[This article was written on Wednesday 27 of October] Three days after the end of the elections in Honduras the results have still not been published. Despite this, the Supreme Electoral Committee has declared the “victory” of the extreme right-wing Nationalist Party candidate for president of Honduras. Several right-wing regimes have already congratulated him on the “victory”. Meanwhile the masses are protesting in the streets in order to defend their votes and while the fear of electoral fraud grows, so does the demand for a transparent recount.

Given the lack of opportunities for political expression in the US, even off-year elections provide important insights into where things stand politically and in which direction they are moving. Frustration with incumbents and disgust with “politics as usual” has reached record highs.

This article deals with the presidential primaries and the general situation of the workers’ and youth movement and the electoral policies and alliances of the left parties. It provides useful background analysis to the first round of the presidential elections which took place yesterday. It was published in July in issue 8 of America Socialista.

The youth are bearing the brunt of the capitalist crisis, facing a future of debt, unemployment, underemployment, or employment in menial jobs that do not take advantage of their full potential and aspirations to do something useful and interesting with their lives. Faced with this situation, it is no surprise that interest in Marxist ideas is on the rise.

In recent days President Maduro has rightly explained the seriousness of the economic war against the Bolivarian revolution, pointing out that the culprits are the capitalists (Fedecamaras, Consecomercio and Venamcham) and has announced a series of measures to address it.

What the hell is going on in Toronto? This must surely be the response of people around the world as the surreal scandal surrounding Toronto mayor Rob Ford filled newspapers from Britain to Germany to South Africa.  How is it possible that a crack-smoking drunk-driving man who likes to urinate in public parks and go on half-naked vodka-fuelled benders at City Hall still be the mayor of Canada’s largest city?  The fact that he remains in power speaks to the vacuum of leadership present in both the labour movement and within the ruling class.

On October 27, the Military Police of São Paulo governor Alckmin killed yet another young man. The killer claims he inadvertently fired the gun. Douglas Martins was killed. He was 17 and lived in the poor neighbourhood of Jaçanã, famous for the Trem das Onze song by Adoniran Barbosa.

Canada has become the latest country to be caught in the scandal surrounding electronic espionage. In many respects, the fallout from Canada’s spy activities in Brazil could end up being more damaging than the revelations around the NSA and Spygate earlier this year.

2013 is an off year for elections, involving races for cities, towns, and a few state governments. Among the more prominent elections is the one for mayor of New York City, which the ruling class says is “the second toughest job” in the country, the first being president. From their perspective, it is a tough job to rule and exploit the masses.

November 3, 2013 is the date set for municipal elections across Québec. The past few years have been a roller coaster ride of scandal and corruption for municipal politicians across the province. Gérald Tremblay, the mayor of Montreal since 2002, resigned on Nov. 5, 2012 as a result of allegations of corruption and Mafia ties. His successor, interim mayor Michael Applebaum, was not even able to finish the remaining term in office; in a pre-dawn raid on Jun. 17, 2013, Applebaum was arrested on 14 charges including fraud, conspiracy, breach of trust, and corruption in municipal affairs.  Montreal’s bourgeois parties are in crisis.

The struggles of the working class worldwide are heating up. In Brazil, after the "June Days" [protests against bus fare increases], the Dilma government, without meeting any of the demands raised by the youth and the working class, announced a package of mass privatizations: harbours, oil, roads and airports.

For 16 days, the world waited with bated breath as the US government was shut down and teetered on the brink of default. At the eleventh hour, a deal was rammed through both the Senate and the House and signed by Obama, thus averting the immediate crisis. What is the meaning of all this? What are the ramifications for American politics and the capitalist system itself?

As explained in the latest Socialist Appeal (US) editorial, Ruling Class Divisions Deepen, the US government shutdown over parts of the federal budget and Republican opposition to “Obamacare” is in the final analysis, a reflection of the insoluble contradictions of capitalism. Due to our readers’ keen interest in what is happening in the US, we are expanding our explanation and analysis of this ongoing situation.

The worldwide crisis of capitalism is leading to a deep questioning of the structures, institutions, politicians, and parties of bourgeois society. From Greece to Italy, Brazil to Turkey, Egypt to Iran, the consciousness of the masses is undergoing a profound transformation. This is not a linear process, and is not automatically and directly reflected in all countries at the same time.

The struggle for the reduction of public transport fares, which began in Sao Paulo, has sparked a change in the political situation in the country. The Marxist Left (Esquerda Marxista) was one of the initiators of this ongoing struggle back in May. Here Serge Goulart provides a balance sheet of that movement – originally published in America Socialista.