Peter Mertens | Marxist Strategy, Tactical Timing, and Class Power

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Peter Mertens ‪@PeterMertensTV‬ General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA), joins Ileana Chan for episode 53 of the Global Majority for Peace podcast.

In this episode, Peter recounts how the PTB rose from near extinction in 2003 to become one of Belgium’s most formidable political forces, now boasting over 30,000 members and 258 elected officials. He outlines how a Marxist foundation, strategic discipline, and deep roots in the working class enabled the party to build power within the heart of the imperial core—defying Cold War narratives and relentless anti-communist disinformation campaigns. Peter revisits the party’s pivotal 2008 Renewal Congress, where it reaffirmed its commitment to Marxism, rejecting the pressures to dilute its politics in favor of imperial consensus.

Peter delves into the PTB’s internal democratic structures, where strategic debates are conducted with rigor and discretion to safeguard ideological clarity and materialist analysis. He describes how the party fuses revolutionary leadership with mass participation, ensuring that the rank-and-file shape the struggle while maintaining a clear anti-capitalist horizon. The conversation also confronts the ongoing imperial offensive against sovereign socialist projects—from Cuba to China—and how the unraveling of neoliberal hegemony is creating fertile ground for systemic transformation. As ecological collapse, economic instability, and militarized conflict escalate, Peter warns that unless the left asserts itself with clarity and courage, reactionary forces will fill the vacuum.

For more about Peter and to get his books:
https://www.petermertens.be/
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  / peter.mertens.pvda  
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https://www.x.com/peter_mertens
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https://www.bsky.app/profile/petermer...

For more about the Workers Party of Belgium:
https://international.pvda-ptb.be/

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The Global Majority for Peace podcast brings you in-depth interviews every TUESDAY to discuss our mission of building a global movement in opposition to the war drive against China, Russia and countries in the Global South.