"A group of men and women workers in the sweatshops of El Salvador struggle daily to build communism through our Party, ICWP. They confront a myriad of obstacles, from having to get up at 4 am to get to work on time and then getting home at 8 pm, six days a week, to the fight against the union that defends the bosses. Even so, Red Flag and communist ideas are taking root among the masses in these export factories. We are learning to use Red Flag to create new communists," said a Salvadoran comrade in a recent meeting of the International Communist Workers' Party (ICWP). During the meeting we received revolutionary greetings from comrades in South Africa, who have mainly been in touch with us through the pages of Red Flag. Our newspaper is spreading communist ideas among these and thousands of other workers, soldiers and students in Mexico, Honduras, Spain, and other countries. "Our party is growing worldwide, and at MTA as well," said a transit worker. He continued, "We distribute between eight and nine hundred of each edition of Red Flag at MTA. Many readers there are writing for and distributing the paper. Others contribute money. This has given us the opportunity to involve ourselves in struggles and recruit new members to ICWP to fight for a classless communist society. This process has helped us to become better communists." He explained that recruitment is an entire process of ideological struggle between communist and capitalist ideas and practices in the workplace. Our understanding of a mass party is that new members don't have to be experts in Marxism, or to act like the most committed members. The main thing is that they are willing to see the Party as the guide to destroy capitalism and build a new communist society. Part of this should be to help with Red Flag, help economically, and be open to the struggle to improve their understanding and practice of communism. We should welcome the experiences we learn from and the contradictions with which we will have to struggle. All levels of commitment are important: like the water in the river, those who come behind push those who are in front.

Your meeting marks a very important departure from reformism. As you deliberate, you should bear in mind that you carry the hopes and aspirations of the workers of the world. Building ICWP all over the world becomes the task of every revolutionary. Communists of the world must come together to chart the way forward. Over more than three centuries, the capitalists have enjoyed hegemony all over the world. They have been hegemonic by preaching the false doctrine of bourgeois democracy: The false and bad ideologies of nationalism, patriotism, nationstates, national anthem, national flag, national constitution, etc.
As you gather, the lies and illusions of democracy must be exposed. The question that we must pose is: Democracy for whom? Who benefits from these "democracies" all over the world? It is important to note that democracy is the bosses' dictatorship. Anyone who talks of democracy as if it is neutral is wrong, that's heresy. Historically they teach us that democracy is progressive because it replaced feudalism. But we know that it is false, truncated, hypocritical, moribund, a paradise for the rich, a snare and a deceit for the workers and the poor.
We have seen all over the world the rise of these bourgeois democracies with their attendant impoverishment of the masses. Trade unions are by their very nature reformist. Under bourgeois democracy trade union tops (officials) are easily co-opted to toe the line of the ruling capitalist class. We have seen all over the world, union leaders acting as fireextinguishers, being called on to strangle militant action by the base of the workers. There are many instances where militant workers were prepared to sacrifice their wages until the employers met their demands but union tops would betray their members, cutting deals with the bosses.
So what the workers in the US are experiencing is nothing new. It is the treacherous ploy made by the union tops to serve their masters. As you deliberate over the weekend these are tendencies that must be exposed for what they are. The union tops always represent the interests of the bosses. Look how easy it is for ex-union tops to fit into the governments of the day with ease. They become the butchers of the same workers they led. It is encouraging to see workers themselves organizing independently of the state under the banner of the International Communist Workers' Party, taking charge of their own destiny. The working class is the only revolutionary class able to take forward the struggle to liberate society as a whole. Other strata vacillate; they just follow the dominant class of the moment and cannot be trusted. Fertile ground exists for building ICWP all over the world because of the disillusions suffered by workers at the hands of reformist parties. Patiently building ICWP is the revolutionary duty of each and every member.
Communist revolution by the working class internationally is the motor force for building the communist society. The international communist program must proceed directly from an analysis of the conditions and tendencies of the world economy and of the world political system taken as a whole in all its connections and contradictions.
Forward with communist revolution, forward! Phantsi ngongxiwa, phantsi! Down with capitalism, down! Down with sellouts, down! Away with capitalism, away! Viva International Communist Workers' Party, Viva!

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