Americas

On August 13 the Chilean Trade Union Confederation (CUT) called a one-day general strike. This was the first general strike since the fall of the Pinochet dictatorship. It marks the beginning of a new epoch and has to be seen within the context of the general situation in the whole of the South American sub-continent.

Chanting this as one of the main slogans, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans flooded the streets of Caracas on August 23, to once again demonstrate their support for the government of President Hugo Chávez and his movement known as the "Bolivarian Revolution". It was an important reply to the latest parody that Venezuelan reaction had been trying to build up in the days prior to the demonstration. They had just handed their fraudulent list of signatures, with which they are trying to get a referendum called against Chávez, to the National Elections Council (CNE).

This special edition of the US Socialist Appeal looks at the forthcoming election year and poses the need for an independent party of the American working class. It also looks at the connections between the top US corporations and the most heinous capitalist regime of all time - the Nazis, showing that far from defending “democracy” the US capitalists have always had one thing at the top of their agenda, their own influence, privileges and most importantly their own profits. ...

Nearly six decades ago, American GIs fighting against Hitler's armies in Europe were astonished to discover that the German military drove Ford trucks. If the GIs had looked up to the sky, they would have seen the Nazis flying planes built by Opel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors. In 1939, the German branches of GM and Ford supplied 70 percent of cars sold on the German market. German subsidiaries of both auto giants went on to manufacture military materiel for the armies of the German fascist state. Archival research has established that some managers in both firms, US citizens, failed to resist the conversion of GM and Ford plants in Germany and German-occupied France and

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Making predictions in the complex world of electoral politics is difficult, but we can say without any doubt that regardless of who wins in 2004, the interests of the working class will not be served. The 2004 campaign will be a big business campaign and the winner will be a big-business candidate. Still, in the coming months, there will be a lot of pressure from those on the left who want to defeat Bush at all costs. The logic behind this sentiment is understandable - for millions of Americans, GW Bush represents all that is evil, decrepit, and dangerous in the world (a capitalist world).

The American ruling class's open war on working people around the world has intensified in recent months. The capitalist class has plunged the world into the most unstable period since the end of World War II. The invasion of Iraq has solved absolutely nothing for the Iraqi people, and has only increased the risk of further terrorist attacks here at home.

The situation in Venezuela continues to be marked by a balance of forces favourable to the revolution, which still enjoys massive support among the popular masses. On the other hand, the counterrevolutionary opposition is not dead: it uses all possible tactics with the aim of destabilising and sabotaging the government of Hugo Chavez and thus undermining the social base of the revolution.

On Saturday June 21, Alan Woods, editor of Marxist.com delivered an address in the auditorium of the Trotsky Museum in Coyoacan, Mexico City on the present world situation. The meeting was packed, with over 150 people in a hall that seats only 80. In order to get everyone in, people sat in the passages and the staff of the museum had to open the side doors, where people stood outside, trying to listen.

The reader probably knows that the Bush administration is a thieves' kitchen. But we are not talking about naïve politicians in the third world tempted by the rustle of wads of dollars. Bush and his gang were born into big business and are an important part of the establishment in the States. What we see is a corrupt symbiosis between capitalist politicians and the big corporations.

The measures adopted and announced by the Kirchner government during its first few weeks in power have triggered a very lively debate within the Argentine labour movement. In addition to this, there is also another debate within the left itself on the nature of the current stage of the mass movement that began with the "Argentinazo" uprising in December 2001.

Over the last three weeks Costa Rica has become another of the many hot spots in the international class struggle. This little country known in the past as the "Central American Switzerland" is awaking from a long period of lethargy.

Following on from yesterday's article, Fred Weston, updates the situation as it is unfolding in Peru. At least one student has already been killed in clashes with the security forces, and the movement does not look at all as if it is prepared to back off.