Water defender: Maxima Acuña de Chaupe – Cajamarca (Photo La Republica)

Translated by MLtranslations.org

“Under capitalism the female half of the human race is doubly oppressed. The working woman and the peasant woman are oppressed by capital, but over and above that, even in the most democratic of the bourgeois republics, they remain, firstly, deprived of some rights because the law does not give them equality with men; and secondly—and this is the main thing—they remain in ‘household bondage’, they continue to be ‘household slaves,’ for they are overburdened with the drudgery of the most squalid, backbreaking and stultifying toil in the kitchen and the family household.” (International Working Women’s Day, March 8, 1921 – V.I. Lenin)

For the celebration of March 8, International Working Women’s Day, each year, we send you combative and revolutionary greetings.

This date has been established from the struggle of the working class of the world at the beginning of the last century by the international workers’ organization. Women like Clara Zetkin, Krupskaya and other notable leaders of that epoch took the initiative to establish this date. It honored the heroic struggle of women to obtain rights such as equal pay for equal work, since the capitalists paid women less than men; in addition to subjecting them to cruel work days, this struggle has meant the loss of countless lives taken by the capitalists.

The struggle is for labor and social rights; it is not a struggle of women against men as the bourgeoisie tries to distort it through its press. It makes women appear as victims of men when in fact it is part of the social struggle for emancipation and the development of the productive forces. This implies the inexhaustible development of science, culture, education, sports and health. In general it implies the improvement of the living conditions of human beings, the tireless defense of nature, the environment and water as a right for all and not as goods owned by capitalists.

This is the reason why the press unleashes a ferocious campaign of confrontations between women and men, which distracts and separates the masses from their problems. It imposes an agenda that means nothing for questioning and fighting for the change of the prevailing capitalist system.

As long as capitalism exists, the destruction of the planet and the violation of social rights, particularly of women, to improve their living conditions, will continue.

We condemn the use made by capitalism of women as sex objects, the grotesque commercialization of them by exhibitionism on TV, magazines and newspapers which show semi-nude women. The bourgeoisie makes fun of women while appearing to be against corruption and against violence against women. However, in reality it violently represses women who are fighting together with men for better living conditions and in defense of human rights.

We denounce and condemn the abuses that the authorities carry out every day by order of the State against dignified women who are only working to survive together with their children. We see how the police take the products that they make to sell and earn their daily living, while the big capitalists have the right to flood the markets with junk products that cause diseases such as diabetes, cancer, etc. We also denounce the attacks on peasant women who together with the commune members of various regions of the country demand the right to live well, starting with a healthy environment, water and land free from the irreversible contamination that mining causes. The unbridled monopoly groups, foreign and national, plunder these resources with the cooperation of the governments in office. We denounce the fact that the U.S. company Newmont Mining Corporation is attacking comrade Maxima Acuña de Chaupe, killing thousands of trout as a form of harassment. All this is being done with the consent of the national government and the regional government of Cajamarca as well as the company, with the complicity of the police led by corrupt elements. Our solidarity goes to comrade Maxima Acuña; the mining company must leave the areas of the peasantry of Cajamarca and respect the life and the rights of the peoples.

Categories: International, Peru, Women