Thirty years have passed since the publication of The End of History and the Last Man. Gloating in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the American political scientist Francis Fukuyama made an astonishing claim. Humanity had reached “the end of history as such: that is, the end-point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.”

The first weeks of the new year have already had their fair share of bleak news. As if the Omicron surge was not enough, working Canadian families can now look forward to a surging grocery bill. Food prices are set to increase between six and eight per cent this year, according to a new report from Dalhousie University.

The rerun of the election for the governor of the State of Barinas – home state of the late Hugo Chávez – produced an apparently surprising result: the defeat of the PSUV and the victory of the reactionary opposition candidate Sergio Garrido, of the Democratic Union Table (MUD) – the pro-imperialist, coup-plotting opposition that represents the old oligarchy.

The recent trial and sentencing of elite socialite and sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has opened the curtain on the disgusting den of sin that the capitalist class inhabit – with all eyes now on Prince Andrew and the crisis-ridden monarchy.

The candidate of Apruebro Dignidad, Gabriel Boric has won the presidential election with 56% of the votes. In absolute terms, this is a record majority, with some 4.6 million votes cast for Boric, putting him almost 1 million votes ahead of the pro-Pinochet candidate, Juan Antonio Kast, who obtained 44%.

Journalist and founder of the whistleblower organisation WikiLeaks Julian Assange can now be extradited to the US to face charges of espionage, ruled Her Majesty's High Court on 10 December. This ruling was in favour of an appeal by the US government to overturn the previous decision by the Westminster Magistrates' Court from January, which denied the extradition on the grounds that the harsh and restrictive prison conditions that Assange may face could worsen his mental wellbeing, creating a real risk of suicide.

Over the past several days, a massive tornado outbreak in the US has led to a series of deaths in workplaces, due to the bosses’ refusal to take even minimum steps to keep employees safe. Tragedies such as these amount to corporate murder. They expose the callousness inherent to capitalism, which sacrifices workers’ lives on the altar of profit on a daily basis.

There is a growing demand for revolutionary ideas as more and more Canadians realize that capitalism has failed. A recent study showed that 35 per cent of the population support moving away from this system, and in the current context it is not hard to see why. It is with this in mind that Fightback magazine recently went fortnightly, meaning we doubled our rate of publication to provide a Marxist analysis on current events every two weeks!

A strike has been raging for a fortnight in Guadeloupe, triggered by the imposition of compulsory vaccinations. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back following a long period of attacks. Similar explosions are taking place throughout French imperialism’s overseas territories.

Québec solidaire recently held its national congress. The leadership are on clear a rightward trajectory, seeking to water down the party’s anti-capitalist and socialist traditions in order to “prepare to govern". By this, they mean making the party acceptable to the establishment, and ready to govern within the limits of capitalism.

Xiomara Castro, candidate of the Libre party (Freedom and Refoundation Party), the main force in the opposition coalition, has won the elections in Honduras. The regime established by the 2009 coup has been overthrown. With 40 percent of the votes tallied, Xiomara is ahead with 53.61 percent against 33.87 percent for Nasry Afura (nickname ‘Papi a la orden’ – ‘Daddy of law and order’) of the National Party, the candidate representing the continuity of the coup.

The presidential elections in Chile will go to a run-off between the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast, and Gabriel Boric from the Apruebo Dignidad coalition (“Approve Dignity”: a conglomerate involving the leftist coalition Frente Amplio, plus the Communist Party). This comes after a first round where Kast won 28 percent and Boric obtained 26 percent of the vote, a difference of 150,000.

The Cuban Revolution was one of the most inspiring events in history. For the first time in the Western hemisphere, a workers' state was created. The enormous achievements of the revolution in healthcare, education and in securing independence for Cuba from the clutches of US imperialism continue to be a beacon for the oppressed masses of Latin America and the whole world. This video from our British comrades’ hugely successful Revolution Festival explains where the struggle for socialism in Cuba must go from here.

Last August, the brutal police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, reignited the flames of the Black Lives Matter movement in the small town of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Thousands came out against racism and police terror as protests again spread, first to Milwaukee, Chicago, and then to major cities from coast to coast.

This week saw the conclusion of a month-long strike involving over 10,000 United Auto Workers (UAW) workers at John Deere, the world’s largest farming equipment manufacturer. Workers at 14 facilities in five US states returned to work on Wednesday having approved a contract that guarantees them an immediate 10 percent wage rise, improved retirement benefits and an $8,500 signing bonus.