INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF PEOPLES' STRUGGLE
NEW YEAR 2009 GREETINGS
I convey to you the warmest greetings of solidarity from the International League of Peoples' Struggle as the new year of 2009 begins.
The US-instigated policies of “neoliberal globalization” and “war on terror” are unraveling. The financial and economic crisis of monopoly capitalism is deepening and generating social and political turmoil on a global scale.
The anti-imperialist and democratic movement of the people is growing in strength and advancing. The International League of Peoples' Struggle is expected to bring to a new and higher level the people's struggle for national and social liberation against imperialism and all reaction.
May you enjoy good health, score further successes in your work in the service of the people and make greater contributions to the realization of their revolutionary aspirations.
Sincerely yours,
Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson
International Coordinating Committee
EIGHTEEN CONCERNS OF THE ILPS
- The cause of national liberation, democracy and social liberation against imperialism and all reaction;
- Socio-economic development for oppressed and exploited countries and nations and social equity for all working people;
- Human rights in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural fields against state violence, national oppression, class exploitation, gender oppression, fascism, caste-ism, racism and religious bigotry;
- The cause of just peace and struggles against wars of counterrevolution and aggression and against nuclear, biological, chemical, missile and other weapons of genocidal and random mass destruction;
- Promotion of trade union and other democratic rights of the working class, improvement of wage and living conditions against all forms of intensifying exploitation of labor and the destruction of working class organizations in their pursuit of the historic mission of fighting for social liberation;
- Agrarian reform and rights of peasants, farm workers and fisher folk against feudal, semi-feudal and capitalist exploitation and oppression;
- The cause of women's liberation and rights against all forms of sexual discrimination, exploitation and violence;
- Rights of the youth to education and employment;
- Children's rights against child labor, sexual abuse and other forms of exploitation;
- Rights of indigenous peoples, national minorities, and nationalities for self-determination and decolonization against discrimination, racism, and national oppression by imperialism and local reaction;
- The rights of teachers, researchers and other educational personnel and struggle against ideas and researches directed against the people;
- The right of the people to health care and the rights of health workers;
- Science and technology for the people and development, environmental protection against plunder and pollution and the destruction of the foundations of human life, the right to safe and healthy food and water and opposition to manipulation of genetic technology for imperialist profit;
- Arts and culture and free flow of information in the service of the people and the rights of artists, creative writers, journalists and other cultural workers against imperialist and reactionary propaganda and oppression;
- Justice and indemnification for the victims of illegal arrest and detention (especially political prisoners), violations of due process, torture, extra-judicial executions, disappearances, mass displacement, and other blatant forms of human rights violations;
- Rights and welfare of homeless persons, refugees and migrant workers displaced by imperialism and local reactionaries;
- Rights of aged people to a life of dignity and secure existence; and
- Rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered against discrimination, intolerance and homophobia.