Americas

In February, the Trump administration announced the “Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.” Its supposed goal is “to root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses.” In reality, it’s nothing but a smokescreen for attacks on democratic rights and cuts to education funding.

On 12 May, little more than a month after Trump launched massive tariffs on China on 2 April, a ceasefire in the US-China trade war was declared. The crippling tariffs, which effectively meant each country’s economy was sealed off from the other, have now been paused for 90 days.

Elias Rodriguez has been charged with murdering two low-level Israeli embassy staffers in an apparent act of protest in solidarity with Palestine. Already, the imperialists and their media have cynically used this to justify their support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza and their anti-democratic attacks on the pro-Palestine movement.

While the rest of the left is losing its head and moping about the dramatic events provoked by the crisis of capitalism, we communists are moving forward resolutely. We are preparing, methodically but with a sense of urgency, for the inevitable revolutionary events to come.

On Saturday, 26 April, it was announced that the International Monetary Fund had decided to put ‘under review’ the continuation of the line of credit it maintains with the Colombian government. This decision is a response to the economic instability looming in the country, which is nothing more than the national expression of the increasingly turbulent international crisis.

Two months after Benjamin Netanyahu broke the short-lived ceasefire, the situation in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels. Aid, medicine, and essentials have dried up thanks to Israel’s complete blockade, and the IDF’s relentless bombing has resumed. Countless humanitarian organisations have warned that the blockade is on the precipice of killing tens of thousands of people in a widespread famine.

The first months of this year have posed very important challenges for the current Mexican government and also for the class struggle. The arrival of Trump is shaking the government and accelerating the contradictions inherent in reformism. Added to this is a wave of mobilisations led by the teachers of the CNTE union in Zacatecas and Chapingo against attacks on their pensions. Likewise, tensions in schools are also rising over the demand for subsidised canteens for the students.

The ruling class in Canada is breathing a sigh of relief. Mark Carney, their elite banker, has won the election. But there won’t be much time for celebration. Carney faces an impossible situation with a sluggish economy and a trade war with the United States. Make no mistake, instability and crisis are on the horizon and we must be prepared to resist the coming attacks.

On Sunday 13 April, Ecuadorians went to the polls to elect their president in a second round of voting. The elections in Ecuador have been marred by irregularities, both in the first round and in the second, where the manoeuvring intensified.

On 31 March, the Cervecería Boliviana Nacional (CBN) suddenly and without justification announced to the workers at the Pepsi plant in Cochabamba that operations were to be shut down immediately, leaving more than 150 workers without a job. In response, the workers decided that they would not accept such an affront and took over the plant, which remains occupied to this day. The Núcleo Comunista Revolucionario fully supports their struggle.

The trade war threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs in Quebec and Canada. We cannot count on the ruling class and their parties who have proven time and time again that they will prioritize their profit before all else. The workers can count only on their own means. Faced with closures, this means strikes and factory occupations.

The global trade war launched by Trump has already resolved into one between the two dominant actors of the world economy, the US and China. The question is posed: who holds the cards? Who will blink first? This question determines the fate of the world economy.