May 11 – Workers in the east African nation of Sudan are rising up in strikes and rebellions. Young people in the cities continue to mobilize in the city streets. Along with the continuing marches and strikes in Algeria, this is the new “Arab Spring.” It’s time to plant the seeds of communist revolution!
*Striking temporary workers in Port Sudan shut down the headquarters of the Sea Ports Corporation on May 7. They are demanding that their jobs be made permanent, as the interim government promised on May 1.
*Striking sugar workers in White Nile held a sit-in in front of the military base in Kenana. They are protesting the exploitation and corruption they have long endured.
*In eastern Sudan, residents of Kassala are sitting-in outside another military command base. They are demanding desperately-needed improvements in the water and electrical power systems.
*A rebellion in Abu Jubeiha in South Kordofan (a mining region) burned the market and the electrical power plant.
*Workers at the government-owned SEEN flour company went on an open-ended strike demanding better wages.
But reforms are far from the solution to the crisis that workers face in Sudan.
Last month a mass movement forced the military to remove the hated Sudanese dictator Hassan al-Bashir. Workers and youth from Darfur, who are among the most oppressed, are giving important leadership in the protests.
The country remains under military rule. That is still the face of the Sudanese capitalist dictatorship over the working class.
A revolutionary situation exists in Sudan. It may yet be crushed with the support of Saudi Arabia and other fascist Arab regimes. But the most likely outcome, promoted by US imperialism, is a “democratic revolution.” This would give a new face to the capitalist dictatorship without ending exploitation, war or misery.
Workers in Sudan and elsewhere need a communist revolution to end the power of capitalism-imperialism. They need to re-organize society from the ground up, based on communist principles. “From each according to ability and commitment, to each according to need!”
Capitalism Can’t Be Made “Fair”
The Sudanese Professionals Association and other forces are negotiating with the military. They want more civilians to be allowed to join the ruling Military Council. They want a say in drafting a new constitution.
Some expat Sudanese professionals have allied with the imperialist Open Society Foundation. They want officers from the Bashir regime to be tried for military crimes against civilians. The crimes in Darfur were especially horrendous. Some of these officers are still in power.
The US-backed liberals want “inclusive” political and economic institutions. They want an “equitable share” of power and a “fair” distribution of wealth.
But there can be no “fair” distribution of wealth in the capitalist system of production. The capitalists’ wealth comes from the poverty of workers who are forced to be their wage-slaves.
And classes with contradictory interests – capitalists and workers – cannot “share” power at all.
The only alternative to capitalist dictatorship over the working masses is a communist working-class dictatorship. This will quickly move to end the capitalist mode of production and, with it, class society.
Build the new International Communist Workers’ Party
Last month, some lower-ranking army soldiers refused orders to attack protesters. They intervened to protect them. Some soldiers spontaneously cooperated with the workers and youth or joined them. Here is real potential for communist revolution!
The Sudanese “Communist” Party (SCP) was once powerful. Now it is part of the popular-front “Forces for Freedom and Change.” It demands “the handover of government to a civilian parliament” instead of organizing for armed revolution.
The SCP’s stated objectives are “social justice, progress and the construction of democracy” – just like the liberal imperialists. Like its partner the South African “Communist” Party, the SCP is an enemy of the masses it claims to represent.
A few dozen students started the SCP in 1946. Now is the time for true communist revolutionaries in Sudan to form new collectives of the International Communist Workers’ Party.
We must use all possible personal ties and social media to spread Red Flag among the masses. Sudanese streets echo with chants, “The Revolution Continues until Final Victory!” That final victory can only be communism.
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