This is a cut of what happened since our last plenary. It can be said to be an introduction to an analysis of situation that is what the ICMLPO has been doing in each of its plenaries, which is the usual and correct method. In particular, the analysis of the previous plenary, held in Ecuador, continued the one held in Turkey, summing up its progress and integrating the new elements of the period analyzed.

This introduction seeks to do the same: to confirm what is confirmable of the 21st Plenary and suggest the discussion of the elements that have appeared since then.

The previous Plenary, the 20th and 21st of the ICMLPO held in Turkey and Ecuador in 2014 and 2015 respectively, made a good analysis of the international situation in those years. In both we concluded that: "Eight years after the onset of the most severe and prolonged crisis of the post-war crisis over over-production, the process of recovery of production is still slow and partial, with constant relapses".

In short, we agreed that "The growth of world GDP in 2014 has been almost the same as that of 2013, and in most countries it has declined. In 2015, growth will be similar."

If we make a comprehensive analysis of the present moment, we can conclude that, fundamentally the same trend of weak, slow economic growth, surrounded by uncertainties that we found in the previous plenaries, is being maintained.

Despite all the measures of the governments at the service of capital and the monopolies against the working class and the broad masses that try to overcome the situation, the capitalist system has failed to reach the boom phase in the natural cycle of its development, and remains in the recovery phase which, as has been said, is weak, slow, surrounded by uncertainties and threatening to fall into crisis again.

From the economic point of view the reality is very similar to that which we analyzed in 2014 and 2015.

The International Monetary Fund itself recognizes this. In its report, World Economic Outlook, published in April of this year, it thinks that in the next two years "a slightly higher growth than in 2015 is possible. But nothing is guaranteed. There remain important risks of a fall, and certain events that exacerbate these risks, which could easily trigger a new financial turmoil."

One of these predictable events that would have negative effects on the world economy was the referendum in which the British had to decide whether or not to stay in the European Union.

The mere announcement of this event generated falls in the stock markets everywhere. Days before the referendum, the European stock markets lost more than 400 thousand million euros. This tendency to loss and uncertainty was strengthened once the Brexit was confirmed.

But the cause of this negative impact on the financial market is not the Brexit. It is a motive, but not the immediate cause. The root cause is the prospect of slowing economic growth, which has the potential for a new crisis, and which has kept investors on tenterhooks. Any major political event, such as terrorist actions, would shake the financial market as an indicator of economic development, precisely because it is fragile at this time.

But since our previous plenary, other components of the international situation have developed. The most pronounced aspect of this process is upsurge of the right and nationalism in Europe; racism and xenophobia is growing in all parts of the world; terrorism is an essential part of the agendas in all regions; the initiatives for the conclusion of Free Trade Agreements between economic blocs, between imperialist countries with other less developed ones, are taking shape; and the same is true with privatization.

The empires are giving increasing importance to their particular interests and military competition, especially the NATO initiatives in competition with the Russian empire. The most recent Summit of NATO members decided to establish four military battalions in the Baltics and Poland, near Russia, and to initiate the first phase of the installation of anti-missile shields in Europe.

In this context, there has been the decision by England to withdraw from the European Union, a fact that, as has been said, creates more uncertainty about the prospects of growth of the regional and world economy as well as about the possibility that this will encourage other countries to do the same, thus weakening the EU, one of the major imperialist blocs.

All these are integral components in the efforts of the imperialists, as blocs or as individuals, to try to overcome the period of difficulties and to strengthen the process of recovery of world production.

All these elements place before us communists the need to evaluate this in its totality, as parts of a whole, and respond in the same way.

So for the 22nd Plenary, the analysis of the economy at this particular time is not very important, and instead political issues must be more important.

I. The analysis of the economic information shows that a slow and weak recovery is continuing which is uneven among different countries, and there is the threat of a new crisis. The analysis of the Plenaries of Turkey and Ecuador is confirmed.

The data and estimates made by the IMF and World Bank on the economic development on a world level and among the countries that most affect world production show that the overall recovery remains fragile, with the perspective of a decline as that negative rates will remain in various countries.

Last year, world production experienced a growth rate of 3.5%. So far in 2016 it is barely 3.2%, and the forecasts for 2017 put it at 3.5%, an increase of 0.3%.

In the economies considered advanced, key in world production, the average growth last year was 1.9% and it is the same so far in 2016, possibly reaching 2.0% in 2017.

On the average, in 2014 the United States had a growth rate of 2.4% and is more or less the same so far in 2016. In the same way, the European Union achieved a growth of 1.6% and fell to 1.5%, with the forecast of regaining this 0.1% in 2017.

Within the European Union, Germany contributed to the 2014 average a rate of 1.5%, the same as that recorded in 2016 and it could rise to 1.6% in 2017. The growth in France was 1.1%, it is 1.1% and the forecast is 1.6%. That of Italy, 0.8%, 1.0% and 1.0%. Spain, on the basis of adjustments and austerity in wages, pensions and social spending, 3.2%, 2.6% and 2.3%. UK, 2.2%, 1.9% and 2.2%.

In that same order also, Japan is contributing 0.5%, 0.5% and will fall to 0.1% next year. China, 6.9%, 6.5% and 6.2%. India, 7.3%, 7.5% and will maintain the same rate in 2017.

Russia had a decrease in 2015 of -3.7%, it reduced its decrease to -1.8% this year, and may begin to have a positive rate, but only 0.8% the next year.

In those considered "emerging economies," the growth in the General Product was 4.0% in 2015, 4.1% in 2016, and the projection is for 4.6% next year.

Sub-Saharan Africa shows an average of 3.4%, 3.0% and 4.0% in those same years, respectively. Nigeria, 2.7%, 2.3% and could rise to 3.5% in 2017. For its part, South Africa, 1.3%, contributing this year 0.6% and could reach 1.2% in 2017.

Latin America as a whole showed a negative rate of -0.1% in the General Product of 2015, its contribution has remained negative in 2016, with -0.5% and in 2017 it is expected to have an increase in the product of a 1.5 %.

The main role in this negative contribution is from Brazil, which continues to decline in its economic development, with negative rates of -3.8% in both 2015 and so far in 2016.

Mexico recorded positive rates between 2015 and 2016, and this is expected to continue in 2017. But the rates are very low, averaging just 2.5%.

2. Given the current situation from the perspective of world trade, we must also conclude that the recovery of the capitalist economy is weak and in danger of falling into crisis. For the fifth consecutive year the growth of world trade is less than 3%, and by next year it is expected to reach a rate of 3.7%, much less than the 2008 level.

Overall, trade grew twice as much as production, and it is now grows the same, and in some countries below.

3. Unemployment, which is also a variable through which you can put into prominence the situation of the capitalist economy, recorded in 2015 197.1 million people unemployed, almost one million more than in 2014 and 27 million more than in the years before the 2008 crisis.

Regarding the quality of employment, 1.5 thousand million people, 46% of the total employment, are considered in vulnerability, working in the informal economy or family production units.

To keep the prospect of a slowdown, unemployment is expected to increase by 2.3 million people by the end of 2016 and 1.1 million in 2017.

What are the causes of the weak recovery and in some cases the slowdown?

We communists affirm that the root cause is, on the one hand, the fact that the bourgeoisie is mainly concerned with profit, and market concurs with that purpose. The capitalist entrepreneurs compete with each other, each one placing their goods on the market without taking into account the possibilities of that market consuming them; each capitalist seeks to revolutionize the productive forces, seeking to displace its competitors and obtain the maximum profit possible.

This is the anarchic character of capitalist production that Marx denounced as a principal law system and that, at some point, will impact it by creating a fall in the average rate of profit which is the motive of the capitalist entrepreneur.

Also inherent in the capitalist system and parallel to that law also is the appropriation by the bourgeoisie and exploiters in general of the surplus value created by the working class and laboring people in the process of production, which prevents the great mass of people from being able to consume the huge quantities of goods and services circulating in society, opening up the possibilities for crises of overproduction.

The simultaneous occurrence of these two laws are the cause of the crises of overproduction, and are those that prevent capitalism from going beyond its borders, making it destroy productive forces and implementing forms of super-exploitation of the working class, trying to overcome its difficulties.

The measures of the bourgeoisie to restore growth further restrict the chances of overall consumption by the working class and broad masses, because of the measures of cuts in wages and pensions, of austerity in public spending expressed in cuts to public services, which place new tax burdens on them that also impact negatively on the possibilities of demanding goods and services by the majority.

In addition, another cause is the plundering of the riches of the peoples oppressed by the imperialist monopolies that are protected by the authorities, which bring these peoples poverty and extreme misery and prevent them from enjoying the enormous possibilities of well-being that the current development of industries creates.

Of course, as we have seen in previous Plenaries, the growth in world output would be significantly affected by lower prices of oil, gas and other raw materials, essential for the earnings of many countries that export these products, including Russia, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia and others. This is leading many of these countries to the economic crisis, reducing their possibilities of importing and making capital investments. The weak trend and slow growth continue to be affected by this.

Similarly, as we also noted in the previous Plenary, the slowdown in the growth of China's economy would make its contribution to the stagnation of world production. China was until recently an engine of the world economy, due to its purchases of raw materials and its high level of exports of manufactured goods, which contributed to world trade. But that is not happening now. Because China is transforming its economic model, and is developing a service and consumption-based economy and, at this time it does not need the volume of raw materials that it previously imported.

But these are factors that, while important for the state of the economy, are not the fundamental factors that determine either the sign [positive or negative] or the pace of the recovery. The root cause of the current problems is in the essential contradictions of capitalism, created precisely in the area of production, which is where the exploitation by the bourgeoisie of the working class and laboring masses takes place, and where the expropriation of the wealth produced by them occurs.

Today, as always, they have tried to hide this truth. Social democracy, including Thomas Pikety, remains committed to imposing the view that the cause of the current problems of capitalist production is a poor distribution of wealth. We communists have to stress and disseminate our belief that the cause is the combination of the anarchy of capitalist production and the appropriation of the bulk of the wealth by the bourgeoisie. Our propaganda and struggles should be oriented around this.

In this way, we will contribute to the liberation of the working class and laboring masses from the influence of the bourgeois and opportunist parties and trade unions, while we help them not to see immigrant workers as enemies, nor the ones responsible for the loss of jobs and the precariousness of wages.

II. The Brexit, a political fact from which we must draw correct conclusions to guide our work and struggles well.

The Brexit is a relevant event since our previous Plenary. It is important to analyze what it involves and draw correct conclusions, orientations and tasks.

The most widespread opinions about this event highlighted its economic consequences, its negative impact in the slowing of growth and in the international financial market. But it is up to our movement to evaluate more its political implications, without ignoring its importance in the economic field.

The Brexit weakens the European Union, one of the main imperialist centers, because suddenly it loses one of its most important economies, the second most important, and the second most populous country. But further it importantly opens the possibility that other countries will do the same and that there will be a chain of referendums to decide to disaffiliate, a possibility that has already been raised among many of its members. The mere possibility is creating uncertainty, with affects on politics and the economy, which would aggravate the process of recovery of the regional and global economy.

The decision on the Brexit could also turn against England itself, because Scotland and Ireland could strengthen their aspirations for Independence from the UK and thus further weaken this empire.

About this possibility, it is worth emphasizing that the European Union has been the second most important force in international politics; now without England in its ranks, it reduces its global influence. China and Russia are greatly surpassing it.

Despite this possible dismemberment of one of the main imperialist centers, it is necessary to integrate the analysis of the possibility of an increase in the predominance of the United States. Because the weakened European Union will need more from that power against the competition with China and Russia, while the same thing is happening with England, which in fact has always been the main ally of the United States and to some extent was the interlocutor of US interests within the EU.

Another issue to be resolved concerns the question: What forces were predominant in the Brexit? The ultra-conservative bourgeoisie or the working class and laboring masses and popular sectors in general?

We must remember that the idea of the referendum was raised by David Cameron at the time of the crisis of 2008, in the interest of putting forth a context of winning concessions for the British Empire in its inter-imperialist contention with the other empires of the EU, and at the same time to win support from conservative sectors who were already raising the need for separation from the European Union.

There should be no doubt that the working class provided a wealth of votes for the Brexit, but it was not predominant, in the sense that its ideas and proposals predominated in the decision of the 52% who voted in favor of disaffiliation.

It is quite possible that a good part of the voters of the working class in favor of this were won over by the anti-immigrant discourse that colored the referendum campaign. If so, the interest in popular sovereignty, in support for national sovereignty, was secondary or marginal in determining England’s course.

We must give a response to this political and ideological issue. The propaganda and work of the communists demand a clear answer, because the Brexit is opening a debate in many countries and places the question of disaffiliation from the EU as one of the most important on the political agenda and it will be necessary guide the class and the people in general.

The crisis of 2008 had social consequences that have still not been overcome. The working class has lost significant demands; the middle class has become impoverished. The austerity programs and adjustments driven by the EU are affecting various strata of society.

The working class and the popular sectors identify the EU with adjustments and austerity, and also with the policy of open borders for immigrants.

One can see this in speeches and the general propaganda by proponents of the Brexit who have created demagogy around the issues of EU policies of austerity and adjustments in order to achieve popular support for disaffiliation.

The absence of class parties and positions during the referendum campaign has allowed a confluence in the immediate objective of the ultra-conservatives and xenophobes with the working class and popular sectors.

Who is predominant over whom? This is a key question when it comes to joint actions between different classes towards a common immediate goal.

The triumph of the Brexit was celebrated in France by the National Front and in Austria by the Freedom Party. Several conservative parties in Europe took it as their own, and Donald Trump, an expression of ultra-conservatism and xenophobia, did the same in the United States.

We the Marxist-Leninist Communist parties and the revolutionary left have to fine tune our positions and practices around the issues such as those of the Brexit. We are against all the imperialists; we denounce their claims and the causes of the crises, whose affects fall upon the working class and peoples; we are consistent supporters of the unity of the working class, native-born and immigrant; and we take up popular sovereignty as the essential basis of the sovereignty of nations.

III. An offensive in favor of Free Trade Agreements

The period since our previous Plenary shows a particular commitment of the bourgeoisie and the imperialist monopolies seeking Free Trade Agreements. It is a new effort of capital to impose neoliberal policies that allow opening new channels for the purpose of economic recovery.

In Latin America, the specific process of the Pacific Alliance (Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and 49 observer countries) reflects among other things the retreat of populist governments and the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela; or what is the same thin, it shows a repositioning of the policies of the United States through openly right-wing governments that have been established recently.

The governments allied with the Bolivarian Revolution and Comandante Hugo Chavez, Argentina governed by Kirchner, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay before the coup, Brazil of Lula and Dilma Rousseff, managed to stop the Free Trade Agreement (FTAs) at the time of the George Busch Jr., and to reduce the political and economic influence of the United States in much of Latin America.

But the influence of the Bolivarian government has slowed. Rafael Correa of Ecuador is in the doldrums; Dilma Rousseff, Brazil has been removed because of corruption scandals, and in her place the country is now headed by a supporter of neoliberal policies. In Argentina a right-wing supporter of neoliberal orthodoxy has won the government. The government of Venezuela, headed by Nicolas Maduro, is barely maintaining itself amid an economic and political crisis. Evo Morales of Bolivia has made many concessions to big capital.

Argentina and Brazil, which together with Venezuela led the No to the FTA, and gave more importance to Mercosur, are now striving to link Mercosur with the Pacific Treaty and to implement neoliberal economic policies practices that will end up putting what remains of the economies of these countries in the hands of monopoly capital.

The outlook is one of further privatization, selling out the national heritage, destruction of domestic enterprises, opening the market to capital goods and services, and the consequent increase in unemployment and precarious employment.

On the other hand, at the Seventh North American Leaders' Summit, held in Ottawa, Canada, in June, the governments of the United States, Mexico and Canada have reaffirmed the validity and necessity of the Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that they signed in 1993. At this summit pacts of various kinds were made, some of which are proposed to evaluate the targets reached by 2025.

In the context of the search for support to the recovery of growth, of promoting world trade and reaching the boom cycle of the capitalist economy, the rounds of negotiations between the US and EU have continued more systematically for a free trade treaty that would become the largest market in the world, with negative implications for many companies and jobs in Europe, since the US would enter the pact in a better position to compete and impose its goods and services.

That pact would also put Russia and China at a disadvantage.

IV. A context in which the extreme right, xenophobia and terrorism are growing

In the last five years, far-right parties have been gaining important places in the electoral processes in Europe.

In Latin America the same thing has been happening more recently, and in the United States, whatever the outcome of the upcoming elections there, the ultra-right and xenophobic discourse of Donald Trump has gained support, to the point of winning the nomination of the Republican Party for the presidency. The speech of Donald Trump is connected to the resurgence of racism in many US cities that have been the scene of racist demonstrations by the police and groups of people, but also of the reaction in protest by the minorities concerned, who have fresh in their memory the case of the murder in Ferguson, Missouri, [actually, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, Wisconsin; Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson] two years ago for racist reasons.

The National Front of Le Pen in France, UKIP [UK Independence Party] of Nigel Farage in the United Kingdom, the Danish People's Party of Kristian Thulesen. In Poland, the Law and Justice Party headed by Jaroslaw Kacynski; in Austria the Freedom Party; in the Netherlands, Sweden, and other countries, extreme right-wing parties with anti-immigrant positions have grown among the electorate.

The Progress Party in Norway and the True Finns in Finland, with similar positions, have also grown.

Although less than in the above-mentioned countries, in Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and Romania, parties with discourses full of xenophobia have also made significant gains in votes.

In some countries, for example Spain and Greece, part of the discontent created by adjustments and austerity policies of the governments have been channeled in elections towards social-democratic positions with populist overtones, such as PODEMOS and SYRIZA, which eventually ended up creating new frustrations among the broad masses and as has been shown more than once in history, are creating an environment for the development of fascism.

In the context of the difficulties of the capitalist system in strengthening the recovery of production and eventually advancing to a boom in the world economy, they are trying to blame the immigrants for the loss of jobs and casualization of wages, and in the case of those coming from Arab countries they are accused of promoting "Islamic terrorism."

It is an outstanding fact of the international situation that there is a wave of immigrants everywhere, and now most significantly in Europe, coming from Arab countries and Africa.

Also terrorism is increasingly shaking principally the important cities of the European continent.

We communists and revolutionaries must contribute to undoing the unilateral discourse on the question of immigrants and the malicious relationship that they want to make between this and terrorism.

The main cause of the flow of immigrants to the European countries and to US territory is the fact that the imperialist powers have plundered and are continuing to plunder the riches of the countries of origin of the migrants, leaving them little chance of survival, at the same time as they are promoting local and regional wars as part of the competition for the redistribution of areas of influence of the various empires and leading to the  production of weapons produced by these same imperialist companies. These are complementary factors that are forcing thousands of people into exile who are leaving their lands and homes against their will, in order to find minimum conditions of survival in other countries.

The alleged rejection of immigrants or limiting them to certain numbers, by the governments of the imperialist countries is mostly just the recognition of the difficulties of the capitalist economies. These, failing to strengthen the recovery process and not leading to a boom, cannot make use of the abundant labor which reaches it, and which instead would lead to conditions of better performance of the companies and the market.

It is the weakness of the economic process, not the defense of "national identity" nor the fear of terrorism, which is leading to the rejection of the immigrants by the governments and ruling classes.

We must denounce the relationship between the imperialist policies and terrorism. This has been encouraged by the former in certain circumstances; they have used it as a spearhead to fight regimes that at certain points have been their adversaries, or they want to tear them down for tactical or strategic reasons; or to create situations that would allow them to intervene politically and militarily in countries and regions.

Terrorism, implemented directly by their agents; or induced through third parties to create breeding ground for military interventions, has been and is a resource used by the imperialists for certain purposes.

V. The inter-imperialist contention in the Middle East

In the period since our previous Plenary, events have taken place that show in an obvious way the competition between the US and Russian empires especially for control or influence in the Middle East.

Since last July 15, the day of the attempted coup against Erdogan, the facts have changed. The policy of zero clashes with neighbors defined by the government has been left behind.

Erdogan's government has made a turn towards Russia. He has shown his willingness to fight the Islamic State in northern Syria and to contribute to the stability of that country, which pleases Russia since the Damascus government safeguards its interests.

The Turkish government proclaims that it wants peace in Syria, but it intervenes militarily in Syria’s territory under the pretext of combating the terrorism of the Islamic State.

But the real purpose of the Turkish government is to fight the Kurds of northern Syria, which it has actually been doing under cover on that pretext. For Erdogan, Kurds and the Islamic State are equal, when the reality is that there is a broad political and ideological difference between the Kurdish forces in the region and the Islamic State.

The United States supports the struggle of the Kurds, but it opposes them forming a self-governing autonomy, because actually what the US wants is for them to confront the Syrian government and become part of its overthrow.

The Kurdish cause in Turkey and northern Syria is the main issue in the anti-imperialist struggle in this region. This is the target of the Erdogan government, but it is also the target of the Russians and the US since it is a problem for both hegemonistic pretensions in an area rich in oil and other energy resources.

Hence the demand that Turkey as well as Russia and the US should withdraw from Syria and the neighboring countries is just and corresponds to the right of peoples to self-determination.

VI. The working class, the laboring masses and the peoples are resisting and fighting.

Amid the difficulties of the system, there are workers' and people’s struggles in many countries. Some take place in waves and are systematic. Others are sporadic, and in many countries are barely noticeable. Our duty as communists is to encourage these struggles, put ourselves at the head of them, and propose to lead them towards revolutionary purposes.

In Argentina, the workers and people are resisting the neoliberal policies; since the inauguration of the ultra-right government of Mauricio Macri, there have been popular struggles. Almost all important neighborhoods and plazas of the capital have been the scene of demonstrations. The struggles have made the Federal Court declare some government resolutions void by which the rates of various public services, among them gas and water, were raised.

In Argentina there is a significant resumption of popular struggles that bring together various sectors, among them and mainly workers from different areas, demanding wage increases, rehiring of those fired, an end to the criminalization of protests, respect for pensions and job security. Workers in the sports sector, the Ministry of Production, Science and Technology, of radio and television, education and commerce of the capital, the manufacture of leather and related products, among others.

The entire region of Patagonia has been undergoing popular struggles.

The broad masses in Brazil have never stopped fighting, against the policies of Dilma, and now against the government of Temer. After the coup against the government of the Workers Party, the prospects of popular struggles have broadened.

Dilma's government had supported the fiscal policies of the ultra-right, and even took up the economic policy that the banking sector demanded. This lost her popular support and left her at the mercy of the ultra-right who wanted more, who wanted everything to push forward a total neoliberal program and place the full weight of the crisis on the workers and people. For that he needed control of the whole power. So it carried out a legislative and media coup.

The popular battle has begun. Now demonstrations are taking place to defend the social and labor rights that had been won, and of course in defense of civil liberties and against the repression of course increasingly accompanied the policies of the ultra-right.

In Chile social demonstrations have also taken place. With the coming to office of the Bachelet government this process of struggle of the students and/or educators in general against the former government declined somewhat, and to some extent this created the conditions for the election victory of the current president. But again those struggles have begun to take shape.

About a million people have been participating in different locations and times, but in a single process of struggle against bad and expensive education; in rejecting restrictions on civil liberties; the resistance of the Mapuches who are demanding recognition as a nation; against the deficit in public health; against the miserly pensions managed by private financial companies and a broad rejection of the policies of extraction of mineral and energy resources that irreversibly damage nature.

The same is happening in Colombia. While the international news has emphasized first the negotiations and then the peace agreements between the Colombian government and the FARC, the struggles of various social sectors for their immediate demands and rights in that country have not ceased. The workers in the coal mines of Cerrejon in La Guajira are fighting for wages and labor rights; the teachers, especially in Cauca, have been carrying out a process of struggle with strike demonstrations, demanding better health services and other demands; while the struggle of peasants for land, credit and agricultural insurance has added up to more than 10 thousand people.

In Ecuador in the past two years, the mass struggle has been moving increasingly, to the point that it can be said that this fact, and its results has forced President Correa to withdraw as a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections. The days of struggles have been systematic and forceful.

In Ecuador, the working class, the laboring people general and the peasants have been fighting for their particular rights and demands; but also in defense of the natural resources and against repression.

In this context, and in retaliation, the Correa government has issued Decree 016 with which it "dissolves" the National Union of Educators (UNE), and then militarily seized its headquarters. It is also carrying out a tenacious persecution against the "Simon Bolivar" University of the Andes.

Far from stopping the struggle, these repressive actions of the government are contributing to pushing it forward.

Mexico is also the scene of a revival of the popular struggle. The teachers in alliance with popular sectors are continuing to fight to reject the proposal for educational reform proposed by the government of Peña Nieto, which, among other things, seeks [to overturn?] school autonomy, that is, that schools search for "motu proprio" solution to their problems, and may even appeal to private enterprise for that purpose.

Demonstrations and strikes are constantly taking place in various parts of the country, each time involving about 15 thousand people actively in the streets.

The fight is uniting a broad range of social sectors seeking to bar the way to the proposed education reform formulated by the government; they are demanding justice for the disappeared of Ayotzinapa; they are rejecting authoritarianism and government repression.

The people of Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean, are taking part in a rise in the anti-colonial struggle, pushed forward by the decision of finance capital to hold the country and people in trust to cover the foreign debt.

The people of Borinquén are resisting the decision that a Special Commission appointed by finance capital and authorized by the US State Department to take control of all collection agencies in the country, which decides how much of the proceeds will be dedicated to the budget for public spending by the government, and above all, how much will be dedicated to the payment of the external debt.

This is ignorance on the part of Yankee imperialism of its own colonial government on the island and beyond this it is appointing a commission that will administer the collection agencies and decide the amount of government spending.

This is like what the US Marines did when they intervened in the Dominican Republic in 1916, when they took control of customs to collect the debt that the Dominican government had contracted with US banks.

In Puerto Rico there is a struggle against this new colonialist modality.

France and Europe on general. The working class and the peoples of Europe are resisting the onslaught of capital and its governments and they are fighting to maintain their social gains and achieve others. The highest level of fighting has taken place in France, where the protest action of the working class and the people in general has had an extraordinary impact. For days and increasingly, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets and plazas against the labor reform imposed by the government, which would allow the employers to fire workers, restrict wages and employment benefits for any reason.

As in almost all of Europe, the French government is seeking a respite for the weak development of its economy by limiting the rights of the working class and placing the problems on the people in general.

The response has been the mass struggle. Even in the midst of holding the European Football Championship and all that this diversion, the laboring masses remained in the streets, and the police had to intervene with different repressive measures in order to disperse or control the protesters.

And just as in France, in Italy, Spain, Germany and England the protests of the working class and the people in general have taken place continuously in almost all cities, although at a lower level, although they are not spread by the media controlled by the bourgeoisie.

In Africa

VII. A challenging conclusion: we need more communist parties, to strengthen the existing ones and be more involved in the organization and the struggles of the working class and broad masses.

Amid the social difficulties that create the problems of the economy and the competition among the empires, the masses of workers and laborers are either won over to counter-revolutionary positions, or they are won over to revolutionary change.

We must recognize that faced with the positions of the right-wing and the ultra-conservatives, and those of reformism, in general we are lacking. We have not capitalized on the difficulties that capitalism is placing on the backs of the working class and the broad masses in general.

This recognition should encourage us to work harder in building new parties and in strengthening existing ones, to draw the broad masses and the workers away from the influence of reformism and populism, and to bar the way to the ultra-right and the danger that the situation will lead to the hegemony of fascism.

This is a concrete question of the first order, to which the ICMLPO should pay principal attention. We need to develop the existing Marxist-Leninist parties.

We need to create new Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations.

The theoretical question of the Communist Party has been fundamentally resolved for hundreds of years; what has not yet been resolved is the practice in many countries.

The pushing forward of the workers’ struggles, of the laborers and peoples, is the appropriate way to develop our parties, to contact future communists and train them as leaders. The communists at the head of each worker and popular struggle must be our orientation at this time.

A communist at the head of each protest. No matter the level of development of our parties; nor who the leaders at a certain time in the processes of struggle; no matter how many take part in these struggles; the important thing is to be in them, trying to win the leadership and hegemony with our ideas and practical disposition. To fight for the leadership of the struggle of the masses from reformism, opportunism and revisionism, this is the practical question.

For the ICMLPO what should matter is the finding, establishing and/or forging of a small nucleus of people interested in communism, or a communist tendency in a trade union, whether it is large, medium, or small, and even within another party whatever it may be; or a school of people studying or concerned with Marxism-Leninism, better if they are young and from the working class. This has to be a central task for those countries where we still have no communist organization or party. We must look for the large one, but take the small one as well.

The seminars of trade unionists, the one in Quito, the regional meetings of Marxist-Leninist and revolutionary parties, the meetings of women, the youth camps, the experience of the international school of the Ecuadorian comrades, the beginning experience that some fraternal parties took up of internships, can and should be generalized and brought to countries where there is still no organic expression of the MLs. Any other initiative that arises. All, without exception, must put the main interest in helping the emergence and development of new Marxist-Leninist communist parties.

August, 2016

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