The year 2012 is coming to an end. This has been a year in which the optimism of the bourgeois was crushed under the millstone of the world recession. The early hopes of growth have given way to desperation as the world economy is once again plunged into recession. The bourgeois economists, central bankers and politicians see no way out, and indeed there is no way out under capitalism.

On December 6 and 7 the comrades of Lucha de Clases held a successful school in Vitoria Gasteiz. The total attendance was 39, of which about half were from Vitoria and the surrounding areas. The rest were comrades from Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Navarra, Malaga and Mallorca.

After 5 months of collection, we have surpassed the target for the collection for the Greek Marxists. We aimed to raise €5,000,  but through the contribution of many comrades around the world, we have reached over €6,000.

One hundred years ago 555 delegates of the European social democratic parties met in the city of Basel in Switzerland for an extraordinary congress. Under the slogan “War against War” the decision was made to prevent an imminent war through the joint action of the working class. The Marxist tendency in Switzerland organized a weeklong campaign around this issue.

The 2012 National Congress of the Workers International League was held on the weekend of November 10 and 11 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The enthusiastic meeting marked an important step forward in the development of the forces of revolutionary Marxism in the United States. As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the organization, the Congress was a fitting launching pad for for taking the WIL to both a quantitatively and qualitatively higher stage of development.

A total of 120 people came out to see Alan Woods, chief political editor of Marxist.com, speak on the final dates of his North American tour. Approximately thirty people showed up to the University of Minnesota’s Coffman Memorial Union Theater last Wednesday afternoon to hear Alan Woods discuss Venezuela, Cuba, and the Future of the Latin American Revolution. The event was sponsored by the the La Raza Student Cultural Center and the Student Marxist Association.

On the evening of November 8, a crowd of over 50 students and workers gathered at the University of Pittsburgh to hear Alan Woods speak at the inaugural meeting of the Pittsburgh Student Marxist Association. The audience listened enthusiastically to a detailed analysis of the current crisis of capitalism, the bourgeois' flailing attempts to regain normalcy through austerity, and the path to victory for the working class. The excitement of the audience was remarkable, as several questions in the following discussion focused on the theme of “What can I do?” To which the answer was a resounding “get organized!”

More than 800 people attended 12 meetings, with more than 2,500 Euros raised. These figures show that the tour “The Wind of Greece comes to Italy”, which was organised by the Italian Marxist paper FalceMartello, has been a resounding success. The speaker was Angelos Irakleidis, from the Editorial board of Epanastasi, the journal of the Marxists in Syriza.

Over 50 students and teachers gathered at Dawson College in Montreal on Wednesday to hear Alan Woods speak on the Venezuelan Revolution. There was a healthy discussion on the progress of this magnificent movement, as well as some of its challenges. This was the third successful gathering in Montreal, and marked the last in an energetic series of events across Canada on Alan Woods' North American speaking tour. The US leg of the tour begins in the next days, and is sure to be a similarly resounding success — especially in light of recent mass struggles of the youth and of the trade unions.

Alan Woods’ first tour of North America continues to be a big success. Over 50 came out on Tuesday evening to hear Alan speak at the Graduate Students’ Association building at Concordia University. This was the second event in Montréal, after the successful French-language event on Monday, and yet another important step forward for the work here.

The latest stop in the Canadian leg of the Alan Woods North American speaking tour took place in Ottawa Sunday night, in which a lively and productive discussion was had amongst the 30 students, workers, and trade unionists attending.

Over 70 people filled the room at the SH pavilion of the Université du Québec à Montréal in the first Québec event of Alan Woods’ North American tour. The event was a great success, with Alan speaking about the events of May 68 in France, a topic very relevant to Québecois workers and youth inspired by the recent student strike.

The Alan Woods North American speaking has had a very succesful beginning. Below we publish the reports from the two first events in the tour. More reports will appear on our website over the next days and weeks.Over 100 enthusiastic participants turned out on Saturday evening for the third event featuring In Defence of Marxism editor, Alan Woods, on his current North American speaking tour.  Held at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, they were eager to listen to Alan speak on the prospects for revolution in the advanced capitalist countries,

In the months of October and November, Alan Woods, editor of the In Defence of Marxismwebsite will be speaking at a series of meetings in Canada and the USA. Below we publish the details of the Canadian part of the speaking tour.

Over one-hundred-and-thirty-five people attended the UCLU Marxist Society last night to watch “Days of Hope: General Strike” by Ken Loach. Present at the discussion held afterwards was the veteran socialist film director himself, as well as John Dunn from the “Justice for Miners” Campaign.