Speech delivered to the rally by Comrade Agim Popa

Speech delivered to the rally by Comrade Agim Popa, head of the delegation of the Central Committee of the Party of Labor of Albania

Dear Comrades,

It is a special joy for us to have the opportunity to be here today among you to bring to you the ardent greetings of the Albanian communists on the occasion of the marked event, the 10th anniversary of the founding of the sister Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist).

Binding the Party of Labor of Albania and the Albanian communists with the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and the Canadian Marxist-Leninists is a sincere internationalist friendship, based on the struggle for the common ideals of Marxism-Leninism and socialism, on the common struggle against imperialism, social-imperialism, modern revisionism and reaction.

With interest and the sentiments of fraternal solidarity, the Party of Labor of Albania, the working class of our country and the Albanian people have always followed the revolutionary struggle and efforts of the Communist Party of Canada (M-L), the proletariat, the working people and the progressive forces of Canada against the monopoly bourgeoisie and capitalist exploitation, for the defense of the legitimate rights of the working people, for the progressive ideals, for genuine national sovereignty, for the triumph of socialism. The struggle of the Communist Party of Canada (M-L) and its resolute stands against American imperialism and Soviet and Chinese social-imperialism, against modern revisionism of all shades and the reactionary forces in the world are known in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania and enjoy the complete support of the Albanian communists and people.

The Canadian working class has outstanding traditions of revolutionary struggle. The betrayal of the modern revisionists, who abandoned the ideals of the revolution and socialism and transformed the former communist parties from revolutionary parties of the proletariat into "bourgeois-worker parties" to undermine the revolutionary movement and to perpetuate capitalism, in Canada, too, brought about great damage to the working class and its struggle. But the violence of the bourgeoisie, its demagogy and the revisionist poison have never been able and never will be able to extinguish the revolutionary aspirations and spirit of the Canadian proletariat. The founding of the Communist Party of Canada (M-L) ten years ago, its struggle for democracy, genuine national independence and socialism are clear evidence of the fact that the great ideals of the struggle for the liquidation of all exploitation of man by man, for the building of the new world without exploiters and oppressors, the socialist world, have always been kept alive in the working class and the working people of Canada, that the Canadian proletariat is with each passing day becoming more and more conscious of its historic mission, that the ideas of Marxism-Leninism are invincible. This struggle is a constituent part of the chain of the revolutionary and liberation movement in the world, therefore the Albanian communists and people fully support it.

Dear Comrades,

The Albanian communists, the working class and the entire people, too, are fighting with all their might to build up, strengthen and defend socialist society. Last November, our people drew the balance sheet of the magnificent victories they have scored during the 35 years of socialist Albania under the unflinching Marxist-Leninist leadership of the Party of Labor of Albania with Comrade Enver Hoxha at the head. Last year too, our Party and people celebrated the outstanding jubilee, the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Marxist-Leninist and revolutionary, J.V. Stalin, while this year we will commemorate the 110th anniversary of the birth of the leader of genius of the world proletariat, V.I. Lenin.

Our country has now gotten down to work for the realization of the tasks of 1980, which is the last year of the sixth five-year plan. During the four years of the current five-year plan important successes have been achieved in all the fields of socialist construction. During this period of time, too, a general characteristic has also been all-round progress, uninterrupted development in every branch and sector of the economy, culture, the defense of the country. The importance of the achievements of socialist Albania, especially over these last four years, clearly emerges if we take into consideration, on the one hand, the profound crisis which has powerfully gripped the capitalist-revisionist world with all its destructive consequences such as decline in the rates of production, unemployment, inflation, etc., while on the other hand, the outstanding difficulties our people have had to overcome during these years, caused by the imperialist-revisionist encirclement and blockade, by the Chinese sabotage and the immediate severance of all credits and supplies from China, which also left many projects and objects incomplete, as well as by the destructive earthquake of April 15 last year. But, irrespective of this, the targets of the four years of the current five-year plan have been fulfilled with success, while the results of 1979, the first year without any aid and credit from abroad, are the highest ones recorded as against any previous year of the five-year plan. Socialist Albania was not subjugated, as the Chinese and other revisionists thought, nor will it ever be subjugated; it does not and will never stretch its hand to anybody, but under the unflinching Marxist- Leninist leadership of the Party of Labor of Albania, totally relying on its own forces, it forges only forward. Today, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania is the only country in the world which knows neither crisis, nor decline in the rates of production, neither unemployment, nor price rises, but only stability, progress and an uninterrupted rise in the standard of living of the people. In regard to the damage of the April 15 earthquake, this was liquidated within a mere five months, without any foreign aid and without the slightest decline in the rates of the fulfillment of the tasks in various branches of the economy.

At present, on the basis of the achievements scored over the years of the current five-year plan, work has begun in Albania for the drafting of the seventh five-year plan, which will open up new and broader vistas and which will lay down other bold tasks for the further development in all fields of the complete construction of socialism. The fundamental feature of the new five-year plan, which is being drafted with the direct and active participation of the broad working masses, as an expression of their conscience and will, under the leadership of the Party, is that it will be the first five-year plan which we are drafting and will totally implement relying only on our own forces, without any foreign credits. The Albanian people are firmly convinced that the new five-year plan, too, will be realized and that this will be further outstanding evidence of the vitality of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism and the genuine socialist order.

These successes and all the victories achieved by socialist Albania during the 35 years of its existence, constitute a valuable historic experience which shows that not only in the major countries, as was the Soviet Union in the time of Lenin and Stalin, but also in a small country faced with an imperialist-revisionist encirclement like Albania, it is entirely possible after the overthrow of the exploiting order and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, to construct socialism and defend it from the efforts of internal and external enemies, relying on its own forces, and to carry forward the uninterrupted socialist revolution unceasingly, and block the roads to the danger of retrogression into capitalism, if it is led by an unflinching genuine proletarian party, like the Party of Labor of Albania with Comrade Enver Hoxha at the head, which is implementing the teachings of Marxism-Leninism faithfully and creatively and which powerfully unites around itself the working class and all the working people with its correct revolutionary policy.

Comrades,

We are living at a time when the revolution and national liberation of the peoples are not just an aspiration and a future prospect, but when they have been put on the agenda as a problem taken up for solution. What characterizes our time is the extension and the deepening of the world revolutionary and liberation process, which is no longer divided into a definite front and rear area or completely "calm" areas, zones without revolutionary upheavals, where the bourgeois and imperialist domination is stable and safe.

The triumphant anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution in Iran, which toppled the hated medieval dynasty of the Pahlavis and shook the positions of American and world imperialism like an earthquake in the whole area of the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, as well as the revolutionary outbursts in Nicaragua and elsewhere, show that even though they have a powerful economic potential and are armed to the teeth with the most up-to-date means of war and oppression, imperialism and the superpowers and their puppets are not in a position to subjugate the peoples, no matter whether they are big or small, when the latter are determined to fight selflessly through to the end and make every sacrifice for their freedom and independence, for the defense of their rights.

But the revolution is not a spontaneous or accidental process. The creation, consolidation and development of the genuine Marxist-Leninist parties, which have taken up and raised aloft the banner of Marxism-Leninism and the revolution, betrayed and thrown aside by the revisionists, clearly shows that, apart from the maturing of the objective conditions, the necessary subjective conditions are gradually being created for the revolution. In his book Imperialism and the Revolution, Comrade Enver Hoxha writes: "On them devolves the burden of opposing the glorious Leninist strategy of the revolution, the great theory of Marxism-Leninism, to the global strategy of world imperialism and revisionism. On them devolves the burden of making the masses fully conscious of the objectives and the right road of the struggle and the Sacrifices it demands, of uniting, organizing, guiding and leading them to victory."

What characterizes the Marxist-Leninists is the unflinching principled position in their stand towards imperialism and its enslaving, expansionist and warmongering policy, too, in particular towards American imperialism and Soviet social-imperialism, which are today the biggest and the most ferocious enemies of socialism, the revolution and the freedom-loving peoples, the main bastions of world capitalism and reaction, as well as towards Chinese social-imperialism, which has completely joined in the game of the superpowers and, in alliance with American imperialism, is carrying out a dangerous subversive, counter-revolutionary and warmongering activity.

The hostile economic and military blockade of American imperialism against Iran, together with the military fascist occupation of Afghanistan on the part of Soviet social-imperialism and the efforts of China for hegemony in Southeast Asia and other areas of the world are open and very dangerous acts of aggression, which are directed against the cause of the revolution and freedom of the peoples the world over. Everywhere, in the Middle and Far East, in Africa, Latin America and Europe, in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, in the Mediterranean and Northern Seas, the rivalry among the imperialist superpowers for expansion, markets, spheres of influence and strategic zones has become extremely acute, menacing countries and peoples, while the unprecedented armaments race they are conducting is leading the world towards a new general slaughter. Under these conditions and circumstances, the duty of the Marxist-Leninists, the revolutionaries and all the progressive and peace-loving peoples is to powerfully and constantly expose these dangerous acts, continually enhance their vigilance and raise the broad masses of the working people and the peoples into an active struggle to stay the hand of the imperialist and social-imperialist aggressors, enslavers and war mongers, to restrain their military adventures and, in case they erupt, hurl themselves into the revolution to overthrow that hated order which gives rise to exploitation, oppression and destructive wars. The only correct stand which leads to salvation is determined blow for blow struggle against all the superpowers and not illusions or reliance on one or the other superpower or shelter under their umbrella.

In the context of the efforts for the preparation of the subjective factor of the revolution, of special importance today is the struggle of the Marxist-Leninists against modern revisionism of all shades -- Yugoslav and Soviet, "Eurocommunist" and Chinese -- because the revisionists are the most dangerous agency of the bourgeoisie and imperialism, firemen of the revolution, even sometimes, as the great Lenin said, better defenders of the bourgeois domination than the bourgeoisie itself. Without exposing and smashing modern revisionism of no matter what trend, without divorcing the working class and the masses of the people from the poisonous and counter-revolutionary influence of revisionism, there can be no talk of the proletarian revolution and the triumph of socialism.

In the common struggle against capitalist exploitation, against American and world imperialism, Soviet and Chinese social-imperialism, modern revisionism of all shades, reaction, fascism and the danger of war, to carry forward the cause of the revolution and the freedom and independence of the peoples, of democracy and socialism, according to the immortal teachings of Marxism-Leninism, the great internationalist unity of the Marxist-Leninists is born, grows stronger and is tempered from day to day, and this is one of the important sources of our strength in the face of the front of the enemies.

Long live the militant friendship and internationalist unity between the Party of Labor of Albania and the Communist Party of Canada (M-L), between the Albanian communists and the Canadian Marxist-Leninists and revolutionaries, between the working class and peoples of Albania and Canada!

Glory to Marxism-Leninism!

(Reprinted from People's Canada Daily News, organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), March 31, 1980.)