Special envoy Elliott Abrams: brute of US imperialism In the news coverage, public statements, and official explanations surrounding the coup attempt by Donald Trump and Juan Guaido, the liberal hypocrisy of the ruling class is breathtaking. How can a country like Spain, where hundreds of Catalan civilians were physically beaten to suppress the 2017 independence referendum, demand that “fair, free and transparent elections” be held on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? How can a man like Emmanuel Macron, deeply unpopular, the tyrant and tear-gasser to the gilets jaunes, denounce another head of state as repressive? However, now and then, an individual from the ruling class comes along who is unburdened by such needs for public justifications, a zealous and undisguised mover-and-shaker behind the scenes of counterrevolutionary intrigue. That man is Elliott Abrams, newly appointed US Special Envoy to Venezuela.
Luxemburg, Liebknecht and the German Revolution To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Rosa Luxemburg, we share this article by Marie Frederiksen, author of The Revolutionary Heritage of Rosa Luxemburg (available for pre-order in Danish from Forlaget Marx). Marie explains how the Spartacist Uprising of 1919 was defeated due to the weakness and mistakes of the young German Communist Party, ultimately resulting in Luxemburg’s execution. These events are also explored in Germany 1918-1933: Socialism or Barbarism, available now from WellRed Books.
Does Mao's ‘Combat Liberalism’ actually combat liberalism? Marxists recognise the enormous achievements of the 1949 Chinese Revolution. Unsurprisingly, many slogans by Mao Zedong found an echo across the world as an alternative to the bureaucratised USSR after the Sino-Soviet split. However, there are significant political differences between the ideas of genuine Marxism and those of Maoism, which should be clarified.
