Contemporary Czech Contradictions

By Mirko Svoboda, Northstar Compass, March 2000

More than ten years have elapsed since the so-called Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia took place. World Imperialism, in order to restore capitalism in this country, utilized the betrayal of Gorbachev and his fellow conspirators. This occurrence was also partly the result of inadequacies of the policies which were being used by the leadership of the then existing Communist Party. Their inability to rectify some of the mistakes which were made and which were undermining the confidence of the working class in the correctness of their political line, were also partly to blame for this transformation.

Today, capitalism having been restored, the country is in a crisis both politically and economically. The decline in the gross national product and other indicators of social and economic development have now resulted in the withering away of the economic advantages that were instituted by Socialism in all of the spheres of society. The society as a whole is losing its secure life style and also its perspective of future secure employment. The motivational point of view of its youth is disappearing. The political situation is further complicated by the inability of the governing minority Social Democratic government to institute its policies designed to correct the mistakes of the previous right wing administration of Premier Vaclav Klaus. The media in all its forms continues each day to disseminate anti-Communist hysteria. It projects a very distorted and falsified picture of the country's socialist past and tries to justify all the crimes committed by the present subversive elements which struggled to destroy the Czechoslovak Republic during the cold war period. These crimes were of various sorts up to and including murder. Many of the nouveau riche have escaped retribution for having defrauded their fellow Czech citizens to the point of causing various banks, monetary funds and organizations to fail. Crimes and other activities of the Mafiosi are on the increase.

In the Czech Republic there continues to be instituted various legal statutes which discriminate against the Communists. The office of the documentation and investigation of supposed crimes committed by the Communists continues to function. The daily official propaganda which continues to congest the media is not objective in its international reporting. This was the case in regards to NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia as well as the attempts by Russia to liquidate the Chechen bandits and terrorists. Exaggerated television programs try to constantly portray the Soviet Union as an evil empire.

The Czech Republic today symbolizes a very strange society with a strange president. The Czech society as a whole is deeply disappointed by the evolution of the past decades and the representations projected of itself by its President Vaclav Havel. His very unrealistic and visionary projections, both political and civic remain unrealized. Today three quarters of the population, according to the latest polls, are dissatisfied with the present political situation. Daily more and more people are reminiscing about the merits of a Socialist Czechoslovakia, partitioned into two countries without even a referendum. It is very little wonder therefore that Communists are gaining acceptance and also defying attempts at isolating the two Communist parties to the point of almost outright banning. In these circumstances the existing two parties that call themselves Communists held their congresses.

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia adopted a program of renewal and its role in the new millennium. The end results of the Congress are arousing certain doubts. It's continuing retreat from all of the principles of Leninism is on going. What is being created now is a very nationalistic leftist party without ideological commitment, attempting to opportunistically deflate and also reconstruct Marxism. The chairman of the party, M. Grebenicek, cited as “the main reason for this, is the ending of forty-year existence of the so-called real Marxist Socialism in Czechoslovakia. The total bankruptcy of the Soviet model of socialism, which proved itself incapable of creating a humanistic Marxist society of free and also equal people.” That evaluation of the involvement and building of a socialist society in the USSR is not only unjust and superficial, but moreover reinforces and fortifies all the assertions by bourgeois ideologists.

Likewise, the other Communist Party in the Czech Republic held its Congress. The general secretary of this party is the former member of the presidium of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Miroslav Stepan. The party congress recognized past communist principles up to and including its name, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

Today, in the Czech Republic, there is a new type of embargo, that is the restrictions on publication and dissemination of all progressive information. Activities of progressive citizens organizations are labeled extremist and discriminated against. Also at the same time, within the Czech society, there is a need to struggle against the rise of racism and the resurrection of neo-fascism and against various forms of discrimination, be it political or otherwise. The most urgent task at this time is to expose the aggressive nature of NATO and the struggle to have the Czech Republic now involved in globalization and capitalist integration. In this regard it is necessary to intensify the activities of all the progressive forces not only in the Czech Republic but internationally as well.

CZECH POLICE IN PREPARATION

September 28, 2000 is the date when the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank will be held in Prague. The Czech police regard the orderly conducting of these proceedings as their number one priority. That is why they are already making preparations for the possible protests of opponents of IMF and World Bank. The Czech public at large has not been made aware of the nature of these preparations. The police chief, however, made a clear statement to the effect that Prague is a historical city with a very complicated transit system and that traffic may not function smoothly during the proceedings. Therefore the police must make provisions for any eventualities. He also said that the police force will handle protests very differently than the WTO protests in Seattle, USA.

The reality is that the negative results of world globalization of financial markets are now becoming more self-evident. Therefore it is imperative that the globalization of the world's financial markets be confronted by a people's global solidarity. What is at stake here is further impoverishment of the poorest people on the planet. These are the inhabitants of the developing nations who are living well below the poverty line. It is necessary that certain global forces be prevented from dividing the world according to their preference in order to maximize all of their profits. Protests against globalization, which takes no heed of people and their living environment, will not be stopped by some sort of police action. This is true also of those international institutions that have failed to carry out their mission.