Date: 10 Mar 97 07:03:52 EST
Subject: M-G: Victory to the Albanian uprising!


Dear comrades,

Here is the Albanian article I forgot to send in my previous message. Sorry!

Revolution in Albania

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's 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: '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. 
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, the leadership 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 supported to 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's 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:
"In Lushnja, two lorries full of riot police were stopped by angry protesters
and forced to get off. Forty of them were disarmed.
"...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." (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 the effects 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. 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.
. Down with the procapitalist government of Berisha!
. For workers' democracy in Albania
. For a Socialist Federation of the Balkans
. Defend the Albanian Revolution
. Imperialist hands out of Albania

Alan Woods
Madrid, March 7, 1997




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