Notes from the Conversation of Comrade Hysni Kapo with the Chinese Ambassador Luo Shigao on 6 July 1963 [Excerpt]

Notes from the Conversation of Comrade Hysni Kapo with the Chinese Ambassador Luo Shigao on 6 July 1963

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[Hysni Kapo]: As a result of your party’s struggle, of our party’s struggle, as well as the other sister parties that consistently defend Marxism-Leninism, a favorable situation has been created in the international communist movement currently, the position of the revisionists has been shaken, [and] the revolutionary forces everywhere in the world are on the rise. They see more clearly where the truth lies and who follows the path of treachery. Their hope has been reborn, [and] they are inspired and encouraged to fight against revisionism, taking interest and seeking to know as much as possible about this, about the conspiracies and the treachery of the revisionists, seeking to organize better in their fight, seeking to jump into action. They look for wide-ranging assistance from the Marxist-Leninist parties that were the first to throw themselves into this struggle, like your party, our party, and other sister parties.

Our party leadership has reflected on this issue and has reached some conclusions, about which it deems it necessary to exchange views with the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

1) As it was pointed out during the talks between the two delegations in Beijing last year, it is becoming clear that the process of the struggle against revisionism within the ranks of parties whose leadership is dominated by revisionists is going through and will go through the creation of revolutionary nuclei, the initiators of which are and will be resolved and determined communists. This means that the decisive factor for the liquidation of revisionism within the various parties, for the triumph of the revolutionary teachings of Marxism-Leninism in different parties and countries, for holding high the banner of the revolution and its guidance, is the internal factor, the revolutionary communists of all distinct countries and parties, the struggle and efforts of the revolutionary nuclei, which recognize the concrete conditions of the party or the country in which they operate and then themselves determine the tactics, forms of struggle, and the surest and most correct path to achieving the final victory over revisionism. This basic principle is confirmed by the previous experience of the international communist movement, [and] it is also confirmed by the current experience.

2) The internal factor being decisive, however, the struggle and the efforts of the revolutionary nuclei that will be created within the various communist parties on account of the fight against revisionism, the external factor also plays an important role, the assistance and international solidarity of revolutionary Marxists-Leninists, the mutual and wide-ranging support they provide to one other. This is closely related to the international character of our communist movement and the struggle against revisionism, which is also an international phenomenon.

3) As a matter of fact, many communists and groups of communists from different countries and different parties have gotten in touch with our party for various kinds of assistance. We have had such requests from comrades and groups from Poland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Brazil, [the Communist Party of] Greece, England, etc., etc. They ask for advice, help with propaganda, and material assistance in organizing their struggle against modern revisionism.

Keeping in mind that the struggle against modern revisionism is expanding more and more on an international scale, and that revolutionary forces are rising everywhere, and that in some parties these forces are being organized or have been organized as revolutionary nuclei, our Party Central Committee thinks that it is the right thing for our Marxist-Leninist parties take some measures in a more organized and concrete fashion to assist in an internationalist and principled manner the revolutionary struggle of Marxist-Leninists against modern revisionism, wherever this assistance is required of us. Of course, the biggest and most decisive assistance our parties have given and give to the entire international communist movement, and to every revolutionary, consists first and foremost in the determined struggle to unmask modern revisionism, the determined struggle for the protection of the purity of Marxism-Leninism, the active support that our parties have shown and continue to show on the issue of revolution and the people’s war. But this does not exclude, but rather it presupposes, that our parties also think about a more specific assistance for communists, [for] true revolutionaries, for their active struggle against modern revisionism in various parties and countries.  

We put forward the issue of assistance for revolutionaries and revolutionary nuclei that have been created, or that will be created, in an internationalist manner, like a sacred duty, which does not go against the lessons of Marxism-Leninism, but conforms to the principles of the internationalist solidarity of Marxists on account of the triumph of the great cause of revolution.

 It is in complete opposition to the ways and methods of the revisionists of Khrushchev’s group, who meddle in the internal affairs of others, impose their views on others, corrupt various individuals, etc. The revisionists are in fact using all means in their fight against Marxist-Leninism.

We take note that the revisionists, even when they speak openly about unity, or when they say that the polemics in the press will end, and so on, they employ all methods with the press and all other propaganda means, through party meetings, by sending letters and instructions on how to fight against your party, our party, [and other] sister parties that maintain a sound position, against all revolutionary communists wherever they are.

They are organizing open and secret meetings with revisionist leaders of various parties. Wherever they are, the revisionists discuss, plot, and devise plans against us.

Together with the imperialists and their servants [and the] the bourgeoisie of many countries, the revisionists are coordinating their short- and long-term plans against the communist movement. They strategize and work in all directions, with a variety of legal and illegal methods, for the destruction of the socialist camp, of the global communist movement, and in order to change the situation in the socialist parties and countries that still maintain a Marxist-Leninist position. If they do not achieve their goal with these work methods, we think that they are also ready for the other version - to undertake the most rabid adventures, including armed struggle against our countries.

Recent events [like] Kennedy’s speech, the stances of the revisionists from [Soviet leader Nikita] Khrushchev, [Yugoslav leader Josip Broz] Tito, [Italian communist leader Palmiro] Togliatti, [French communist leader Maurice] Thorez, etc., are very effective proof not only their objectives, but also the paths they take and will take to achieve them. Marxism-Leninism will triumph, and they will be crushed. But the fact of the matter is that they are playing all the cards.

We see with our own eyes what kind of methods (corruption, propaganda tools, material means, etc.) Khrushchev uses. He exploits the authority of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the strength and the successes of the Soviet Union, demagoguery, and moral and material corruption to deceive the people, the communists, the world’s public opinion, to sow distrust everywhere, along with hatred against our parties, our countries, against the revolutionary forces that fight for the defense of Marxism-Leninism everywhere in the world. He seeks to draw as many forces as possible in the struggle against us.

Your leaders know well how Khrushchev’s group, ever since he came to power, used for his own objectives the foreign currency contributions provided by the parties of socialist countries, especially your party, to assist the communist parties in the capitalist countries.

They now do this on a larger scale, more openly, using all forms and ways.

It is known how they bought off [Australian trade unionist and communist leader Lawrence Louis] Sharkey and his buddies. It is also known how they tried, but without success, to buy comrades [New Zealand trade unionist and communist Victor George] Wilcox and [Williams?]. It is known what they are doing in Latin America and everywhere in the world, through friendship societies, through Soviet bookshops, through translations of works by foreign writers, through international political and social organizations, through invitations for celebrations or vacations in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, through the presentation of various prizes and titles along with tens or hundreds of thousands of rubles as bonuses.

The communists of many capitalist countries in Europe, America, Africa and elsewhere say it openly that without Khrushchev’s material assistance, and that of the other revisionists, the revisionists would be in a bad place.

The Italians, led by [Palmiro] Togliatti, find support not only in the Pope and [Italian statesman and president Antonio] Segni but also in Khrushchev, in order to fight against Marxism-Leninism.

The French revisionists, led by Thorez, have long reached an agreement with De Gaulle to support him on the condition that he allows freedom of movement for the economic enterprises and the possessions of the French Party, to ensure revenue. On the other hand, the revisionists in the European socialist countries, especially the Soviets, use all forms — through the Soviet bank in France, the economic enterprises of the French Party, trade agreements and requests, various associations led by the French Party, and in every other way — pouring in millions so that the revisionist French leadership expands its circle, paralyzes the revolutionary forces, intensifies the struggle against Marxism-Leninism, against our parties. The number of salaried employees in the apparatus of the French party has tripled; in order to attract masses to meetings and rallies, the French Party provides them with paid leave from work as well as transportation, etc.

The revisionists are zealously using all forms, all ways, and all means against the revolutionary forces, to divide the movement, to fight against Marxist-Leninist parties, especially against your party, ours, etc.

4) By raising the issue of assistance to the revolutionary nuclei and to communists loyal to Marxism-Leninism, in the struggle against revisionism, our party leadership thinks that in this way the revolutionary forces will act more energetically in the struggle against revisionism, will be assisted to overcome more easily some difficulties that emerge and that will emerge objectively given the concrete conditions of their struggle.

 In what particular direction do we think that this assistance of our parties for the revolutionary groups and the nuclei that have been created, or that will be created within the ranks of various parties, should go?

 a) In the propaganda domain, by distributing everywhere our ideological and political materials. For this, as to date, we must print these materials in as many copies and in as many languages ​​as possible. This is essential, as the demands have grown on all fronts. The possibilities are great and although the revisionists want to establish quarantine, [the materials] are being successfully distributed. Communists everywhere, along with our parties, have not waited for and do not wait for the approval of the revisionists to spread the truth.

I would like to emphasize that our party’s Central Committee has received reliable information from many sources on the considerable effect your party’s ideological and political materials have had. The communists and revolutionaries who have become acquainted with these materials have expressed gratitude for this great help. The demand for these materials is great; communists wait for them impatiently, study them, benefit a lot from them, and they draw inspiration in their struggle.

We think that the more often such materials are printed in many languages and in as many copies as possible, the better it will be for giving a larger impetus to the struggle that communists are waging against revisionism around the world.

Our party’s materials are also in demand everywhere, [and] we get demands for it in many copies [and] in many languages. [W]e are asked to write more often and to mercilessly unmask the great betrayal of modern revisionists led by the renegade gang Khrushchev-Tito.

We have written and will continue to write, exposing every action of the enemies of Marxism-Leninism, the revisionists and the imperialists, but you know that our possibilities are limited, whether in terms of printing equipment, paper, even for translators in various languages, especially for Spanish, English, German, [and] Arabic, not to mention translations into other languages ​​of African-Asian countries, for which we have no possibility at all.  We will try to strengthen our work in this direction with what we have and with what assistance your Party might be able to give us.

b) Through the exchange of opinions. Experience so far shows that communist and revolutionary groups of different countries seek to exchange views on the struggle against revisionism with our parties, and especially in terms of their activities against revisionism. We think that in such concrete cases, especially when dealing with organized revolutionary nuclei and healthy and experienced forces, and when these ask for the help and views of our parties on matters pertaining to the struggle of these revolutionaries against revisionism, it would be useful to share with them our experience and in a spirit of friendship to respond directly to their requests.

We do not think to give them orders at all, or dictate our point of view, interfere in their internal affairs, when the communist forces of a certain country do not ask for our help, do not ask for our advice, when they do not ask to exchange views with us. But, when they do ask for such assistance, we consider it an internationalist duty to express our opinion, always keeping in mind that they themselves should act on the basis of the concrete conditions in their country, however they find it more suitable.

On these issues, our party leadership thinks that it is necessary to determine our position jointly, so that when there are cases when communist comrades, communist groups, or sister parties ask us for help, or even when we are not asked, our opinions about the organization of work and the struggle, on the methods about how to wage this struggle, etc., are the same and as effective as possible. Of course, they ask a lot more for opinions and advice from you. Your party has greater experience on all the forms of struggle that communists must use against enemies inside the party, inside the country, and outside of it; therefore, our leadership thinks it is necessary to have some kind of coordination in order for the assistance asked of us by the comrades, wherever they live, work, and fight, according to their conditions, to be as effective as possible and to serve them in pushing the movement forwards. 

Already we have many cases when communists, communist groups, and Marxist-Leninist parties ask us for help. In the future, there will be others. Our party leadership thinks that our Marxist-Leninist parties should, as far as they can, answer in order to fulfill at least the necessary minimum of these material and financial requests, which are necessary for the activation of the forces and the organization of labor, for their press and propaganda, for the protection of some of the main comrades, who must devote all of their time to the cause of the struggle. In the first stage, this help is necessary. Your party is in a position to better determine the scale of what this assistance should be. Your party also knows well our economic and financial situation, and that of our Korean comrades, [and] it is understood that the heaviest burden falls on the sister party of China. Our party [and] our country spare nothing in terms of giving as much as our possibilities allow, which as you know are very limited. We will set aside whatever we can from what we have, but we must help because the cause that our comrades turn to us for help is an internationalist task, serving the common goal, the cause of Marxism-Leninism.

The point is that the assistance that will be given to our Marxist-Leninist comrades-in-arms who need it should be given in an organized fashion. On this issue, we want to know the opinion of the sister party of China.

5) We want to know the opinion of the sister party of China not only on the above general issues, but on some concrete cases as well, about which comrades and communist groups of different countries have gotten directly in touch with our party. We refer here to comrades and groups that have been tested in struggle, who have been known for a long time, and who are seriously fighting for the cause of Marxism-Leninism, against modern revisionism.

a) About the Polish communist comrades. Your Party Central Committee is aware of the healthy communist forces in Poland. From the information that our Central Committee party has available, in comparison to the other socialist countries of Europe (with the exception of Romania, whose recent positions against Khrushchev are known), the communist forces are in a more combative position and are united in different groups. Although these forces are not centrally aligned according to a single direction, they are more active in the struggle against revisionism, find more favorable conditions, [and] know how to better exploit the difficulties in which [Polish communist leader Władysław] Gomułka finds himself given the opponents that exist in the Polish revisionist leadership, as well as between the Polish leadership and other revisionist leaders led by N. Khrushchev.

Recently, one of the main Polish comrades, an old comrade with a good revolutionary past history, known throughout Poland, who holds sound Marxist-Leninist positions and actively works for the establishment and organization of revolutionary forces, had a long conversation with our representative in Warsaw. Through our representatives, he wanted to inform our party leadership about the situation in Poland, about the revolutionary forces there, about the conditions that have been created for the intensification of the struggle, and about what the Polish comrades think in terms of further continuing their struggle.

This meeting with the Polish comrade was attended only by our representative, and there was no translator there, nobody else. The Polish comrade was very keen that the conversation ought to take place only between the two of them, without anyone else present. Specifically, at this meeting, he raised these issues:

- expressed full solidarity with the Marxist-Leninist stance of your party and our party;

- valued very highly the great help that our parties have provided with the ideological and political materials that they have printed and distributed;

- expressed the opinion that the time has come to begin more organized work and struggle in Poland.

- For the beginning of this work, he considered it necessary to obtain the opinion, advice, and assistance of the leadership of our party and your party. He said that he considers it necessary that before they begin work, they are informed and receive the opinion of the Chinese and Albanian comrade leaders.

- spoke about the difficult economic situation,

- about the political situation,

- about the collapse of Gomułka’s authority, about the contradictions within the leadership,

- spoke about the demagoguery and disinformation of the revisionists, in order to create confusion among the masses so that these do not see the righteous struggle  of the Communist Party of China and our party.

- talked about how the revisionists work to neutralize opposing forces, that disagreements between the Soviet Union and China will supposedly be resolved, expressed the conviction that at the Moscow meeting the Chinese comrades would not find agreement with the Soviets on any points, because Khrushchev and his group have already gone too far in [their] open betrayal. He said that communists everywhere were placed in a state of expectation and they cannot act until the bilateral Sino-Soviet meeting is over. This stance of the communists is wrong.

- The Polish comrade emphasized that in the international communist movement there are two incompatible and opposing lines, so the sooner the revisionists are attacked openly, the better. No unity can be achieved with the revisionists. Even if the international communist movement is gathered, the split is inevitable.

-  he said that the conditions have been created in Poland for an organized revolutionary communist movement. The movement should begin by combining forms of legal and illegal work. Legal work, he said, can begin by sending an open letter signed by Polish communists themselves and addressed to the Central Committee of the Polish Party, which could include:

- The international political situation

- The two lines in the communist movement

- Strong criticism of revisionism, emphasizing that revisionism is the cause of all evils in Poland,

- the tasks that face the Polish communists and the Polish people, since, according to him, the masses [of people] in Poland are now asking what to do, what path to follow.

- Such letter to be published and distributed throughout Poland, which will provoke discussions.

- He offered three options for who should sign the letter

a) He signs it himself,

b) Some other comrade signs it,

c) A group of comrades sign it.

He supports the first option  - because he is a person of authority, well known throughout Poland, and this will have more of an effect on the masses. Having a group of comrades sign it could be construed as a faction by the leadership of the Polish party, which goes against the party statute.  

The Polish comrade hinted at the fact that after writing this letter, they will have also sought the opinion of the PLA and CCP leaderships.

He said that they have taken into account the consequences, but this letter will serve to separate the revolutionary forces from the revisionists and to begin the organized struggle against revisionism. As he said, the organized movement will start immediately, after the conclusion of the talks in Moscow between the two delegations (CCP-CPSU). If they do not come to an agreement on a general meeting of the communist movement, then the rift is clear, so we have nothing to wait for.

He again emphasized that the movement organized in Poland will launch in the open, immediately after the publication of the materials by Chinese Communist Party and the Party of Labor of Albania on ideological issues and on the contradictions that exist in the communist movement.

If the Moscow meeting between the two parties and all [other] parties will not achieve any results, both of our parties should prepare this publication, in his opinion.

The Polish comrade spoke optimistically about the communist forces in Poland, especially in the counties, districts, and at the base. He addressed the need for material and financial assistance. He asks for this assistance from our parties (the Chinese Communist Party and the Party of Labor of Albania.)

Our party leadership thinks that we should help the Polish communist comrades:

- we should support them morally, providing them with our opinion and advice when they ask us for this assistance,

- we should help them materially, especially now in the first phase of the work, not only with political and ideological materials printed by our parties, which we must provide to them in the Polish language as needed, but also with other materials, and especially by helping them with money. China’s contribution is also important in this regard. How your party provides this assistance let it be decided by your party’s Central Committee. If your party’s Central Committee deems it best to give this assistance to the Polish comrades not directly but through our party, our party leadership agrees to do so and not to expose the Chinese Communist Party on this issue.

Our leadership thinks that the proposal of the Polish comrades to begin the organized struggle against revisionism, by coming out with a public letter with the kind of content that is proposed here, is right and can happen at an opportune time as they judge it themselves, independent of the talks taking place between the CCP and the CPSU. As far as who should sign the letter, this is up for discussion. Our view is that it be signed by a group of people, who should take measures, on the other hand, to avoid eventual repression, even going underground if necessary.

Our leadership deems correct the views of the Polish comrades to pursue both legal and illegal forms of struggle But it thinks that the greatest attention must be shown to the illegal struggle, without neglecting the work, but taking measures so that when the revisionists launch their pursuit and strike against the communists, the work is not hindered. The Polish revisionists in power cannot be overthrown without a struggle organized by communists, and all forms must be used in this struggle, especially by being well prepared and ready for the illegal struggle. The Polish revolutionary communists, especially the principal comrades, must have created opportunities for illegal struggle and not wait for Gomułka to arrest them. The Polish comrade, when raising the issue of the assistance that our parties should provide, pointed out that they do not expect, and neither should there be, for the time being, public support through the press and official statements in their favor [and] against the Polish leadership. They emphasize that during this period, state relations between our countries and Poland should continue, and that efforts should be made for them to be stable.

Our party leadership thinks that the Polish revolutionary comrades show good judgment on these issues as well. We need to maintain stable relations with the countries where revisionists are in power, but at the same time we must assist with all possible forms and means the communists and the revolutionary forces fighting against revisionism [and] for the defense of Marxism-Leninism.

Viewing this assistance as our internationalist task, we think that we too must fight using legal and illegal forms against the enemies of Marxism-Leninism.

On all the issues raised by the Polish comrade, who asks for our opinion, our party leadership wants to have the opinion of your party’s Central Committee before we provide an answer on all the issues raised by the Polish comrades with us.

Our ambassador to Poland is in Tirana [now]. He is waiting for instructions from our party’s Central Committee on the response he should provide to the Polish comrades. He will not depart before our party leadership has also received the opinion of your party’s leadership on the issues raised by the Polish comrades.

b) About the Belgian and Brazilian comrades. It is already known that in Brazil and in Belgium not only have revolutionary nuclei ben established in the struggle against revisionism, but [that] they have taken or are openly taking the path of establishing the revolutionary communist party. Thus, in Brazil the Communist Party of Brazil has been established, which consists of some good comrades. They publish a newspaper with a 20,000 print run. Similarly, in Belgium, a conference of revolutionary communists was recently convened, which elected a leadership of 22 comrades with the task of fighting for a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary party.

Both the Brazilian and Belgian comrades have established contact with our party. They have expressed full agreement with the Marxist-Leninist line followed by the Chinese Communist Party and the Party of Labor of Albania, and they are determined to fight against modern revisionism. But they have also raised with us the problem of the difficulties they face, especially in terms of material means and finances.

Therefore, our party leadership thinks that one should also think concretely about what can be done for the Belgian and the Brazilian comrades. We think that our parties should come to their aid, including financial aid.

c) About the French, Italian and English communists.

Our party leadership is aware that a favorable situation for Marxism-Leninism has developed within these parties. The contradictions between the Marxists and the revisionists intensify, [and] the revolutionary forces increase, moving towards organizing in groups and expressing public stances against the revisionist line of the Khrushchev group and the leaders of their own parties, who rhetorically follow along the Khrushchev group. We see this struggle in the following:

- from the pamphlets they produce and their press

- from the mass distribution and the communists’ reading of the materials of your party and our party,

- by openly showing solidarity with our parties,

- by opposing the views of the revisionists inside and outside the party.

The revisionists in these countries have been put in a difficult position. But they lack neither the Trotskyist methods, nor the material and financial means, [and] Tito’s and Khrushchev’s advisers, who dictate to them how to fight against the revolutionary communists and to paralyze the righteous struggle that the revolutionary forces are waging against the revisionists, for the defense of Marxism-Leninism. The French, Italian, [and] English comrades need our help. They need [help with] the gathering and the organization of forces, the organization of propaganda and the press, [and] they need materials and money.

At the same time, our party leadership thinks that we should first and foremost take an interest in getting to know the various communist groups that engage in struggles within these parties; we should help these groups by giving them the experience of our parties so that they can organize and fight more successfully; we should recognize their difficulties and needs, and help them as much as we can. Without this help, the fight they are waging cannot proceed as needed.

In this case, too, there is the issue of the financial assistance that should be given to our comrades. The assistance of your party, to the extent that it will be possible, is of great importance. Italian, Belgian, and French comrades have often approached us, and within our very limited means, we have helped our comrades on separate occasions. Recently, there have been contacts with a group of English comrades.

On these problems that arise for our friends in France, Italy, England, and elsewhere, our party leadership thinks that we should establish common tactics that our two parties should follow, and the types of international assistance that we can give them; therefore, it becomes necessary to exchange views from time to time.

c) About the situation in Bulgaria:

We have information that the masses of communists and the people in Bulgaria detest its leadership with [Bulgarian communist leader Todor Hristov] Zhivkov at the helm, condemns Khrushchev and his followers, follows with special sympathy and interest the struggle of your party and our party against revisionism [and] for the defense of Marxism-Leninism, nurtures sentiments of love and friendship towards our parties, peoples, and countries.

Our parties’ struggle, their righteous stances, [and] the ideological and political materials they put out provide inspiration to them in the struggle they must carry on against revisionism.

The political and economic situation in Bulgaria is difficult. There is great dissatisfaction among the people because they see where the revisionist line of Zhivkov and Khrushchev is leading Bulgaria.

The police measures and the daily purges they are carrying out in Bulgaria, whether in the party, in government, or the armed forces, have not helped to strengthen Zhivkov’s position; on the contrary, his position is severely shaken. Recently Khrushchev was forced to send troops to Bulgaria for any eventuality.

The gathering of forces has now begun in Bulgaria, [and] special communist groups have been formed that get together, discuss, propagandize against revisionism, contemplate how to fight. These groups do not operate under a single direction, but what is positive is the fact that their struggle, the path they follow, leads to a stronger organized fight.

Our party leadership thinks that we should take advantage of the favorable opportunities in Bulgaria to help these forces launch a fight, so there will be greater interest to get to know these forces, to unite and to act in an organized manner. Our leadership thinks that the broader distribution of propaganda materials through Bulgarian-language brochures, and many Bulgarian-language radio broadcasts during the day, on many stations, will help our Bulgarian friends. They impatiently look forward to all the materials of our parties.

In Bulgaria there are favorable conditions [and] the Bulgarian communists, with our continuous help, can make progress in the struggle and get to the position where the Polish comrades are.

The example of the struggle that the Polish comrades intend to undertake will be a great encouragement for the revolutionary forces in the socialist countries of Europe.

d) About the Greek communist movement and the assistance to be provided by us.

Your party’s Central Committee knows how the Greek Communist Party has ended up. It also knows what the Party of Labor of Albania has done to help the partisan war in Greece, especially during the 1948-1949 period, as well as the Greek Communist Party.

The Greek revolutionary communists and the brave Greek partisans are now in prison, concentration and internment camps—not in monarcho-fascist Greece, but in the Soviet Union and in the socialist countries of Europe.

The Greek revolutionary communists are now outside of the party. The revisionists have filled the ranks of the Greek Communist Party, and party leadership consists of the agents and spies who betrayed their comrades during the war and in the monarcho-fascist prisons.

Your party’s Central Committee has sent us some pieces of information written by Greek communists. Our party’s Central Committee is constantly receiving hundreds of letters from Greek communists and partisans who are suffering today in the prisons and camps of the Soviet Union and the socialist countries, and who seek the help of the international communist movement. Our party’s leadership thinks that the communists and the brave Greek partisans, who are treated in such a barbaric way by Khrushchev’s group and his followers, should be defended. Our leadership has condemned the mistakes of the former secretary of Greek Communist Party [Nikos] Zachariadis, and it has reservations about his entire past history and activities. The Greek problem is special for our party, because it is known that Albania, soon after it was liberated, became the base for supplying and supporting the Greek partisan war against the monarcho-fascists and their allies.

Considering it as its international duty, the Party of Labor of Albania did everything for the Greek Communist Party and its war, without taking account of the risk posed to Albania.

In the circumstances our country finds itself in, our party leadership thinks that our party should keep a prudent stance, not openly and publicly declare its support of the Greek comrades who suffer in the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Europe, because a public stance would be used against our country by the Greek fascists and the enemies of our country, by the imperialists and the revisionists, in order to incite Greek chauvinists against Albania. With all its power, our party supports the just demands of the Greek communists, and it will not spare its help in those forms that are in the interest of defending the Greek cause and of the defense of the victories of socialism in Albania

 But the Greek communists should be defended, [and] the sister parties should respond to their calls for help. Our leadership thinks that ways and means must be identified to expose the anti-Marxist positions that have been and continue to be adopted against the Greek revolutionaries, and to condemn the revisionists’ barbaric treatment of the Greek communists and revolutionaries in camps and prisons.

f [sic]) The position towards communist parties or groups that have openly come out in the fight against revisionism and that have shown solidarity with our parties for the defense of Marxism-Leninism. We are talking here, for example, about the Communist Party of Brazil, about the communists of Venezuela, about the group of Australian communists, the Communist Party of Nepal, etc.

Our party thinks that in one way or another these parties and groups should be supported and defended. For example, it could be a great moral help if our parties’ press (as the case may be) would reprint the statements, calls, or public releases issued or published by these parties and groups about their fight against revision, etc. Our leadership thinks that these parties and groups should be defended when they come out openly and are known to all. We think that their just positions and struggle should be supported, [and] the revisionists, who, with their demagoguery [pose] as defenders of Marxism-Leninism and seek to deceive the masses and persecute the true Marxists, should be unmasked. We think that we should also consider the issue of the possibility of publishing in our parties’ press the materials of the established revolutionary groups or parties that discredit the revisionists in their countries, such as [Brazilian communist leader Luís Carlos] Prestes, [Italian communist party leader Palmiro] Togliatti,[1] [Australian trade unionist and communist leader Lawrence Louis] Sharkey, etc. The revolutionary parties and groups are waiting for this kind of help from us.

On this issue, we would also like to know the opinion of the Chinese Communist Party.

g) Our leadership deems the process of differentiation taking place in the ranks of influential communists in the socialist countries of Europe or in the other parties to be very important. There have been people who have wavered in their position, [and they have been] opportunistic, and they have not had the courage to hold the right position, but now they are more clearly seeing how things develop and, even from a subjective point, they show signs of trying to get closer or looking for a way out. We think that with these people we should speak openly, telling them where their leadership and party are headed, where they country is headed, to explain [things] to them, and to encourage them to resist the revisionist pressure. Especially in the socialist countries of Europe, there are today such cadres who, despite not having the courage to take the initiatives, nevertheless welcome every clarification, encouragement, etc.

We have had a word with an employee of our mission in one of the countries of the people’s democracies in Europe, because he did not speak openly with a personality from this country who approached [our representative] in a friendly manner and spoke sympathetically about our country, about the good memories he had from his visit to Albania.

Our leadership thinks that when favorable opportunities present themselves, we should work where there is wavering and resistance against revisionism. We should not wait for the elements that are wavering [in their position] to come to us, but we should go to them. The time has come to become more active against every hostile act committed by the revisionists against the unity of the movement, against the camp, against any socialist country or sister party.

Our leadership thinks that in this way the revisionists will be put in a defensive position and our vigorous fight to unmask them will be more effective.

***

I wanted to express the opinion of the leadership of our party on these issues, in order to inform the leadership of the sister Chinese party, so that we can then know its point of view. As I mentioned above, the situation is developing in favor of Marxism-Leninism, [and] the position of the revisionists everywhere is shaky. There is everywhere an increase of revolutionary forces. This situation excites all Marxist-Leninist parties and communists in the world, but at the same time, it puts in front of them new problems and tasks. The Marxist-Leninist parties [and] the revolutionary communists everywhere in the world today must give their maximum contribution to advance the revolution, to crush the enemies of Marxism-Leninism, the imperialists, and the revisionist traitors with the Khrushchev gang at the helm.

We think that [in] our struggle it is necessary to use all the possibilities and ways that Marxism-Leninism teaches us in order to achieve victory. To seize the opportunities of legal and illegal struggle against the revisionism that has spread within the ranks of the international communist movement. We see and experience firsthand, as do the sister parties, how enemies of all shades, and especially the revisionists, use their anti-Marxist, Trotskyist, [and] fascist methods in the struggle against us, but we communists also have our own methods, taught to us by Marxism-Leninism, [and] we have inherited the work of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin, who guide us in our struggle. We know how in the struggle against opportunists, reformists, Trotskyist revisionists, and traitors, when it came to bravely defending Marxism-Leninism, Marx, Lenin, and Stalin energetically and without hesitation about violating forms [acted to] remove the mask of treachery from the enemies, unmasked them, crushed them, and always came out victorious. Just as your glorious party, led by Comrade Mao Zedong, has fought and continues to fight, just as our party has fought and continues to fight against the traitors of Marxism-Leninism, the Tito-Khrushchev gang and ko,[2] the time has come to help every communist party, every communist group, or every communist in order to strengthen the struggle for the unmasking and crushing of revisionism, for the establishment of Marxist-Leninist unity in the international communist and worker movement, by throwing out the revisionists, in order to push our revolution always forward, for the victory of socialism and communism in the world.[3]