Czech and Slovak RCI congress: we will not be silenced by ruling class’ ‘communism ban’!

On 12-13 July, around 30 comrades gathered in Brno for the Fourth Congress of Komunistická Avantgarda, the Czech and Slovak organisation of the RCI. Delegates from across the Czech Republic and Slovakia were joined by foreign visitors from Austria, Poland and Great Britain. Literally as our meeting was taking place, the Czech Senate passed a bill with an amendment criminalising support for communism. We responded defiantly with a huge banner proclaiming: “Neither Fico nor Fiala, the party of workers to the forefront!”

The new law, when it comes into effect next year, will put communism on the same level as Nazism, making the act of displaying communist symbols or “glorifying” communist ideology punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The government says this is because communism promotes totalitarianism and violence. Incidentally, the law was signed by President Petr Pavel, who just the week before signed a pardon for Czech soldiers who brutally tortured Afghan soldiers in Shindand.

A world turned upside down, and a crisis of the ‘left’

The congress opened with a session on World Perspectives, presented by comrade Joe Attard from the RCI’s International Centre. He spoke about the deepest crisis in the history of capitalism, the relative decline of US imperialism, and an entire world order being turned on its head amidst seemingly endless wars, diplomatic clashes and economic turmoil.

Visiting comrades added to the discussion, summarising the political perspectives in their countries. Everywhere, we see a policy of cuts and austerity for workers, while the warmongering ruling classes spend a fortune on building up their own stockpiles of arms and support Israel’s genocide in Gaza. All of this is creating huge anger and resentment across society.

The discussion on Czech and Slovak perspectives (introduced by comrades Mirko and Martin from the Executive Committee, respectively) focused on the dire situation faced by the ‘left’, which in both of our countries is on the verge of collapse. In Czechia, the Communist Party (KSČM) and Social Democrats are joining forces in Stačilo! (‘Enough!’), a mish-mash of reformist and right-wing nationalist parties, united by nothing but their opposition to incumbent Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

Meanwhile, in Slovakia, the popularity of erratic demagogue Robert Fico has evaporated in the face of heavy attacks on workers. In the absence of any alternative from the left, the liberal ‘Progressive Slovakia’ (which is as-yet untested in government) is gaining support, particularly amongst young people in Bratislava. This party is cooking up a raft of savage cuts that they will launch the second they come into power, opening up a perspective of intensified class struggle.

While the ‘lefts’ and reformists despair and devolve into rank opportunism, the political vacuum opens up huge opportunities for revolutionaries. But only if we can connect with the growing layer of enraged workers and youth, who feel the world has gone mad and are demanding change. We have made some good progress in this regard, having tripled our forces in the Czech Republic and Slovakia over the last three years, and having established some strongholds, particularly in Prague.

Learning our own history

In order to help educate our fresh recruits in our own lineage, Joe gave a speech tying the knot of history between the Revolutionary Communist International today and the pioneering work of our founding theoretician, Ted Grant, which began almost 100 years ago. This was followed by a history of the Trotskyist movement in Czechoslovakia, introduced by Comrade Mirko from the EC.

In the spirit of internationalism, we also recorded a statement in solidarity with Comrade Ehsan Ali, a member of our party in Pakistan and chairman of the Awami Action Committee in Gilgit Baltistan. He, along with a number of other leaders of the AAC-GB, has been imprisoned for daring to stand up for ordinary people, against the military regime in Islamabad and the fatcat capitalists itching to exploit the mineral-rich region of Gilgit-Baltistan.

In the closing session, we vowed not to be intimidated by Fiala’s scandalous, anti-democratic so-called communism ban. We stressed the hypocrisy of the Czech ruling class, which sends money to fund butchery in Gaza, while accusing communists of supporting violence. We condemn the double standards of the Czech bourgeoisie censoring communism, while accusing us of opposing democracy.

The increasing misery of capitalism means revolution is an inevitable feature of the coming period. As we wrote in our statement in June, the rotten ruling class of Czechia does not fear our country’s Stalinist past, but its revolutionary future. Indeed, the Czech government’s outrageous policy is already inspiring young revolutionaries to join our ranks! This is attested to by a write-in we received after the ban was endorsed by the Chamber of Deputies in March:

“I am a communist who has been following Avantgarda for some time and who wants to participate in the effort to defeat capitalism… After yesterday's events surrounding the banning of communism, it seems to me that it is important to apply as soon as possible.”

The author of these words was present at the congress! This is only a taste of things to come. We must now build on our successes and grow quickly into a revolutionary organisation worthy of the new generation of Czech and Slovak class fighters.