The working class and oppressed people in the U.S. have been struggling for more than 20 years without the conscious leadership of a Marxist-Leninist party. Since the once-revolutionary Communist Party USA became a revisionist, social-fascist party under the leadership of the Gus Hall clique, genuine communist militants have been working steadfastly to forge a new party to lead the working class in its struggle to smash imperialism and establish socialism.
The failure of previous attempts at forming the new party could not discourage the determined efforts of the leading forces of the proletariat. Rather they served as stepping stones for us to move forward. The attempts of the Provisional Organizing Committee in the late 1950s, of the Progressive Labor Party in the early ’60s, of the Communist Labor Party and the Revolutionary Communist Party in recent years all ended up in the swamp of Trotskyism or revisionism. These attempts were not based on a real Marxist-Leninist line or program and therefore never made a real ideological break with the revisionist party.
In addition to these party-building efforts, other opportunist trends have emerged, such as the centrist groupings which unite with revisionism and social-imperialism, as well as the right-opportunist anti-party bloc which labeled itself the “Revolutionary Wing” and whose unprincipled blocking collapsed in shambles.
Our movement has developed its correct general line and established a leading trend through the course of the ideological struggle against revisionism, Trotskyism and all forms of opportunism as well as through criticism self-criticism. The development of this line and the organization of these forces have laid the basis for the formation of a new Marxist-Leninist party which will put an end to the period of small, local communist circles.
The program of our Party reflects the application of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought to the concrete conditions of the United States. The program represents the concentrated expression of our views on the final aims, basic principles and political tasks of our Party. It presents our line while drawing clear lines of demarcation between ourselves and the opportunists of all stripes who have betrayed the red flag of communist revolution.
This program will rally, unite and give leadership to the workers and their allies in our common struggle to overthrow the capitalist system. It will bind our vanguard Party even more closely to the struggles of the masses.
The founding of our Party marks a giant step forward for the working class and all oppressed people in this country. The struggle to build the Party and our efforts to unite Marxist-Leninists will continue.
We call on all Marxist-Leninists in the U.S. to unite on the basis of this fighting program and to put an end to the period of backwardness, to the period of many centers and small circles and to build a single unified communist Party.