This is the 80th. anniversary of the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.
Bombings that instantly caused around 200,000 deaths and left an unspeakable trail of destruction and suffering. A heinous crime against Humanity that absolutely nothing can justify, but which the US tried to excuse with the false argument of defeating Japan, when Japan was already militarily defeated and when in fact it was a demonstration of US military power and its aim of imposing US hegemony on the world.
Remembering the nuclear holocaust of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a duty of remembrance, but it is above all an opportunity to reaffirm the imperative duty to fight to ensure that such a tragedy is never repeated, at a time when the arms race rushes unbridled and when the horror and suffering that Israeli Zionism and US imperialism are inflicting on the Palestinian people confirms that, in order to impose its interests, imperialism is capable of the most heinous crimes, and that only the struggle of the workers and the peoples can force them to back down.
Whilst at the same time, it is necessary to defend historical truth, it is imperative to firmly and courageously combat the overwhelming propaganda campaign of militarism and war, of the normalisation of fascism and even the trivialisation of the use of nuclear weapons. It is necessary to persist in unmasking US imperialism, which wants to impose its totalitarian hegemony on the world and which, having been the only country so far to resort to the use of nuclear weapons, is the main culprit in the worsening international situation and the real danger of a war of unforeseen proportions. In this context, the decisions of the recent NATO and European Union summits on the brutal increase in military spending demanded by the Trump administration are particularly serious.
Signalling yet another anniversary of the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the PCP confirms its strong commitment to the struggle for disarmament, for a political solution to conflicts, of respect for the UN Charter and in defence of the principles enshrined in the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on European Security and Cooperation, which this year celebrates its 50th. anniversary.
The PCP points out that the militarist escalation is accompanied by an attack on labour rights and other fundamental rights and by the whitewashing and promotion of the extreme right. And it emphasises that the struggle for disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, is inseparable from anti-imperialist solidarity, which at the current moment means boosting the struggle for an end to Israel's genocidal terrorist aggression against the Palestinian people and the recognition of their independent and sovereign State, a central factor for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
The PCP condemns Portugal's policy of submission to the dictates of the US, NATO and the EU and demands that the government respect the Constitution of the Republic, which compels the Portuguese State to pursue a policy of national independence and of peace and friendship with all peoples.
