Statement of the Standing Committee of the National Executive Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization
The 4th Congress of FRSO was a resounding success. Delegates came from across the United States – from New York City to Los Angeles. We engaged in serious debate to sum up our experience in building the people’s struggle and to evaluate the conditions we face — and achieved real unity on the tasks ahead.
The call to the 4th Congress noted:
“As communists who are living in the principal center of imperialist power, we have great responsibilities and challenges ahead of us. Everything that we do to weaken our rulers contributes to the well-being of the world’s peoples. Every blow struck by the national liberation movements, the socialist countries and the international working class movement advances the struggle of the people here. Quite literally, we have friends all over the world.”
The call also stated:
“The ruling class and those who speak for it – Bush, along with the politicians in Congress and every other level of government – have an agenda that is the exact opposite of everything we want and stand for. National oppression is intensifying. Austerity measures are the order of day. The gains of working people are under attack, as are democratic rights. The contradiction between progress and reaction is sharpening on every front.”
Our 4th Congress adopted a Main Political Report, which analyzes the conditions we are contending with domestically and internationally. It draws the basic conclusion that society’s underling contradictions are sharpening and the period ahead will be favorable for building mass struggle and constructing communist organization.
Our 4th Congress adopted a new statement on the National Question and the struggle for national liberation and socialism. Given the strategic importance of the fight against the national oppression which is imposed on African Americans, Chicanos and Latinos, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and Native peoples in the U.S, this statement is a vital component of our political line. It will be published in the weeks ahead and represents a concluding step in placing our organization on a Marxist-Leninist basis.
The delegates to the 4th Congress united around a central task – working to build a new communist party. The call to the congress stated:
“We long ago recognized that by failing to bring Marxism to oppressed and working people, we would fail in our efforts to build a real, communist organization. Whatever shortcomings we have, it is beyond dispute that we have made progress in fusing Marxism with the struggle of working people, and that we are making every effort to grapple with this issue in a practical manner.”
We will build on the solid advances that we have made in party building and will redouble our efforts in this arena. It should be noted that a majority of the delegates at the 4th Congress were from the ranks of the working class and oppressed nationalities.
Finally, we elected a core of leadership, a new National Executive Committee and its Standing Committee, that is charged with taking the lead in applying the general line of the 4th Congress in the upcoming years.
Delegates to the Congress drew inspiration from the struggles of the working and oppressed peoples around the world and passed resolutions in support of those battles. Particular stress was placed on heroic resistance of the Iraqi, Palestinian and Colombian peoples.
The delegates also heard messages from other communist and workers parties, including; Party of Labor of Albania, Workers Party of Belgium, Brazilian Institute of Socialist Culture, New Communist Party of Britain, Pôle de Renaissance Communiste en France, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) ( Janashakti), Socialist Unity Center of India, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain, Communist Party Marxist Leninist (revolutionaries) of Sweden. A message from the 5th Republic Movement – the political party of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez was also read to the congress.
All attending the Congress recognize that great challenges are ahead of us. The rulers of United States are both corrupt and criminal. They stop at nothing to preserve their power, wealth and privilege. That said, we are confident that our organization will make real contributions to building the struggle of the American people, and over the long run, to the effort to bring down the monopoly capitalists and establish socialism.
We will continue to draw strength from and further develop our close ties with the people. We will do all that we can do to build the struggles of working and oppressed peoples. And we will use Marxism as a weapon to change the world.
