Americas

En una demostración sin precedentes los trabajadores y sectores populares venezolanos, expresaron como nunca antes las reservas revolucionarias que anidan en ellos. 

Con un resultado de 8.089.000-votantes que dijeron sí a la Asamblea Constituyente, la misma vuelve a darle un respiro a la revolución, ante el cerco que hace años sostienen los capitalistas venezolanos y el imperialismo yanqui y europeo.

La oposición burguesa fascista, con apoyo del imperialismo norteamericano y europeo, amenaza con aplastar la revolución venezolana y destruir sus conquistas. Los ataques fascistas en los barrios obreros y contra todos los chavistas son una demostración de lo que vendrá si la oposición toma el poder. Estos preparan un baño de sangre. Esa oposición ultrarreacionaria tiene que ser derrotada ahora, lo que sólo la iniciativa revolucionaria de los trabajadores puede hacer.

We present here the editorial for the first issue of Socialist Revolution: the brand new publication and website from the American section of the IMT. The task before us is nothing less than the struggle for worldwide socialist revolution in our lifetimes!

Even before the National Election Council had announced the results of Sunday’s Constituent Assembly elections in Venezuela, the opposition and western imperialism had already declared there had been massive fraud and that they would not recognise the legitimacy of the Assembly. Since then, they have piled up pressure on all fronts. What is to be done?

The Venezuelan opposition, backed by Washington and Madrid, has launched an all out offensive to prevent Sunday's Constituent Assembly elections form going ahead. We stand firmly against this reactionary attempt which can only be defeated by revolutionary means.

On Friday 23rd June, the Canadian Marxist Journal Fightback’s, editorial board sat down to discuss with 2017 NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton. The transcript of that interview can be found here. Based upon that interview, and Ashton’s statements since the start of the campaign, Fightback has decided to support Ashton’s candidacy and encourage all socialists to do the same. A victory for Ashton would represent a victory for the left in Canada and opens up the possibility of the development of a movement analogous to those sparked by Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders.

Venezuela’s reactionary opposition had put all their weight behind a “consultation” which was supposed to show that an overwhelming majority of Venezuelans not only reject Maduro’s proposed Constituent Assembly, but also want the Army to intervene and the formation of a “national unity government”. Their mobilisation on the day was sizeable, but fell far short of their own expectations. The real news was the massive turnout, on the same day, for the official dry run of the Constituent Assembly elections, which was a show of strength for Chavismo

The Venezuelan opposition is stepping up its campaign with a “sovereign consultation” on Sunday July 16. The three questions asked in this consultation are about the legitimacy of the Constituent Assembly the government has called for, the need for the armed forces to intervene and remove the government and the formation of a so-called “government of national unity”. The opposition has announced that the consultation on July 16 will be the “zero hour” for a national, permanent and open ended “trancazo” (road blockades), until the “fall of the dictatorship”.

We are witnessing yet another chapter in the Car Wash (Lava Jato) operation: the sentencing of Lula by the judge Sergio Moro. As the Esquedra Marxista [Marxist Left] has already explained in previous articles, the Lava Jato is a manoeuvre driven by the interests of the ruling class.

On 8-9 July, the comrades of Juventudes Marxistas (Marxist Youth) and Izquierda Socialista (Socialist Left) organised a camp to celebrate the centenary of the Russian Revolution of 1917, an historic event which showed the potential of the working class to take power, eradicate oppression and build an alternative to capitalist society.

This is the text of an essay presented at the Conference on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Pensamiento Crítico (Critical Thought) magazine which took place in Havana on February 21, 2017. Pensamiento Críticowas a monthly magazine published in Cuba from 1967 until 1971. Edited by Fernando Martínez Heredia (1939-2017), the magazine was part of an open discussion about Marxism within the Cuban revolution, in which many rejected the stale Stalinist approach taken by the Soviet manuals on “marxism-leninism”

Los trabajadores del Sindicato Independiente de los Trabajadores de La Jornada (Sitrajor) han votado por mayoría la huelga el día viernes 30 de junio para defender su Contrato Colectivo de Trabajo, el cual pretende eliminarse por la grave situación financiera por la que atraviesa la empresa que imprime el periódico, el cual ha sido considerado como de izquierda y dar cierta apertura en sus páginas a los movimientos obreros, sociales, populares y estudiantiles en el país.

Il y a 45 ans avait lieu le plus grand mouvement de grève de l’histoire du Québec. Lors de cet épisode historique, les travailleur-euses de la province ont investi massivement la scène politique pour lutter contre la classe bourgeoise. Au paroxysme du mouvement, les travailleur-euses occupèrent les usines et les mines et la grève générale paralysa l’économie de la province. Aujourd’hui, les événements du printemps 1972 demeurent dans l’angle mort de l’histoire québécoise officielle, laquelle retient généralement la crise d’octobre 1970 comme moment phare des turbulences politiques et sociales de cette période. À l’heure où la crise du capitalisme s’éternise, la lutte des classes refait

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Forty-five years ago, the largest and most important strike movement in the history of Quebec took place. During this historic episode, the workers of the province stormed onto the political arena to fight against the bourgeoisie. At its peak, workers occupied the factories and mines, and the general strike movement brought the economy of the province to a halt.