Americas

The Mexican miners have suffered brutal attacks in the recent period. This is the answer of the Mexican government to their militant stance in defence of their rights. We ask you to send solidarity message to the address provided.

The correlation of forces continues to be enormously favourable to the Venezuelan revolution, but it is necessary to take advantage of this in order to finish the job and take the revolution to the end. As long as the revolution does not break totally and absolutely with the private ownership of the means of production it will be in danger and will not be irreversible.

Although the US economy is ostensibly growing at the present time, it is growth based on the super-exploitation of working people and the relentless extraction of both relative and absolute surplus value. This is a “boom” that feels a lot more like a slump. When a “technical” slump comes at a certain stage, the effect will be even harsher. A recession is inevitable in the coming period so long as the capitalist system with its inherent cycle of booms and slumps continues to exist.

On the evening of Friday June 2nd, Police and Security Forces arrested 17 men in the Greater Toronto Area on terrorism charges. For Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the arrests come at a convenient time when support is slipping for the Canadian intervention in Afghanistan. The corporate media and right-wing politicians are attempting to use the fear of terrorism to erode civil liberties in Canada.

In May the director of the CIA Porter Goss was forced to resign. He was then replaced by General Michael Hayden. This is no routine change. It is part of a wider operation. The US capitalist state is being tuned up before being thrust into battle again - both at home and abroad. In response to the developing upswing of the class struggle, this war machine is being tooled to confront the working class, oppressed, and poor of the world.

The recent election results in Peru and Colombia were hailed by the Latin American bourgeoisie and their imperialist backers as “anti-Chavez” victories. But if one looks more closely at the figures one sees that in these two countries there is a growing radicalisation to the left. Although a little delayed, they are part of the same process.

Why were these two outstanding leaders of the Civil Rights movement in the USA assassinated? Roland Sheppard witnessed the killing of Malcolm X in the Audubon Ballroom, on February 21, 1965. Here he delves into all the evidence that has been produced that clearly indicates that the powers that be had a concrete material interest in removing these two individuals from the political scene.

We are publishing a discussion document written by the Fightbackeditorial board. It attempts to outline the dominant trends within the Canadian labour movement to give youth and worker militants a guide to action.

We're proud to reproduce this letter by four new comrades from San Francisco, in which they explain why they have decided to join the Workers International League.

On May 19th, protesters gathered outside a $500 a plate fundraiser dinner being held at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Providence, RI. The fundraiser was for Lincoln Chafee, the incumbent Senator, who was the only member of the GOP to vote against the war on Iraq. Chafee is not running primarily as an anti-war candidate, but rather as a "moderate" imperialist, with the aim of finishing up one adventure before embarking on another...

Capitalism cannot provide a decent living to everyone, but as long as it guarantees significant layers of the population a reasonable standard of living it can maintain a degree of social stability. Recent figures on the situation in the USA show that “middle America” is beginning to feel the pinch, a phenomenon which indicates that social turmoil will soon be on the agenda.

As the important struggle of the rank and file "Soldiers of Solidarity" at Delphi continues, we can learn much from the experiences of working people across Latin America, a continent in the throes of a revolutionary process. The struggles of our brothers and sisters in Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, and Mexico are rich in lessons for the US labor movement.

There's no doubt about it: the simmering discontent accumulating beneath the surface of American society is starting to bubble to the surface. As millions of immigrant workers, their families, and supporters participated in the historic "Day Without an Immigrant", a changing mood is emerging across the country. This is the latest editorial from the US Socialist Appeal.

The recent announcement by the Evo Morales government in Bolivia of the “nationalisation” of the country’s hydrocarbon resources has shaken the multinationals. This move, although in reality not complete nationalisation, is a reflection of the overall revolutionary wave sweeping across Latin America.

On April 20, Mexican police killed three steel workers while attempting to break a strike in the city of Lazaro Cardenas. This is part of an attempt by the right wing Fox government to destroy the Miners' and Steel Workers Union (SNTMMRM). The recently created Front for Trade Union Autonomy and Unity has called for a protest general strike.  See also a document by the Mexican Marxist Tendency Militante on the 1906 Cananea miners’ strike and the lessons for the miners’ struggle today: “Centenario de la huelga de Cananea; CANANEA Y PASTA DE...