International Notes for March 27, 2017.

France:  Communists call for a radical transformation

Jean-Luc Melenchon, an independent left supported by the French Communist Party in the April presidential elections, has called for the creation of a “Sixth Republic” to carry out a radical transformation of French political life.   The current French government is called the “Fifth Republic”.  The national secretary of the Communist Party, Pierre Laurent, expressed support for Melenchon’s call at a mass rally held at the  Place de la Bastille on Saturday March 18.   The call for a “Sixth Republic” first was raised by the Left Front in 2012 and according to the communists has been attracting support since then.  The idea repudiates the current incoherent and corruption ridden system, and aims at getting wealthy interests out of politics and returning power to the people.

 

Argentina:  Threats against the Communist Party

Death threats were found painted on the outer walls of the headquarters of the Communist Party of Argentina in the city of San Rafael, capital of Mendoza province, on Sunday March 12.  Insults painted on the doors and walls of the buildings included things like “With the reds, hunger and lice” (“Con los Rojos, hambre y piojos’.  And “you are going to die, evil reds”. (“Van a morir, lacras rojas”).  The Argentine Communist Party and the Young Communist Federation denounced the vandalism.  The party’s statement said “we are not shocked by the economic damage but we are [shocked] by the manifestation of intolerance by  these sectors who bring with them an ideology that did so much damage to humanity and to our country, which was Nazism, fascism and the last civil, military and ecclesiastical dictatorship [i.e. of 1976-1983] which struck our people and all of Latin America”.

 

Western Sahara and Portugal:  Communists fight repression

The Communist Party of Portugal has expressed strong solidarity with 24 imprisoned activists from the Western Sahara.  The members of the Gdem Izik group, which supports independence for Western Sahara, have been on trial in Rabat, Morocco since 2013, and, in the words of a statement by the Portuguese communists, they continue to be subjected to “serious procedural errors, lack of material evidence, and violations of human rights”.  Furthermore, the defendants claim that Moroccan authorities have tortured them to obtain false confessions.

On March 10, the Portuguese Parliament approved a motion by the communists expressing the country’s solidarity with the prisoners. Right wing deputies voted against it, but the motion carried.

Western Sahara had formerly been a Spanish colony.  In 1975, just before the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, Spain offered to turn the territory over to Morocco and Mauretania, but this was rejected by the POLISARIO Front which continues to fight for Saharawi independence.

Vietnamese, Japanese Communists strengthen ties

The Communist Parties of Vietnam and Japan are working toward strengthening their cooperation. On February 22, Japanese Communist Party Chairman Ogata Yesuo met in Hanoi with Vietnamese Communist Party leaders including Pham Minh Chinh, chair of the Organizational Department of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Hoang Binh Quan, chair of the Vietnamese party’s External Relations Commission.

The leaders of the two parties discussed cooperation on theoretical work and also Japanese economic investment in Vietnam, specifically focusing on enterprises from Sakai City in Osaka Prefecture, which has been developing particularly strong economic ties to Vietnam.
Photo: Creative Commons, 3.0

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