Escalating the struggle is now the only way forward: Greek Communist leader

Dimitris Koutsoumbas at the protests -- image via the KKE

D. Koutsoumbas: Escalating the struggle is now the only way forward

On 6 and 7 December, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), visited the region of Thessaly where thousands of farmers have blocked the main highways at three points with their tractors. The GS of the CC of the KKE visited the farmers’ roadblocks in Larissa and Karditsa, where he was welcomed by the protesting farmers.

Arriving at the farmers’ roadblock in Nikaia, Larissa, he made the following statement: “We are here precisely because we support the just struggle of farmers throughout Greece, and here in Thessaly, because it is a struggle with legitimate demands. We agree with everything that the National Committee of the farmers’ Roadblocks has put forward. We agree with the forms of struggle chosen by the farmers themselves, because it is their decision, through collective processes, to maintain the roadblocks and ensure that this struggle is successful. And, of course, to open up prospects for this region, because it is being ruined, because Greek farmers, the breadwinners, are being driven away from their land, from their villages. These issues are at the heart of the KKE’s policy. We are asking questions in Parliament, and we will continue to do so. Above all, we will be on the streets of struggle. Hold on tight!”.

On 6 December, D. Koutsoumbas spoke at a large political rally in the city of Tirnavos, located about 20 kilometres from Larissa, where the mayor is a communist — one of six municipalities in the country where communist mayors were elected in the last municipal elections.

Speaking at the rally, the GS of the CC of the KKE once again made clear the KKE’s practical support for the mass uprising of toiling farmers and livestock breeders who are fighting for survival.

He noted that the New Democracy government refuses to meet the demands of the poor farmers because it represents the interests of large agricultural capitalist exploiters, the industrialists, the big exporters, all those who benefit from the EU’s CAP, which is methodically wiping out toiling farmers and livestock breeders, concentrating land in a few hands.

He referred to the increased production costs for small producers, who demand from the government tax-free fuel and guaranteed prices for agricultural products. The government refuses to meet these demands in the name of the “free market”, but at the same time gives tax-free fuel to shipowners to increase their profitability, while also giving guaranteed minimum electricity prices to renewable energy monopolies. Furthermore, it refuses to vaccinate animals and instead proceeds to kill them and destroy livestock farmers so as not to harm the interests of the monopolies that export Greek feta cheese.

“The farmers’ just struggle needs to target this policy even more decisively and militantly”, he noted.

Referring more generally to Thessaly and the Larissa region, he added that “the whole of Thessaly has been transformed into a hub for military and war industry planning. Larissa is the nerve centre of NATO in Greece. The 110th Combat Wing is home to US unmanned aircraft, which participate in espionage and attack missions in the Balkans, the Black Sea and the Middle East.

Over the last 2.5 years, Larissa’s involvement has extended as far as the Red Sea, 3,500 kilometers away, as the First Army is home to the operational headquarters of the EU military mission ‘Aspides’.”

Koutsoumbas noted that “it is unacceptable that the people will pay €30 billion over the next few years for equipment that has nothing to do with the country’s defence or the protection of its sovereign rights. They are calling on the people to sacrifice their needs, to prepare to sacrifice even their children tomorrow on the battlefields, so that the imperialists can resolve their differences in the struggle for territory, spheres of influence, natural resources, energy and commodity transport routes; so that they can achieve a temporary revival of the capitalist economy, in the hope of postponing the next capitalist economic crisis, which will inevitably come. (...)

We insist that workers, the people and the youth can make their mark on developments by strengthening the struggle to disengage the country from imperialist wars and plans; for the closure of all US-NATO bases in Greece, and for all units, soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces to return home from missions abroad.”

Speaking about the political proposal of the KKE, he noted that: “There is a way out of this vicious circle, and it lies in confronting capital, the state and its power. In the disengagement of Greece from the EU and NATO, with the people at the helm of power and their contemporary needs guiding the organization of the economy. In the real popular prosperity and the development of friendly and mutually beneficial relations with all neighbouring peoples.

The KKE documents in its programme that the people can live much better based on today’s possibilities. Because central scientific planning of social production, social ownership, and the working class and the people truly in power, i.e., socialism, will ensure for producers:

- Very low prices for raw materials, free scientific and technical support from specialized agronomists and veterinarians, access to modern equipment, protection from natural disasters, guaranteed prices and guaranteed absorption of production by the state, eliminating middlemen and capitalist supermarket chains that currently profit at the expense of farmers, livestock breeders, and consumers.

- Exclusively public, free healthcare and education for farmers and their families, and will provide them with the necessary infrastructure, such as irrigation projects, roads, processing centres, and ports, based on a plan for the development of production throughout the country.

The solution to today’s pressing problems can be found through an alliance of workers, farmers, and self-employed to overthrow capitalism, ensuring a life free from exploitation and imperialist wars for all, with dignity and social prosperity, as befits the 21st century.”

For more photos see: Escalating the struggle is now the only way forward