Message to the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of Spain

The Japanese Communist Party Central Committee sent the following message to the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) which was held in Madrid from March 1 to 3:

On the occasion of the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), the Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party sends cordial greetings to all delegates and PCE members.

We hope that your congress will be successful in developing the struggle to defend the Spanish people's living conditions, basic rights, and democracy, and to construct an independent and democratic Europe for breaking its submission to the United States and in carrying out the struggle against new interference and interventions by NATO.

In international politics, there are growing concerns and criticism about the United States publicly stating that it will expand the retaliatory war beyond Afghanistan under the pretext of eradicating terrorism and about possible unilateral military attacks on countries by labeling them as "an axis of evil."

Acts of terrorism are a crime that cannot be justified by any religious or political belief, and must be brought to justice. Also, a retaliatory war that violates international law will not help to achieve a fundamental solution to the problem of terrorism; on the contrary, it is dangerous in that it will prepare a new hotbed of terrorism. The U.S. position of escalating the retaliatory war under its unilateral judgment and resorting to preemptive attacks, amounts to destroying the order of world peace based on the United Nation Charter.

The world in the 21st century is at a crossroads to decide whether to permit an international order to be led by hegemony or to construct a peaceful international order based on the U.N. Charter. Also, the task now is to intensify the struggle to eliminate nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and efforts to establish a new equitable international economic order without the aggravating misery and hunger, and protect the global environment.

The Japanese Communist Party wishes to further develop exchanges and cooperation with the Communist Party of Spain on these international issues as well as in areas of common interest as political parties working in developed capitalist countries. (end)