A two-day seminar was held in Mexico City on February 2-3 on the important topic of Political Parties and a New Society. Organized by the Party of Labor of Mexico (PT), the Seminar was attended by the following political parties: Argentinian Movement of Everybody for the Country; Communist Party of Argentina; Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist); Communist Party of Cuba; Dominican United Left Movement; Party of the Dominican Revolutionary Forces; Party of Democratic Unity of Honduras; Workers' Party of Korea; Nicaraguan National Sandinista Front; Movement for National Liberty of Paraguay; Communist Party of Venezuela; United People's Bloc of Venezuela, Party of Labor of Mexico. The Seminar agenda dealt with the following themes: 1) The Balance Sheet of Socialism; 2) Historic Foundations; 3) Forms of Organization; 4) Forms of Struggle; and 5) Contemporary Tasks of the Socialists. The Seminar generated a lot of discussion on these issues, starting with an important intervention by a representative of the Cuban delegation who presented an overview of the different approaches being taken by various political parties which consider themselves left-wing, socialist and progressive in Latin America. This was followed by several interventions presented by Cuban professors and Mexican delegates on causes for the collapse of the "Eurosoviet model" of "real socialism," following which a vigorous exchange of opinions took place. In the evening session of the first day, the delegation of the Workers' Party of Korea made an important presentation on the experience of socialist construction in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Some of the participants approached the collapse of the Soviet bloc to a crisis in socialist theory and ideology, rather than its abandonment, to the failure of a particular model of socialism, the bureaucratization of the state, and so on. In the course of the discussion, the CPC(M-L) delegation pointed out that the notion of models of a particular economic system cannot override the fundamental fact that if something is sound in theory it will also be sound in practice. For instance, no matter what "model of capitalism" is in place, it will suffer from the objective contradictions of the capitalist economy. A system, whether political or economic, as applied to the concrete conditions of any country creates its own model. Instead of sorting out the problems which arose in the course of the construction of socialism, by the 1960s, the Soviet Union presented itself as a model of "real socialism" or "developed socialism" and demanded that this was the "model" to emulate. This confused many of the parties and organizations which were not standing on their own two feet. As a result, when this "model" collapsed, a deep crisis set in amongst many. As concerns "models," the CPC(M-L) delegation pointed out, in similar fashion Canada is presented as the "model" of democracy, Rule of Law and "free and fair elections." The people of many countries, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America where corruption and fraudulent election processes are common manifestations of bourgeois rule, are made to believe that they will acquire democratic rule if only they concentrate their attention on getting rid of what are called "aberrations" to the "model." They fail to see that all systems of representative democracy, no matter what form they take, are their own models and that corruption and fraud are inherent to the system of 19th century representative democracy which reduces the right of the people to elect and be elected and to govern to the right to vote for this or that party. Quite a few of the interventions addressed the issue of opposing dogmatism. It became apparent during the discussion that the content of opposing dogmatism is to analyze the concrete conditions of the present and mobilize the people to provide solutions to the problem of opening society's door to progress. A vigorous exchange also took place on the relation between the state and the economy and the state and the popular masses. The participants shared the common political aim of reaffirming and defending socialism as the next stage of social development and the future of humankind and working to defeat the anti-social offensive which has found ideological and political justification in the declaration of the capitalist ruling circles that "socialism is dead." They also shared a common political aim in the need to advance a pro-social agenda as the alternative to the anti-social offensive of the financial oligarchy the world over. In this regard, the participants examined various questions such as the nature of political power under capitalism, the need for a new people's power to be created in order to build a new society, and the responsibility of progressive parties to act as mobilizers of the working class and people towards this aim. The CPC(M-L) delegation presented a paper entitled "What Kind of Party?" which was greatly appreciated. A summation of the discussion of the Seminar expressed several objectives, such as continuing the discussion on the evaluation of the reasons for the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe and the other themes taken up by the Seminar. In this direction, the participants approved four themes to be examined in future seminars: 1) political power as the necessary instrument for the construction of socialism; 2) the relationship between the party and the masses and between the party and society in general; 3) the formation of cadres to carry forward and guarantee the socialist cause; 4) economic, political and social proposals of the left for a new society. A commission comprised of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Workers' Party of Korea, the Party of Labor of Mexico and the Dominican United Left Movement was struck to organize a second seminar on these themes within the next year. In the course of the Seminar, participants also signed a declaration condemning the imperialist interference and threats of aggression against the people of Korea and expressing support for the peaceful reunification of their country. Another resolution condemned the U.S. imperialist blockade against Cuba and the Helms-Burton law and reaffirmed Cuba's right to self-determination. The Seminar was conducted in an extremely fraternal atmosphere. Besides the formal sessions, a lot of discussions took place on a bi-lateral basis enriching the exchange of opinions between delegations. A press conference was convoked on the last day of the seminar at which the Canadian delegation referred to the profound friendship and common interests between the Canadian and Mexican working class and people and thanked the PT for hosting the Seminar. The Mexican press expressed particular interest in the results of NAFTA in Canada and paid specific attention to the struggle of the Canadian working class and people against the implementation of the neo-liberal agenda in Ontario and nationally. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]