The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) has issued a militant statement marking the 53rd anniversary of the November 1973 Polytechnic uprising, honoring the heroic struggle of students, workers and the Greek people against the military dictatorship of 1967–1974, while stressing that its anti-imperialist message remains as relevant as ever.

In its statement, the Press Office of the KKE Central Committee pays tribute to the fighters of the anti-dictatorship struggle, expressing particular pride in the members and cadres of the KKE and the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), who played a leading role under conditions of illegality, persecution, imprisonment, exile and torture.

The Polytechnic uprising, which culminated in the bloody suppression of the student-led revolt by the military junta in November 1973, became a landmark in the struggle against the dictatorship. Its historic slogans, “Bread – Education – Freedom” and “US Out – NATO Out,” continue to resonate in demonstrations across Greece.

The KKE underlines that the military dictatorship established on April 21, 1967, with anti-communism as its official ideology, employed brutal repression to serve the interests of capitalist power and its international allies, particularly the United States and NATO.

According to the Party, the subsequent transition to bourgeois parliamentary democracy did not resolve the fundamental problems facing the working class and popular strata. On the contrary, these problems are intensifying amid imperialist rivalries, military preparations and the growing dangers of war.

The KKE strongly condemns the Greek government’s involvement in NATO’s military and geopolitical plans, arguing that enormous expenditures on armaments come at the expense of education, healthcare and the needs of workers and young people. It also warns against the renewed promotion of junta nostalgists and fascist forces, which it describes as instruments used to intimidate popular struggles and divert attention from those responsible for exploitation and war.

Drawing lessons from the Polytechnic uprising, the Party stresses that history is changed by the organized struggle of the people, not by political arrangements from above or the expectation of bourgeois political “saviors.” Even the most unfavorable balance of forces, it emphasizes, can be overturned through collective action.

In this context, the KKE calls for strengthening workers’ struggles, including the nationwide general strike being prepared for November 25 under the slogan “No sacrifice for their profits and their wars.”

The Party urges workers, students, young people and families to participate massively in the anniversary commemorations and the traditional anti-imperialist march to the US Embassy in Athens, demanding Greece’s withdrawal from NATO, the closure of foreign military bases and an end to the country’s involvement in imperialist wars.

The ultimate vindication of the Polytechnic uprising, the KKE underlines, lies not merely in commemorating the heroic events of November 1973, but in continuing the struggle against capitalist exploitation and imperialism, toward working-class power and socialism-communism.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMUNISM©

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