Communist Party of Armenia
Comrades, brothers and sisters in struggle,
today we gather to affirm that the revolution lives in every conscious heart that does not accept oppression and does not renounce the freedom of the peoples.
We speak of the Commune as a living project, as a force of emancipation that unites workers, peasants, students, and militants in a single voice.
The first great experience of emancipation in our region was the Baku Commune in 1918. There, in the heart of the Caucasus, oil workers, peasants, and soldiers rose up to take their destiny into their own hands, led by Stepan Shahumyan, the Lenin of the Caucasus, and the 26 commissars who gave their lives rather than betray the proletariat—showing that total devotion to the people’s cause is the measure of those worthy of the revolution.
The Baku Commune was a heroic attempt to establish Soviet power—a true symbol of proletarian internationalism. There, radical social and economic reforms were set in motion:
- Nationalization of the oil industry and the banks.
- A decree establishing the eight-hour workday.
- Requisition of food to feed the poor of Baku.
These measures were not mere words but concrete actions aimed at improving the life of the people and challenging capitalist exploitation.
The Baku Commune faced extreme difficulties: hostility from imperialist powers, social division fueled by the bourgeoisie, scarcity of resources, and the betrayal of some of its own. Yet despite all this, they resisted and organized production, defense, and collective life—demonstrating that even in the most adverse circumstances, a conscious people can build power and hope.
And if Baku was the flame in the East, the Paris Commune was the spark that ignited the world’s consciousness.
For 72 days, the Paris Commune set in motion a series of unprecedented reforms for its time: secular and free schools, separation of church and state, minimum wage, ten-hour workday, equality between men and women. It introduced measures that would later even be adopted by the bourgeois French Republic.
But the Commune did not only change laws—it introduced a new form of democracy: decentralized and direct. Every decision was made by the communal assembly, elected by direct universal suffrage, based on open and ongoing dialogue with the people of Paris through committees.
The Communards demonstrated that the people can govern themselves, that they can take the reins of their destiny and hold power in their own hands. Although it was crushed, its example teaches us that courage without strategy or organization is not enough; that revolution demands discipline, theory, and coordinated action; and that the lessons of history remain essential.
From these historical experiences would emerge the power of the Soviets. The fundamental principle of the Soviets was direct power and real democracy. Originally, a Soviet—from the Russian совет, meaning “council”—was an assembly of workers, soldiers, or peasants directly elected by their peers. It was participatory democracy without intermediaries, the antithesis of bourgeois parliamentarism, always distant from the life of the people.
Local Soviets elected delegates to higher-level Soviets—city, region, republic—until reaching the Congress of Soviets, the supreme organ of power. And the essential point: delegates could be removed at any time by their electors, guaranteeing that the people maintained permanent control over their representatives.
This system became the basis of Soviet democracy, ensuring free access to work, housing, education, and health. It always upheld the primacy of collectivity over individualism, because only through community can capital be defeated.
Today we must look at our reality in Armenia and in the world and recognize that we have not always succeeded in fully putting theory into practice; that our organization has sometimes been insufficient; that coordination among communes has faltered; and that discipline and political education have been weak.
This is not an empty reproach but constructive criticism, because recognizing our mistakes is the only way to strengthen ourselves and learn from history.
We must learn to organize popular power in every neighborhood, workplace, and community—building strong communes capable of resisting attacks and blockades and sustaining the life of the people.
Because attacks always exist, even if their form changes: in the past it was the rifle, occupation, direct imperialism; today it is economic blockades, media attacks, political and diplomatic pressure, corruption, disinformation, subtle sabotage, and even military interventions.
In Venezuela, we have seen attempts to destabilize organization and crush popular power, but the intention remains the same: to divide and weaken the people.
The enemy of yesterday and today is the same: capital, imperialism, the exploiters who refuse to let the peoples decide their own destiny. That is why our struggle remains the same—the struggle for the emancipation of the proletariat, for justice, for the construction of popular power, for the Commune as the organ of real power in the life of the peoples.
In Venezuela, the Bolivarian communes show that even under constant attacks, blockades, and political, media, and military pressure, the organized people can advance, resist, and sustain direct action through unity and solidarity.
Here we must recognize the legacy of Hugo Chávez, who understood that the revolution is not limited to a government but must be built from the ground up—in neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities. Chávez taught that the communes are the concrete expression of popular power and that only through them can the people own their destiny and advance toward true socialism.
In Armenia, after the fall of the Soviet Union, our nation was reduced to a semi-colony of Western imperialism. The destruction of industry eliminated the material base of popular power, weakening our capacity for organization.
Faced with this situation, our task is to build communes in neighborhoods and workplaces, to rebuild the strength of the people, and to form a broad popular front that includes all layers of society.
Two years ago, we created a virtual commune, which we called Komuna as a starting point, where workers, peasants, students, and militants meet to discuss, decide, and act collectively—uniting those who remain in the homeland with those who live abroad. Because a nation is not only a territory, but a living community of conscious workers.
Every commune anywhere in the world is an example of all those who gave their lives for their ideology. It is the living tribute to the martyrs, the heroes, to Stepan Shahumyan, to the 26 commissars of Baku, to the Communards of Paris, to all those who fought for the emancipation of the working people.
To keep a commune alive today is to continue their struggle, to strengthen their legacy, and to demonstrate that revolution is possible.
That is why we must build alliances among communes, exchange experiences, strengthen power structures, resist imperialist attacks, and ensure that the Commune ceases to be an ideal and becomes a concrete reality of organization, discipline, and collective action.
History teaches us that the contradiction between oppressors and oppressed remains the same, and that our task continues to be to resist, organize, and build popular power.
Finally, I wish to end with the words of Stepan Shahumyan:
“The waters of the world, wherever they spill, wherever they flow, will eventually come together and meet in the ocean.”
Every commune, even if it seems isolated, is like a drop of water joining others, forming an ocean of struggle, solidarity, and organization. Every effort, every militant, and every decision made by the people strengthens the collective power of the proletariat.
Just as the waters meet in the ocean, our communes, connected with each other, form an invincible international front, uniting all peoples who fight for emancipation and socialism.
Commune or nothing!
Honor and glory to Stepan Shahumyan and the 26 commissars!
Long live the communes in Venezuela, in Armenia, and throughout the world!
