Assad fell like a rotten fruit due to being a counterrevolutionary regime internally and capitulating to imperialism externally. The rise of an even more reactionary government, which deepens the national and social oppression of the Syrian people through its complicity with aggression perpetrated by the Zionist state alongside the United States and Turkey, urgently demands the formation of a united front for national salvation, led by the proletariat. The only stance that correctly represents the interests of the popular masses in the new situation—under the ultra-reactionary government of HTS—is to raise a permanent mobilization against foreign aggression, against hunger, in defense of land for the peasants, civil liberties for all citizens regardless of religion or ethnicity, and the establishment of an authentic democratic republic.
The
Collapse of the Old Regime
On December 8, 2023, the 50-year
regime of the Assad clan came to an end. The terrorist organization
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, also know as HTS, led a 12-day offensive toward
Damascus, supported by airstrikes carried out by Israel, the United
States, and Turkey, which cleared the way for the advance of various
Wahhabi-Salafist groups.
It was only on December 16 that Assad issued a timid statement via a Telegram channel, expressing his sense of belonging to Syria and some dissatisfaction with his evacuation, hastily arranged by Russia. No additional information was provided, underscoring his status as a figure under tutelage, lacking even the authority to issue public statements at the corresponding level as the events expected of any political leader in his position.
His complete detachment from the masses was evident in the ultra-liberal policies he promoted since the beginning of his administration, continuing the path set by Hafez Assad in the 1990s. This neoliberal approach handed over Syria’s economic development to the private sector while deepening the subjugation of the people, who had endured decades under a reactionary dictatorship, denied of even the most basic democratic freedoms. Popular revolt was inevitable and emerged in the middle of the Arab Spring, as the legitimate demands of the masses were quickly co-opted by groups linked to foreign interests, ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood to fundamentalist factions like Al-Qaeda, Daesh, and Al-Nusra, among dozens of others. The government's response was brutal repression, even against unarmed populations.
To stay in power, Assad accepted a partial disarmament agreement of his military, demanded by the U.S. (concerning chemical weapons) and brokered by Russia, along with deepening his servile relationship with this imperialist power and, to some extent, with Iran, without whose support Assad’s government would have fallen as early as 2015.
The Astana Agreements, which effectively divided Syrian territory with other separatist groups, allowed HTS to launch a campaign aimed at garnering popular support by promising to address the masses' economic and social problems while ensuring security for various minority groups.
Instead of relying on the masses to defend the country's sovereignty, Assad plunged Syria into a military dictatorship, becoming increasingly dependent on reactionary high-ranking officers entrenched in privileges and corruption. At the same time, he implemented draconian military service policies, exacerbating the mass exodus of Syrians who refused to serve as cannon fodder for a government that denied them basic social rights.
By December 2023, the average salary of a soldier ranged between $7 and $10 per month. Even after the Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, Assad refused to allow resistance groups to use Syrian territory to open another front against Israel. For over a year, the Zionist entity bombed civilian facilities in Syria without Assad ever attempting even a minimal response.
Such weakness, oppression of his own people, and systematic corruption revealed the anti-people and nationally capitulative character of Assad’s regime, which is why the HTS offensive was welcomed with sympathy by the majority of the population.
The Reactionary Nature of the New Regime
Due to the weakness of revolutionary and progressive movements in Syria, dissatisfaction with the Assad regime was channeled by a force that, externally, aligns itself with the United States and, internally, continues and, in some aspects, worsens the oppression of the masses. Despite promises to protect minorities and establish basic freedoms, the exact opposite has occurred in practice. From the very first day of the new government, led by the sinister figure of Al-Jolani (a former Al-Qaeda militant), Christian and Shiite villages were attacked, with their residents expelled or killed. Alawites and Druze are also being persecuted, beaten, and even executed in public streets. Small businesses, homes, and places considered sacred or even historic are being vandalized. Anyone accused of being a former regime official or sympathizer is being murdered.
Accounts of these barbaric acts are published daily on social media. The condition of Syrian women is also deteriorating rapidly. The new government aims to enforce the mandatory wearing of the Islamic veil, and HTS civilian supporters have already started street campaigns to persuade women to adopt the niqab. According to new laws, women will also be prohibited from holding leadership positions or performing certain functions. An example of this was the issued order banning women from serving as judges.
Despite all these reports, NATO-aligned media monopolies portray the government formed by Islamic fundamentalists as a step forward for "democracy." Representatives of Western imperialist countries, along with a UN emissary and the chief prosecutor of the ICC itself, have already traveled to Syria to meet and take handshake photos with Mohammed Al-Jolani. The new Syrian leader is also attempting to distance himself from his past and now insists on being called by his real name, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
In Europe, governments have begun forced repatriation policies, sending masses of Syrian refugees back to their home country, which is likely to worsen the humanitarian crisis deepened by the regime change. Similarly, the governments of Lebanon and Iraq have detained and deported soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army who sought asylum in these countries.
The threat to the Kurdish population is also increasing, as their government, allied with Western interests, calls for U.S. and French intervention for their protection. Such intervention is likely, given that the Syrian oil being plundered by the U.S. is located in Kurdish territory. Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its aggression against Syrian territory beyond the Golan Heights, attacking peasant villages and expropriating all water sources in the region, as it does in Palestine.
Turkey, the main financier of HTS, now has free access to Syrian territory and can negotiate the construction of a pipeline to supply Europe with Qatari gas, reducing European dependence on Russian gas and potentially allowing the region's economy to return to its pre-Ukraine war growth pace. This also provides Turkey with an opportunity to deepen its repression of the Kurdish population, a matter still to be decided in discussions with the U.S. HTS will also need to reach an agreement with the U.S. regarding its position on the continued presence of the Russian military base in Syrian territory.
The contention and collusion among powers over the partition of Syria is now explicit, making it clear that in Syria – as in the rest of the region – the inter-imperialist contradictions and those between oppressed nations and peoples form a complex and inseparable web. Any analysis that isolates one of these aspects from the others risks serious error.
The Trend Toward a New Civil War
Since the reactionary HTS government, on one hand, will not cease its brutal repression of the masses, and on the other, remains a prey to the disputes among various vultures seeking to tear apart the Syrian nation for their own hegemonic interests, the main trend in the coming years is the continuation of civil war in the country.
Part of the infantry that composed Assad's army and withdrew to the mountainous region had already issued a call within the first week, inviting fighters opposed to the new government to join forces. From this, it can be inferred that resistance to HTS is likely to grow. At the Lebanese border, HTS has already attacked a detachment of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) in the region. Prior to this, the new government had already ordered the closure of the offices and training camps of all Palestinian resistance groups present in Syria.
Conclusion: The Tasks of Consistent Anti-Imperialists in Syria
As stated at the outset, we reject any position that adopts a defensive stance toward the Assad government in the name of combating "imperialism." As a vassal of Russian imperialism, used as a pawn in its collusion and contention with U.S. imperialism, Assad sought to sustain himself domestically through the mere continuation of an autocratic and counterrevolutionary regime, which led to his downfall. His capitulation laid the groundwork for the HTS’s rapid victory, though this does not imply that the new government is in any way capable of addressing the popular demands it leveraged to garner support during its offensive. Only through a consciousness free from illusions, the actual (not rhetorical) guarantee of democratic rights for the people, and their arming, the just demands of the masses can be realized.
In Syria, the establishment of a powerful united front against the territorial partition of the country for the benefit of external powers goes hand in hand with—and is inseparable from—the demand for civil liberties for the population. Therefore, we must reject any position, especially one claiming to be “Maoist,” that denies the importance of the proletariat’s and the masses’ specific demands in the name of “national unity,” thereby capitulating to bourgeois nationalist leaderships. Positions such as “everything for the front” and the opposition between resistance and internal democracy were precisely what Chairman Mao combated during the anti-Japanese war:
"Similarly, in the new period, democracy is the most essential issue for resisting Japan, and the fight for democracy is the fight for resisting Japan. Resistance and democracy condition each other, just as resistance and internal peace, democracy and internal peace do. Democracy is the guarantee for resistance, and resistance can provide favorable conditions for the development of the democratic movement.”
For this reason, communists are the only consistent anti-imperialists: in the era of imperialism, the national liberation struggle is organically linked to the world proletarian revolution, as imperialism is nothing more than a stage of capitalism characterized precisely by the dominance of monopoly capital and the inter-monopoly struggle for world partition. Genuine economic and political independence is impossible under this system—nations are either imperialist powers or dominated countries. Only by breaking these iron bounds and advancing uninterruptedly from democratic revolution to socialist revolution can liberation be achieved.
This will not occur, of course, through the mere repetition of phrases from books but through confronting countless and complex twists, alliances, and separations, always ensuring the independence and hegemony of the proletariat.
Maoist
Communist Committee – Brazil
January 16, 2025
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