The media, bourgeois and reformist leaders have all been whipping up a “wartime” spirit of national unity against the threat of COVID-19. Recently elected leader of the British Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has even made overtures about joining a government of national unity with the Conservatives. But the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the class lines in society more than ever. National unity is a reactionary fiction. What is needed is workers’ unity in the face of this crisis, and against the rotten system responsible.

In the last week, over 20,000 workers took to the streets of Bangladesh to demand their wages after clothes factories stopped paying their staff due to a lack of orders. With the global coronavirus pandemic causing fashion retailers such as H&M, Walmart and Tesco to cancel their orders, many workers in Bangladeshi factories have gone up to two months without receiving any income. Now, in defiance of the nationwide lockdown, workers have organised massive protests demanding their money and risking infection to fight the bosses.

Watch our live interview with Adam Pal, the editor of Lal Salaam (the IMT's journal in Pakistan) speaking about the coronavirus pandemic and the political situation in Pakistan and India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created one disaster after another in Latin America, exposing the naked contempt of the ruling class for the workers of the region. But with the memory of Red October still fresh, this explosive new development is preparing revolutionary upheaval in the near future.

The 73 years that have passed since the transfer of power from British India to the native ruling classes of the Indian subcontinent has not alleviated the dire poverty, misery and exploitation of the vast masses of populace, and in particular the sanitation workers.

The coronavirus pandemic is a turning point in history. The world economy is receiving one savage blow after another. Healthcare systems are totally overwhelmed in the advanced capitalist countries as a result of decades of attacks on living standards. The inefficient and ghastly nature of capitalism is in full display in the west, where people until recently enjoyed at least a semi-civilised existence. In Africa, Asia and Latin America the consequences of a full-scale outbreak will be catastrophic.

It would be hell if the Covid-19 breaks out in Nigeria on the scale presently being witnessed in Europe and the US. Apart from the dire state of the healthcare system, 69 million Nigerians have no access to clean water. This invariably leads to water-borne diseases like cholera, which continue to break out as regular epidemics. Social distancing and self-isolation presuppose that people have enough space. In Lagos where we have over 100 slum areas, about 80 people can be found sharing a 10-room building with only two toilets and a bathroom being shared by all with no pipe-borne or treated water readily available.

A recently leaked report on the shenanigans of officials at Labour HQ reveals a cesspit of bullying and bureaucracy, designed explictly to undermine the Corbyn movement. Labour activists must organise and fight. Sign the open letter: demand justice! Kick out the saboteurs! 

Watch our latest episode of Marxist Voice, where Rob Sewell (editor of the British Marxist paper Socialist Appeal) discusses the explosive revelations surrounding Blairite sabotage against the Corbyn movement.

The ongoing crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world political situation. In Defence of Marxism has risen to the occasion, stepping up our coverage and our activities. The big response we've received from our readers show that the ideas of Marxism are more relevant than ever. Read and share our coverage, and donate to our financial appeal, to educate yourself and help build our forces for the battles to come!

Bernie Sanders is out of the race. This is a punch to the gut for millions of people who hoped his campaign would offer a way forward—a way to fight against the billionaires who rule the US. But it’s also a turning point. For millions, this will be the last straw. This will be the last time they try to work within the two-party system of the capitalists.

Our Italian comrades’ recent appeal (which we republish below), has so far had a great impact and we have received hundreds of signatures from youth and worker activists from across the world. We are publishing their names here. If you have not signed yet, please do so here!

Underfunding and lack of equipment had already thrown the Swedish health care into a crisis before the pandemic. With little to no measures to stop the spread, there is a clear risk of a catastrophe. As workers respond to the crisis, we can expect a sharp rise in the class struggle in the coming weeks and months. This set the tone for the biggest congress ever of Revolution, the Swedish section of the IMT – with 100 Marxists present online from all over the country.

Over the past week, US imperialism has escalated its levels of aggression against the Venezuelan government. These escalations include the accusations of drug trafficking against Maduro and 13 senior officials of the Venezuelan state, a new plan of terrorism and assassination carried out from Colombian territory, and the Trump administration's announcement of a new transitional plan in our country – without Maduro and without Guaidó – with a gradual lifting of economic sanctions. We can now add to this list the deployment of naval forces near Venezuelan coasts in the Caribbean, under

In recent years, US Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s brutal onslaught against undocumented workers has sparked waves of outrage and protests across the US. But as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in society and the economy, ICE is sparing no effort to maintain and even escalate repression against migrants—actively undermining efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus in the name of “homeland security.”