peace

Giocondo Dias General Secretary, Central Committee Brazilian Communist Party Comrades and Friends, We regard this conference as a gathering of historic importance representing an outstanding contribution to the struggle for social progress and peace. We therefore wish to extend our greetings to you and, above all, to thank the Socialist Unity Party of Germany for providing the opportunity of our coming together. This initiative launched by the comrades of the SED clearly illustrates their consistence in applying the Theses proposed for the Karl Marx Year, because this conference is dedicated to peace....

Erich Honecker General Secretary, Central Committee, Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Chairman, Council of State, German Democratic Republic Comrades, Distinguished Guests, A hundred years ago, when Karl Marx, the great thinker and revolutionary, had closed his eyes for ever, Friedrich Engels, his friend and companion throughout a lifetime of struggle, declared that his name and work would endure through the ages. These prophetic words are proving true in our challenging and turbulent age as the human condition undergoes a radical transformation on all continents and the human race summons all its energies to banish the spectre of self-annihilation in a nuclear holocaust....