[Marxism] 40th anniversary of Iranian revolution (and counter-revolution)
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * In January and February 1979, a series of uprisings across Iran toppled the monarchy-dictatorship. However, the revolution was defeated from within by reactionary Islamic forces, under the learship of Ayatollah Khomeini. much to the surprise of many western leftists who had chosen to elude themselves about the balance of forces within the mass movement against the Shah's regime. Sedition, revolt, revolution, social disintegration - on the recent mass protests (2018): https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/05/10/sedition-revolt-revolution-and-social-disintegration-on-the-recent-mass-protests-in-iran/ Veteran Iranian revolutionary Torab Saleth on the class nature of the regime: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/12/23/veteran-iranian-revolutionary-on-the-class-nature-of-the-regime/ The working class movement in Iran (22014), plus a 2008 interview with Torab Saleth: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/06/14/the-working-class-movement-in-iran-2014-and-a-2008-interview-with-torab-saleth/ Repression and resistance in Iran - an interview with Yassamine Mather (2013): https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/repression-and-resistance-in-iran-interview-with-yassamine-mather/ Yassamine Mather (ex-Fedayeen) on Marxism and the Iranian revolution: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/marxism-and-the-iranian-revolution/ Phil _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Chavez and Venezuela
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Hugo Chavez, as brilliant and charismatic as he was, made the decisions to mortgage Venezuela's future oil revenues to China at market prices, and he used the money he received from the loans to subsidize his friends, most of whom are long gone (The Kirchners, Lula). Maduro reaped the consequences, but chose to fight to stay in power no matter what the consequences. Stalinism, and its children, are still the syphilis of the workers movement. Fools gold, is not gold. Generations will suffer from these "mistakes". Anthony _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Sanders Statement on Venezuela - Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * I am waiting with bated breath for the words of wisdom from Commissar Sunkara. For God’s sake Ron Paul sounds better than the hot air machine from Vermont! Best regards, Andrew Stewart Message: 5 Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2019 18:25:43 -0500 From: Louis Proyect To: Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition Subject: [Marxism] Sanders Statement on Venezuela - Senator Bernie Sandersof Vermont Message-ID: <613ce36e-3f9d-f5f2-5dd0-320d02333...@panix.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed This is helpful. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-venezuela _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: H-Net Review [H-War]: Sparacio on Frank and Crothers, 'Borderland Narratives: Negotiation and Accommodation in North America's Contested Spaces, 1500-1850'
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Best regards, Andrew Stewart Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW > Date: January 24, 2019 at 6:59:36 PM EST > To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > Cc: H-Net Staff > Subject: H-Net Review [H-War]: Sparacio on Frank and Crothers, 'Borderland > Narratives: Negotiation and Accommodation in North America's Contested > Spaces, 1500-1850' > Reply-To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > > Andrew K. Frank, A. Glenn Crothers, eds. Borderland Narratives: > Negotiation and Accommodation in North America's Contested Spaces, > 1500-1850. Contested Boundaries Series. Tallahassee University > Press of Florida, 2017. 224 pp. $74.95 (cloth), ISBN > 978-0-8130-5495-7. > > Reviewed by Matthew Sparacio (Auburn University) > Published on H-War (January, 2019) > Commissioned by Margaret Sankey > > Borderlands of Faith, Race, and Violence > > What constitutes a borderland? Historians have debated whether or not > a borderland should be considered a binary dividing line scattered > with specific "contact points" or broad zones of interaction, whether > they should be confined to only one region of study or applied > broadly to the American colonial experience.[1] The studies included > in Andrew K. Frank and A. Glenn Crothers's new edited volume, > _Borderland Narratives: Negotiation and Accommodation in North > America's Contested Spaces, 1500-1850_, offer refreshing > contributions to this debate, illustrating how borderlands can > operate as both products and processes of colonization. In > particular, Frank and Crothers answer Claudio Saunt's 2008 _William > Mary Quarterly_ rejoinder against the neglect of scholarly > attention west of the British Eastern Seaboard colonies by arguing > for the inclusion of the Ohio River Valley, a "region infrequently > considered a borderland" (p. 9).[2] The Ohio River Valley, they > argue, proved massively important because the diversity of the region > was both indicative and reflective of the experiences that shaped > what historian and director of the Omohundro Institute of Early > American History and Culture Karin Wulf has coined > #vastearlyamerica.[3] > > As the studies in _Borderland Narratives_ make clear, these products > and processes can be defined along religious, racial, environmental, > and military lines. Borderlands not only were politically defined but > also came to represent important areas "where empires of belief vied > for ascendency" in early America (p. 174). Using missionary > correspondence in his chapter, Michael Pasquier examines the gray > area between the prescriptions of the Catholic Church and the lived > experience by missionaries in the diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, > revealing how the latter exemplified the institutional limitations of > the former. Missionaries grew frustrated with the false expectations > they harbored--shaped in large part by the _Jesuit Relations_--and > priests in Bardstown "struggled to feel at home" (p. 137). The > unwillingness of indigenous peoples to readily accept Catholicism > compounded this spatial and emotional disconnection, contributing to > a spiritual crisis among missionaries who came to view their own lack > of apparent success in intercultural proselytism as indictments of > their individual failures as Catholics. > > If the example of Bardstown highlighted the way borderlands > functioned to constrict religious institutions, Philip Mulder's > chapter illustrates how these same environments also served as sites > of spiritual opportunity. However, the spiritual opportunities > afforded by the Ohio River Valley contributed to denominational > factionalism. For example, Presbyterian minister (and affiliate of > the Connecticut Missionary Society) Joseph Badger's acceptance of > emotive outdoor meetings brought him into conflict with fellow > Presbyterians. Men like Badger who preached a syncretic message that > clearly demonstrated genuine concern for native families, however, > proved the exception in the religiously contested Ohio River Valley, > as Baptists and Methodists disregarded moderation and accommodation, > instead demanding complete cultural transformations of both natives > and settlers. Taken together, Pasquier's and Mulder's studies serve > as useful reminders that spiritual fault lines defined borderlands > well into the nineteenth century. > > Like religious identity, racial identity figured prominently in early > American borderlands, shaping communities and everyday life. In his > chapter, Frank notes the liminal place of African Americans within > the process of Seminole ethnogenesis. In
[Marxism] Fwd: H-Net Review [H-War]: Allison on Cameron, 'The Double Game: The Demise of America's First Missile Defense System and the Rise of Strategic Arms Limitation'
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Best regards, Andrew Stewart Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW > Date: January 24, 2019 at 7:00:09 PM EST > To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > Cc: H-Net Staff > Subject: H-Net Review [H-War]: Allison on Cameron, 'The Double Game: The > Demise of America's First Missile Defense System and the Rise of Strategic > Arms Limitation' > Reply-To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > > James Cameron. The Double Game: The Demise of America's First > Missile Defense System and the Rise of Strategic Arms Limitation. > New York Oxford University Press, 2017. 248 pp. $74.00 (cloth), > ISBN 978-0-19-045992-5. > > Reviewed by Rusty Allison (Air University, Air War College) > Published on H-War (January, 2019) > Commissioned by Margaret Sankey > > The Cold War ended twenty-seven years ago, but the scars of nuclear > brinksmanship are tattooed across the fabric of the American plains > and etched in the minds of the American psyche. Despite the 1991 > collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States still retains an > enormous arsenal of nuclear weapons--an arsenal that has parity with > Russia--capable of annihilating cities and civilizations. The massive > arsenal of today in many ways stems from the fall of America's first > ballistic missile defense (BMD) system that refocused attention away > from survival of a nuclear attack toward strategic arms limitations > and acceptance of mutually assured destruction (MAD). In essence, it > was BMD that transferred an ill-fated feeling of security for the > American population to a geopolitical bargaining chip to arrest the > rise of Soviet nuclear weapons capability. America's first missile > defense system may serve as a Cold War relic, but it should inform > policymakers of the domestic and foreign tensions and implications as > they seek to develop a coherent, executable nuclear strategy. > > James Cameron's research takes us on an exhilarating geopolitical > roller coaster, and brilliantly makes a cross-cutting examination of > US nuclear policy formulation spanning three presidential > administrations between 1961 and 1972. His diagnosis of the Kennedy, > Johnson, and Nixon White Houses brings to the forefront > contradictions between public and private dialogue, as well as the > competition among national security and domestic priorities (p. 162). > His thorough analysis encapsulates the topsy-turvy nature of US > policy from its early beginnings of the perceived "missile gap" > rhetoric all the way through flexible response, the rise and fall of > a BMD, and ultimately giving in to strategic arms limitations and > MAD. This well-written and easy-to-follow book is a must-read for > policymakers and for professors and students at universities that > have courses on public policy and security studies. The _Double Game > _will also be enjoyed by historians and political scientists alike. > > The key theme of the book resides in Cameron's argument that > "policymakers struggled to balance the demands of presenting a front > of strategic coherence with the incoherent reality behind the scenes, > provided an overarching dynamic through which the first US missile > defense program met its demise and the United States government > officially accepted the logic of mutually assured destruction" (p. > 7). Cameron's theory is strengthened by the acquisition of tapes from > the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Oval Offices. His ability to contrast > the often contradictory internal dialogue between the three > presidents and their closest advisors with the messages sent to > Congress and the American public is extraordinarily illuminating. It > was this double game, the struggle to balance foreign and domestic > demands with the contradictory private dialogue within each White > House, that earned the book's fitting title. > > The book is organized chronologically and its chapters align each > presidential administration to its position on US nuclear policy. > With this design, Cameron seamlessly makes room to superimpose > domestic congressional opinion and "public mood." The _Double Game > _is consistent in its approach to highlight the intricacies and > complexities of the interplay among domestic politics, geopolitics, > and presidential strategic thought. Channeling Robert Jervis's > terminology of "reality makers" and "reality takers," Cameron shows > how each president became dependent on the mood of the American > public, the "reality takers," to determine nuclear policy (p. 163). > > The book's path succinctly charts Cameron's chronologic methodology. > In 1961 Kennedy,
[Marxism] Asian solidarity with Venezuela
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://links.org.au/asia-solidarity-venezuela _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The Left and Venezuela - International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article5102 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Sanders Statement on Venezuela - Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Sanders' statement makes no reference to US economic sanctions against Venezuela, which are largely responsible for Venezuela's economic problems. For example, the decline in oil production is due to lack of spare parts. This is not to deny that corruption is a problem in Venezuela. But socialists in the US should be focusing on the actions of their own government, and demanding the end of sanctions. Chris Slee From: Marxism on behalf of Louis Proyect via Marxism Sent: Friday, 25 January 2019 10:25:43 AM To: Chris Slee Subject: [Marxism] Sanders Statement on Venezuela - Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * This is helpful. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-venezuela _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/chris_w_slee%40hotmail.com _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Sanders Statement on Venezuela - Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Agreed- It is helpful for getting Sanders in perspective.. Comradely Gary On Fri, Jan 25, 2019 at 9:26 AM Louis Proyect via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > POSTING RULES & NOTES > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > * > > This is helpful. > > > https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-venezuela > _ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/gary.maclennan1%40gmail.com > _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Exclusive: White House preparing draft national emergency order, has identified $7 billion for wall - CNNPolitics
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/24/politics/trump-border-wall-emergency-draft/index.html _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Venezuela Military Backs Maduro, as Russia Warns U.S. Not to Intervene
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * On 1/24/19 7:18 PM, John Edmundson via Marxism wrote: So the economic hardship came with Maduro then. Did the NY Times ever refer to Venezuela as prosperous under Chavez? The NYT is awful on Venezuela. I only posted the article to show that there is some nervousness in elite circles about the prospects of "regime change". _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Venezuela Military Backs Maduro, as Russia Warns U.S. Not to Intervene
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * From the NY Times article: ". . . the oil-rich and formerly prosperous country upended by political repression and severe economic hardship under Mr. Maduro." So the economic hardship came with Maduro then. Did the NY Times ever refer to Venezuela as prosperous under Chavez? John On Fri, Jan 25, 2019 at 10:57 AM Louis Proyect via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > POSTING RULES & NOTES > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > * > > On 1/24/19 3:57 PM, STEVEN ROBINSON via Marxism wrote: > > > > Still, it seems that Mr. Guaidó MUST have some backing in the military, > police or other coercive apparatus. > > Venezuela 'foils national guard rebellion' against Maduro > > https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46945690 > _ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/johnedmundson4%40gmail.com -- The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from the goose _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Sanders Statement on Venezuela - Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * This is helpful. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-venezuela _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Venezuela Military Backs Maduro, as Russia Warns U.S. Not to Intervene
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * On 1/24/19 3:57 PM, STEVEN ROBINSON via Marxism wrote: Still, it seems that Mr. Guaidó MUST have some backing in the military, police or other coercive apparatus. Venezuela 'foils national guard rebellion' against Maduro https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46945690 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fond memories of Erik Olin Wright (1947-2019) | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://louisproyect.org/2019/01/24/fond-memories-of-erik-olin-wright-1947-2019/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Venezuela Military Backs Maduro, as Russia Warns U.S. Not to Intervene
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Still, it seems that Mr. Guaidó MUST have some backing in the military, police or other coercive apparatus. Because in most places, somebody who has just done what Guaido did would either be arrested, in hiding or would have fled the country. SR _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Venezuela Military Backs Maduro, as Russia Warns U.S. Not to Intervene
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * NY Times, Jan. 24, 2019 Venezuela Military Backs Maduro, as Russia Warns U.S. Not to Intervene By Ana Vanessa Herrero and Neil MacFarquhar CARACAS, Venezuela — The leader of Venezuela’s armed forces declared loyalty to President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday and said the opposition’s effort to replace him with a transitional government amounted to an attempted coup. The pronouncement by the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, came a day after an opposition lawmaker proclaimed himself the country’s rightful leader during nationwide protests and pleaded with the armed forces to abandon Mr. Maduro. The defense minister’s declaration was a setback for the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, whose claim to legitimacy has been backed by a number of countries, including the United States. In a further blow to the opposition, Russia warned the United States on Thursday against meddling in Venezuela, a longtime Kremlin ally that has received billions of dollars in Russian support. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia telephoned Mr. Maduro and “emphasized that destructive external interference is a gross violation of the fundamental norms of international law,” according to a statement on Mr. Putin’s official website. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ignored the admonitions and intensified the Trump administration’s call for other countries to accept Mr. Guaidó and renounce Mr. Maduro. “His regime is morally bankrupt, it’s economically incompetent, and it is profoundly corrupt, and it is undemocratic to the core,” Mr. Pompeo told a meeting of the 35-member Organization of American States in Washington. The United States also offered $20 million in emergency aid to Mr. Guaidó’s side and requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday on the Venezuela crisis. Diplomats said Mr. Pompeo was expected to attend. Taken together, the events escalated the confusion and conflict over who is the rightful president of Venezuela, the oil-rich and formerly prosperous country upended by political repression and severe economic hardship under Mr. Maduro. Opposition leaders had hoped key members of the armed forces would break ranks with Mr. Maduro following large demonstrations across the country and international pledges of support for Mr. Guaidó, including the Trump administration’s repeated warnings that a “military option” is possible for restoring democracy in Venezuela. But so far, senior military commanders appear to be siding with Mr. Maduro, even as they express alarm over the possible consequences of rival claims to power. “We’re here to avoid a clash between Venezuelans,” Mr. Padrino, the defense minister, said in a televised address, flanked by high-ranking officers. “It’s not a civil war, a war among brothers, that will resolve Venezuelans’ problems.” Mr. Padrino called Mr. Guaidó’s claim to power “laughable” and described him as a pawn of right wing factions subservient to the United States. “It makes you want to laugh,” he said. “But I must alert the people of the danger this represents.” Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala and the Organization of American States have also recognized Mr. Guaidó as the country’s leader. Others in the region, however, have not, including Mexico, as well as Cuba and Bolivia, longtime allies of Mr. Maduro. Mr. Guaidó took an oath on Wednesday to lead Venezuela until fair elections can be held. He has argued that as the president of the National Assembly, an opposition-controlled legislative body, he has the constitutional authority to assume power after Mr. Maduro took office earlier this month following an election widely viewed as rigged. After the Trump administration endorsed Mr. Guaidó’s claim to power, Mr. Maduro said Venezuela would sever diplomatic ties with the United States and gave American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. The State Department has said it will not heed the departure order because Mr. Guaidó has invited the United States to stay. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, center, makes clear the armed forces’ “support of the constitutional president,” Nicolás Maduro, on Thursday. Roberta Jacobson, a former assistant secretary of state who oversaw Latin America policy in the Obama administration, called the impasse over the diplomatic rupture untenable. “I don’t think the administration has thought through all of the consequences of taking action as quickly as it did in recognizing Guaidó,” she said. The military’s pledge of support for Mr. Maduro
[Marxism] The people no longer want Maduro, and no one chose Guaidó | Anticapitalist Network
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * From Marea Socialista: Only the sovereign mobilized people can decide its destiny, in a referendum and general elections The Venezuelan people, mobilized along all social sectors, taking to the streets from the poor neighborhoods, is demonstrating that it is fed up with Maduro. The people will no longer tolerate the policies of hunger and destruction of labor rights, elimination of the right to healthcare and medicine shortages, degradation of public services, extreme corruption and routine repression. This explains why a large part of the population mobilized to the marches called by the self-proclaimed Guaidó. Not because they are prepared to recognize whomever wants to snatch power, but because broad sectors of the population are fed up and don´t want any more of this. Even those who work in the public sector who remain silent or are forced to go to the government´s mobilizations to avoid retaliations at work, seeing their reception of CLAP subsidies affected, or endangering their Misión Vivienda homes. Word of mouth, within Chavism, also reflects exhaustion, annoyance and the progressive loss of fear. Workers and the people have not been able to build an independent alternative of their own, to represent their real interests and anguish, and are trapped between the bureaucracy and capital. The result of this is the resurgence of polarization between the politicians of a corrupt government that controls power, and the parliamentarians of the parties of the capitalists that exploit workers. Because the bosses that finance and promote the opposition parties of the traditional right, are also benefited by paying the miserable wages imposed by the government of Maduro, the PSUV and the military. And their proposal is no different in respect to continue unloading the cost of the crisis on the people while they secure their profits. From the National Assembly, they aim to form a new government and use the people´s energy in their favor, because we lack strong organizations of our own to channel the struggle against Maduro´s government. But the National Assembly and the United States cannot impose governments on the Venezuelan people; neither can Maduro. They are all usurpers and they fight over the control of the state to maintain the people subdued and exploited. Our unions and popular organizations are largely destroyed, corrupted or subordinated to the state apparatus, and another part of them has ceded its political independence to the leaders of the capitalist class that exploits us. This is why, not having yet escaped the authoritarian trap of Maduro, we are already falling into the trap of Guaidó´s coup (of the Voluntad Popular party), backed by the United States, who defends its own interests, opposed to those of the Venezuelan people. We are now in danger of a confrontation between two governments -both illegitimate, and one of them supported by the United States- escalating into a civil war, or more direct forms of imperialist intervention by the Trump administration. We must also alert that the government takes advantage of each attempted bower grab by the right to unleash a wave of repression to submit the people and silence all protest. In this situation, Marea Socialista calls on people to continue on the streets protesting against the oppressive government, but we must move with our own working class and peoples´ agenda, and not behind the right wing parliamentarians or the PSUV bureaucracy, and we must not accept any foreign intervention. Marea Socialista calls for uniting all who understand the necessity of building our own fighting organization, to raise a new political alternative of our class and popular sectors who are suffering, to defend our interests and rights. • The people no longer want Maduro, and no one chose Guaidó. • Popular referendum for the people to legitimize all powers (Art. 71 of the Constitution). • Renovation of the National Electoral Council to reclaim its independence and call for new elections. • Emergency economic plan in favor of workers and the people, to confront the crisis, recover wages and access food. • No to the relinquishing of sovereignty. • No to the intervention and meddling of the United States and the Lima Group. • Let´s continue the struggle for our living conditions: wages, labor rights, public services, democratic rights. • No coup or negotiations behind the peoples´ backs. • Political autonomy for workers and popular sectors. • No more following the politicians of the ruling bureaucracy or the
[Marxism] The Embargo on Cuba Failed. Let’s Move On.
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * NY Times, Jan. 24, 2019 The Embargo on Cuba Failed. Let’s Move On. By Nicholas Kristof HAVANA — It has been 60 years since Fidel Castro marched into Havana, so it’s time for both Cuba and the United States to grow up. Let’s let Cuba be a normal country again. Cuba is neither the demonic tyranny conjured by some conservatives nor the heroic worker paradise romanticized by some on the left. It’s simply a tired little country, no threat to anyone, with impressive health care and education but a repressive police state and a dysfunctional economy. Driving in from the airport, I saw billboards denouncing the American economic embargo as the “longest genocide in history.” That’s ridiculous. But the embargo itself is also absurd and counterproductive, accomplishing nothing but hurting the Cuban people — whom we supposedly aim to help. After six decades, can’t we move on? Let’s drop the embargo but continue to push Havana on improving human rights, and on dropping support for other oppressive regimes, like those in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Let’s make room for nuance: Cuba impoverishes its citizens and denies them political rights, but it does a good job providing basic education and keeping people healthy. As I noted in my last column, on Cuba’s health care system, Cuba’s official infant mortality rate is lower than America’s (its real rate may or may not be). I’m not a Cuba expert, and I don’t know how this country will evolve. But Cuba has a new president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is associated with experiments in opening up the economy. Fidel is gone and his brother Raúl is fading from the scene. Raúl Castro, in uniform, center, and Miguel Díaz-Canel, fourth from right, at a celebration this month for the anniversary of the Cuban revolution.CreditYamil Lage/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images In the 1960s, we were scared of Cuba. We feared that neighboring countries would tumble like dominoes into the Communist bloc, and the Soviet Union attempted to place on Cuba nuclear missiles that could have threatened America. But today even as those fears have dissipated, our policy has ossified. President Barack Obama took the necessary step of re-establishing diplomatic relations and easing the embargo, but President Trump reversed course and tightened things up again out of knee-jerk hostility to anything Cuban and anything Obaman. Cuba is changing, albeit too slowly. About one-third of its labor force is now in the private sector, and this is just about the only part of the economy that is thriving. I stayed in one of the growing number of Airbnbs in Havana, and people were friendly, even if governments are not: When I said I was from the United States, I inevitably got a big grin and a reference to a cousin in Miami or New York or Cleveland. Plus, extra credit goes to a country that so lovingly preserves old American cars. I rode in from the airport in a pink 1954 Cadillac. In another sign of flexibility, Cuba recently hammered out a deal with Major League Baseball that will allow Cuban players to travel legally to the U.S. and play on American teams. Yet, sadly, the Trump administration is threatening the deal. Consider the persistence of North Korea and Cuba, and there’s an argument that sanctions and isolation preserve regimes rather than topple them. China teaches us not to be naïve about economic engagement toppling dictators, but on balance tourists and investors would be more of a force for change than a seventh decade of embargo. Moreover, trade, tourism, travel and investment empower a business community and an independent middle class. These are tools to destabilize a police state and help ordinary Cubans, but we curtail them. America blames the Castros for impoverishing the Cuban people, but we’ve participated in that impoverishment as well. Cuba’s government is not benign. It’s a dictatorship whose economic mismanagement has hurt its people, and Human Rights Watch says it “routinely relies on arbitrary detention to harass and intimidate critics.” But it doesn’t normally execute them (or dismember them in consulates abroad like our pal Saudi Arabia), and it tolerates some criticism from brave bloggers like Yoani Sánchez. It is revising its Constitution, and my hope is that over time — despite ideologues in both Havana and the United States — relations will continue to develop. Some American seniors who now winter in Florida could become snowbirds in Cuba instead, relying on its health care, low prices, great beaches and cheap labor. You can hire a home health care aide for a month in Havana for the cost of
[Marxism] Jonas Mekas, ‘Godfather’ of American Avant-Garde Film, Is Dead at 96 - The New York Times
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * (Following the lead of RT.com, Ben Norton wrote an article demonizing the Baltic states as bastions of support for Nazism in the same mold of much of the attacks on Ukraine. This is something I answered at https://louisproyect.org/2017/07/26/the-forest-brothers-and-the-holocaust/. That being said, there was support for the Nazis in the Baltic countries and in Ukraine motivated to some degree by the Soviet domination during the Stalinist era. Below, you can read about the tangled relationship between sympathy for the German invasion and the long-simmering anger toward the USSR in an obituary for Jonas Mekas, the 96-year old experimental filmmaker who founded Anthology of Film Archives, a downtown theater that could not be further from the alt-right. If Stalin had simply respected and even strengthened the sovereignty of places like Latvia and Ukraine, Hitler might have never reached Stalingrad and Leningrad. The best protection for a socialist country has always been a progressive foreign policy, after all.) He was 16 when World War II started, and Lithuania was soon occupied — first by the Russians, who engaged in mass deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia, and then by the Germans, who wiped out almost all of the country’s Jewish population, often helped by Lithuanians who saw Jews as Communist traitors. Inclined to subversiveness from an early age, Mr. Mekas worked for an underground newspaper published in Birzai, a northern Lithuanian city. He later said that the newspaper, The New Birzai News, had needled both regimes. But in an article in The New York Review of Books in 2018, Michael Casper wrote that the paper, founded by an ultranationalist underground group, the Lithuanian Activist Front, was more favorably inclined toward the Germans and rife with anti-Semitic polemics. “Rather than resist the Germans,” Mr. Casper wrote, “Mekas’s circle of anti-Soviet activists, like LAF-aligned activists across the country, greeted them as a liberating force.” But he added: “Unlike other members of his activist circle, Mekas was not an anti-Semitic polemicist. His own writings for the NBZ were book reviews, literary essays, and poems that espoused a romantic nationalism. None of his writings is anti-Semitic.” Ms. Mekas wrote that he had resisted and tried to flee the Nazis and that, along with his brother, he was sent by the Germans to a labor camp. Interviewed by the critic and director Peter Bogdanovich in 2015 for Interview magazine, he said: “When the Germans came in, I joined other young people in the resistance. My function was to do the typing for the underground newspaper. It was against the Germans and the Soviets.” full: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/obituaries/jonas-mekas-dead.html _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Working class Tories | Richard Seymour on Patreon
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://www.patreon.com/posts/working-class-24169834 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Mike Davis on the Crimes of Socialism and Capitalism
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://jacobinmag.com/2018/10/mike-davis-late-victorian-holocausts-famine-mao-stalin _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Venezuelan Opposition Leader Guaido Declares Himself President, Recognized by US and Allies | Venezuelanalysis.com
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14244 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Inside the mind of a bee is a hive of sensory activity | Aeon Essays
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://aeon.co/essays/inside-the-mind-of-a-bee-is-a-hive-of-sensory-activity _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Davos: climate and inequality | Michael Roberts Blog
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/davos-climate-and-inequality/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] A common treasury for all: Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers | John Storey | Culture Matters
POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://www.culturematters.org.uk/index.php/culture/theory/item/2978-a-common-treasury-for-all-gerrard-winstanley-and-the-diggers Sent from my iPhone _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
