From Roter Morgen
Organ of the Communist Party of Germany
March 13, 1997

Destruction in Albania

(A Tragedy) by Sokol Shkodra, Communist Party of Albania

The years 1991-97 in Albania were years of destruction in the name of the fight against communism. This was also transformed into deeds. The foreign powers determined and wrote up the plan of destruction. The practical execution of the plan fell to the Albania politicians of the "Democratic" Party. One of the theses drawn up and circulated at the beginning of the 1990s was that everything, that had been built up in the 50 years of communism, must be destroyed and that work must be begun again from zero point, since everything that had been built was worthless. A leader of the Democrats, the economist Gramoz Pashko, said that the zero point theory must be carried through and that we must begin the work with a blank check that the West would write for us. The tragedy of the destruction and the burning down was done under the slogan: We are destroying Enverism and communism in Albania down to the roots."

Dozens of the factories, hospitals, social and cultural organizations, modern stock-breeding complexes and warehouses, which were robbed from the people, were destroyed. Thousands of hectares of vineyards, plantations of tropical fruit, greenhouses, were burned and destroyed, the telephone networks in the villages were destroyed, as were irrigation plants, land reclamation projects, the electricity network, etc....

In many regions of the country the graves of the fighters of the national liberation war were destroyed. The memorials to the heroes and heroines of the people in all of Albania, including the memorial to the legendary Enver Hoxha, were torn down. The justification was:

We are fighting against communism and Enver Hoxha, so that the European and American world will like us and help us. This was what the politicians of the Berisha clique declared. The damage and destruction to the Albanian economy between 1991 and 1997 amounted to billions of dollars. The reason: the fight against communism!

Many patriotic people, regardless of their party membership, are asking correctly: "What is all this?" "Is this in the interest of Albania?"

There are a number of reasons why all this came about. The current ruling politicians with President Berisha at the top know the reasons very well. But they do not tell the truth. The truth is that the capitalist world does not want Albania in the present situation to be a strong and independent state, as it was in the previous 50 years under Enver Hoxha. The foreign policy of Albania must be that of the open door, without any control and discipline of a constitutional state.

Albania is passing through an unforeseen situation. There is no constitution, since the party in power does not accept an agreement with the other political powers. The result of the path pursued in these years by the Meksi regime and President Berisha, of the closing of the great national enterprises, of the demolition of the construction work on the hydro-electric plant at Banja, on the railroad line Milot-Reshen-Klos and other objectives, that were foreseen in the five-year plan, was that innumerable people took the path of emigration or exile into the world to search for work (in Italy, Greece, the whole of Europe and America). Over 600,000 young Albanian men and women are emigrants today.

The noteworthy events of the year 1997 are the throwing of stones and the burning to the ground of the headquarters of the Democratic Party, of the building of the police and secret service, the city halls and other state organizations, as well as the collapse of the so-called pyramid money businesses of the companies of Gjallica, Xhaferi, Populli, etc. Thousands of Albanian citizens lost money and their houses which were put up for sale. The rebellion of the people has now developed into the climax of a forcible protest against the Berisha regime. This popular anger began on May 26, 1996, as the elections took place under the influence of the state force and condemned the current parliament as illegal, and it developed into a massive protest against the Democratic Party and the President. The severe protests in Vlora, Berat, Lushnja, Gjirokaster, Saranda, Fieri, Kavaja, Korca and Tirana, accompanied by hunger strikes of students of the universities of Vlora and Gjirokaster, supported by the people, all these protest actions have sharpened the situation. The theft of weapons from arms depots has alarmed the public and great insecurity has resulted. The deaths of more than ten people, some civilians and some police, the opening of the prison in Saranda, the prison revolt in Shenkoll near Lheza as well as the execution of a condemned person have lead to great tensions. The political shocks in Albania on the basis of the demonstrations have stirred up the fear of a new unforeseen exodus towards Italy and Greece. In this oppressive situation, in which Prime Minister Mexi resigned, President Berisha proclaimed a state of emergency by which he placed the whole country under the control of the army, the secret service SHIK and the police. This has only sharpened the situation in the whole country. In this gloomy moment the political struggle between the Democratic Party of President Berisha and the opposition has also increased. Without any justification the President indicted the Communists, and that at a time when the Communist Party of Albania had been banned by the parliament of the Democratic Party (which has 2/3 of the seats there). Albanian communists were dismissed wholesale from their work-places, under the pretext that these were democratic reforms. The parliament and the president passed a law, that prohibits any communist, Enverist or Marxist-Leninist activity in Albania. A large number of supporters of the opposition have been arrested under the charge that they had taken part in organizing demonstrations. In other words, the political opposition has been persecuted. The working class, which had worked in the plants, factories, state enterprises, social and cultural organizations, stands at the crossroads. The metallurgical combine, the auto and tractor combine Enver Hoxha in Tirana, the copper factory and combine have been shattered. The copper and coal mines have been closed down...

In the difficult situation that the country is passing through, the left opposition and the center have come together to form a group called the Forum for Democracy, in which the society for the formerly politically persecuted and the students take part. The demonstrators are demanding with this revolt to get back the money from the pyramid businesses. It is emphasized that the pyramid money businesses stand in connection with the great voting fraud of the Democratic Party in the election of May 26, 1996, which was carried out under the dictate of the Berisha regime.

During the years in which the Democratic Party government has been in power, the former communists, the heroes of the people, the political opposition have been slandered, persecuted and imprisoned. There was the tragic death in prison in Tirana of Shefqet Peci, the hero of the people, the former chairperson of the National Committee of Veterans of the Albanian liberation war. There was also the tragic imprisonment of the former Albanian State President Haxhi Lleshi, hero of the people and of the anti-fascist war. Also the imprisonment of Nexmije Hoxha, widow of Enver Hoxha and the former chairperson of the Democratic Front of Albania and former fighter in the Albanian war against fascism. Ilir Hoxha, the son of Enver Hoxha, was also imprisoned, just because he has written in a newspaper in favor of his father. The journalist Sami Meta, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Jehona, was also imprisoned as a political enemy as were also the journalists Perparim XhiXha, Aleksander Frangaj, Martin Leka...

The remains of the heroes of the people, the commanders and commissars of the war such as Enver Hoxha, Myslim Peza, Gogo Nushi, Hysni Kapo, Josif Pashko, Alqi Kondi were torn out of their graves. The anniversary of the liberation of Albania from the Nazi fascists, November 29, 1944, for which 28,000 partisan men and women gave their lives, has been stricken from the calendar. November 29, 1944, however, is the greatest and most glorious day for the Albanian people. In these days through which Albania is suffering, there are emerging dangerous contradictions on the side of the state power, namely that the state power made decisions that conflict with Albanian reality, in which heroes are labelled as criminals and criminals as heroes. Everything that has been described here, all the crimes of the last 6 years have brought out a great deal of hatred in the Albanian people, in all Albania. The latest incident, the collapse of the fraudulent pyramid companies, in which the Albanian people lost their savings and houses, and the consequent revolt of the entire people has taken on the character of an insurrection. Without new elections under an agreement of all political forces the situation in Albania will develop even more difficultly and dramatically.

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