Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution of 1917 and of the first Socialist State, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was born on April 22, 1870. To mark the 155th anniversary of his birth and to recall his role and that of his Party in the emancipatory struggle of the workers and peoples of the whole world is a duty of remembrance, but it is above all a cause for inspiration and confidence in the present-day struggle for the revolutionary overcoming of Capitalism, against Imperialism and against war, for democracy, social progress, peace and Socialism.

In evoking Lenin we recall that the founding of the PCP with its revolutionary goals, being the creation of the Portuguese workers' movement, owes much to Lenin and to the impact in Portugal and throughout the world of the first victorious Socialist revolution.

In evoking Lenin, we stress the current relevance of the revolutionary theory which guided his “Bolshevik” party in the insurrection that overthrew Czarism and led to the conquest of power by the alliance of workers and peasants. A theory that explains the world and indicates how to transform it and which, having been founded by Marx and Engels, went down in history as Marxism-Leninism as a result of its creative development by Lenin in the epoch of Imperialism.

In evoking Lenin we recall the determination, courage and creativity with which he faced the greatest obstacles on the path of revolution and his boundless confidence, even at times when all seemed lost, in the strength of the struggle by the workers and the masses of the people and in the vanguard role of the Communist Party.

In evoking Lenin we evoke his steadfast class position and his firm struggle against both right opportunism and left dogmatism, always identifying the enemy and the main task at every phase and stage of the struggle, and defining the corresponding alliances or convergences of the working class, even if limited and transient, without ever losing sight of the supreme goal of building a society without exploiters or exploited people.

In evoking Lenin we recall the consistent internationalist, the uncompromising fighter against Imperialism and against war, the founder of the world Communist movement with the creation of the Third International, the Communist International, and the historical contribution of the October Revolution, with the example of the Soviet power’s first achievements, to the working-class movement in the capitalist countries and to the National Liberation Movement.

In evoking Lenin we are evoking the creator of the first revolutionary Party of a “new type” which, based on a Marxist analysis of the specific situation of Czarist Russia and, on the world level, of the highest stage of Capitalism, was the clear-sighted interpreter of the most heartfelt aspirations of the working masses, first of all peace and land, and became the vanguard that led them to power.

Lenin bequeathed to the workers and peoples of the whole world a lofty example of life and a unique body of work that was written in the heat of the struggle and which aimed, with a concrete analysis of the concrete situation, to respond to the issues in the development of the struggle itself. Among others, works such as "What is to be done?”, “Two tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution”, “ ‘Left-wing’ Communism: an infantile disorder”, “Materialism and Empirio-criticism”, “The State and Revolution”, "Imperialism, the highest stage of Capitalism", when read and studied taking into account their historical context, continue to be factors of inspiration for the struggle today. Lenin's life and work contains experiences and lessons of universal value.

Of course, the USSR, the workers’ and peasants' State founded by Lenin, no longer exists. But this immense leap backwards in the liberating process does not erase the reality that the great civilizational advances of the Twentieth Century are indissolubly linked to the October Revolution – those “Ten days that shook the world” –, to its unprecedented achievements and to the role of the Soviet Union in international affairs, in which looms large the victory over Nazi-fascism, whose 80th anniversary is celebrated this year. Nor does it call into question the possibility and necessity of Socialism. On the contrary. Capitalism’s deepening structural crisis and the immense dangers arising from the attempts by Imperialism to reverse its declining influence on the world stage objectively make the revolutionary overcoming of Capitalism more necessary and relevant than ever.

The memory of Lenin urges us to persevere courageously in the struggle for a society of equality and social justice, to rely on the invincible strength of the struggle of the workers and the people, to kindle the strengthening of the Party and of its links with the masses, to foment the struggle against militarism and war, and to contribute to the necessary strengthening of the world Communist and revolutionary movement and of the anti-imperialist front.

Giving continuity to Lenin’s momentous legacy, the PCP remains confidently and deeply committed to the struggle to defend the rights, interests and aspirations of the workers and people of Portugal, for a break with right-wing policies, for a patriotic and left-wing alternative that may pave the way to solving the country's problems, for an advanced democracy with the values of April in the future of Portugal, for Socialism and Communism.