated by the 20^th Estonian SS Division. This Congress has the complete approval of the Estonian government.

There will be a large religious ceremony, a march past of these Estonian SS veterans, a concert and the veterans will be given soldiers soup as they had during World War II in the SS Division. They are "celebrating" the 60^th Anniversary of the 1944 defensive battles.

Comment:

This really means that these Estonian SS bandits, who together with the regular German Army were fighting the Soviet forces that were liberating Estonia. Most of the casualties sustained by the Red Army were through being shot from behind by these "patriots" who were used by the German Army to fight the Red Army behind the lines.

ITAR-TASS June

A museum of the Estonian Nazi SS Legion is being built in Estonia. The site is already bought and the bas-relief in front of the SS Museum features an SS uniform-clad soldier with his arm raised and pointing towards the East.

Another monument in a form of a cross to the commander of the 20th SS Division, Alfons Rebane was recently unveiled in another part of Estonia. Tallinn (the capital city) has been rewriting the complete history after Estonia broke away from the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s.

The liberation of Estonia from German occupation with thousands of Red Army lives lost in 1944 is now pictured that it was a Soviet re-occupation, and those Estonians who fought on the side of the German Nazis are now called "independence fighters".

In spite of the resolution that was passed by the United Nations last March in Geneva, Switzerland, that it condemns any form of unveiling monuments or museums or holding public demonstrations by former SS members or their supporters and collaborators - the present Estonian regime shows the world that they supported Fascism in the life and death struggle of the Second World War. This is now called "democracy" by these Nazis.

According to an article written by Raushan Nurshayeva based in Astana, Kazakhstan and related by Reuters news agency, it seems that Russia supposedly warned the US that Saddam Hussein planned to hit targets in the US after the 9/11 attacks - Putin relayed this message to the world press last June.

Putin’s remarks are certain to help Bush in his election, but the officials in the White House expressed surprise, since they knew nothing of such information from President Putin.

Putin said that the Russia’s secret services warned Bush right after the 9/11 that Saddam’s regime was preparing attacks on the USA. But the US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said that: "Everybody in the White House is scratching their heads about this statement by Putin!"

Putin’s timing of his statement will certainly help President Bush’s election campaign in November, since Bush is under great pressure from the Iraqi crisis.

President Bush has been on the defensive at home for insisting – against the finding of his own independent Commission – that Saddam’s link with Al Qaeda, the militant group behind 9/11 and that propelled the US to attack Iraq was non existent.

Putin’s remarks now are all the more unusual, since Russia had diplomatic relations with Saddam’s Iraq and sided with France and Germany in opposing the US invasion of Iraq!

Maybe Putin is expecting a very good pay off if Bush gets elected? But the question is – why only now – two years later - did Putin make this statement, not right after the 9/11 attacks?

Dear comrades!

We are stating our position regarding the information and the call for holding of the Second World Congress in September of 2005 in Canada.

Of course you are correct that the Soviet Union as a socialist state cannot be resurrected without a revolutionary struggle of the proletariat and the working masses of Russia and of other former Soviet republics. Therefore, a necessary condition for success of such a revolution is to build a new revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat – a Marxist-Leninist Party.

It is a fact that the left forces in ex-USSR are split now and that most of these parties are just a carry-over from the revisionist CPSU and some still carry on the policies of the Khrushchev, Brezhnev revisionism that held sway since 1953 after the death of Stalin and it officially was put into practice after the 20^th CPSU Congress. To our way of thinking, anyone who did not struggle against the revisionist CPSU cannot consider themselves really true Communists. There was lack of criticism and self-criticism and even now the lack of this criticism does not allow some comrades to draw the proper lessons and evaluation of the problems that led to the demise of the Soviet Union.

It is absolutely necessary to draw the proper lessons and conclusions in this struggle, especially looking into the documents that were written by Enver Hoxha.

The former Soviet republics, that are now called "independent" will develop differently and crisis that are prevalent in all of former USSR will develop into revolutionary actions and we should support all of these actions – as we should also support the revolutionary actions in all parts of the world. But, all of the struggles must be led by a genuine Marxist-Leninist Party! We are against the resurrection of the Soviet Union as a revisionist state. We must have the dictatorship of the proletariat!

We consider that it is important to your declaration that the publication carries a "non party status". We agree on this that your publication should be independent from any party structure. But your political line should be as it is, to help the movement to resurrect the Soviet Union based on Marxism-Leninism. We agree that there cannot be any ideological peace between Marxism-Leninism and revisionism of any sort or type, or the bourgeois and semi-bourgeois nationalism.

The success of the Second World Congress will depend upon the class position taken and it will give new perspectives to the Editorial Board of NSC and to the International Council.

With Communist greetings

Editorial Board of
Proletarskaya Gazeta

The Yugoslav nation never approved or agreed to the dismemberment of Yugoslavia by the fascist imperialists or the divisive work by the anti-socialist forces from abroad or within Yugoslavia itself.

The CPS is proposing, in the spirit of socialist principle of nations to self-determination, a reunion of all the republics into a single SFRY in such form and type as the majority of the inhabitants will decide in a democratic form.

During the 1990’s, the associated anti-socialist forces, both foreign and inside forces were destroying the SFRY with propaganda, lies and nationalistic establishment of capitalism and against the self-management socialist system that we had. There was no way that the people were allowed to make a choice either for capitalism or socialism. These elements used legal and illegal forms of work, and opposed the international norms of organizing as is enshrined in the United Nations Charter. They interfered in the internal affairs of other republics. They misused and subverted individual and group members of other states in order to destroy them. They gave rebirth to Second World War armed gangs, careerists, profiteers, criminals and all sorts of traitors in order to dismember Yugoslavia.

Their propaganda even surpassed the fascist propaganda during the Second World War. They made false accusations that the Slavic peoples are unequal, they instigated religious and nationalistic confrontations, and their destruction is well known.

These present bourgeoisie carried out total denationalization, wild privatization of all social property and took away all the rights of the workers that were achieved under socialism. Instead there was robbery, corruption, destruction of morals, great financial debt to foreign exploiters.

All of this has not destroyed the ideas of brotherhood and equality, of morals, democracy, individual and collective happiness that is necessary for the advancement of civilization.

Exploiters always produce all the conflicts, severe crisis, chaos, confrontations, wars and everything else that follows it.

We appeal to all the people, to the working class, to peasants, to use everything in their power, to join us for the safety of the Slavic people, against all forms of misfortune and danger that is caused by the exploiter class.

Central Committee
Communist Party of Slovenia
May 30, 2004
Adriatic Coast

A training centre for top NATO soldiers was opened at Bydgoszcz in northwestern Poland in June, the PAP new agency said.

"This centre will help the armed forces to face up to modern day challenges such as terrorism and the global threat that hangs over democracy and civil liberties", the Polish agency quoted Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski at the opening ceremony of the Joint Forces Training Centre.

This Centre will be tasked to prepare top soldiers for joint missions and will be commanded by Danish General Peter Kuehnel, with Polish General Bronislaw Kwitkowski serving as his deputy.

COMMENT:

"You have neither the morality, nor the right, non whatsoever, to speak of freedom, democracy and human rights when you hold enough power to destroy humanity and are attempting to install a world tyranny, sidestepping and destroying the United Nations, violating human rights of any and every country, waging war of conquests to take over world markets and resources, and installing decadent and anachronistic political and social systems which are leading the human race into the abyss.

There are many other reasons why you cannot mention the word democracy: among those is the fact that everyone knows that you became president of the United States through fraud. You cannot speak of freedom because you cannot conceive of a world other than one ruled by fear of the lethal weapons that your expert hands might rain down on humanity."

FIDEL CASTRO RUZ – Granma