Out with the military dictatorship and the entire regime of Mubarak; out all the capitalists- parasites and lackeys of US imperialism! It’s time for the workers and unemployed to take over! Food, work and freedom now!

We salute the masses in Egypt for forcing out the puppet of US imperialism, Hosni Mubarak. Imperialism had not given in up until the 11th February because they knew that the masses around the world would be emboldened. Imperialism was forced to give in due to the threat of workers smashing the regime (the presidential palace, the government and parliament buildings were surrounded by the masses) and taking over all the means of production. The path is open for the overthrowal of any imperialist puppet in the whole world. The revolution in Egypt shows that for the masses to eat, to get work, to get freedom, they have to overthrow the capitalist regimes that keep the billions of the world’s masses in permanent hunger, unemployment and semi-slavery. 

But what has happened on Friday 11th February 2011 is a handing over of the revolution to a military dictatorship by the treacherous leadership of the masses, the Muslim Brotherhood, a section of the youth leaders, El Baradei, the Nasserites, and the leadership of the trade unions, whether ‘independent’ or of the state-linked FETU. The military council and constitutional court head are part of the assassin regime of Mubarak that the revolution aims to do away with. The very regime which has kidnapped activists (and still does) , tortured countless numbers of workers and militants, which maintained the murderous blockade on Gaza, which has kept the millions of Egyptian masses in hunger and starvation, that has suppressed workers organizations, has been entrusted by the treacherous leaders of the masses to oversee an ‘orderly transition to democracy’. From the beginning working class demands have been suppressed by the reactionary leadership in Tahrir square. US imperialism worked night and day to gain and maintain control of the leadership of the masses. Slogans were kept on a nationalist terrain; the Egyptian flag, the symbol of the Egyptian middle classes and capitalist class was promoted; the capitalist media, including Al Jazeera, carefully built up the bourgeois and petit bourgeois (middle class) voices within the masses while suppressing the slogans and demands of the working class. When workers started to enter en masse into the combat with their slogans, when the foundations of the capitalist system was threatened, imperialism struck a deal with the leadership of the masses, principally the Islamic capitalists and middle classes and other Egyptian middle class and capitalist class formations, to head off the revolution. Even though imperialism disciplines and represses some bourgeois and petit bourgeois (middle class) nationalist parties when they rule through brutal dictatorships like the National Party regime in South Africa from 1948-1994 and the NDP of Mubarak in Egypt since the days of Sadat, when faced with working class revolution, imperialism forms pacts with the middle class against the revolution, like they did in 1994 with the ANC in South Africa and now with the Muslim Brotherhood and others in Egypt. The true colours of Hamas is once more reflected in their partnership with Fatah against the demonstrations by the Palestinian masses in Gaza and West Bank in support of the Egyptian revolution.

The first steps of the military dictatorship in Egypt was to ban meetings of workers and strikes, to disperse the masses in Tahrir square, keeping in place the same state of emergency that Mubarak kept in place for 30 years. The Muslim Brotherhood leaders, El Baradei, the section of the youth, the Nasserites, the trade union leaders, by their support of the military dictatorship, have joined hands with imperialism against the revolution. This is why imperialism did not immediately drown the revolution in blood, because they were sure of the support of the middle class and capitalist leaders within Tahrir square.

The first step of the military dictatorship was to call in the US fleet to protect the Suez canal from the revolutionary masses. The first step of the military dictatorship was to order workers back to work in the same exploitative conditions which is controlled primarily by US imperialism, and the small Egyptian and Israeli capitalist class which has no independent existence from imperialism. (the sweat shops in Egypt which produce for British and US imperialism have at least 10.5% inputs from Israel). The military dictatorship is a total lackey of US imperialism and is preparing the way not for ‘orderly democratic transition’ but to drown the revolution in blood to re-establish the absolute dominance of imperialism. The first step of the military dictatorship was to continue the siege on Gaza, thus continuing to support the genocide against the Palestinians. In essence the military dictatorship continues the policy of Mubarak but without Mubarak. The so-called council of unelected ‘trustees’ is nothing but a cover to give legitimacy to the continued dictatorship of imperialism while they suppress the revolution.

What is needed is for the working class to establish its own organs and to take power in its own hands, expropriating all imperialist assets without compensation to the capitalists; what is needed is to extend the revolution into the USA and UK and other imperialist centres, extending to end with the world capitalist system where a small parasitic caste of capitalists do nothing but live off the poverty and exploitation of the masses of the world. What is needed is to overthrow world imperialism capitalism and for the working class to take power in its own hands. Socialism is on the agenda on a world scale. The alternative is the continuing barbarism of capitalism.

The rank and file of the army need to be won to the side of the masses; the officer caste is with Obama, Mubarak’s regime and the handful of rich capitalists (both Egyptian and Israeli)
Since the 28th January when the regime sent its police to try and drown the resistance in blood, a huge section of the rank and file of the army broke from Mubarak and many fired on the police. It is this that made US imperialism withdraw the defeated and broken police from the streets as their continued presence would mean a mass rebellion of the rank and file of the army against the state. In a bid for US imperialism to regain control of the rank and file of the army, they, through the heads of the army issued an order which the rank and file soldiers were already implementing, namely to not shoot on the masses. The myth that the army is one uniform block and that the generals of Mubarak-Obama were with the masses, was promoted from within by the Muslim Brotherhood leaders, El Baradei, the April 6 movement leaders and even some Socialists. But the 2nd February, when hired fascist thugs of the regime attacked the unarmed masses, started to reveal the class divisions in the army. The general and officer caste of Mubarak-Obama gave the order for the thugs not to be stopped or disarmed, while at the same time the disarming of the revolutionary masses was determinedly carried out.

When workers started going on strike and demanding that the bosses and managers linked to Mubarak must go, US imperialism decided that it was better to make a concession (asking Mubarak to resign) rather than to lose everything. In times like these, imperialism will make the most radical democratic noises as long as their agency, in this case, the generals and officer caste, remains in control. Thus part of the leadership of the masses, the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, El Baradei, the April 6 movement leaders make a pact with imperialism against the revolution. The class base of these movements rests on the Egyptian middle class, the petty traders and capitalist class. On Thursday 10th February the impotence of the policy of disarming of the masses by their middle class leaders was exposed- imperialism rejected until then that Mubarak resigns. Suddenly the April 6 movement made a call for a general strike. This shows that the middle class is always prepared to ride on the backs of the working class to achieve their objectives, namely a stake within the capitalist system. The control of the streets by the masses, the beginning of workers control in the workplaces is already a million times more democratic than any capitalist country in the world. Under such conditions we will see the middle class turn their backs on the revolution in greater numbers.

In 1979 imperialism planted Khomeini in Iran to kill off the revolution from within. In a space of 2 years more than 30 000, the flower of the Iranian revolution, were killed off by the Khomeini counter-revolution. Already US imperialism has ordered the ‘disappearance’ of hundreds, if not thousands of the grassroots activists in Egypt while the leaders make deals over their bones. Imperialism cannot allow real workers control over the Suez as one of the main arteries of capitalism would be closed. The enemy is at once the regime of Mubarak and world imperialism.

The way forward
It is necessary to call a revolutionary general strike against the military dictatorship to pave the way for power to be taken into the hands of the working class and its allies. It is necessary to build workers general strike committees based on workers delegates from every workplace, extending and broadening any existing revolutionary action committee, from every block and every industrial area, including from all the 6000 capitalist farms. This councils and committees should be built on the central demand that the military dictatorship and the entire Mubarak regime has to go and that all capitalists and managers linked to the Mubarak regime must go and every capitalist workplace, capitalist farm and bank must be placed under workers control- this is the only way to conquer food, work and freedom. At the same time delegations must be sent to all barracks to call on the rank and file soldiers to break with the officer caste of Mubarak-Obama and to join the revolution. Workers and soldiers committees, where delegates must be elective and subject to instant recall, should be the centre of the revolution. The self defence of the masses must be based on workers militias under the control of the workers and soldiers councils. Not a single weapon should be handed over to the generals and officer caste of Obama-Mubarak. Only working class leadership can give the Egyptian revolution victory. None of the petit bourgeois (middle class) leaders will go all the way in the revolution. Workers, poor peasants,  rank and file soldiers, the unemployed, the revolutionary youth need to send delegations with their demands to reinforce the demonstrations at Tahrir square, to contest and defeat the treacherous petit bourgeois and capitalist forces. Organize a Congress in Tahrir square of workers delegates with delegates from the rank and file soldiers, from the poor peasants, from the unemployed, from the revolutionary youth, from the Bedouin masses, to formulate the demands and programme of action of the masses and to set up a provisional revolutionary government based on the workers strike committees and revolutionary councils of action of the revolutionary masses (including the rank and file soldiers, poor peasants, youth, unemployed, Bedouin masses). Down with the military dictatorship! All power to the revolutionary councils and strike committees of the masses, centred on worker and soldier delegates!. It’s time to raise the red flag in Tahrir square and in the thousands of Tahrir squares across the planet.

To conquer work: open the doors of all workplaces to the unemployed, shorten the working day without loss of pay. To conquer food, workers control over the 6000 capitalist farms and the capitalist food distribution network. Workers control will ensure that the masses get food. Workers need to break with the leaders of FETU (the newly formed Egyptian trade union federation)- the leaders are linked to the CIA controlled AFL-CIO. The workers in the ‘independent’ unions must break with ‘economism’. The only way to conquer the demands of workers is for the working class to take political power, disbanding and shattering the entire bureaucracy of the Mubarak regime. Such power can only be based on the workers and soldiers councils  and supported by the councils of poor peasant delegates This is the basis for a provisional revolutionary government that should lead the struggle for food, work and freedom. Down with the military council of Obama-Mubarak! The land should be nationalised and the councils of agricultural workers and councils of poor peasant (fellayin) delegates should jointly determine the reallocation of land. Cheap credit and farm implements to be given to the poor peasants while model farming collectives are set up on the capitalist farms. There should be an immediate list made of all the names of the disappeared so that they can be traced and the torturers and killers be brought to workers justice. The poorer sections of the middle class should be encouraged to support the workers taking power as this is the only way they can achieve their demands for work and an end to slavery to the capitalist banks.

Imperialism has already learnt from the Egyptian revolution: in Yemen they organised thousands of thugs to have a counter-demonstration against the revolutionary masses; in Algeria they sent 35 000 police to control a mass of less than 5000 protestors, trying to pre-empt a revolution. Suddenly food is appearing and at cheaper prices; suddenly whole cabinets are being fired such as in Jordan to contain and head off the revolution. But the wave of the world fight-back by the working class is spreading across the planet, despite the reformists wanting to limit it to the ‘Magreb’ or an ‘Arab revolution’. A million have already marched against Berlusconi in Italy. Millions more across the globe are stirring; the masses are saying, we must rise up like the Egyptian masses do.

Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, the Emirates, Libya, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hungary, Mexico, Guadaloupe, China etc and all colonies and semi-colonies have been kept in a state of economic dependence on the imperialist centres. For the working class to conquer Socialism requires that the working class take power in the semi-colonies and colonies (kicking out all imperialist puppets) and that the working class take power in the imperialist centres. Let the Algerian revolution set fire to Paris! Let the spark in Cairo spread to Wall street, London and Buckingham Palace!

A central task as well is to unite the world working class against the most undemocratic regime in the world, the fascist Israeli regime, which keeps over 6 million Palestinians from returning home. The Egyptian and Israeli capitalists are lackeys of US imperialism that keep the Palestinian masses and the entire working class in the region divided and in chains. We condemn the poison chalice offered by the South African government to the Egyptian revolution. They offer to strangle it in the same way that the revolution has been strangled in SA by maintaining the interests of imperialism. The ANC-SACP signed a deal behind the backs of the masses to keep private property relations intact, even if the millions vote for expropriation of the imperialists, a constitutional court of 10 judges can rule against us. Ominous is the call by the SA government that the new Egyptian regime should maintain ‘peace’ with their neighbours. This is a counter-revolutionary gesture that mouths the same call by Obama that the transition be ‘orderly’- in other words, to maintain ‘peace’ with Israel, which means to sustain the genocide against the Palestinians.  It is high time that the Egyptian and Palestinian masses unite to tear down the Rafah border and once and for all end the murderous siege on Gaza. It is time for the exploited masses in the region to tear down all the walls and checkpoints that keep Palestinians in concentration camps, to overthrow the murderous fascist regime of Israel and open the way for the return of all 6 million Palestinian refugees to return home.

To take the fight for food, work and freedom in Egypt forward to Socialism requires a national and international co-ordination of the revolutionaries in Egypt and on a world scale. We need to form a revolutionary working class party in Egypt as part of a revolutionary International, based on the lessons of the past revolutions in the world. For the purpose of setting up a revolutionary International we need a conference of revolutionary workers organizations and internationalist Trotskyists in Egypt. This is the process of the refounding of the Fourth International.

For a federation of Socialist workers states of North Africa and the Middle East. Let us kick out all imperialist puppets from Cape to Cairo, from Budapest to Beijing, from Buenos Aires to Mexico. Down with all imperialist puppets the world over! Down with all the imperialist regimes! Forward to workers power! Forward to Socialism!