We are publishing a selection of the many May Day greetings we received this year
From Vietnam
Dear comrades,
May Day is a workers' celebration and not for the bureaucrats. But the grotesque Vietnamese bureaucrats pretend to arrange May Day for the workers as if they were representing workers' interests. There are no marches, no rallies, no demonstrations, but only small and indoor May Day ceremonies with a few workers' representatives and restrained speeches made by careerist unionists. Of course, these speeches are to support the age-old Stalinist regimes, to swear to be completely loyal to the ruling elite and divert the workers' attention from the real situation they are facing.
At the ninth Congress, [of the Communist Party] the bureaucrats declared they would keep on "reforming" [i.e. opening up the road to the capitalist market]. And the workers' situation keeps getting worse. But the more the workers have to suffer the more their consciousness grows. The recent series of wildcat strikes in the south of Vietnam are an indication of this.
However, the workers in Vietnam will only be able to overthrow the Stalinist regime when they link their struggle to the struggles of workers in Indonesia, the Philippines, China and elsewhere on this globe. Once the workers unite in one struggle, there'll be no hope for the capitalists or the bureaucrats.
Yours in solidarity,
Nguyen Ky,
Vietnam, May 1, 2001
From Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Dear comrades,
In the spirit of true proleterian internationalism I send greetings from Belgrade on this historical day for our class and our struggle.
"If our generation happens to be too weak to establish Socialism over the earth, we will hand the spotless banner down to our children. The struggle which is in the offing transcends by far the importance of individuals, factions and parties. It is the struggle for the future of all mankind. It will be severe, it will be lengthy. Whoever seeks physical comfort and spiritual calm let him step aside. In time of reaction it is more convenient to lean on the bureaucracy than on the truth. But all those for whom the word 'Socialism' is not a hollow sound but the content of their moral life - forward! Neither threats nor persecutions nor violations can stop us! Be it even over out bleaching bones the future will triumph! We will blaze the trail for it. It will conquer! Under all the severe blows of fate, I shall be happy as in the best days of my youth; because, my friends, the highest human happiness is not the exploitation of the present but the preparation of the future." - Leon Trotsky.
Comradely greetings,
Goran,
Belgrade, May 1, 2001
From Indonesia
From the PDS
Worker around the world: Today we must be stronger! Capitalism will be destroyed by our power if we unite!
Make May Day become anticapitalism Day!
Greeting from PDS,
From AKSI SOSIALIS
Comrades around the world,
let us unite in the fight against imperialism. Only with the unity of the working class can we win!
greetings from Aksi Sosialis
Jakarta, May 3, 2001
From Poland
Dear Comrades,
I wish you every success in your work of enormous political annd ideological value for the cause of socialism.
Jacek Tittenbrun,
Poland, May 1, 2001
From Pakistan
The comrades of the Marxist journal 'The Struggle' in Pakistan send revolutionary greetings to the 'In Defence of Marxism' web site and to the workers of the world.
Forward to socialist revolution!
Lal Khan,
editor of The Struggle,
Pakistan, May 1, 2001
From Mexico
May Day greetings to the workers and students of the world. Down with NAFTA! Down with imperialism! For the victory of socialism worldwide!
From the Editorial Board of
El Militante,
Mexican Marxist journal,
Mexico City, May 1, 2001
From Italy
In this day of the International struggle of the working class, we want to give you our warmest revolutionary greetings. Your tireless work in defence of the Marxist ideas in the workers movement is an inspiration and help to us.
Editorial board of
FalceMartello (Marxist paper in the PRC - Italy),
May 1, 2001