A Socialist Labor Party Statement—
Ukraine Deception Exposed
Last month the national office of the SLP received the first of several
e-mails that cast doubt on the legitimacy of the “Socialist Labor Party of Ukraine.” Since
then the national office has confirmed to its own satisfaction, and to that of
the party’s National Executive Committee, that the so-called SLPU was part
of an elaborate hoax. That hoax was perpetrated on several organizations in Western
Europe and the United States by the Ukrainian affiliate of a British group that
calls itself “Committee for a Workers International.” The CWI,
which identifies itself with Trotskyism, reportedly denied any knowledge of
the swindle
and declared it was as shocked and repulsed by the conduct of its Ukrainian
associates as the organizations that were bilked.
Although much of the evidence that has surfaced since July is largely circumstantial
and primarily of a literary quality, it is substantial.
It appears that at least nine or 10 groups in the United States and Western Europe
were duped by these unprincipled money-grubbers. Money is what they were after,
and the SLP did send $450.00 to help what we believed to be a fledgling SLP of
Ukraine buy a used computer. From what we can tell, however, that was a mere
pittance compared to what these Ukrainian Trotskyists managed to wring out of
certain other organizations.
One of the European groups that fell victim to the Ukrainian schemers was the
Socialist Party of Great Britain. A statement issued through the SPGB’s
official journal, Socialist Standard, summed up the scheme as follows:
"Members of this group would contact groups in the West by e-mail feigning
agreement
with their political position; if the groups from the West sent a delegation
to the Ukraine to check, the Trotskyists concerned would assemble a dozen or
so of their supporters, all of whom had been coached in the views of the group
concerned. Thus, our delegates who went to Kiev in November 2001 met a group
of individuals who expressed socialist views and had no reason to doubt their
sincerity. Any money sent went into the coffers of the Trotskyist group. At
least 10 groups seem to have been taken in by this scam including, besides ourselves,
the SLP of America, the Socialist Studies group [of SPGB dissidents], and various
rival Trotskyist outfits....”
The ploy was reprehensible for many reasons, not the least being that the Ukrainian
affiliate of the CWI trafficked on the sympathy that sincere and dedicated
Socialists everywhere have for the Ukrainian working class. As Robert Burns
of the SLP’s
National Executive Committee explained his own feelings in the matter:
“It was very disappointing to hear of the deception of the ‘Ukrainian
SLP’....
“When I read of our engagement with a Ukrainian group that seemed to be
supportive of the SLP, I was very pleased, especially since the Ukrainian people
had suffered
so much under Stalinist Communist Party control. Between 4 and 6 million Ukrainians
were supposed to have been starved to death in the late 1920s and early 1930s
by the Russians. And then thousands of Ukrainians were killed by the Nazis
during World War II. So I was greatly encouraged by our engagement and support
of the
SLPU....”
While the SLP condemns this unconscionable deception by the Ukrainian Trotskyists,
and while it will do everything possible to defend itself against similar schemes
in the future, it refuses to allow its optimism, its faith in the working class,
or its commitment to the principles of socialist internationalism to be dampened
by the experience.
[Since this was written, the SPGB has received a message from Ukraine claiming
that the “World Socialist Party of Ukraine,” the SPGB equivalent
of the “SLPU,” also was deceived by agents provocateur inside its
own ranks, and that the WSPU is a legitimate organization sincerely interested
in maintaining fraternal ties with the SPGB and its “World Socialist Movement.” The
message is posted to the SPGB’s open discussion list on the Internet. It
is replete with phrases and statements similar—and in some instances identical—to
phrases and statements in e-mail messages the SLP received in the past.
[Readers of The People who also receive the New Unionist may have noticed such
similarities in statements from the “SLPU” and the so-called New
Union Party of Ukraine. When we called these similarities to the attention of
our supposed friends in Kiev we were told that the leader of the “NUP” was
a computer hacker who managed to reroute and doctor messages meant for the
SLP before sending them to the NUP in Minnesota. However, our suspicions were
aroused
when certain minor variations, such as small differences in the spelling of
given names, crept into some of the later messages received. Apparently the
deceivers
had so many baited lines out in search of pelf that they began to confuse themselves
on which group should receive what message and over what signature.
[The latest message to the SPGB weaves a more intricate tale than was foisted
on the SLP, but the pattern is the same and some of the language is familiar.
That message has caused some SPGB members to suggest a reevaluation of the statement
printed in the Socialist Standard, but our experience tells us that it is only
another ruse. While we believe there are sincere and honest Socialists in Ukraine,
and while we still are optimistic enough to hope that they will eventually discover
and be attracted to the SLP and its Socialist Industrial Union program, we will
take every precaution to ensure that our optimism does not get the better of
our judgment the next time they are put to the test.]
(Endorsed by the SLP's National Executive Committee, September 2, 2003.)