>>From: heiko@easynet.co.uk
>
>>Revolution in Albania
>by Alan Woods
>Madrid, March 7, 1997
>
>>
>>The uprising of workers, soldiers peasants and students in Albania is an
inspiration for the working class and the youth all over the world. It
represents a forceful answer to all those cynicists, cowards and sceptics
who doubted about the revolutionary potential of the working class. After
decades of the most terrible oppression - first under Italian fascism, then
under German occupation, and after half a century under the
world=B9s most vicious Stalinist totalitarian regime - after all this=
horrors,
the Albanian workers have been able to rise against their oppressors. In
this exemplary struggle, we have witnessed all the classic methods of
proletarian revolution - general strike and armed insurrection.
>>In scenes which vividly remind us of the 1936 July revolution in
Barcelona, men and women, young and old participated in the struggle. Armed
only with sticks and knives they assaulted the Army barracks and the feared
secret police (Shik). It is more than obvious that rank and file soldiers
did not resist, but rather surrendered arms to the people. The same scene
has repeated itself in town after town.
>>La Vanguardia (Barcelona, 7/3/97) reports:"According to information
received from the city on the phone, the rebels had assaulted the city
barracks, whose officers did not offer any resistance and joined them with
arms. Former officers of the Albanian Army had joined the rebels. An officer
with the rank of colonel, which vowed not to surrender arms until president
Berisha resigns, declared that:=20
>'in the south of Albania, the Army has gone over to the side of the=
people.'
>>>From the very beginning, the mass media/liars paid by the ruling
class,have tried to give the impression that the movement in Albania
consisted of Mafia mobsters, drug dealers and petty criminals. What a shame!
This very same ladies and gentlemen who fill their mouths with high sounding
words like'democracy' and 'freedom of speech' lie when faced to a real
movement of the masses, be it a strike in Spain or a revolution in Albania.=
=20
>>The hypocrisy of the so-called Western democracy and its press was clearly
exposed when they kept a shameful silence over the crimes and the
antidemocratic character of the pro bourgeois regime of Sali Berisha.
Everybody knew that the May 1996 general elections were rigged, and also the
October council elections. Not a word about that in the media. We have to
compare this accomplice silence with their attitude towards the Serbian
council elections, where they shouted to the top of their voices. They
openly supported the opposition in Serbia but said nothing about the
opposition in Albania brutally repressed by the police of the 'democrat'
Berisha when they tried to protest against election fraud. The difference is
obvious. While the opposition in Serbia has a pro-capitalist character,
theleadership of the Albanian opposition is in the hands of the Socialist
Party (former Communist Party). Precisely because of this conspiracy of
silence the Albania explosion caught most people by >>surprise.
>>The Western governments supported Berisha because, despite being a former
Stalinist (he used to be the doctor of the old dictator Enver Hoxha) he was
a convinced supporter of the 'free market'. Now the people has had a very
bitter lesson of what capitalism means. Even before, Albania was a very poor
country. The attempt of the Albanian communists to try and build an economy
isolated from the rest of the world ('socialism in one country') had very
bad results in this small nation of three million inhabitants and very few
resources. Only the support from China keep it above water for a while. But
the problems of the past are nothing compared to the economic disaster as a
result of the attempt to restore capitalism.
>>In a five year period, most of the industry has been destroyed. There are
400,000 unemployed according to official figures, but in reality the
situation is much worse. Impoverishment is total. Berisha's election
slogan'with me we all win' has become in the popular consciousness into'with
me we all get ruined'. The anger of the population is aimed at the new class
of millionaires and the government of crooks and thieves. The most graphic
expression of the situation was the domination of the economy by the so
called 'pyramid schemes'. In an act of desperation an important number of
humble people invested their limited savings in what happened to be a
monstrous fraud. It is clear that the government and Berisha=B9s party were
deeply involved in this swindle.
>>
>>Popular uprising
>>
>>The spark which ignited the fire was the bankruptcy of the financial
companies which were promising interest rates up to 100 per cent a month to
people investing their savings. Tens of thousands of Albanians sold all
their belongings, including their homes, in order to put their money in the
accounts of the fraudsters. They have lost everything. The people
responsible for this fraud they all belong to the clique around President
Berisha. After a month of protests and mass demonstrations in the main
Albanian cities, going beyond opposition parties, which have caused many
deaths at the hands of the police, the population has run out of patience.
>>It all exploded on Saturday, March 1, when then police tried to oust 42
students in hunger strike from the University in the port city of Vlore
(100,000 people) in the South of the country. They were prevented from doing
so by thousands of demonstrators who dispersed the police forces killing
some policemen. They burnt down the headquarters of the secret police,
assaulted some prisons and police stations and distributed arms found there
amongst the demonstrators. From Saturday onwards a general strike was
declared in the city and in most of the South of the country. As an example
of the revolutionary mood we can quote the bourgeois press:
>>=B3In Lushnja, two lorries full of riot police were stopped by angry
protesters and forced to get off. Forty of them were disarmed.
>>=B3...In Saranda... some 3,000 demonstrators went round the city without=
any
opposition brandishing sticks. During the march they burned shops and banks,
destroyed six abandoned police cars, assaulted the prison liberating some
one hundred prisoners and seized control of the arms. Four hundred
Kalashnikov assault rifles are now in the hands of the protesters.
>>... In Himarar ... hundreds of people took the streets and burned the
Council House and the police station. In Gjirokaster there is an indefinite
general strike. Yesterday the protesters burned down the police station.=B2
(El Pais, Madrid, 2/2/97)
>>
>>Imperialist threat
>>
>>The extension of the insurrection is such that if there had been a proper
leadership, it could have already succeed. But the former Stalinist leaders
of the SP are playing a dreadful role. Having capitulated to the 'free
market' they are now calling for peace and calm, offering themselves as
mediators between Berisha and the revolution! It is quite clear that they
are as afraid of the revolution as of the regime itself. A serious
leadership would not give pacifist sermons to the masses, but would pot
itself at the front of the movement in order to defeat Berisha, giving it a
more organised character, fomenting the creation of elected Committees of
workers, peasants and soldiers which would take power in their own hands
beginning with the socialist transformation of society. But given the
situation in Albania this would not be enough. Without an internationalist
policy, the Albanian revolution would be quickly suffocated by intervention
of foreign powers, specially Greece, which has always had territorial
ambitions over the South of Albania, and is now organising a force of 20,000
soldiers at the border.
>>All imperialist countries, starting with the US look with fear to the
situation in Albania. They know that the situation in the rest of the
Balkans is very unstable. An internationalist call to the workers and
peasants of Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria and above all Greece, would have a
powerful effect, shaking the whole of the capitalist system in the region.
Washington is specially worried about theeffects of the Albanian revolution
in the neighbouring regions of Kosovo and Macedonia, both with important
Albanian populations.
>>Undoubtedly, the imperialists have pressurised Berisha into making
concessions in order to put an end to the uprising as soon as possible. But
Berisha knows that any concession on his part could mean his political end,
if not his physical end. His first reaction was to send the tanks to the
South. But first of all he hasn't got any soldiers to drive the tanks, which
are actually driven by the secret police. But they don't dare enter the
rebellious area where they would be easily smashed. On the contrary, the
rebels are advancing taking town after town.
>>Now Berisha offers 'concessions' - an 'amnesty' to all those who haven't
committed any crimes (!) and the possibility of a change of government, but
without mentioning the possibility of elections. This is too little too
late. The people is in arms and will not be satisfied with anything short of
an overthrow of the current regime. All the situation has been transformed
in the course of one week.=20
>>This is the essence of a revolution.
>>Despite the coward and limping policies of the SP leaders, the real
decision is on the hands of the armed people who, as the French communards,
have 'stormed heaven'. It is not ruled out that even without a leadership
they could take power. But the problem would be what would happen
afterwards. Geopolitical considerations make it impossible for imperialism
to just wait and see in the event of the success of a proletarian revolution
in Albania. They would probably use the Greek and may be also the Italian
armies in order to crush it ('restore law and order'). The avalanche of
propaganda accusing the insurgents of being criminals and Mafiosi, the Greek
propaganda about the need to defend the Greek minority in the South of
Albania (Epiros) is part of an attempt to psychologically prepare public
opinion for a possible armed intervention.
>>But even an armed intervention would not be the end of the story. Albania
is a classic country of guerrilla warfare. The Albanian people have been
fighting foreign occupation for centuries and will not accept submission
without a fierce struggle. A guerrilla war in Albania would be bloody and
long lasting. It would have enormous consequences for the whole of the area,
starting with Greece and Italy.
>>We are witnessing a profound change in the world situation. What is
happening today in Albania could happen tomorrow in Russia. We have to be
prepared for new sharp turns and sudden changes in the situation. What is
clear is that all workers and youth in Spain have to defend the Albanian
revolution.
>>=80 Down with the procapitalist government of Berisha!
>>=80 For workers' democracy in Albania
>>=80 For a Socialist Federation of the Balkans
>>=80 Defend the Albanian Revolution
>>=80 Imperialist hands out of Albania
____________________________________________________________________________
_________
This is from the International Trade Union Solidarity Campaign (ITUSC) at:-
e-mail: itusc@gn.apc.org
website: http://www.itusc.org.uk
'snail' mail: PO Box 18, Epsom, Britain, KT18 7YR
Tel/Fax ++44 (0) 1372 817 778
The ITUSC is an international and internationalist association of organised
workers and communities, dedicated to rebuilding the workers' movement and
to overcoming sectarianism and division in working class organisations. It
was founded in 1991 on the following principles:
1) trade unions independent of the state and employers;
2) democracy within trade unions, and;
3) workers' internationalism.
Any individuals or organisations that accept these principles and are
prepared to work for them, are welcome within the ITUSC as comrades.
_____________________________________________________________________
=20
=20
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