- The Guardian
- Issue #2010
On Saturday, 4th June 2022, activists from around Australia gathered at the Cuban Embassy in Canberra to receive commendations from the Cuban Institute for Friendship Amongst Peoples (ICAP), celebrating over sixty years of solidarity and collaboration. Representing the many CPA members involved in Cuban solidarity since the Revolution, senior members of the Central Committee, as well as representatives from the Canberra and other branches of the Party, took part in the festivities, reflecting on the longstanding, and ongoing, relationship. Assembling in-person for the first time since 2019, Cuban Ambassador to Australia, Ariel Lorenzo Rodriguez, presented medallions to the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society (extant since 1979) and the Southern Cross Brigade (running annually since 1983) on behalf of ICAP. The strong attendance and very positive atmosphere reflects the ongoing commitment of Australian friends of Cuba to supporting the Revolution, overturning the criminal United States blockade and continuing our joint relationship for many decades to come. Long live socialist Cuba!
PARTY DIPLOMACY IN CANBERRA
Over the weekend of the 4th June, senior members of the Central Committee used the opportunity of attending the commemoration of sixty years of Australian-Cuban solidarity to conduct a number of diplomatic visits. Accompanied by activists from the CPA Canberra branch, the General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary and Party President undertook visits to representatives of Palestine, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the People’s Republic of China and were provided with updates on conditions in their respective countries and potential for future work and collaboration – particularly given the commitments and express aims of the new ALP government.
In meeting with Izzat Salah Abdulhadi, Head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, those convened discussed recent events in Palestine, including the brutal Israeli assassination of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, as well as the need for Labor to enact the “priority” commitment of its membership to recognise the Palestinian state. The CPA expressed its ongoing support for the end of Israeli occupation of all Palestinian lands and the establishment of an Independent Palestinian State.
Venezuelan Head of Mission, Daniel Gasparri Rey provided an update on conditions in the country, particularly given the relaxation of specific United States sanctions. Gasparri noted that, while conditions have improved recently, the Venezuelan people continue to live under a range of cruel economic sanctions that have not been altered. These unilateral imperialist sanctions are genocidal mechanisms with the express aim of overthrowing a democratic popular government. All participants expressed their shared will for the new ALP government to immediately recognise the democratically-elected government of President Nicolás Maduro, ending the Juan Guaidó farce once and for all and removing Australia’s explicit support for the United States’ imperial aims.
Meanwhile, as Australia and China will soon celebrate fifty years of diplomatic relations, the CPA reiterates that China should not be seen as a rival but a partner in the shared development of our people. In meeting with Minister Wang Xining and colleagues, attendees expressed their appreciation of fraternal relations with the Communist Party of China and the deepening relations amongst the international communist movement. Australia should seek not to piggyback on American hawkishness in our region, but work with our geographic partners, such as China, to combat our shared future challenges, particularly climate change.
The experience of the CPC, and our many other fraternal parties and nations, will continue to teach Australian communists an enormous amount on socialist construction, the adaptation of Marxism to specific and complicated conditions, and alternative modes of development. It is incumbent upon Australia and its political representatives to work multilaterally in the interests of the working masses to advance the shared aims of humanity, not the concerns of exploitative and self-destructive capital. Our growing Party must and will continue our century-long commitment to doing just that.
