Venezuela's presidential recall referendum: Mass wave of enthusiasm must be used to complete the revolution! All attention is now centred on the forthcoming August 15th recall referendum. The "opposition" has all kinds of tricks it can play, but one thing is sure: the masses are gearing up to defend the revolution. Unfortunately there are elements within the leadership of the movement who are trying to hold back the masses. Jorge Martin and William Sanabria, in Caracas, report on what is happening and look at the possible developments.
Canadian Election Results: Disappointing NDP due to failure to use "S" word As predicted, Canada now has a minority Liberal government. The results were: Liberals 135, Conservative 99, Bloc Québécois 54, and NDP 19. This puts the Liberals 20 seats short of a majority government. With the NDP unable to prop up the Liberals it is likely Canadians will head back to the polls within a year. Workers and youth who look to the NDP need answers so that the poor showing will not be repeated in the next election.
Ontario Liberal budget continues assault on workers Seven months ago, Ontario voters were promised the moon by the Liberal Party of Ontario. Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals vowed to end the attacks that marked nine years of Tory rule. Indeed, the entire Liberal campaign focused on the slogan of "Choose Change." Sadly, the Liberals' new budget shows that there has been no change in Ontario, and that McGunity and his cronies are intent on continuing the assault on Ontario's working class.
2004 Canadian federal elections: Canada is entering a new period of turmoil The 2004 Canadian federal election is looking to be the closest race since the 1970s. The Liberals hold a narrow lead over the Conservative Party, with the New Democrats looking to make gains and the Bloc Quebecois optimistic that it will retain much of the Quebec vote. For the first time in over a decade, the Liberals are in a position where they could fail to win a majority government.
USA - John Kerry's Foreign Policy Supporters of John Kerry and the Democratic party continue to call for "anybody but Bush" in 2004, while the majority of Americans are ready to resign themselves to accepting a "lesser evil" for president. Yet, Kerry's platform is set to be "more Bush than Bush"; and his intentions for dealing with the biggest issues facing Americans are "just as evil" as the methods of GW! John Peterson examines the three most important subjects of American foreign policy, and exposes the merging of Bush and Kerry's positions on them.
Interview with Diego Escobar Interview with Diego Escobar, a Colombian Trade Unionist, a local representative of ASONAL-Judicial. Diego knows very well what it means to be persecuted by the vicious Colombian ruling class. We interviewed him while he was attending the UNISON Delegate Conference 2004.
A Farewell to Ronald Reagan Former US president Ronald Reagan passed away on June 5. The state funeral, which was little more than a crude exercise in propaganda on the part of the Bush administration, was held the following weekend. The historical revision at the ceremony was astonishing. The working class of the United States and the world must know and understand the real legacy and meaning of the Reagan years in order to understand the lessons of the past and lead the struggle against capitalism and imperialism today.
USA - Election 2004 - Cancer or the Plague - You Get To Choose! A new WIL flyer. John Kerry is the Democrat's new poster boy. But what have he and his party done for working people? We need a real alternative - a mass party of labor based on the unions! Download it as a PDF file.
USA - Abu Ghraib: A Nightmare Without End The myth of an American military mission to build a democracy and liberate an oppressed people has been shattered to pieces. The photographs from Abu Ghraib depict scenes of physical brutality, sadist sexual abuse, and monstrous acts by American soldiers. The Bush administration and the military command in Iraq continue to deny knowledge and involvement, even while a flood of information from eyewitnesses provides proof to the contrary. However, the calls demanding justice from a domestic or international court are misleading; history shows us that only the working-class can end the war and bring the guilty to justice.
Venezuela: Bolivarian masses anger at referendum decision In spite of the blatant fraud of the opposition, the decision has been taken to go ahead with the recall referendum in Venezuela. This has disappointed some layers of the Bolivarian movement and enraged others. Many have gone along with it out of their loyalty to Chavez. The decision is a serious mistake. Jorge Martin looks at the what the movement should do now.
Hands Off Venezuela Appeal. Stop imperialist interference in Venezuela - Without signatures there should be no referendum! Dear brothers and sisters,The revolutionary process which is taking place in Venezuela is again under strong pressure from the reactionary opposition and imperialism. In December the opposition collected signatures in order to force a recall referendum. This is a democratic tool which was included in the new Bolivarian constitution which was discussed and approved in a referendum in 1999. The opposition claimed to have collected 3.6 million signatures (well over the 2.4 million needed). But when it came to deliver them to the National Electoral Commission, after much delay, they could only hand in 3.4 million. Of these, the National Electoral Commission, after careful scrutiny...
The targets are Venezuela and Cuba: new intrigues of US imperialism A diplomatic crisis has opened up between Mexico and Cuba. Mexico's Vicente Fox government has demanded the recall of the Mexican ambassador from Havana and ordered the Cuban diplomats to leave. The response of the masses was anything but favourable. Thousands demonstrated in Mexico, while a million marched through Havana. This has deepened the political crisis in Mexico and further undermined Fox and his right wing PAN government.
Theses on revolution and counterrevolution in Venezuela The Venezuelan revolution is at the crossroads. Having twice defeated the counterrevolution, the revolution is faced with a new and furious offensive on the part of the oligarchy and its imperialist backers. How can the revolution stop reaction? The only way is by completing the revolutionary process. The workers must take power.
Venezuela: Chavez reiterates the call to arm the people From the beginning the privately owned media and the leaders of the right wing opposition have tried to minimise and ridicule the discovery and arrest of foreign paramilitaries in Venezuela, as did the US government. But the truth is that there are clear links between these groups of "irregulars" and the Venezuelan and Colombian oligarchies, with the helping hand of the US.
Coup cheerleader Aleksander Boyd faces hate-Venezuela setback in Austria VENPRES reports: After incidents that occurred in Vienna (Austria), May 11, the Venezuelan opposition has suffered a new defeat in its intent to create negative opinions of Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution in foreign countries.