RSZRP Re sR esate RAS Se

ble

po

E2R5>

ight’s celebration is part of
eee celebrations of the
Great October Socialist Revo-
tion, a revolution which trans-
a ad Tsarist Russia, brought
end to the prison of nations
ve opened the door to a new
eoatem of society in which ex-
sjoitation of man by man was
P t to an end. That revolution
: the same time ushered in a
F era for mankind. Imperial-
‘abil ceased to be the only system
Peeing in the world. Alongside
nd, competing with it was
4 . land of socialism, which
acted as a powerful point of at-
traction for the working people
of the capitalist world, the peo-
ples oppressed by imperialism in
the colonial world. The Great
October Revolution gave an im-
etus to the transition - from
capitalism to socialism and com-
‘munism on a world-wide scale.

It is useful to remind our-
selves that the first act of the
young socialist republic was to
withdraw from the imperialist

‘war and adopt the Decree on
Peace. “Peace to the Peoples!
it proclaimed. It called for a just
and democratic peace, an end to
the imperialist slaughter. That
Decree of Peace became a pow-
erful factor in stimulating the
peoples in the capitalist coun-
tries and in bringing an end to
the imperialist slaughter. What
it established clearly and un-
equivocally was that socialism
and peace are synonymous. This
indeed has been the landmark
of the Soviet Union since 1917
— its consistent and continuing
struggle for peace and for peace-
ful coexistence of states with
different social systems, linked
with support to the people’s
‘liberation fight everywhere.

As we know the Soviet Union
fought for these principles and
for collective security in the
inter-war years. It strove to
unite the peoples and govern-
ments against the menace of
fascism. It fought the Munich-
eers who sold out their own
countries and world peace. And
even during the difficult days of
the second world war, the Soviet
Union strove might and main

-not only to defeat fascism,
_which it did, but to create the
conditions for a post-war world

worl

ag

in which peace and _ security
could prevail.

Cold War Fails

We are also aware of the
post-war period when U.S. im-
perialism took over the mantle
of world domination and: strove
to crush socialism. ‘Atomic dip-
lomacy,” “roll back of commun-
ism,” “the policy of contain-
ment,” “the position of strength”
policy, all these dressings of the
cold war were unleashed with
the aim of eliminating the Soviet
Union and other socialist coun-
tries by force. Anti-Sovietism
and anti-communism, these were
the ideological weapons used to
brainwash the peoples and drag
them into this crusade against
the Soviet Union.

As we know, these policies
failed. The Soviet Union smash-
ed atomic diplomacy. The heroic
Vietnamese people, backed by
the socialist countries and the
peoples of the world, compelled
U.S, imperialism to retreat. The
socialist countries grew in eco-
nomic, political and _ military
strength. Colonial empires dis-

‘integrated. Instead of the social-

ist world being faced with crisis,
U.S. imperialism was compelled
to recognize that it was faced
with a crisis of its foreign pol-
icy. All these and other factors
have brought on a new Situation
making international detente
possible. :

International detente has be-
gun to replace the cold war.
More solid security has begun -to
replace policies aimed at elimin-
ating socialism by force. If the
world can now breathe easier,
thanks are due to the Soviet
Union, to the majority of social-
ist countries which have persist-
ently fought for peaceful co-

’ existence of states with differ-

ing social systems.
Congress of the

The 24th
Communist

Party of the Soviet Union will ~
go down in history as that Con-.

gress which adopted the Peace
Program and undertook the
peace offensive, which was

taken up by the peoples of the _

world and now is bearing fruit.

What has made the process of
detente possible is the changing
relationship between socialism
and the forces of. peace and pro-
gress on one hand and the ex-

ponents of cold war and the
arms race on the other.

This change in the relation-
ship of forces has been stimul-
ated further by growing inter-
imperialist contradictions, by the
dollar crisis: and sharpening
trade.conflicts between the ca-
pitalist countries, These, _ too,
have become factors in the direc-
tion of international detente.

What has further stimulated
this progress is the growing
energy crisis in the USA, indeed
the crisis of natural resources in
the entire capitalist world.

These are permanent, not tem-
porary factors and show that
international detente ‘has good
prospects.

Return to the Past

However, it would be folly to
close one’s eyes to the fact that
alongside the process of detente,
the cold warriors who Oppose
peaceful coexistence want to re-
vert to policies of confrontation.
These forces are moving heaven

_and earth to nullify the agree-

ments arrived at or to hinder
their implementation, as in mat-
ters of trade. They shave stepped
up the ideological offensive
against socialism around the so-
called thesis of “freedom of
movement and ideas.” They con-
tinue to push the arms race
based on a bankrupt “positions
of strength” policy. They under-
take, as President Nixon did, the
organization of a military alert
and the equipment of airplanes
with nuclear weapons, aimed at
intimidating the Arab peoples
and the Soviet Union. :

These show the complicated
and contradictory aspects of the
situation.

What it emphasizes is that
peace is not yet assured, and
that neither -peace nor detente
will come by itself. It must be
fought for every inch of the
way, day in and day out by a
powerful people’s movement.

As comrade Brezhnev correct-
ly stated at the World Congress
of Peace Forces, “As we in the
Soviet Union see it, the task is
to turn the detente achieved in
the -decisive areas of interna-
tional relations into \a stable,
durable, and what is more, an
irreversible factor.”

This historic task which the
Soviet Union has set itself at
this stage is likewise the task
cf all peace-loving peoples
throughout the world, including
Canada,

Unequivecal Stand

The Middle East is an import-
ant area of the struggle between
the forces of peace and libera-
tion and the forces of imperial-
ism and war.

The .charfging relationship of
forces internationally, the de-
tente between the USA and
USSR, the changing relationship
of forces in the Middle East it-
self, the growing unity of the
Arab peoples, their correct util-
ization of oil as an instrument
in the struggle for a just settle-
ment, all these have finally
brought about cease-fire. How-
ever, the cease-fire is only the
first step to a peace settlement.
It is not in itself a peace settle-
ment...

56 years
gle for
and Socialism

Two conditions are necessary
to achieve a lasting peace. First,
the withdrawal of Israel from
occupied territory. Secondly, the
assurance of the legitimate
rights of the Arab peoples of
Palestine. If these two condi-
tions are not realized there will
be no peace in the Middle East.
These two inter-related ques-
tions are the crux and heart of
a just and durable peace, linked
as they are at the same time to
the right of all states and peo-
ples to exist behind secure
borders. ;

The Soviet Union has shown,

throughout, its consistent sup-

port for the just cause of the
Arab people and the struggle for
liberation. It has backed this up
by various forms of solidarity
support which has helped
change the relationship of forces
in the Middle East. The efforts
of imperialism to exclude the
Soviet Union and the progres-

‘sive forces in the Middle East,

have proved bankrupt. This is a
great source of strength to the
Arab people in working to real-
ize a just settlement.

Again to quote comrade
Brezhnev: “Our firm stand is
that all States and peoples in the
Miadle East — I repeat, all of
them — must be assured of
peace, security and the inviol-
ability of borders. The Soviet
Union is prepzred to take part
in the relevant guarantees.”

This clear, unequivocal stand
ef the USSR with respect to the
crisis‘in the Middle East cont-
rasts sharply with the equivocal
stand of the Canadian Govern-
ment. It has shown that-it is
far from. neutral, siding with
U.S. imperialism and, as Pre-
mier Golda Meir aptly called it,
“the American asset in the Mid-

‘dle East” — Israel. This em-

phasizes the need to press for
acoption of UN Security Coun-
cil Resolution No. 242.

For Internaticnal Detente.

Turning the international de-
tente into an irreversible factor.
also means turning Europe into
a region of lasting peace and
security. It means compelling
the U.S. government and _ its
puppet Thieu government in
South Vietnam to abide by the
Paris Peace Treaties. It means
extending political detente to
military detente and beginning
a process towards a real, not
imaginary, reduction of arms,
above all nuclear weapons, the
achievement of nuclear disar-
mament based on equality of
security of all countries. It
means extending detente to the
entire world, making the prin-
ciples of peaceful coexistence a
standard of relations along all
states. Collective security in
Europe, collective security in
Asia — these are the necessary
ingredients for a durable and
lasting peace in the world.

Not least, making detente an
irreversible factor requires the
unity of all  anti-imperialist
forces, all peace-loving forces in
the world.

The Soviet Union and ‘the
socialist countries are at the
centre of the struggle for peace
and peaceful coexistence.

Maoist Intrigue

In contrast to this noble role
of the Soviet Union and other
socialist states is the dangerous
anti-Leninist, anti-socialist, anti-
Soviet line of the Maoists. In-
stead of supporting detente they
oppose it and try to undermine
it. They claim they are for
peaceful: coexistence while in
fact they undermine the inter-
national positions of the social-
ist countries, the main force
striving for peaceful coexist-
ence. They say they are for dis-
armament while placing road-
blocks in the way of its achieve-
ment. They declare themselves
in support of the just struggle
of the Arab people while doing
everything in their power to
discredit the real assistance
given the Arab countries by the
USSR and other socialist coun-
tries. They say they are revolu-
tionaries while shaking the
hands of the military junta in
Chile.

No matter how one slices it,
the fact remains that the foreign
policy of the Chinese leaders
leads to collusion with the most
reactionary circles of imperial-
ism.

What is evident is that from a
posture of “leftism”, the Chin-
ese leaders have moved over to
the right, acting as a divisive
factor and opponent of detente.
In sharp contrast is the calm,
clear, just and flexible foreign
policy of the Soviet Union. That
policy is a class and socialist
policy which links the fight for
peace and security with the peo-
ple’s liberation fight, and
creates more favorable condi-

tions for the peoples every-
where in their struggle for
democratic advance, progress,

independence and socialism.
For Peace and Scscialism

For 56 years the Soviet Union
has stood out as the champion
of péace and socialism. Through-
cut all the different conditions
of the struggle imposed on it by
imperialism, it has remained
true to this banner. And it will
continue so to do.

In these past 56 years there
has also taken place a sharpen-
ing contrast between the grow-
ing strength and stability of the
USSR and the socialist coun-
tries, and the instability charac-
teristic of the capitalist world.
In these years the Soviet people,
under the leadership of the

._Communist Party have carried
out tremendous economic trans-
formations. They have built a
ceveloped socialist society,
which increasingly reflects its
superiority over capitalism.

How far they have advanced
can be seen in the following
summary by Erich Honecker:

“When the Russian workers
and peasants, led by the Party
of Lenin in 1917 burst open the
gates to socialism in the Great
October Socialist Revolution,
the share of this first socialist
state in total world ‘industrial
production was less than 3%.

“Twenty years later, two
years prior to the outbreak of
the Second World War, when
the Soviet people had success-

e Continued on page 10

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1973—PAGE 9