Athens, Greece: Racist police operation in the city center

[The world-wide economic crisis has brought extreme repression and mass suffering to every region. Often, mass unemployment is coupled with intensified exploitation in slave-like conditions of migrants, who also face attacks by racist, xenophobic gangs.  The following statement, from the Communist Party of Greece (Marxist-Leninist), speaks to the recent attacks on migrants in Athens, Greece.  It is posted here in an unofficial English translation. — Frontlines ed.]

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from  Αντίσταση στις γειτονιές  (Neighborhood Resistance website), August 6, 2012

The recent anti-immigrant operation to remove migrants revealed the racist crimes of the government.

By order of the Prime Minister Samaras, police entered homes, stopped and seized all immigrants of color. According to figures given, Saturday, August 4 of the 4900 arrests made, the arrests of 1130 were charged with “illegal residence” in the country.

Minister Dendias arrogantly explained the pogrom as a measure to safeguard the human rights of migrants. On the other hand it is a clear intention of the government to distract the masses from the real cause of their problems, as reflected in his speech in parliament in which Dendias characterizes the immigrant as the ‘biggest problem of the economy.” He promotes nationalist delusions of the baptism of the Golden Dawn, claiming that immigrants and immigrant invaders “challenge national well-being” — which if not addressed “threatens the complete deterioration of society”!

The brutality against immigrants complements the profile of unpopular government so far has shown clearly that the policy towards the people when he fights against real enemies, they will be enforcing the “legitimacy” of terrorism and repression. Migrant workers as any worker, generate wealth and jobs. Migrants are not “a drain or danger” but instead contribute to the economy. Which they need to cruelly exploit — and now condemn as most “dangerous” for the country. But, in fact, it is capital and imperialism that endangers the people and the country.

It is the duty of all leftists, democrats and all conscious workers of the country to condemn the racist pogroms and atrocities against immigrants, the most oppressed part of the working class. And simultaneously expose the bourgeoisie as the real enemies of the people and workers.

The people and the working class of Greece struggle for the overthrow of imperialist brutality and subjugation

Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist)

The situation in Greece

The situation in Greece is critical both for the people and the working class. Because of the imperialist dependence of the country, its position in the EU and the Eurozone, its military-political dependence in NATO and its military-political role as a NATO-US springboard, the social and political developments in Greece cannot be seen apart from the developments in SE Mediterranean, the M. East., N. Africa, the Balkans and the quarrels inside the EU.

All contradictions and geo-political aims of the imperialist powers in the region, along with the special but critical issue of the future of the EU, are influencing all developments in our country, having in their background the world crisis. That is the reason that Greece is in the first page of the Media something that is proportionately greater than that of other countries similar to Greece (Portugal, Ireland).

The troika mechanism and its real targets

Starting after the October 2009 elections and the troika (IMF-EU-ECB) “salvation mechanism” of May 2010 there is in motion a rapidly escalating antipopular and antilabor policy that flattens all economic-labor-social rights of the people. The imperialist powers of the EU, mainly Germany and France, aided by the strong presence of the US through the IMF, and with the pretext of the great foreign debt imposed a deeper subjugation that takes the form of a protectorate.

This mechanism gives shark loans in 3-month installments in order to pay back a portion of the huge interests. This leads to greater debt. (In 2009 the debt was 120% of GDP and now approaches 160%). But the greatest imperialist profit is not the huge amounts of money that accumulate through this loan shark imposition. The main return that they take from the country is its total destruction of any productive base, the imposition of a medieval regime as far as the labor, social, economic and political rights of the people are concerned, and the sell-out and plunder of every resource and infrastructure this country has.

Greek Communists condemn Papandreou government’s fulfillment of Zionist flotilla suppression

Communist Party of Greece (m-l) Press Release:  About the “Free Gaza” Mission

Tuesday June 28, 2011–The Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist) condemns the criminal and provocative stance of the government of Israel in its attempt to discourage the international humanitarian mission against the genocidal blockade of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The fascist, Zionist state threatens to repeat last year’s murderous attack, threatens the reporters of the international media and puts pressure on governments and humanitarian organizations. Behind these threats and open state terrorism are as always the US imperialists, European governments and the UN leadership.

The CPG (m-l) condemns the stance of the Greek government which, in its attempt to dissuade the participation of Greek citizens, gives permission for piratical and criminal practices in international and Palestinian waters by the state of Israel. The CPG (m-l) notes that the Papandreou government has in recent years strengthened its relationship with Israel against the wishes of the majority of the Greek people and the neighbor Arab peoples.

The CPG (m-l) has on every opportunity stated that the support and the solidarity for the just, national liberation, and anti-occupation struggle of the Palestinian people is the affair of a mass, independent, and anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples. This struggle is against the selfish aims of bourgeois and imperialist forces which have proven many times that they can easily change sides and policies. We have noted that the solidarity movement must choose actions and initiatives that conform to their own dynamic and power and must rely on their own strength. Anyway we call upon the democratic Greek people to support the Palestinian right for life, freedom and dignity.

The Press Bureau of CPG (m-l)

From Greece: A CALL FOR STRUGGLE AND SOLIDARITY

[The struggling people of Greece are marking new levels of resistance, and the struggle involves sharp debates over the direction to take: whether to get the struggle off the streets and fold the resistance  into appeals to reform or to electorally renew the system, or to rely on the people to broaden and sharpen their popular resistance.  This statement from the Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist) outlines the contending views.– Frontlines ed.]

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The general strike of June 15, the great militant demonstrations in Athens, in Thessaloniki and all other big cities, and the continuing gathering of thousands of working people, youth, unemployed and other citizens in Syntagma Square and other squares, are the new culmination of the struggle of the Greek people who, for a year now, fight against the barbarous policy of the Memorandum that the IMF, the EU along with the Papandreou government have imposed on them.

These hours and days the workers and the Greek youth fight a glorious battle against the savage anti-popular measures. They fight a battle against the sell-out of public property and the occupation of our country by the imperialists and the predators of the foreign multinationals. They fight against policies that create millions of unemployed and poor. They coordinate their fight with the struggles of the European and Arab people who demand social justice and freedom. They demand the ousting of the IMF and the European Union.

The PASOK government of Papandreou, but also the other parties – the New Democracy Party and the fascist LAOS Party – that are servants of the local big capital and the imperialists, try to find ways to disorient this great popular mobilization.

Greece, May 11: Police attack communists, workers, and anarchists

[Here are several statements from activists and strikers who came under police attack during the May 11 General Strike; followed by the statement from the Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist). — Frontlines ed.]

1.  An activist describes the targets of the police attack on the General strikers and activists:

During the General Strike on 11th May 2011 the Communist Party of Greece(marxist-leninist), Class March and the Militant Movement of Students had been the main (but not only) target of the police brutal attack along with another two political groups (EEK Trotskyites and OKDE), two grassroots workers unions (cooks & waiters union and grassroots union of motorbike workers (couriers etc)), an anarchist group and some grassroots groups that are active in specific neighborhoods and areas concerned with mainly local issues.

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3. Statements of three of the militants injured during the brutal police attack; (Their photographs where the signs of brutality are very visible can be found at: http://antigeitonies.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-post_14.html):

“They wanted us dead…”

In one of the most peaceful marches of the last years I was “fortunate” to accept the special “protection” of the riot police, alongside dozens of other demonstrators, young men and women as well as senior citizens, who were protesting against the politics of poverty and misery.

I participate at least 25 years in the popular movement. I have never seen such rage against us by the repressive forces. The strikes were aimed at our heads clearly wanting dead among us! These were their orders. This is democracy at our times of the PASOK government and the EU-IMF-ECB Memorandum. Everybody is entitled to his opinion provided he does not express it. Anyone expressing his opinion will be “protected” like me. It is clear that this government is in the service of our foreign “protectors” and so is unscrupulous and dangerous to the people.

Greek communists in solidarity with the Tunisian people’s revolt

[In this period of worldwide capitalist crisis, the people’s resistance is growing even while reactionary nationalism and xenophobia are promoted by bourgeois parties, often taking the form of anti-immigrant attacks, especially in various European countries.  Active internationalist solidarity between workers and all people against reaction is of the greatest importance, as shown in this statement from the Communist Party of Greece (m-l).–Frontlines ed.]

Solidarity with the Tunisian revolt!

Athens, December 16th, 2011

The sacrifice of a small peddler who set himself on fire on the 17th of last December

after having his wares confiscated because he had no “permit”, has sparked a widespread

fire on all cities of Tunisia. For a month now the people of this country, with the youth

in the forefront, are revolting against the reactionary and autocratic regime. This revolt

that started as anger against high prices and unemployment but also against political

repression was quickly transformed to a political confrontation and demand for the

overthrow of the president and his reactionary regime.

Statement of Solidarity from Greece to the People of India

Let us express our solidarity to the people’s revolutionary movement of India

Lately, large military and police forces of the Indian state, supported by para-military organizations, have conducted a murderous military offensive to crush the resistance of the poor native peasants who defend their land and wish to live in their homeland under humane conditions.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist), which supports and participates in this revolutionary struggle of the masses, is under fierce attack by the forces of the Indian reactionaries. As a result, in the beginning of July, the forces of the Indian reactionaries murdered in cold blood a party leader and an independent journalist, thus outraging the left and democratic people not only in India, but all over the world.

A few days before this event, the Communist Party of Greece(marxist-leninist), CPG(m-l), took the initiative to call a meeting of parties and organizations of the left, which concluded in a joint statement of condemnation of the murderous military operation of the Indian state and solidarity to the people’s revolutionary movement. The statement was published in newspapers of the left and also in one of the biggest daily newspapers in Greece.

The meeting decided to protest outside the Indian Embassy in Athens, which was held on July 6^th. The murder of the Indian revolutionary and the journalist was already known when the protest took place. CPG(m-l) had a banner with their names and the slogan “honor and glory to the Indian revolutionaries”.

Athens, Greece: PROTEST AGAINST THE SLAUGHTER OF PEASANTS IN INDIA

July 6, 2010, Athens: 100 marched on the Indian Embassy, with the banner: "Down with the murderous attack of the Indian State / Victory to the people's resistance!"

SOLIDARITY RALLY FOR THE INDIAN PEOPLE!

JOINT STATEMENT OF LEFT ORGANIZATIONS OF GREECE

A repressive, murderous operation has been launched by the Indian state, with the deployment of hundreds of thousands of police and paramilitary forces, with the participation of criminal paramilitary organizations. It aims to break the resistance of poor peasants in vast areas of India. It is about a mass and militant resistance that involves vast areas dwelled by over 100 millions of poor Adivasi (tribal people) peasants.

The main reason for this military raid is to grab the land of the poor people and pass it to the corporations both multinationals and local for the looting exploitation of natural sources in these vast areas.

Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist): Stop the Mass Crimes in India!

The Communist Party of Greece (marxist-lennist) condemns the ongoing murderous crusade of the Indian repressive forces, both official and paramilitary, against millions of peasants and Adivasi (tribal people) in central India. The so-called “operation Green Hunt” that was jointly launched by the Central Government in Delhi governments of Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh etc, have turned into a bloodbath with killings, mass arrests, tortures and displacements, moving populations and whole villages is nothing short of a genocide. It aims to eliminate the armed revolutionary movement and to serve the plans of the multinational conglomerates.

Meanwhile with this escalation of the political violence and terrorism against the cadres and the members of the revolutionary movement of the country as well as the harassment and intimidation of every progressive person that attempts to denounce these mass crimes continue to extend the reign of fascist terror across the country. The last and characteristic incident was the extrajudicial cold-blooded murder, of two cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), following their arrest and torture by the Intelligence Service of Andhra Pradesh.

CP of Greece (m-l): “The Zionists Will Pay for the Crimes They Commit”

*Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist) Press Statement*

*The Zionists will pay for the crimes they commit!*

The international criminals, leaders of the Israeli state, have hit again!
They have proved once more that they are equal successors of the Nazi-fascist crimes of the 20th century.

They murdered in cold blood unarmed supporters of the Palestinians’ struggle after they captured their ships, among them two Greek ships, which carried humanitarian aid and attempted to break the siege of Gaza Strip. They arrested hundreds members of the Free Gaza Movement, injured dozens of them and captured all the ships.

Not as common pirates, though! For the contemporary pirates, for example, on Somalia’s coasts and elsewhere have proved that they respect human life. They committed it as absolute sub-humans, and serial killer-terrorists. A modern Nuremberg trial is what they should be facing.

CP of Greece (m-l) on the Crisis and Mass Upsurge in Greece

Hundreds of thousands of workers in the private and public sector, unemployed, youth, pensioners, migrants, and small owners  flooded the streets all over Greece, on Wednesday May 5th, general strike day. The country hasn’t witnessed such large and angry demonstrations for decades. The rally in Athens was huge and lasted for many hours despite the successive police and riot police attacks.

Mass demonstrations also took place in Thessaloniki, Patra, Ioannina, Larisa, Volos, in the Aegean islands and the big cities of Crete island. It became obvious that the overwhelming majority of the Greek people are against the measures that the government took in collaboration with the IMF, the European Union and the European Central Bank, and they are determined to struggle and overthrow these measures.

The package of measures agreed by the social-democrat government and the IMF and the EU include: for public sector workers, big salary cuts and thousands of layoffs and pension cuts; in private sector, layoffs, reduction of severance pay, abolition of collective contracts, significant increase in indirect taxes (VAT increase to 23%), big cuts in public funding for health care, education and social welfare, privatizations etc. In fact it is a horrible policy of social barbarity that returns Greece to previous times of widespread poverty, unemployment and misery.

The objective of these measures is to save the speculators and creditors of the country; to make the workforce very cheap in order to attract foreign rapacious investments; to sell out natural resources and protect the immeasurable riches of the local elite-bourgeoisie. With these measures Greece is being totally handed over to the foreign imperialist capital and its institutions. Greece has been turned—officially–into an economic colony of foreign robbers and its people are subjugated to foreign economic bail out and the directives of IMF and the European imperialists.

May Day Statement and Videos of Street Actions from Greece

Here are some videos from the streets of Athens, Greece.  The people’s struggle is growing as the capitalist crisis deepens.

http://www.antigeitonies.blogspot.com/ — when you go to this site and scroll down, there are three videos:

• http://www.naftemporiki.gr/video/video.asp?id=25530
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgjnw058AR4&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrrQb-0RW6Q&feature=player_embedded#!

Let’s overthrow the IMF, E.U. and Greek government policies!

Let’s smash the imperialist chains!

by the Communist Party of Greece (m-l)

The working class and the people in our country are facing the most significant class confrontation in recent decades. The social-democrat government with the collaboration of the rightist and extreme rightist parties, and under the supervision and the pressure by the imperialist institutions of IMF, E.U and ECB, is orchestrating a fierce attack against working people.

Capital actually demands everything! It demands the complete subjugation of the working class and its reduction to a sort of “living” equipment of the capitalist machine–to be used whenever and as long they desire, earning enough to survive only and be productive.

After the first cuts in public service workers’ income, the new measures concern the workers both in public and private sector.

–New taxes for workers, employees and middle class strata.

–Abolition of health care and pension rights.

–Abolition of collective contracts, salary reductions, abolition of unemployment compensation, increase of unemployment and insecurity.

Greek Uprisings: One Month Later

Greece Before a Difficult But Promising Period

Dimitris Pavlidis, Leading Organ

Communist Party of Greece (marxist-leninist)

Almost a month after the cold blooded murder of the high school student Alexis Gregoropoulos by a policeman, in the center of Athens, the youth and workers mobilization continue to take place. Although it was Christmas holidays, the mobilization continued, less in number and mainly propagandistic. There are also some buildings occupations and various information activities. At the same time the presence of the police has increased significantly and the courts have started imprisoning some of the more than 200 arrested people during the demonstrations and the clashes with the riot police forces.

There is an increased turmoil across the country and many new big mobilizations and demonstrations have already been announced for Friday, January 9. There is estimation that a second round of mobilization and confrontation with the government will take place.

The just and heroic eruption of the Greek youth and significant segments of the Greek workers and immigrants for the murder of the young student was the escalation of an –at least – two years social unrest and impetuous development of the youth movement, centralized in the university campuses and high schools.

This movement focused against privatization in education and discipline of the students’ movement and developed a mass movement of campuses occupation and demonstrations that blocked the constitutional reform which indented to change the constitutionally secured public 3rd degree education. This reform was the common objective of both the (right wing) government and the social democrat bourgeois opposition. During those struggles a militant consciousness was formed within the youth which developed and radicalized later.

A significant factor for this radicalization was the rapid worsening of the economic situation of the workers and the lower social strata that were affected by the economic crisis and the anti-popular and anti-labor policies of the government. The so called new generation with income less than 700 euros has become the great mass of new workers that enter labor market while one out of four in unemployed.

The Greek economy, tied hand and foot with the Stability Pact of the European Economic and Monetary Union is facing the spectrum of bankruptcy. Businesses close down, there are mass lay offs, the agricultural economy is devastated and the foreign capital is withdrawing its investments. The traditional sectors of Greek economy (tourism, services and shipping) are affected by the international economic crisis. All economic analysts predict a very difficult year for Greek workers and the poor people’s strata while the Karamanlis government in collaboration with the European Union staff is preparing new economic-measures-shock.