On the 60th Anniversary of the Victory over Nazi-Fascism -To struggle for peace and defend national sovereignty
The commemorations of the 60th Anniversary of the Victory over Nazi-Fascism hold a particular importance and meaning. It is the necessary and deserved evocation of one of the most remarkable events of the 20th century, of its victims, its heroes and leading figures. In the present international context of imperialist aggressiveness, this should be an occasion for reflection and debate on the international framework in which World War II broke, valorising the role of the Liberation forces, opposing any attempts to revise History and whitewash the fascist crimes, unmasking the manipulation of this occasion to justify and continue today the imperialist strategy of planetary domination, which is once again leading the world to the abyss.
The PCP stresses the importance of remembering the horrors of the War, with its more than 50 million dead and terrible destructions and sufferings. Crimes like those committed in the Nazi concentration camps or the launching of the atom bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be forgotten. At the same time, the PCP stresses the importance that in our days holds the disclosure of the realities that the dominating ideology tries to question, hide or even subvert: the causes of World War II and its imperialist and anti-communist nature; of fascism and Nazism as the shock troops of big monopolist capital, the surrender of the bourgeoisie and its governments to the fascist offensive, from the Spanish Civil War to the Munich betrayal; the role of the communists, of the working class movement and the working masses in the popular and armed resistance against the fascist occupation and in the fight against the war; the socialist USSR, the Soviet people and the Red Army as determining factors in the Victory; the United Nations Charter and UN itself as an expression of the new order, essentially peaceful and anti-fascist, resulting from the defeat of Nazi-Fascism and Japanese militarism.
60 years after, following the disappearance of the USSR, the defeats of socialism in Eastern Europe and the weakening of the forces of social progress and peace, once again Humanity faces huge dangers. The worsening of the crisis of capitalism; the striking injustices and inequalities caused by the capitalist globalisation; the violent attack against the workers’ movement and their conquests; the exacerbation of the repressive functions of the state, the increasing attacks on the fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees and the systematic use of humiliating tortures; the advancement of obscurantism, racism, xenophobia and fascism; the systematic resort by the US and other great powers to aggression and war against sovereign countries; the trivialization of the possibility of even resorting to nuclear arms – all this brings about great concerns and stresses the actuality of the fundamental lessons of the events of 60 years ago.
In view of the worsening of the aggressive policy of imperialism, the US persistence in its strategy of planetary domination and the hesitations and commitments by social-democracy with militarism and war, the PCP appeals to the workers and the Portuguese people, to the unitary organisations and the social movements, to strengthen the peace movement, consequent and intervening, against imperialism and war and solidarity with the peoples who, like the peoples of Iraq, Palestine, Cuba or Venezuela, are at the frontline of the anti-imperialist combat.
The PCP confirms its longstanding commitment to an independent, patriotic foreign policy, firmly guided towards the defence of the sovereignty and independence of Portugal. Only such a policy, based upon the spirit and the letter of the April Constitution and the informed mobilization of the Portuguese people, can defend and ensure the lawful interests of Portugal and the Portuguese and contribute for the construction of a safer, more peaceful, more equitable and fairer world.
The PCP draws attention to the fact that we are commemorating this date with the threat of the institutionalization, in the European Union, of the militarist and aggressive component, through the so-called “European Constitution”, and thus demands that the government and the President of the Republic ensure the conditions for a real national debate and warns the Portuguese people against the fraud constituted by the announced coincidence of the referendum with the municipal elections.
The PCP, while paying the deserved homage to those who suffered, perished under the horrors of World War II, and namely all those who fought against Nazi-Fascism, points out the courage, the determination, the daring and the confidence of many who, even when it seemed that the black wave of fascism would wipe out everything in its wake, never gave up or faltered in the struggle to free the world from chaos and barbarity.
