An important assembly was held in Lamezia Terme promoted by the regional committees of the Italian Communist Party and the Communist Refoundation of Calabria entitled “The communists: memory and new struggles in the Calabria of denied rights and false promises”. There was the participation of many members and supporters who brought their contribution of ideas with qualified interventions.
He opened the works Letizia Nanci of the Youth Federation of the PCI which recalled the importance of January 21st as the anniversary of the birth of the Italian communists and as an anniversary to be taken as a reference for the younger generations. Then it was up to Domenico Serrao, Regional Secretary of Rifondazione Comunista, who in his report covered topics of a national and international nature. Solidarity with the Palestinian people, criticism of wars and American capitalism were the topics developed in Serrao’s introduction who concluded: “The unity of the communists is necessary – he stated – also for Calabria, in view of the regional elections of the future, to give a voice back to the weakest, to male and female workers, to young unemployed people”. Lorenzo Muratore, of Rifondazione di Vibo Valentia, encouraged young people to engage in politics, stigmatizing the distrust and indifference of many peers who are now distant from politics and the values of the Constitution. Francesco Guido of the PCI of Cosenza focused on the issues of work, Southern Italy, public health and the contextual need to root the action of united communists in the territory, reclaiming social conflicts to build a new representation within the institutions. Angelica Perrone of Rifondazione di Cosenza focused on the issues of the right to health, talking about the problem of waiting lists and the impossibility of providing medical services in Calabria. “Healthcare – you said – is moving towards privatization that is increasingly subordinated to economic interests and the logic of profit”.
There were several unscheduled interventions in which each of the speakers introduced issues at a territorial level, such as the lack of infrastructure on the 106 road and the Ionian railway, reiterating their opposition to the Strait Bridge. Among those present also the former Mayor of Lamezia Terme Gianni Speranzathe city councilor Lucia Citizen and the writer Saint Gioffre who, defining himself culturally Marxist-Leninist, brought his greeting to the assembly taking as reference the Spanish model of Sanchez on economic policy.
The works were concluded by the Mayor of Polistena Michele Tripodi, member of the national secretariat of the PCI, who spoke of a historic day for Calabria in the sign of communist unity. He criticized the Meloni government, its subordinate positions to Atlanticist and warmongering capitalism and the sending of weapons to Ukraine and the Middle East. “The fascism of the past that has faded no longer exists – he added – but it is still fascism”. Tripodi continued trusting in the principles of the Constitution as guiding values for a policy that can return to being credible only if it materializes what it is fighting for. “In Polistena I am not the Mayor like everyone else, but I am the communist Mayor because the ideas we believe in translate into concrete choices such as the job grants for young unemployed people financed by cutting our allowances”.
Tripods’ final appeal is to continue walking the path of communist unity, moving from words to deeds starting with the spring 2024 local elections.
