Americas

José Carlos Miranda of the Black Socialist Movement and Roque José Ferreira of the FNITST-CUT (Railway workers), spoke in the Brazilian parliament against the new race laws being proposed by the government on November 26. Here we provide the videos.

The Democrats have continued to support the Iraq War, and have colluded with the Republicans on many key matters. It is not a question of this or that individual. It is one of common class interests shared by both parties. We, the working people in the USA, need to begin the process of building our own political alternative.

A large part of the US arms industry is now openly backing Hilary Clinton for President, a further confirmation that there is no fundamental difference between the Democrats and the Republicans.

Does Republican Congressman Ron Paul offer anything that can truly be called a "revolution", or is he more of the same from the capitalists' ranks? Should workers and students in the anti-war movement, or in general, give him support in any way?

The Bolivian oligarchy and imperialism are not prepared to accept democracy if the democratic will of the majority is to take away their power and privileges. Unfortunately, what is lacking in Bolivia is a programme to challenge the interests of the landlords and capitalists and a leadership that will fight for this programme.

There is plenty of evidence that the workers and peasants in Ecuador have shifted radically to the left. Opinion polls, surveys and the real movements on the ground indicate that more and more people are turning against capitalism. This has produced the new Correa government. But again, we see temporising and vacillation. The masses want action, not talk.

Reaction is raising its ugly head in Bolivia. The strategy of the Morales government seems to be based on making more concessions. Taking advantage of the temporising and vacillation of the Morales government the oligarchy is gaining even more confidence. What is needed is a serious campaign among the masses to explain what is at stake and take firm revolutionary socialist measures.

The Salvadorean newspaper Diario CoLatino has dedicated its weekly supplement Perspectivas to balance-sheet of the defeat of the constitutional reform in Venezuela, publishing in two pages the article by Alan Woods. Diario CoLatino has a circulation of around 35,000 copies and is the most widely read newspaper amongst left wing activists in the country, in the FMLN, the trade union and the student and peoples' movement. A few weeks ago, Diario CoLatino also published the analysis of the Argentinean elections by the comrades of the Corriente Socialista El Militante, showing the impact of and interest for Marxist ideas in the country.

In 2005 the revolutionary movemenet of the Bolivian masses produced the Morales government. Since then vacillation on the part of Morales has given the oligarchy room to manoeuvre and now it is stepping up its activities as it prepares to exploit the weaknesses of the government. Urgent revolutionary measures are required.

The world situation is one of increasing political and economic instability, social polarization, and the ravages of war and famine. Across the planet, layoffs, cuts in social services, and the merciless squeezing of the working class and poor is on the order of the day. But there is an opposite side to these counter-revolutionary tendencies: the revolutionary movement of millions of people who are saying “enough is enough!”

The proposals for constitutional change have been defeated by 50.7% to 49.3%. The opposition hardly increased its absolute vote, but there was a high level of abstention. This is a warning. The masses are demanding decisive action not words! It may be that this defeat will have the opposite effect. It can rouse the masses to new levels of revolutionary struggle.

Economic sabotage is an underexposed and underreported tool of the counterrevolution in Venezuela. It is part and parcel of a general plan of destabilisation of the revolution in the run-up to the referendum. The limits of reformism in combating food scarcity stress the need for bold measures, like nationalisation of the food industry and the mobilisation of the masses. No time can be lost!

No sooner had I finished my article,Venezuela: counterrevolution raises its head - Heinz Dieterich and General Baduel (parts One and Two)when I was sent yet another of Dieterich's articles, which the Professor seems to produce with the same ease as a machine churning out sausages. This time it was a reply to my Cuban friend and comrade Celia Hart, who has clearly incurred the Professor's wrath by her negative comments on the very same article I have dealt with here.

The Marxists have long argued that the only way forward for the Venezuelan revolution is to strike blows against the counterrevolutionary bourgeoisie, by expropriating the bankers, landlords and capitalists, etc. However, there are other voices saying rather different things. One of the most persistent of these voices is that of Heinz Dieterich, who has been waging a noisy campaign in favour of what he calls “Socialism of the XXI Century” - a strange kind of socialism indeed in that it differs very little from capitalism.

The attacks against the Marxist Tendency Militante in Mexico have stepped up. A further 10 arrest warrants have been issued for comrades involved in student struggles in the summer. Given the class polarisation in Mexico, the increasing repression at the hands of the state and the increasing unwillingess of the people to back down, Mexico is headed for a social explosion.