90 Communist and Workers' Parties conclude a successful meeting in Athens

Over 173 delegates from 90 Communist and Workers Parties gather in Athens
for the 20th IMCWP

By Clara Sorrenti

In 1999, a 78-day NATO bombing campaign devastated the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and killed hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent civilians. The NATO bombing campaign on Yugoslavia marked the second major combat operation in its history, following the 1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was also the first time that NATO had used military force without the approval of the UN Security Council. As a response to the International crisis in Yugoslavia, The International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties was established at the Initiative of Communist Party of Greece. From the 21st to the 23rd of May 1999, 55 Communist and Workers’ Parties from 46 countries gathered in Athens, Greece. The theme of the first IMCWP was “The capitalist crisis, globalisation and the response of the labour movement”. It marked the first major meeting of Communist and Workers Parties’ since a counter-revolution lead to the dissolution of USSR in 1991.

Attacks on young communists in France, Serbia and Venezuela are the latest violent examples of growing fascist threat

Communist Youth of Venezuela respond to attack
targeting their office and activists

By Drew Garvie

General Secretary, YCL-LJC of Canada

In late October, the World Federation of Democratic Youth, a global anti-imperialist federation of youth organizations founded after the fascist defeat in Europe in 1945, issued two statements condemning fascist violence in both Venezuela and Yugoslavia. These attacks had occurred in the preceding weeks.

In the early morning hours of October 21st in Caracas, members of the Communist Youth of Venezuela (JCV) were finishing their work at their central offices. Several firebombs were launched at the building and a fire was started in their meeting room. Fortunately no comrades were injured in the attack and the fire was extinguished.

The JCV Executive Committee released a statement contextualizing the attack against them: "This deed occurs within the framework of violence imposed by fascism since February of this year carried out by mercenaries and paramilitaries serving the extreme, pro-imperialist right." This references an upsurge in right-wing protests that took place from February through June, which led to the deaths of 43 people. Most recently, Robert Serra, the youngest parliamentarian elected in Venezuelan history, and a member of Venezuela’s Socialist Party (PSUV), was murdered with Colombian paramilitaries being implicated.