Image via the Communists of Catalonia
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We celebrate the 3rd Congress of Comunistes de Catalunya in a historical moment marked by a civilizational crisis, which we can define as an eco-social crisis, stemming from the capitalist system’s need for indefinite growth and its inability to guarantee basic living standards for the population. Every day, the connections between phenomena related to the climate emergency and social exclusion, growing inequalities, impoverishment, hunger, malnutrition, and migration become more evident worldwide. The severity of the ecological crisis cannot be explained without linking it to the economic activity of accumulation and dispossession by power groups. In this context, the living conditions of the working class and popular sectors are increasingly under threat.
This is, therefore, a moment of rupture, in which multiple crises manifest simultaneously. The fight against climate change and the denialist reaction—often practically aimed at protecting the generation of capital profits—is one of these crises. Another is the development of the current phase of capitalism, financial and speculative in nature, which maintains the fundamental contradiction between capital and labor, expressing it in a new form: the opposition between renter capitalism and an increasingly impoverished social majority. Similarly, the patriarchal backlash against the advances achieved by organized feminism illustrates how the patriarchy structures inherent to capitalism resist at this moment of tension. Another key element of this moment of rupture is the emergence of new fascisms, which vary in form depending on the context but share a common goal: disciplining the working class and popular sectors during this phase of rupture, where increasingly broader layers of the population find themselves at their limit.
This moment of rupture is occurring on a global scale, with the decline of the international liberal order becoming evident, as seen in the waning power of U.S. imperialism and the diminishing influence of its European allies. What we know as the "West" can no longer impose its will across the globe, although it still maintains oppression in many countries. At the same time, the growing leadership of China and the increasing prominence of the BRICS members are shaping the new international era. This phase of profound change in international relations towards a new model is marked by war and the rise of the far right, which champions the maintenance of Western dominance and privilege.
The transition to a new multilateral order will not be easy, nor smooth, nor peaceful. Moreover, its characteristics remain to be seen. At present, we find ourselves in a moment of great instability, with a clear risk of escalating conflicts. In this context, the European Union once again aligns itself subordinated to the U.S., acting as an accomplice to war atrocities and the subjugation of peoples to the interests of capital. The genocide perpetrated by the State of Israel in Gaza is an even graver manifestation of Israeli oppression and colonization of the Palestinian people, facilitated by the complicity and inaction of international institutions—a clear example of the phase we are in. For communists, internationalist solidarity and support for the Palestinian people and their freedom are non-negotiable. The fight for peace and the sovereignty of peoples, the battle against the far right, and the struggle against colonialism and imperialism today hinge on unwavering support for Palestine.
After the fall of real socialism and the supposed "end of history," capitalism has been presented as the only possible system. However, throughout history, capitalism has proven to be an oppressive system, one that generates extreme inequalities and is incompatible with the well-being of the working class, the peasantry, and other popular sectors. It is incompatible with the development and sovereignty of peoples and, as has been evident for decades, incompatible with the planet's physical limits.
For years, the left as a whole has been unable to articulate an alternative model to the existing one, except for the revolutionary or transformational processes in Latin America. In response to this, we communists take on the challenge of imagining a better world and proposing an alternative utopia—understood as something achievable, a horizon towards which we must decisively advance. To this end, we must learn from the legacy of communists who preceded us in the struggle and from the revolutionary experience of the working class and popular sectors worldwide, using the tools that Marxism offers to understand and act within the class struggle. To outline this alternative, we must ground ourselves in concepts such as democracy—a real democracy with a class perspective—economic planning, and social justice to address the democratic and planned management of global resource reduction and the just development of peoples. This horizon must place humanity on the path to liberation from the yoke of capitalism, the construction of socialism, and ultimately achieving a classless society.
As the communist party of Catalunya, a national and class-based party, it is our duty to offer society a country project in which the working class and popular sectors take center stage. It is through our roots in the class and the nation, coupled with collective militant effort, that we can define the Catalan Republic of social, economic, and cultural rights. We communists rely on the dialectical and materialist analysis of reality and propose a country model with a majority-oriented vocation to respond to the current situation, in line with the proposed alternative and the defined horizon. This Catalan Republic model must be based on the idea of a one single people and the collective attainment of rights, which will serve as the foundation for the national construction of the country.
A Republic model designed to meet the current needs of the working class and popular sectors by eradicating the renter model of capitalism at its roots and building a more just and egalitarian economic system. The Catalan Republic of rights must address the challenges before us, such as developing a new material culture of life, deepening sovereignty and democracy, exercising the right to self-determination, combating the far right, fighting the structures of cisheteropatriarchy oppression, and building a society respectful of the natural environment and its limits. The Catalan Republic of rights must be a step forward towards the defined horizon, laying the foundation to begin Catalunya's path to socialism.
To build this project, it is essential to profoundly question the current model of European integration and the Spanish state as we have known it until now. In Spain, a republican horizon of sovereignty and transformation is necessary, which entails dismantling the Spanish state, initiating a deep democratization process, and rebuilding it on new foundations. The formation of Spain as a liberal state in the 19th century, deeply centralized, concentrating power in an elite, and shielded from the people, its diverse nations, and colonies, consolidated a model that the Transition pacts reaffirmed, formalizing the role of the new renter elite—born out of the Spanish Civil War and four decades of fascist dictatorship—within the new regime.
Over the last two centuries, any emancipatory project in Spain has recognized the necessity of deconstructing the state and completely reshaping it to succeed. Therefore, every republican and confederal project, or a federal model in its most profound sense—that implies a pact among sovereign entities—must establish this shared horizon of structural change, democratization, sovereignty, and republican construction. This must be inseparably linked to the exercise of the right to self-determination of the peoples that make up the state. The territorial and national question are intrinsic elements of the Spanish state as it stands today and must be dismantled during its deep democratization, as a key aspect of the structural changes to be made. Advancing decisively in social and national emancipation processes will create common ground for strategic alliances between sovereignist and independentist leftist forces and state-wide leftist movements to break the shackles of the 1978 regime. This is what we have called Horizon 2031, taking this year as a reference, marking the centenary of the Second Republic and potentially serving as a catalyst for the process.
The path marked by the country project and the defined strategy represents the way to go on the offensive against the 1978 regime's crisis and prevent it from being resolved by the right, with cuts to rights and recentralization serving the interests of the bourgeoisie, financial capital, and state powers. At this moment, sovereignist and independentist leftist forces are best positioned to lead this offensive and forge alliances within the Horizon 2031 framework. In Catalunya, this cycle necessitates more than ever a broad or popular front approach to confront the state’s conservative backlash, the consolidation of the PSC [Socialist Party of Catalonia - social democrats] as an order-oriented party central to the political landscape, and Junts return to the politics of the old Convergència [note of the translation: bourgeois Catalan nationalist party], with the evident risk of a “sociovergència” alliance. The best way to advance a policy that resists the forces of order is to continue building a Democratic and Social Front, bringing together the different expressions of the sovereignist left in the political, social, and cultural spheres, among others. Ultimately, the central role in the struggle for national construction from the left rests with the sovereignist left.
For all these reasons, Comunistes de Catalunya reaffirms the importance and centrality of the party in responding to the needs of the working class and popular sectors, implementing a new country model, and defining an alternative horizon to overcome capitalism. As the communist party of Catalunya, we are clear about our purpose: to defend life and build socialism.
Translation released December 20, 2024
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