Susana Prieto is a labour lawyer and a prominent activist in the workers’ movement of the border factories (maquiladoras) in the municipalities of Matamoros (Tamaulipas) and Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua), both of which are located in northern Mexico, on the US border. She has been arrested following orders of the Tamaulipas state government.

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!

The comrades of the IMT in Italy, Sinistra Classe Rivoluzione launched a campaign, “Workers are not cannon fodder” for the closure of all non-essential production, with the workers to be sent home on full pay, and where work is deemed essential for full protective equipment to be provided and safety procedures strictly adhered to. Their campaign appeal saw over 200 trade union shop stewards and activists sign up immediately, and more workers are signing every day. Add your name to show your support!

With the world turned on its head by the coronavirus pandemic, it has never been more important to spread the ideas of Marxism. Please donate generously and help us build the International Marxist Tendency!

In October 2019, the Brazilian section of the IMT organised a public campaign “In Defence of the life of Professor Mara”, demanding the compulsory transfer from the State Technical School of Franco da Rocha (Metropolitan Region of São Paulo) of neo-Nazi students who threatened a teacher's life, plotting her murder through a WhatsApp group.

On Friday 28 February, comrades Alfredo Chirinos, PDVSA’s Special Operations Manager, and his wife, Aryenis Torrealba, PDVSA’s Crude Operations Manager, were arrested in the company’s administrative headquarters in Caracas by the intelligence corps of the state. Up until now, their whereabouts remain unknown. At the time of writing this article, they haven’t been allowed to communicate with a family member, nor to see a lawyer.

Members of the Sutrabfogade union (including the general secretary) are facing dismissal from the state company Fogade, following a slew of false allegations from the management. These attacks on unionists are evidence of the anti-labour drift of the Maduro government. The IMT sends its solidarity to the comrades affected by the case.

On 5 February, two trade union leaders at the Bank Deposit Social Protection Fund - FOGADE, a state institution, received a notification of prohibition of entry into their workplace, a request for qualification of dismissal and a summons before the Labour Inspectorate for today, 7 February. This is a clear case of trade union repression that affects the general secretary of the Sutrabfogade union, William Prieto, and the health and safety delegate William Guzmán. We appeal to all our readers and supporters to send protest messages.

The protest movement of Jawaharlal Nehru University students against indiscriminate fee hikes and reactionary discipline policies for hostels have entered a new stage. The university administration has astronomically increased the fees by 999 percent, meaning hostel room rent has increased from INR10 ($0.14) to INR600 ($8.35). In addition to this, there are newly implemented service charges of INR1700 ($23.67), and the mess fee has increased from INR5000 ($69.61) to INR12000 ($167.07).

The Fourth Panamerican Cadre School of the International Marxist Tendency will take place in Mexico from 28 November to 2 December. The school will gather comrades from all over the American continent, from Canada, to the US, Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina. The main theme will be the centenary of the Communist International, which will be marked with an opening rally at the Trotsky House Museum in Mexico City.

On the morning of Tuesday, 22 October, Max, a comrade of Fightback (the IMT in Canada) was arrested by plainclothes police officers in front of his home in Hamilton. His family was made to watch as Max was placed in handcuffs and forced into the police cruiser.

The German Marxists organised around the magazineDer Funke have been attacked by the Hohenzollern aristocracy and are appealing for solidarity from our comrades and supporters.

The new labour minister, Rolando Castro – a former unionist – has started a crusade against the Salvadoran Institute of Social Security Workers’ Union STISSS. Using the state apparatus and with “legal” manoeuvres, he has organised a coup d'etat against the union's leadership. The leadership that was elected in a general assembly in 2018 has been dismissed and expelled from the organisation. Based on an “assembly” that never took place, and with the backing of “legal” accreditations from the Ministry of Labour, a gang of puppets commanded by Ricardo Monge (an old trade union bureaucrat) has arbitrarily taken control of the union's leadership.

The military has entered the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) to brutally repress students who protested against the illegitimate government of Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH). At least eight students have been injured. This attack comes a few days after a group of US Marines entered the Central American country, evidencing the support of US imperialism for this coup government. The authorities of the university, similarly, have been accomplices of the coup government, but the repression has taken shape in such a brutal way that even the University Council has had to condemn it.

We have now reached and exceeded the $1,300 target of our campaign to raise money for the El Salvadoran comrades. In total, we raised $2,700. This, together with the fundraising effort the comrades have made themselves, will mean that they will be able to purchase the duplicator they need. It will be an important step forward for the work of spreading Marxism in El Salvador in the coming years.