Solidarity Appeal: Miners’ strike in Lugansk Since June 6, a mass strike of miners has been going on in the territory of the Lugansk (also known as the Lugansk People’s Republic). A significant number of the striking miners (119 people) are currently underground in one of the mines.
USA: how can the working class end police terror? In recent weeks, the US has come closer to an outright revolutionary upheaval than at any time in living memory. The racist murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police has ignited a movement of enormous proportions, unleashing decades of accumulated discontent, and even reaching insurrectionary levels in many cities. The wave of protests has multiplied exponentially over the last two weeks, with nearly 1,400 cities, towns, and suburban areas seeing rallies and demonstrations.
International reports from the Black Lives Matter movement The Black Lives Matter movement has rapidly spread across the world in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police in the USA. The size and strength of the solidarity demonstrations internationally has revealed widespread outrage at police violence and the system that engenders it. Comrades of the International Marxist Tendency have taken part in demonstrations in countries such as: the USA, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Mexico, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Sweden. Below is a selection of reports from Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Canada.
Hong Kong: Beijing unilaterally legislates to suppress Hong Kong’s protest movement On 21 May, China’s National People’s Congress passed a National Security Law for Hong Kong, bypassing the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and imposing a number of anti-democratic legislations from the central government. This move was immediately seized upon by Donald Trump, desperate to distract attention from his crisis-ridden regime. The US ruling class is in no position to lecture anyone about democratic rights as it witnesses a nationwide uprising against police murder, racism and inequality. In truth, the real reason Trump wants to bash China is to strengthen himself by promoting US nationalism, the very same political and social base that stands against the mass movement in...
Black Lives Matter mass movement spreads internationally: US ruling class on the defensive Hundreds of thousands marched in hundreds of cities across the US on the weekend in the largest demonstrations since the racist police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25 May. Worldwide, there were also protests in hundreds of cities involving hundreds of thousands of youth and workers, demonstrating against racism and police violence, both locally and in solidarity with the mass movement in the US.
India: education only for the rich and privileged Years of cuts and austerity in the education sector have hit poor and middle-class families in India, depriving their children of basic education. The COVID-19 situation has only worsened the situation. The fraud of online education, combined with fee increases, budget cuts and job losses have undermined India’s already crumbling education system, with only wealthy families still able to educate their children.
Russia: CPRF bureaucracy attacks the left On 7 June, an event that we predicted and the background of which we’ve long explained took place. Elena Shuvalova, one of the most prominent representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in Moscow, was expelled from the party following a manoeuvre by the right-wing party bureaucracy.
Britain: capitalism – on the wrong side of history A social explosion is brewing in Britain. The pandemic, Brexit, and now the Black Lives Matter movement are throwing the Tory government from one crisis to another. The rottenness of the whole capitalist system is rapidly being revealed.
On the possibility of a coup in Brazil today This article was originally published by our Brazilian comrades on 29 May. The situation has developed subsequently, and we will release updates in due course.
The Netherlands and the decolonisation of Indonesia The Dutch King has apologised for violence committed by the Netherlands during Indonesia’s independence struggle. The crocodile tears of hypocritical elites do not make up for 300 years of brutal subjugation. The only real justice and road forward can come from the expropriation of Dutch capital: the common enemy of the Dutch and Indonesian workers.
Uprising shakes the USA: reaping the whirlwind Alan Woods comments on the uprising in the USA, which was sparked by the police murder of George Floyd, and has become the catalyst for an explosion of anger by the downtrodden in America that has sent shockwaves throughout the world. What is the way forward?
Marxists around the world march against racism The protest movement sparked by the brutal police murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis has spread around the world. In over 20 countries, workers and youth marched and demonstrated against racism, both in the USA and locally. Comrades of the IMT have been participating in these protests, raising slogans for the revolutionary overthrow of the inherently racist capitalist system.
US: what next as the whip of reaction fails to cow the masses? Over the last two years, more Americans were killed by police than Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan over the last 18 years. More Americans were killed by police in the last three years than people were killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Combine this with a devastating economic crisis and pandemic, and it is easy to understand why a tipping point has been reached, as the accumulated rage and humiliation of centuries spills over onto the streets.
USA mass protests: Marxists on the frontlines Black Lives Matter protests have broken out across all 50 states in the USA following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The comrades of Socialist Revolution, the US section of the International Marxist Tendency, have been intervening in many of these protests, fighting on the frontlines alongside workers and youth of all races against the oppressive capitalist system and its murderous state. Only socialist revolution can end racism for good! We will continue to publish reports of our comrades’ activities around this movement in the coming days.
Brazil: the pandemic and capitalism The following article was written by a doctor, who works in the city of São Paulo. COVID-19 precipitated and exacerbated the conditions of an ongoing social and economic crisis in Brazil, and internationally. The bourgeoisie is confused and divided in the face of a problem that it cannot bear, but it also cannot solve.