[Marxism] Blank Vote: 'We prepare ourselves to resist the upcoming crisis'
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. * The FIT has had a policy of class independence during the electoral campaign and every day in the streets during the last 12 years of the Kirchnerists government. The FIT argues that the working class must have its own political option and its own political party, which is why we reject supporting any of the bourgeois options. The blank ballot is the only way to weaken either of the two governments that workers will have to confront at protests. The FIT’s principles allowed them to actively fight side by side with workers during Lear’s and Donnelley’s struggle (during 2014 and part of 2015, tough struggles against layoffs, dismissals and the union bureaucracy were carried out by Lear And Donnelley’s workers. They are part of the rank and file unionism and are activists within the PTS and the FIT). Fighting side by side with workers allowed the FIT to develop as a strong political current in the major unions, universities and schools. The FIT became a political reference in the last elections for more than one million people. Full article: http://leftvoice.org/Blank-Vote-We-prepare-ourselves-to-resist-the-upcoming-crisis _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Bernie Sanders and the US Left
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/Does-Bernie-Sanders-Represent-the-U-S-Left For the left, the appearance of the movements mentioned above (BLM, OWS, and $15 minimum wage) mean the possibility of uniting with youth and sectors of workers for the first time in many decades, and to emerge, on a local level, as an alternative in the political terrain. The election of Kshama Sawant as a Seattle City Council member in 2013, running on the movement for a 15$ minimum wage and later creating the “$15 now” campaign, brought a breath of fresh air to the relationship between left organizations and social movements. She showed that it’s possible to be left of the Democratic Party and not be isolated. Even with the limitations of Sawant’s politics, the example shown in Seattle demonstrates that today’s “changing times” are favorable for the left. Unlike previous movements, like the anti-globalization or the anti-war movement, the recent movements are taking place within the period of declining US imperialist hegemony. They’re the children of an economic crisis of historic magnitudes, and, perhaps most importantly, they haven’t suffered any great defeats. In this context, Sanders’ candidacy was a step back for the left, forcing it to discuss political alternatives within the boundaries of the Democratic Party. It’s true that nobody on the left exaggerates positive characteristics of Sanders’ candidacy, and many tend to outline the limitations of a candidate that is appealing because of his “fight” against corporations, but which doesn’t have a political program that goes beyond the construction of a welfare state. The question is: Does supporting Sanders’ candidacy (within the Democratic Party) create opportunities for the left to reach a wider audience and generate conditions to strengthen itself? _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] ARGENTINA /The Left and Workers’ Front and the coming elections
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. * Full article: http://leftvoice.org/The-Left-and-Workers-Front-Facing-History The next government will find it more difficult to introduce a “gradual” austerity plan. None of the advisors for the three major corporate candidates deny the eventuality of devaluation. Some have tried to articulate a differentiated plan by setting limits to the devaluation, but all support the further acquisition of debt. The economy’s structure leads to tense contradictions, all of which give way to austerity measures (all the business candidates acknowledge they will apply an austerity agenda, which has already begun), and greater confrontation of classes. The stakes are high for October 25. Not only is the Left faced with the most important presidential election in the last decades, but also with the possibility (and need) to strengthen and consolidate the political and social forces to fight against austerity and impose a working-class response; a double historical challenge. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] "We're voting left" in Argentina (Interview /Christian Castillo from PTS)
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. * Full interview: http://socialistworker.org/2015/10/22/were-voting-left-in-argentina INTERNATIONALLY, ARGENTINA is known for Lionel Messi's soccer skills and its powerful social movements: the Mothers of the Plaza, the piqueteros, the factory occupations, the movement for abortion rights, the labor movement. Can you tell us a bit about some of the most important movements today? SOME OF the movements you named have been active for decades, such as the movement for human rights, even if a large part of those organizations were co-opted by Kirchnerism. For example, the movement of the employed played an important role during the crisis of 2001, but weakened when the economy began to improve and employment grew. The most important development under Kirchner governments was the growth of the workers movement and the emergence of the left-wing unionism. This is very significant because, until some years ago, we had to argue with political currents who said that the working class had disappeared as an object of capitalist exploitation. During these years, we've seen the development of rank-and-file unionism, with the rise of dozens of workplace delegates, internal commissions and anti-bureaucratic activists, who fight with factory managers as well as with the pro-management union leaders. This movement is extensive and combative, and the left has been deeply involved--for example, in the fights against the cuts at Lear auto parts manufacturing as well as the struggle at Cresta Roja chicken processing plants and the strike by Route 60 bus drivers. In particular, our party has done important work in this sector, and this is being expressed in the hundreds of worker candidates running on the PTS electoral lists in the FIT. For example, in the province of Buenos Aires, the biggest in the country, the PTS presented 1,500 candidates in the primary elections, of which 40 percent were industrial workers and 300 were teachers. The movement against sexist violence is also growing. On June 3, a mass mobilization was organized known as #Niunamenos (#Notoneless) against sexist violence and the failure of the government to support women who suffer gender violence. And on October 10-12, some 65,000 women attended the National Women's Gathering in the Mar del Plata, which shows the depth of the fight to stop violence against women and for legal and free abortion. Our party participated actively in this movement through the Bread and Roses formation, with a delegation of 2300 compañeras in attendance. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] ARGENTINA /'Capitalism Can't Go On': A Revolutionary Electoral Campaign
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. * Full article: http://leftvoice.org/The-Left-Front-Electoral-Campaign In case you're interesed on watching t he TV ads campaign of the Left and Workers' Front (FIT) in Argentina . The FIT is among the 6 slates running for President. In the final stretch of the campaign, Nicolás del Caño and Myriam Bregman capture the voice of the left in these bold television ads. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The Greek Elections and the Strategic Debates within the Left
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/The-Greek-Elections-and-the-Strategic-Debates-within-the-Left The Left Platform of Syriza, now called Popular Unity, did not became an alternative. One of its leaders, Panagiotis Sotiris, says that this was due to various factors. He claims that they did not correctly read the real meaning of the "NO" vote in the referendum as a vote of “resistance” but already resigned to the austerity measures. They mechanically assumed their parliamentary weight would equal electoral success. They did not appeal to those, who out of frustration, did not turn out to vote. They were seen as a variant of Syriza and not as something new. They did not make a self-criticism for participating as a Left Platform during the first period of Syriza’s government. Furthermore, they were sectarian and bureaucratic. There might be something true in this combination. However, this criticism does not go to the root of Popular Unity’s failure. They demonstrated themselves to be incapable of offering an exit to the crisis and they did not have any important weight in meaningful sectors or movements to confront Tsipras capitulation. Moreover, their strategy was limited to building a parliamentary left and a “national capitalist” program centered around an exit from the Eurozone and a return to the drachma, which offered no progressive solutions for the workers and the exploited. The Greek experience confirms that without a revolutionary left rooted in class struggle (and not in bourgeois parliaments), that is able to mobilize the strength of the workers, the youth and the oppressed, it is impossible to defeat the offensive of capital and achieve a real government of the workers. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Syriza Forms New Coalition Government for the Third Memorandum
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/Syriza-Forms-New-Coalition-Government-for-the-Third-Memorandum Syriza won more than 35 percent of the vote in Sunday's Greek elections. In contrast to euphoria back in January, Alexis Tsipras prepares to form a new coalition government with Anel (Greek Independents) to implement the third memorandum. Popular Unity, the Biggest Loser The new party, Popular Unity (PU) did not reach the minimum required to win parliamentary seats. This result represented a huge setback for the Panagiotis Lafazanis’ party (leader of former Syriza’s Left Platform) When they left Syriza, a month ago, they held 25 seats. Popular Unity was unable to win support from voters. Forming part of the Syriza-Anel government, they did not represent an alternative to its policies. PU’s rhetoric and perspective have been reduced to recovering the "spirit" of Syriza. But in fact, they continue to be part of the government, releasing testimonial critic resolutions in Syriza’s Central Committee, and at the same time, approving the government’s policies within Parliament. Like Syriza, the PU favors occupying institutional space over encouraging the independent mobilization of workers and the youth. Also, PU’s strategy for a "Grexit" aimed at the "reconstruction of the national economy" is perceived by many as the path to economic catastrophe, poverty, and unemployment. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] A year after Ayotiznapa. Why we need an anti-capitalist and socialist organization?
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. * Full article: http://leftvoice.org/A-year-after-Ayotiznapa-Why-there-is-a-need-for-an-anti-capitalist-and-socialist-organization The massacre in Iguala, Mexico in September 2014 made the crude reality of the Mexican political regime even more evident. The disappearance of the 43 education students (normalistas) in Ayotzinapa sparked a massive movement condemning the entire regime, taking up the slogans #ItWasTheState and #PeñaOut (in reference to Peña Nieto, the Mexican President). In light of these events, there is a debate amongst the left about the youth and workers’ tasks. The movement for Ayotzinapa and for the return of the 43 students alive reached its highest point on November 20 when Peña Nieto was forced to cancel the military parade in the Zócalo (main square) of Mexico City and a mass of hundreds of thousands marched to the center of the city. Workers were also participating in the movement and organized work stoppages, particularly the CNTE (teachers’ union) and the UNT (“opposing” unions) with the telephone workers’ union. This goes to show that the mobilizations were so large that they forced the unions that were not aligned with the government to mobilize the rank and file workers. This movement sparked a deep crisis of political representation: the massacre in Iguala posed a new turning point in the history of the country. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] (Statement) International Solidarity against Xenophobia in Europe
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 recent weeks the “refugee crisis” has become a profound social and political crisis in Europe. The images of tens of thousands of people trying to cross the European borders through the Balkans, Greece, or over the Mediterranean, with thousands of dead, show the severity of this capitalist barbarism. We present a joint statement by the Courant Communiste Révolutionnaire (CCR, France), Clase contra Clase (Spanish State) and Revolutionäre Internationalistische Organisation (RIO, Germany). Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/International-Solidarity-against-Xenophobia-in-Europe _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] BLM Protesters Dropped the Mic, Now Let’s Drop the Illusions
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. * Full article: http://leftvoice.org/BLM-Protesters-Dropped-the-Mic-Now-Let-s-Drop-the-Illusions The BLM movement has been highly decentralized and spontaneous. It houses strong reformist tendencies along with some radical elements. In the tactics and speech of BLM activists, we can observe the vacillation between breaking bread with the DP to rebuking the two-party system in its entirely. Said Seattle activist Johnson, “I personally don’t support any of the candidates...Our politicians don’t work for us, our Congress doesn’t work for us...Why do we settle for a system that we know doesn’t work for us when our lives are literally on the line?” This is an idea that is brewing among activists within BLM. The BLM movement has the potential to broaden popular understanding that the Democrats and Sanders will not solve our problems. Those youth and organizers who see clearly that the bourgeois parties are not our allies should stand firmly on this political ground and fight for an anti-capitalist direction. The rejection of any alliance with the Democrats is the basis for advancing people toward a working-class consciousness and revolutionary strategy. We must form a united front of the working class to fight against police brutality. The vast majority of people who have protested against police brutality this year are working-class, black and poor. Black women and trans, queer youth have been at the head, challenging patriarchy and heterosexism in bold ways. Included in this is the undocu-queer movement that has used similar disruptive tactics against mass deportations and against heterosexist bigotry. These same people can bring the fight to their jobs, schools, and unions. In the past, we highlighted the example of University of California employees who organized within their Local 2865 and called for the AFL-CIO to expel police unions. The ILGWU Local 10 port shut down against police terror is another example to follow. Although union bureaucrats opportunistically accept police as “working class” and almost always line up behind the Democratic Party, rank-and-file workers should not follow suit. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The left gains in Argentina's elections
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. * Full Socialist Worker's article: http://socialistworker.org/2015/08/25/the-left-gains-in-argentinas-elections THE LEFT and Workers Front (FIT by its Spanish initials) made impressive gains in national primary elections held in Argentina earlier this month. The FIT won over 726,000 votes for around 3.3 percent of the total, assuring Nicolás del Caño and his running mate Myriam Bregman one of six spots on the presidential ballot on October 25. While still modest in national terms, these results will situate the FIT's far-left constituent elements squarely in the middle of international discussions of the relationship between parliamentary campaigns and grassroots social and class struggles, a dynamic expressed most forcefully in Greece. However, any simple comparison with Greece is misleading, or at least premature. Argentine politics has a flavor all its own that must be appreciated in order to make sense of the conjuncture. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Apartheid Beach: Tel-Aviv invited to Paris-Plages
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. * Full: http://www.leftvoice.org/Apartheid-Beach-Tel-Aviv-invited-to-Paris-Plages Each summer the mayor of Paris traditionally creates artificial beaches along the river Seine in the center of Paris, a summer program known as Paris-Plages or Paris Beaches. This August, the city has decided to invite Tel-Aviv to the banks of the Seine to honor the capital of the colonialist and racist State of Israel in a festive atmosphere... A year after Hollande’s and his socialist government’s support for the Israeli Military aggression against Gaza last summer, it is now Anne Hildago, the Socialist Mayor, and her majority in the City Council who are showing their support for the State of Israel. Paris plans on welcoming Zionism to its shores on Thursday, August 13th. No debate on the Palestinian people’s situation, nor on last year’s massacre, and even less so on the recent assassination of Palestinian babies and families by settlers who are literally getting away with murder. Bruno Julliard, first deputy mayor of Paris, has surely insisted on defending the city against any amalgam with the Israeli government’s brutal colonization policies (...) the city of Tel-Aviv [being] a progressive city, a symbol of peace and tolerance. For memory, Tel-Aviv was built on the ruins of seven Palestinian villages. It is far from being a normal city. No matter what Eitan Schwartz, an advisor to Tel-Aviv’s Mayor, says, according to whom the Mayor of Paris is supposedly building bridges between peoples (...) in order to advance the cause of peace, Tel-Aviv is above and beyond all else a symbol of the State of Israel and its historic policies of ethnic cleansing. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Two Different Paths: Syriza and Podemos or the FIT?
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/Two-Different-Paths-Syriza-and-Podemos-or-the-FIT The FIT experience merits the attention of the international left. It’s a practical demonstration of how independent workers’ politics does not have to be only left to the margins of the bourgeois political parties (whether they are neoliberal parties or anti-neoliberal). Moreover, it’s a vaccine against the skepticism of those who think that the working class is incapable of building an independent alternative that belongs to them. The combination of a political practice that works towards helping the socialist program reach wide sectors of the mass movement, so that their ideas and militants become popular and join together with the aspirations of the masses, alongside the spreading in a massive scales of socialist ideas (how we are doing through La Izquierda Diario in Latin America and Left Voice (English) and “Revolution Permanente” (France), with the organic involvement in the core of the working class together with our intervention in the class struggle, is showing its potential. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Argentina: Primary Elections: PTS Slate Leads the Left Front (FIT)
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/Primary-Elections-PTS-Slate-Leads-the-Left-Front-FIT In 2011, the Left and Workers’ Front (FIT) was formed as an electoral-political front in response to the restrictive electoral reform. The Front is composed of the Workers’ Party (Partido Obrero, PO) and the Socialist Workers Party (Partido de los Trabajadores y Socialistas, PTS), the two largest parties of the Argentine Left, along with the Socialist Left Party (Izquierda Socialista, IS). The Elections Within the Left Front The most recent count shows the Left and Workers’ Front (FIT) with over 725,000 votes, almost 50% more than the 2011 primaries. This represents 3.3% of the total national votes. During these round of elections, the FIT had two competing slates for the first time since its creation. The PTS presented the “Renew and strengthen” 1A ticket, led by presidential candidate Nicolás del Caño and vice presidential candidate Myriam Bregman. The “2U - Unity” ticket were candidates from the PO and the IS combined. Slate 1A emerged as the leading slate within the FIT, with decisive victories in 13 provinces, including landslide victories in Mendoza and Jujuy, and significant leads in Neuquén, Tucumán and Santa Fé. In Mendoza, Del Caño’s hometown, list 1A obtained 91.53% of FIT votes. These results reflect the burgeoning popularity of refreshing, bold figures like Del Caño and Noelia Barbeito, a congressional candidate who won 82,516 votes. In Jujuy, national congressional candidate Alejandro Vilca, a young municipal worker, received 18,584 votes or 80% of votes cast for the FIT. Neuquén province is a stronghold of the PTS and home of the worker-managed FaSinPat ceramic tile factory (ex-Zanon), which has been an inspiring example of worker militancy and resistance since 2001. FaSinPat worker and PTS member Raúl Godoy ran as a congressional candidate on Del Caño’s ticket. Results in Neuquén showed 1A with 62% of votes cast for FIT, obtaining 6.22% of total votes for presidency and almost 8% for national congress. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] No Place for Cops in Our Unions
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/No-Place-for-Cops-in-Our-Unions Last week, Local 2865 of the United Auto Workers passed a resolution calling on the AFL-CIO to end its affiliation with the International Union of Police Associations. Local 2865 represents around 13,000 graduate students employed by the University of California, largely as tutors, readers, and teaching assistants. In its statement, “Denouncing Police Unions”, the union local argues that the AFL-CIO’s inclusion of police unions contradicts its “official mission” and that “police unions fail to meet the criteria of a union or a valid part of the labor movement.” _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Exit the Euro? Polemic with Greek Economist Costas Lapavitsas
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. * A broad spectrum of people from Nobel Prize in Economics winners Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz to members of Syriza’s Left Platform, are defending – with more or less resolve – the need for Greece to abandon the Eurozone. “The Case for Grexit” (1) is the title of an article by Costas Lapavitsas, the well-known Greek Marxist economist and member of the Left Platform, which was published in July in “Le Monde Diplomatique”. Here we review some of the main concepts developed by the author and further delve into the polemic which has already begun. Lapavitsas correctly states that under the German dictates “the outlook for Greece would be bleak (. . .) Unemployment is likely to stay at very high levels, and there is no real prospect of a recovery in incomes, which have fallen by more than 30% for many. An already ageing society, laden with debt, will lose its better-educated youth to emigration. The ensuing geopolitical weakness is easy to imagine: Greece will dwindle into historical irrelevance.” In contrast, the author suggests that the exit from the Eurozone “would not be easy, but monetary history and theory offer a route.” Let us see. Full article: http://leftvoice.org/Exit-the-Euro-Polemic-with-Greek-Economist-Costas-Lapavitsas _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Refugee Camp in Athens: A desperate attempt to escape from war and persecutions
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/Refugee-Camp-in-Athens-A-desperate-attempt-to-scape-from-war-and-persecutions Amid of the economic crisis and the heat of the summer, the response of the citizens of Athens is overwhelming. There are solidarity initiatives by volunteers from NGOs that come to help clean the area. But people in the Exarchia quarter provide help too. Items are brought in by people on the spot are gathered, all those handed over by ordinary citizens that never ends coming by and giving whatever they can afford. It is really inspiring to see people in solidarity work constantly on identifying the needs of the refugees and the migrants. This is a striking contrast to the lack of help of the government which only help was to install a tap for 200 families. The government has abandoned these families and is ignoring their demands. Hadn’t been for the help provided by the local community people in this camp would not have water, nor food, let alone to cover their basic needs. The desperate journey of the refugees in Greece is a stain of shame for the the Greek government. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Greece: A scandalous trial targeting left-wing activists
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/Greece-A-scandalous-trial-targeting-left-wing-activists On Tuesday July 28, the charges faced by three activists arrested on July 15 during the mobilisation in Syntagma Square were announced. While the police was beating the demonstrators, the government led by Alexis Tsipras was debating the draconian agreement with the Troika. The activists were sentenced to several months of imprisonment on suspended sentences of three years. During the demonstration, the police attacked demonstrators with tear gas and pepper spray. The police – whose members are known for their support to right-wing extremist and xenophobic party Golden Dawn – launched a concerted attack to disperse the anti-austerity protesters using extreme force specially targeting at left-wing groups. Some of the activists arrested told that while they were beaten and shoved by batons and dragged by the arms, the police officers asked, “Have you voted Syriza?” and when the demonstrators replied “no”, the police officers asked, “Have you voted Antarsya?”, while kept beating at them. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Greece: the trial of the arrested in July 15th
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. * Well, this time you will have to blame Greek folks too (they are not Morenoites, but we aren't either for that matter) because it's their account of the repression in Athens. Also, there is a statement of a Greek left organization (OKDE-Spartakos, they're members of ANTARSYA), maybe you should ask them. I don't know why the surprise. The Guardian published a feature a few years ago where a senior police officer said that Golden Dawn had infiltrated the police; and that the Police thought Golden Dawn could be used against the Left. Also, a Greek newspaper (To Vima) issued an analysis that found that more than one out of two police officers had voted for Golden Dawn. You thought Syriza had all its cops democratically trained for their left government? Saludos, Celeste _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Cuba: Thow in relations with imperialism
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. * Full article here: http://www.leftvoice.org/Cuba-Thow-in-relations-with-imperialism-II What transition? In view of this strategic horizon, some hypotheses about the perspectives of the regime’s transition are interesting, that do not mean inexorably going to a liberal-bourgeois regime, as imperialism and the Latin American right wing would like, nor a simple copy of the Chinese political model of a single party either, contemplating other possibilities of evolution, like some variant of Latin American Bonapartism that will include a certain formal, controlled openness. Alfonso Dilla has suggested a parallel with Mexican PRI-ism (14). The Venezuelan, Ecuadorian and Bolivian regimes and their constituent processes could also be considered intriguing, from some ideas of Julio C. Guanche, who proposes a new socialist constitutionalism. (15) Although it would be possible to arm oneself with some democratic concessions and still maintain certain limits to imperialist penetration, its content would not be progressive for that reason, since its essence would be carrying out the demolition of what remains of the 1959 Revolution under the discursive cover of a XXI Century Socialism with a market and democracy, or with businessmen and foreign capital on an island from which they were expelled half a century ago. The tentative hypothesis that can be left for reflection is whether the evolution towards some variant of Bonapartism of a bureaucratic-bourgeois character would provide the political formula viable for going to the end on the road of the return to capitalism in the Cuban style. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] (MEXICO) Oaxaca teachers resist government attacks
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. * IEEPO, the State Public Education Institute of Oaxaca, has regulated public education for years (positions, teachers’ evaluation, working conditions, among other problems). At the same time, the CNTE has a definitive say in the designation of the institute’s officials as a result of a wider agreement signed in 1993 by the governor Heladio Ramírez. By dissolving the IEEPO, Federal and local government seek to regain control over public education policies in Oaxaca (as part of a wider reform). Peña Nieto and the PRI came into office with the firm support of the United States. However Nieto’s popularity has fallen dramatically since the disappearance of the 43 normalistas students in Ayotzinapa. The recent escape of Joaquin Chapo” Guzman’s has further questioned the ability of the government to manage crisis. Statement of Movimiento de los Trabajadores Socialistas from Mexico: http://leftvoice.org/MEXICO-Statement-in-the-Face-of-the-IEEPO-Removal _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] (Argentina) Where does the success of the FIT come from and what will be debated in the upcoming primary elections?
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/What-can-we-learn-from-the-electoral-alliance-of-Argentina-s-revolutionary-left-866 Argentina is one of the countries where the revolutionary left is strongest. In the 2013 elections, the far left coalition Left and Workers' Front obtained 1.2 million votes... It may be useful for those interested in the last decades of activites and debates within the left in Argentina after the 2001 crisis. Saludos , Celeste --- The PTS undertook the often difficult and unseen work within the workers movement and the industrial unions, taking advantage of the objective re-strengthening of the working class. The PO, operating under the theory that the subject was now the unemployed workers (the piqueteros) clung to the unemployed movement while the party became weakened as a result of the cooptation of piquetero leaders and the economic stabilization, which allowed the unemployed to go back to work, although often in precarious conditions. With the international economic crisis that a serious blow to Argentina in 2009, the process of the development of the growing worker’s vanguard in industry, took the front page, fighting back against massive layoffs. The emblem of this struggle was the Kraft factory, which employed around 2,500 workers. The shop floor committee (comisión interna) had a minority representation of the PTS, represented by Javier “Poke” Hermosilla, current candidate for Deputy Governor on the PTS slate in the FIT primaries) As a result of this conflict, a prolonged strike, which was defeated only by repression and the eviction of the factory by the police, was broadcast live by the major television channels, a workers vanguard, and with it, the PTS made a leap forward on a never before seen scale. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] From the Podemos hypothesis to the test of power
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/From-the-Podemos-hypothesis-to-the-test-of-power-878 From the Podemos hypothesis to the test of power On May 25, 2014, the new political formation burst onto the Spanish political scene, obtaining over 1.2 million votes and five Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). That was the first electoral milestone for Podemos, which then began its transformation into a party, adopting a centralized internal organization, moving away from its “participatory” method towards one based on plebiscites and adopting a reformist program, all with the aim of occupying “the centre of the [political] chess-board”. The Assembly of Vista Alegre in October 2014 consolidated this process. Following this was a series of “political gestures” towards sectors of the regime and the establishment, intended to demonstrate that Podemos was not a “radical movement” or “anti-system” (as the reactionary right in Spain accused them of being), but was instead a “citizens movement” and “moderate”, which sought to occupy the space which Social Democracy had vacated. Pablo Iglesias met with the US Ambassador in Madrid, organized “private” meetings with PSOE (Socialist Party) leaders such as former President Rodríguez Zapatero, enthusiastically applauded Pope Francis when he spoke at the European Parliament and had nothing but words of praise for Barack Obama. At the same time, other leaders of Podemos have started making contacts with businessmen and bankers. The meteoric rise of Podemos in the polls has since plateaued in the lead-up to the municipal and regional elections of May 24. Three factors have influenced this process. On the one hand, the sudden appearance on the political scene of the center-right “Ciudadanos” (Citizens) party, with its discourse of anti-corruption and “regeneration” of the regime, has put a limit on the “transverse” growth of sectors that traditionally vote for the right. On the other hand, the hypothesis of a rapid ‘Pasokisation’ of the PSOE that would allow Podemos to occupy its political space, has not occurred. On the contrary, the “socialist caste” has managed to remain in second position after the Partido Popular (PP - the conservative People’s Party). Finally, although to a lesser extent, the moderation of the discourse and program of Podemos has also had its effect on the decline in votes “for the left”. Thus, from the crisis of the Spanish two-party system, a kind of “four-party system” has started to emerge. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] US/ 'The key is the organization of the supply-chains for fast food and the new retail stores'
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. * Full interview: http://www.leftvoice.org/The-key-is-the-organization-of-the-supply-chains-for-fast-food-and-the-new-retail-stores The notion of the “precariat” as a social category with interests different from the rest of the working class is both empirically and theoretically problematic. First, it greatly exaggerates the degree to which a growing number of workers are in insecure and temporary jobs, often part-time and sometimes for employment agencies and other ‘non-traditional’ employers. Contrary to what many believe, about 90% of all employed people in the US work in traditional employer-employee arrangements, with 83% of those in full-time work. US Bureau of Labour Statistics surveys done in 1995 and 2005 both showed that those working in ‘alternative arrangements’, such as independent contractors or temporary agency workers, consistently compose about 10% of the workforce. While the number of those working through ‘employment services’ soared from 1,512,000 in 1990 to 3,849,000 in 2000, by 2010 their number had fallen to 2,717,000, a drop of 1,132,000. Even if those in non-traditional jobs increase significantly as employers seek to expand production without taking on permanent hires, they are certain to remain a distinct minority. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Day of strikes and demonstrations in Greece, clashes with police in Syntagma Square
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. * Full article: http://www.leftvoice.org/Day-of-strikes-and-demonstrations-in-Greece-clashes-with-police-in-Syntagma-Square This is the first general strike carried out during the Syriza government, which is now facing numerous contradictions in order to justify this defeat as the lesser of two evils. In fact, it is a truly colonialist pactwhich includes pension reforms, and increase in taxes and social security contributions, and a privatizations program which will include numerous state assets, most notably among them, the Port of Pireo. The Greek people gave a resounding NO (OXI) to the agreement proposed by the Troika on July 5, but they also voted NO to austerity, to misery, and to blackmail by the international financial institutions. However, Syriza has only moderated its program since then in order to reach a deal with the Troika, a strategy that has ended in absolute failure and profound humiliation. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The Eurogroup's brutal agreement on Greece: A colonialist pact
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. * Full article: http://leftvoice.org/The-Eurogroup-s-brutal-agreement-on-Greece-A-colonialist-pact After only six months in government, the capitulation of Tsipras and Syriza to the Troika appears complete. No one, not even its harshest critics, could have imagined the speed with which Syriza crossed every one of its red lines and ended up accepting a draconian austerity program. The landslide NO vote of only a week ago seems to be a distant memory. Because the government called for the referendum with the aim of improving its position in the negotiations it abandoned all its positions and accepted a program even more strict that than which was rejected by 61% of the Greek people. The strategic impotence of the reformist and conciliatory program of Tsipras, aimed at keeping Greece in the Euro zone at all costs ended in spectacular humiliation. What is not clear yet is what will happen in the Greek parliament over the next few days. Several Syriza MPs have announced they will vote against the plan. The Minister of Defense and leader of the right-wing nationalist ANEL party also declared his opposition to the agreement. A cabinet reshuffle has been talked about with voluntary or forced resignations of those who oppose the measures. The Minister of Labor has speculated that new elections will be called once the economy has stabilized. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Greece: public workers general strike against the agreement
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. * Full: http://leftvoice.org/Tsipras-capitulation-and-the-general-strike-against-the-agreement The public sector union federation ADEDY has called for a general strike against the new memorandum on the same day of the Congressional vote. This strike will be the first one held by ADEDY since Tsipras took office, but it won’t be the first strike against the Syriza government. At the end of May, doctors and health workers shut down the public hospitals demanding more staff and more money for the public health care system. According to the ADEDY’s statement, “We are calling for a 24 hour strike at the same time that the Congress will be voting for the unpopular agreement; we are calling a rally at 7 pm at Syntagma Square. During the last five years, the Greek working class took part in 33 general strikes against Pasok and the New Democracy governments. This 24-hour strike represents the first one against Trispras’ government and its agreement with the creditors. The general strike will come a week after the resounding victory of the NO vote in the referendum. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Local elections in Argentina / Good results for the Left and Workers’ Front
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. * Full text: http://www.leftvoice.org/Good-results-for-the-Left-and-Workers-Front-in-Mayoral-and-Legislative-Elections-in-Buenos-Aires The left grew in its number of votes compared to the primary elections with 3.9% for Luis Zamora (from Self-Determination and Freedom, AyL) and 3.1 % for the FIT (Left and the Workers’ Front) in the election for city Mayor. Both organizations gained seats at the local legislature (AyL won 4% and the FIT won 4.7 %, adding a new FIT legislator to the bench). When asked about about her position on the second round next July 19, Myriam Bregman stated, “We call for people to cast a blank ballot: both candidates, Larreta, and Lousteau have the same political foundation, one which favours big businesses and bosses. Their national leader is Mauricio Macri, presidential candidate for the PRO. In contrast, we are on the opposite side; we fight for workers’, women’s, and youth rights. The Blank ballot will be counted and is the best option to reject both bourgeois candidates and their anti-worker policies”. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The Greek people have said NO to the adjustment measures. Now it is time to organise the struggle to defeat the Troika.
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. * With almost all the votes counted, 61% are for No and 39% for Yes. The 22-point difference proves wrong those who predicted a narrow result. According to several sources, the “No” vote was stronger in working class districts and among young voters. http://leftvoice.org/The-Greek-people-have-said-NO-to-the-adjustment-measures-Now-it-is-time-to-organise-the-struggle-to _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Interview: What’s happening in Greece after the Referendum?
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. * Full interview: http://leftvoice.org/Interview-What-s-happening-in-Greece-after-the-Referendum Interview with Manos Skoufoglou, member of the leadership of OKDE-Spartakos and of Antarsya Anti-capitalist Left Coalition. Laura Valet, from Revolution Permanente, conducted the interview. Yesterday, more than 60 % of Greeks voted “NO” in the referendum. What does the vote mean for Greece? Manos: It is clear that this was a class-based vote. If you check out the data, it is pretty obvious that all the workers districts and towns voted massively against the agreement, that is, more than 70 %. And in all bourgeois areas in Athens for example, it was exactly the opposite, maybe 70 % or more voted “Yes”. The question in the referendum itself was not very clear –it was deceptive because it only referred to the proposal that the so-called troika (IMF, ECB and EC) made ten days ago. But it did not include the proposal of the government itself. So we could say that it was deceptive because if you voted “No”, then the government, and that is what they are doing now, will try to renegotiate. However, the referendum turned into a social and a class confrontation between the working class and the bourgeois class. And it also showed that the middle strata, that is, the petit bourgeois sectors, lost so much during the crisis that it is not worth it to be afraid of the collapse, the bank run, or the exit of the eurozone. So the lower sectors of the middle strata voted « No » along with the workers. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Cuba-US relations: Embassies, Flags and Big Business
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. * President Barack Obama confirmed on July 1 that the US will reopen its embassy in Havana. This announcement came after the both Obama and Raul Castro had confirmed US and Cuba would and restore full diplomatic relations. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Havana for the opening, and, at the same time, Cuban officials affirmed the country will reopen its embassy in Washington on July 20, 2015. The presidents Speaking at the Rose Garden, Obama declared that “A year ago, it might’ve seemed impossible that the United States would once again be raising our flag - the stars and stripes - over an embassy in Havana.” Cuba’s president Raul Castro said in a formal letter, “Cuba is encouraged by the intention of both countries to develop respectful and cooperative relations between our two peoples and governments.” The role of big business As always, business interests are behind the scenes of these diplomatic agreements. Even though eliminating the full embargo would require a vote from Congress, many US corporations are pushing for the opening of business opportunities in Cuba. A few weeks ago, the launch of Engage Cuba, a bipartisan coalition, financed by companies like Cargill, Procter Gamble and Caterpillar, was announced at a Washington pub. At the event was Roberta Jacobson, a top diplomatic official from the administration who leads Obama’s negotiation team with Cuba. Political talks may be hard and complicated, but businesses are clearly in the fast lane. Read Cuba: Times of a thaw with imperialism http://leftvoice.org/Cuba-Times-of-a-thaw-with-imperialism?var_mode=calcul _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] A capitalist restoration in the Cuban style?
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. * Cuba: Times of a thaw with imperialism / The complete article here: http://leftvoice.org/Cuba-Times-of-a-thaw-with-imperialism --- Support to the program of Raúl Castro or defense of the revolutionary conquests The spokesmen of Havana do not cease to insist that the reforms have as an aim the updating of the economic model, in order to construct a prosperous socialism, a proposition ever less credible in light of the facts. Some groups of the left, although critical of this path, justify it because of Cuba’s isolation in the capitalist world, as a lesser evil facing the danger of a violent capitalist restoration. But the Cuban plan is not an intelligent third way that will avoid the restoration, but the road to take to it, in a controlled manner, in the Cuban style, keeping the monopoly of political power in the hands of the bureaucracy, for their conversion into a new property-owning class, after the example of their peers in China or Vietnam. This course, that is increasingly accepted by imperialism (as Obama’s calculations show), is enormously demoralizing for the Cuban people and for all of Latin America, since it appears to show that there is no other road than market socialism (or a twenty-first century socialism, with capitalists included), and that it is useless to struggle against imperialist oppression. For example, the Marxist economist Claudio Katz justifies the Cuban government in terms of a mandatory NEP. [5] But a retreat, although mandatory, cannot be presented as an improvement, and, in addition, it strengthens the internal enemies of socialism and thus must be explained. Katz also denies that introducing a genuine socialist democracy could be a panacea. It is not a matter of a panacea, but that the regime of a single party of the bureaucracy stifles every trace of independent political life of the masses, and it reduces the space to the minimum or directly represses the critical groups on the left. Facing that, it is essential that the workers and the youth have a full right to get organized and express themselves, which includes the right of the political currents that declare themselves against imperialism and for the defense of the revolution, to act freely. It is the working people who must discuss, decide and review the measures in place to adopt, according to the people’s interests, and exercise collective control over all aspects of economic life. Workers’ democracy is a practical necessity, in order to confront reaction,combat the bureaucracy and balance the relationship between the centralizing plan and the margins to offer the market, not a luxury that can be replaced by the plebiscitary, ultra-controlled mechanisms of elections like the recent municipal elections. Political support to Raúl’s government and to the monopoly of the Cuban Communist Party is a support to the Cuban road to restoration[6] . A workers’ and socialist alternative for Cuba, part of independence facing the government and criticism of its measures from a strategy and a program to defend and restore the conquests of the Revolution, by confronting the imperialist maneuvers, interference and blackmails (like the blockade), as well as putting an end to the power and privileges of the bureaucracy, by building a new regime based on the democratic organizations of the masses. In summary, it is about the program and strategy of political revolution, the only one that can regenerate the CubanRevolution. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Argentina: After getting 100, 000 votes in the last local election, the debate within the left continues
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. * Source: http://leftvoice.org/Debate-in-the-Frente-de-Izquierda-United-Front-and-electoral-front *Debate in the Frente de Izquierda: United Front and electoral front* The Partido Obrero (PO - Workers’ Party) continues to develop its confusion around the concept of the United Front. First there was Jorge Altamira’s speech at the June 5 rally at the Ferrocarril Oeste stadium where the presidential formula of Altamira-Giordano was launched, where he put a position that we have polemicized against previously http://leftvoice.org/The-United-Front-as-a-justification-for-fighting-candidacies-820. Now, Gabriel Solano deepens this confusion in his “response” to our new proposal for a common list to take to the PASO (first round of elections). *Real differences and excuses for refusing a united ticket * Among his arguments, Solano suggests that the actual problem of why it is necessary to go to the PASO is because the PTS wants to “arbitrarily” discuss the possibility of a candidacy by “Perro” Santillán. Solano considers this discussion “arbitrary” because the PO has “already signed an agreement [with Santillán] that goes a long way towards the defence of socialist principles”. However, we have never considered simply swearing an oath to “socialist principles” to be a method of political integration into the Frente de Izquierda y Trabajadores (FIT - Left and Workers’ Front). Our stand on this question has always been clear. We start by welcoming the fact that currents such as that around “Perro” Santillán, Pueblo en Marcha [People on the March] and other organizations propose to support the FIT in the elections. But we also maintain that for their integration into the FIT it is necessary to “start both a common practice and a profound and serious debate around the program of the Front”. According to the PO, this would be “arbitrary”. But for us it is called seriousness, because in reality it has everything to do with real programmatic disagreements - not just generic “socialist principles”. The PO even goes so far to say that these organizations have complete agreement with the program of the FIT, a position that these organizations themselves know not to be the case. For example, from its foundation the FIT has clearly differentiated itself from the so-called “post-neoliberal” governments of Evo Morales in Bolivia or the Chavista government in Venezuela who speak of socialism, and it has pointed out the need to expose these governments. “Perro” Santillan and his current have referred critically to these governments, as we have pointed out elsewhere. Yet at the delegate sessions of the Municipal Workers’ Union (SEOM) Santillan announced the launch of his “people’s party” with the slogan “Hacer como el Evo” (“Do it like Evo”). Pueblo en Marcha has also clearly raised this discussion. Starting with their characterization of the “advanced experiences of struggle elsewhere, such as the Bolivarian process, Podemos or SYRIZA”, they suggest that a “differentiation” “with respect to the sectarian characterization on the part of the various forces of the FIT” is necessary. According to them it is “sectarian” to clearly point out the character of these governments. They also argue that the FIT “tends to interpret [these experiences] as being subjected to Bonapartist leaderships that hinder the self-organisation of the working class and popular sectors, retard their political maturation, generate confusion and create false expectations around political alliances that are incapable, due to their class composition, of moving to socialism”. Indeed, this is precisely what the program of the FIT suggests. At the same time, it is not by chance that the PO hides the fact that members of Pueblo en Marcha support the “Cuidad Futura” (City of the Future) list in Rosario (in Santa Fe province), a list that is competing with the FIT and has a political profile that has nothing to do with upholding working class political independence. Not to mention the current of Comunismo Revolucionario (Revolutionary Communism - a Maoist organisation) which explicitly says: “we adopt the tactical position of supporting the FIT in these elections, not on the basis of the founding program of the FIT - which logically is of a Trotskyist character - but of its campaign program. . .”. It does not seem very “arbitrary” to say that we have programmatic differences which require both an in-depth discussion, as well as common practice, before these organizations can be incorporated into the FIT. What is truly arbitrary is PO’s desire to try to link this discussion with the need to go to the PASO with separate lists. This is because what
[Marxism] Mayor-elect of Madrid claims she “can't stop the evictions”
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. * source: http://www.leftvoice.org/Mayor-elect-of-Madrid-claims-she-can-t-stop-the-evictions *Mayor-elect of Madrid claims she “can't stop the evictions”* The Platform of (Those) Affected by the Mortgage, or, in Spanish, “Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca” (PAH) in Madrid’s Vallecas neighborhood questioned the housing policy of Ahora Madrid (Madrid Now), after the the chair of the city council housing committee said that the evictions could not be stopped. Ahora Madrid is a coalition of political organizations, in which Podemos and Ganemos are the main participants. In a statement widely circulated on social networks, the Vallecas PAH expressed anger at the new councilwoman’s statements on housing: “Ahora Madrid has started its housing policy off on the wrong foot, with housing being one of the main priorities of the new party, signaling one of the most urgent and important areas concerning the population. Despite the fact that among the five initial emergency measures scheduled to be carried out within the first one hundred days of the new government, the first was a moratorium on evictions, today, we read in the newspaper that Housing City Councilwoman Marta Higueras states, ’The City cannot stop the evictions.’ For the public, this declaration is politically unacceptable. It is a question of will and force: the evictions can be stopped and rents can be negotiated with authorities, banks or the court.” The statement spread throughout social networks in response to Higuera’s statement. Soon after its release, other platforms added their support. PAH also questioned the new mayor, Manuela Carmena, who met with the banks before meeting with the social platforms that have been fighting for years against evictions. Can We or Can We Not Stop Them? “If a judge says you have to leave, you have to leave. What we are going to do is alleviate these situations ... people will know where to call and what to do,” (Marta Higueras, housing councilwoman from Ahora Madrid). Ahora Madrid’s program raised among its main proposals the suspension of evictions. However, as soon as she took office, Carmena said the program of Ahora Madrid was only “a set of suggestions of which not all could be understood as an active program.” Both Carmena and her housing councilwoman Higuera said it was impossible to stop the evictions if ordered by a judge. What they will seek is “alternative housing” for families and to mediate between judges and banks before the evictions are ordered. Carmena has already met with the directors of Bankia, Banco Santander and BBVA. About her meeting with Bankia, she said they were beginning to prepare an agreement and that Bankia could lease vacant properties to provide renters with housing. She clarified that she did not know how many vacant properties might exist, or what they would cost to rent, but she saw a “desire to solve the problem,” and that she left feeling very satisfied with the meeting. The housing policy of Carmena has a limit, which is her absolute respect for the property of banks. Her policy is limited to trying to “convince” the banks to put homes at the disposal of the City Council. But this means nothing more and nothing less; if a judge issues an eviction, the family will lost their home, continue carrying a debt to the bank, and will have to pay rent. The only winners continue to be the banks. The banks are responsible for the capitalist crisis and the ones that benefit by it. After doing great business during the “construction boom” they were rescued with public money and have expropriated hundreds of thousands of families who were driven out from their homes. Today, the banks are holding thousands of vacant homes, while thousands of people are homeless. The immediate cessation of all evictions, the cancellation of mortgage debts to low-income families, the expropriation of empty dwellings at the hands of banks to make them available for renting, and the curtailment of penalties for those occupying vacant houses as a result of emergency situations are paramount for solving the social drama of housing. But none of these measures are part of the policies Manuela Carmena is willing to carry out. The logic of the State’s “management” and the respect for the law, which guides the politics of Ahora Madrid, is in turn what prevents the transformation of the living conditions of the impoverished majority. By accepting the rules of the game already established, it’s only left to be resigned to the misery of the “possible.” In these first days in office, Manuela Carmena is already showing the limitations of the management of the capitalist state . The potential
[Marxism] Spain: So, can we or can we not stop the evictions? Podemos ally in Madrid says no..
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. * Source: http://leftvoice.org/Mayor-elect-of-Madrid-claims-she-can-t-stop-the-evictions?var_mode=calcul Mayor-elect of Madrid claims she “can't stop the evictions” The Platform of (Those) Affected by the Mortgage, or, in Spanish, “Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca” (PAH) in Madrid's Vallecas neighborhood questioned the housing policy of Ahora Madrid (Madrid Now), after the the chair of the city council housing committee said that the evictions could not be stopped. Ahora Madrid is a coalition of political organizations, in which Podemos and Ganemos are the main participants. Josefina L. Martínez @josefinamar14 In a statement widely circulated on social networks, the Vallecas PAH expressed anger at the new councilwoman’s statements on housing: “Ahora Madrid has started its housing policy off on the wrong foot, with housing being one of the main priorities of the new party, signaling one of the most urgent and important areas concerning the population. Despite the fact that among the five initial emergency measures scheduled to be carried out within the first one hundred days of the new government, the first was a moratorium on evictions, today, we read in the newspaper that Housing City Councilwoman Marta Higueras states, ’The City cannot stop the evictions.’ For the public, this declaration is politically unacceptable. It is a question of will and force: the evictions can be stopped and rents can be negotiated with authorities, banks or the court.” The statement spread throughout social networks in response to Higuera’s statement. Soon after its release, other platforms added their support. PAH also questioned the new mayor, Manuela Carmena, who met with the banks before meeting with the social platforms that have been fighting for years against evictions. Can We or Can We Not Stop Them? “If a judge says you have to leave, you have to leave. What we are going to do is alleviate these situations ... people will know where to call and what to do,” (Marta Higueras, housing councilwoman from Ahora Madrid). Ahora Madrid’s program raised among its main proposals the suspension of evictions. However, as soon as she took office, Carmena said the program of Ahora Madrid was only “a set of suggestions of which not all could be understood as an active program.” Both Carmena and her housing councilwoman Higuera said it was impossible to stop the evictions if ordered by a judge. What they will seek is “alternative housing” for families and to mediate between judges and banks before the evictions are ordered. Carmena has already met with the directors of Bankia, Banco Santander and BBVA. About her meeting with Bankia, she said they were beginning to prepare an agreement and that Bankia could lease vacant properties to provide renters with housing. She clarified that she did not know how many vacant properties might exist, or what they would cost to rent, but she saw a “desire to solve the problem,” and that she left feeling very satisfied with the meeting. The housing policy of Carmena has a limit, which is her absolute respect for the property of banks. Her policy is limited to trying to “convince” the banks to put homes at the disposal of the City Council. But this means nothing more and nothing less; if a judge issues an eviction, the family will lost their home, continue carrying a debt to the bank, and will have to pay rent. The only winners continue to be the banks. The banks are responsible for the capitalist crisis and the ones that benefit by it. After doing great business during the “construction boom” they were rescued with public money and have expropriated hundreds of thousands of families who were driven out from their homes. Today, the banks are holding thousands of vacant homes, while thousands of people are homeless. The immediate cessation of all evictions, the cancellation of mortgage debts to low-income families, the expropriation of empty dwellings at the hands of banks to make them available for renting, and the curtailment of penalties for those occupying vacant houses as a result of emergency situations are paramount for solving the social drama of housing. But none of these measures are part of the policies Manuela Carmena is willing to carry out. The logic of the State’s “management” and the respect for the law, which guides the politics of Ahora Madrid, is in turn what prevents the transformation of the living conditions of the impoverished majority. By accepting the rules of the game already established, it’s only left to be resigned to the misery of the “possible.” In these first days in office, Manuela Carmena is already showing the limitations of the
[Marxism] Primary elections in the Left and Workers’ Front: PTS slate
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. * source: http://leftvoice.org/Primary-elections-in-the-Left-and-Workers-Front-PTS-slate Nicolas del Caño and Myriam Bregman of the PTS will compete with the Altamira-Giordano slate to represent the FIT (Left and Workers’ Front) for the Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections. National deputies Nicolas del Caño and Myriam Bregman are President and Vice Presidential candidates representing the PTS (Socialist Workers Party) in the upcoming primary elections for the Left and the Workers’ Front. They will compete with the PO (Worker’s Party) candidate for President Jorge Altamira and IS (Socialist Lefts’) candidate for Vice President Juan Carlos Giordano. Del Caño and Bregman launched their candidacies under slogan “For a renewal in the Left and Workers’ Front, with the strength of the workers, the women and the youth”. In Buenos Aires, long time PTS leader Christian Castillo, will join Kraft worker and rank and file union militant leader Javier Hermosilla for a governor and vice governor slate. The slate for Parlasur will be headed by Claudio Dellecarbonara, one the main secretaries of the subway union, and Andrea D’Atri, one of the main leaders for Pan y Rosas (Bread and Roses) women’s movement. María Victoria Moyano* is a daughter of one of the people disappeared under the last dictatorship. She was rescued and her identity was recovered by the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo –human rights organization. She will be the first candidate for National deputies for Buenos Aires city in a list where 70% are women. One of the key components of the PTS candidates, for the primaries, is that most of them are workers from diverse factories and work places, leaders of fighting unionism, as Katy Balaguer from Pepsico, Ruben Matu and Damian Gonzalez from Lear, and recovered factories such as Madygraf. There are women that fight for women’s rights, students and leaders from Human Rights organizations which are part of our slate as well. VIDEO, Workers candidates Nicolás del Caño declared “the main bourgeois parties want to impose a highly polarized political campaign with Scioli, Macri and Massa as the “political sons” of the 90’s neoliberal regime (the “political sons” of Menem, Argentina’s President during the 90’s decade). PTS proposed to Partido Obrero (PO, Workers’ Party) to run a common slate for President and Vice President, Altamira – Del Caño, to better challenge these bourgeois candidates. However, PO and its allies inexplicably rejected it. We continue to build the Left and the Workers’ front (FIT), we want the workers’, the women and the youth strength to be expressed with no limits, we want all the tendencies that agree with FIT to express themselves. We are proud of the slates and candidates we are running across the country and we have no doubt that we will do a great election on August 9th; From August 9th we will gather with comrades from the other slates in the October final elections and forefront those parties that are willing to adjust economy”. ***Maria Victoria Moyano was illegally kidnapped by the Argentinian military in the last dictatorship. Her parents remain disappeared after military coup. She was rescued and her identity recovered after Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo found her at the age of 9* _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] ARGENTINA: Successful election for the Left and Workers' Front
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. * Source: http://laizquierdadiario.com/english Noelia Barbeito, a 33 year-old teacher and a member of the Socialist Workers Party (Partido de los Trabajodores Socialistas, PTS) representing the Left and Workers' Front obtained 10,39 % of the votes in the gubernatorial race in Mendoza province on Sunday. The coalition headed by the center-right Radical Party (UCR) defeated Kirchnerist candidate and other opposition parties to win the election. Noelia Barbeito obtained 10,39 % of the votes in Mendoza’s governor race (nearly 110,000 votes). The Left once again achieved historic results in an election for an executive position. Last May, current presidential candidate Nicolas del Caño, a 35-year old member of the PTS representing the Left and Workers’ Front (known as FIT in Argentina), achieved 17% in the mayoral race in Mendoza city, ahead of the Kirchnerist candidate. Barbeito improved on her results from the primary election by nearly 50 % (she obtained 7 % in the primaries). Together with Barbeito’s 10,39 %, the Front earned two new provincial legislator seats (a senator, Víctor Da Avila from PO; and alegislator, Macarena Escudero from PTS), and many city council seats. This is one of the several successful elections this year for the Left and Workers’ Front. The left coalition had achieved verypositive results in previous elections in Mendoza (in both the primary and general elections), Salta, Buenos Aires city, and Neuquen. The Left and Workers’ Front has consolidated its position as a political force that can attract votes from many of those who hold progressive views on many issues but that previously supported Kirchnerism and who genuinely believed in its promises of change. The workers and the youth of Mendoza see in the Left and Workers’ Front, and PTS candidates like Barbeito and Del Caño, among others, a left and working class alternative. Del Caño has presented himself as candidate for President, and will be joined by Myriam Bregman as candidate for vice president in the upcoming primary elections for the Left and Workers’ Front. They will compete with the Workers Party’s (Partido Obrero) candidate for President Jorge Altamira and Socialist Lefts’ (Izqueirda Socialista) candidate for vice president Roberto Giordano. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Are We Facing a Central American Spring?
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. * source: http://laizquierdadiario.com/Are-We-Facing-a-Central-American-Spring *Are We Facing a Central American Spring?* A wave of protests raises the possibility of a “spring” in Central America . Spanish version from La Izquierda Diario Mexico http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Estamos-ante-la-primavera-centroamericana The protests started in Guatemala. In April, a surge of protestors denounced severe cases of corruption on the part of the Otto Pérez Molina administration. Since then, every Saturday thousands of people come out to demand the resignation of the government. The protests have extended to Honduras, where people have been marching with torches since mid-May. In June, thousands of people, with a strong showing of youth, took over the streets of Tegucigalpa to demand the resignation of the Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernandez. The protests have also extended to Nicaragua. The protests against the Daniel Ortega administration are driven by the people’s rejection of the Chinese investment in the interoceanic canal that will destroy the local plants and wildlife. On Sunday, June 14, thousands marched in Juigalpa, the central area of Nicaragua, against the interoceanic project to be carried out by the Chinese company HKND group. A broad movement, a spring of the people is possible Similar to #Passe Livre en Brasil, the Occupy movement in the US, 15M in Spain, and in some ways to the #YoSoy132 and anti-Peña Nieto movements in Mexico in 2012, the movements in Honduras and Guatemala sprang forth spontaneously with a multi-classist make up and a strong showing of youth participation. Even though there hasn’t been an independent participation of the working class, it’s a broad movement. The protesters call themselves los indignados. The process of mobilizations, sparked on social media, is hardly just a “virtual” movement. It’s much deeper, and it has put the Otto Pérez Molina and de Juan Orlando Hernández administrations between a rock and a hard place. The protest movement in Guatemala has forced the administration into a crisis, obligating them to modify their cabinet. The movement has mobilized around 60 thousand people to protest every Saturday. The Otto Pérez administration and the parties formed after the dictatorship are discussing a call for new elections in September, which the United States imperialist nation is supporting with the hopes that it will quell the great social unrest. In Honduras, tens of thousands of people have turned out for the “torch” marches. The protests, with the slogan #OposicionIndignada, focus on the latest corruption scandal, in which the Honduran Social Security Institute is accused of embezzling 200 million dollars. The traditional political parties in the country are also accused of being involved in the fraud. Despite the United States clear meddling in Honduras, after the 2009 coup, a few hundred people took part in the burning of the US flags in Tegucigalpa in the midst of the “torch” marches. “The burning of the US flag in front of the US embassy in Tegucigalpa was done by a small minority within a movement that is calling for the intervention of the UN and for the creation of a commission against impunity.” A victory is possible: A political perspective to win The US is worried about the wave of protest movements. Naturally the fall of Otto Perez or Juan Orlando Hernandez would motivate people to question the politics that force Guatemala and Honduras into the role of the US imperialists’ backyard. That’s why the Organization of American States (OAS), organization made up of all the Latin American Governments that are subordinated by US imperialism, believes the situation in Guatemala and Honduras to be more critical than movements in Chile, Brazil, and Mexico. As Luis Almagro from the OAS said: “It’s very important for Guatemala to stay within its constitutional bounds until the September elections and that nothing interrupts their democratic process. Its a severe crisis, we’ve seen protests for weeks. Including Rigoberta Menchú, who was sadly viewed as a celebrity in Mexico for calling for the backing of the latest mid-term elections and who called out the family of the missing 43 students for boycotting the elections, believes that due to the withdrawal of the president’s judicial immunity, the resignation of president Otto Perez Molina is practically inevitable. For the US it’s vital that the elections in Honduras take place. In the case of Guatemala, it’s very important for the movement to take the offensive and to organize a general strike calling for the main unions to knock down the weak Otto Perez government.
[Marxism] Debates within the Left and Workers’ Front (FIT) in Argentina
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. * Source: http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/The-United-Front-as-a-justification-for-fighting-candidacies The “United Front” as a justification for fighting candidacies Spanish version from La Izquierda Diario, June 6th, 2015 http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/El-Frente-Unico-como-justificacion-para-pelear-candidaturas by Fredy Lizarrague (*) http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/El-Frente-Unico-como-justificacion-para-pelear-candidaturas . http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/El-Frente-Unico-como-justificacion-para-pelear-candidaturas *Earlier this year a wide range of left-wing organizations gathered around what was called “A broad left pole” to support the Left and Workers’ Front (FIT). The question then was posed whether to admit new political groups to the FIT, some of whom explicitly disagreed with part of our program. The conforming forces (PTS, PO, IS) decided that an honest debate about the program was needed before they could join the FIT. A few days later, however, Partido Obrero (PO) and Izquierda Socialista (IS) decided unilaterally to cede some of their candidacies to Pueblo en Marcha, Comunismo Revolucionario and other currents of the populist left. * -- A large part of Jorge Altamira’s closing speech at the Ferro rally was dedicated to indirectly polemicizing against the PTS, who allegedly “do not understand” that the FIT is a form of the United Front. In this area, Altamira has created an enormous confusion between the meaning of the United Front for the organisation and struggle of the working class, something that the PO has always historically opposed (and would be very healthy for it to change now), and the supposed “United Front” on the electoral field, which has been the foundation of the historic Popular Front agreements that have liquidated the political independence of the workers (such as the first Popular Front and later on the Izquierda Unida (United Left) of the old Movement for Socialism (MAS) and the Communist Party in the 1980s). Altamira had already stated in an interview in the Izquierda Socialista (Socialist Left) newspaper El Socialista (The Socialist) No. 292, that “the defense of the United Front is the great strategic delimitation and principle at the heart of the Left Front”. In this way he intends to justify the conformation of the lists to the PASO (first round of elections). This is ridiculous, for how can a difference of “strategy and principles” be resolved in a bourgeois primary election? Let us first try to clear up the confusion, since the objective is to “factionally” arm their members against the so-called “sectarianism” of the PTS, which has led the PO to defend assertions that have nothing to do with the tactical and strategic lessons of the first congresses of the Communist International that we as Marxists defend. Revolutionary Marxism has always sustained that, in the electoral field, what is needed is not the “United Front” but programmatic political agitation towards the masses. The workers’ united front is for action (as Altamira said himself, but he was referring to “electoral action”). The electoral front is for the dissemination of ideas and program. Although in the history of revolutionary working class organisations there has been the specific tactic of voting for the mass reformist workers’ parties, even in these cases the key is political agitation that is independent of the reformists. The workers’ united front, for action, does not require a finished political program more than the program for the progressive action of the working class, whether it be defensive (such as those promoted by the Third Congress of the Communist International, against the various attacks of capital on the workers and their organisations) or offensive (with the creation of workers’ councils or soviets, as Trotsky points out in the History of the Russian Revolution). Trotsky indicated that in this form the United Front will allow for the broadest organisation of the exploited and oppressed masses, workers’ democracy will develop through the freedom of tendencies, and the struggle will move towards the perspective of the seizure of power. Some of this was raised by Altamira at the rally, but this in itself raises two important problems. On the one hand, historically the PO has always opposed organisations for the coordination of sectors in struggle, embryonic “councilist” experiences, such as the Coordinadora del Alto Valle (Coordinating Committee of Alto Valle in the province of Neuquén) which was spearheaded by the workers of Zanon and the organisations of the unemployed. We are always accused of being “soviet fetishists”,
[Marxism] ARGENTINA: The Scope of a New Strike
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. * Source: http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/ARGENTINA-The-Scope-of-a-New-Strike *Spanish version from La Izquierda Diario http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Alcances-y-limites-de-un-nuevo-paro-contundente* *See more pictures of the strike http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/El-9J-de-los-trabajadores-y-el-sindicalismo-combativo* As it happened on March 31, last Tuesday, June 9, the Confederation of Transportation called on all the unions to strike. The confederation, which leads the unions and represents the opposition to the government for its ability to paralyze the entire country, had asked the five main unions to joined the strike. The addition of the CGT, CGT (Azul y Blanca) and the CTA turned the measure into a national strike. In a compelling demonstration, the transportation strike and the roadblocks created by the Left and combative sectors were key to provoking similar stands everywhere in the country. The main interruption was caused by the stopping of public transportation; trains, busses, subways and airplanes. Gas stations and freeway tolls were closed. Truckers paralyzed all the loading transportation: garbage collection, transportation flow, banking operations, gas, beverage, dairy products, etc. The participation of the health and administrative sectors was more prominent within the provinces (outside of Buenos Aires), where ATE has a lot of weight. The teachers strike was felt in cities such as Rosario, La Plata, and Entre Rios. In many provinces the roadblock guaranteed that even workers that are not unionized could join in the strike. Evaluating the aftermath of the strike, Hugo Moyano (CGT leader) declared, “there was a wide-reaching participation participation” that “showed disagreement” from part of the workers “directed to the policies implemented by the government.” But, even considering this achievement, the fifth strike against Cristina Kirchner was somehow smaller compared to the strike of March 31. The bureaucracy of Union Leaders Despite the lack of preparation from part of the organizers, the strike was powerful. These CGT leaders did not offer support to workers in conflict that suffer from layoffs, like workers of WorldColor, Cresta Roja or Coca-Cola Femsa. To these leaders it is important to get ready and to show strength positioning themselves alongside those seeking to replace Cristina Kirchner. Since the strike of March 31, they roam the offices of political bosses. Thus, Moyano expressed appreciation for the neoliberal Mauricio Macri and said that there are sectors already working to achieve a political and social life with an eventual national Macri-led government and considered it necessary to leave behind the clashes. The last straw was the declaration of Luis Barrionuevo, who shamefully criticized the lack of dialogue with the government comparing it to the era of the military dictatorship, where we strike, fight ... but we were able to talk and negotiate.” Fighting unionism and the Left Leftist organizations and militant unionism raised their voices on the roadblocks for the workers’ demands, giving the strike great significance. The roadblock at Panamericana was led by the workers of Worldcolor (formerly Donnelley), Lear, Kraft, Pepsico, Cadbury (Kraft Victoria), Printpack, Siderca, aeronautical workers, many other factories of the northern region of Buenos Aires and the the PTS (Socialist Workers’ Party). Ruben Matu, leader of Lear’s workers and PTS candidate for the FIT, proposed an independent political expression completely detached from the capitalists, unlike the bureaucrats who want to channel workers’ anger into the austerity proposals of candidates such as Scioli, Macri or Massa. Ruben Matu said that at the roadblocks were the “workers that today are taking part in the major struggles under way, adding the need to raise an independent voice away from the bureaucracy calling to the strike, in order to fight against the income tax, but also against wage ceilings, job insecurity, and the rights of women.” Nicholas Del Caño, national deputy and presidential candidate for the PTS (FIT), took part at the roadblock in Panamericana, responding to the cowardly remarks of Anibal Fernandez, the chief of presidential cabinet. Fernandez had appealed to a phrase often used to refer ironically to picketing workers who are accompanied by the Left: The essential is invisible to the Trotskyists. Del Caño replied: It seems that Aníbal Fernández is not aware of the problems faced by the 280 workers at Worldcolor, fighting the closing and emptying of the factory being conducted by the employer; or the workers in the former Donnelley, demanding the
[Marxism] Argentina marches for women's lives
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. * Source: http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Argentina-marches-for-women-s-lives *English version from Socialist Worker http://socialistworker.org/2015/06/11/argentina-marches-for-womens-lives* *Spanish version from La Izquierda Diario http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Cientos-de-miles-por-NiUnaMenos* Shocked by a spate of high-profile crimes against women, including the murder of a kindergarten teacher in front of her students by an estranged husband on April 15 in Córdoba, a growing movement in Argentina is demanding an end to violence against women. According to official statistics widely criticized for systemic underreporting of such incidents, domestic violence takes the life of at least one woman a day in Argentina, and rates are even higher in neighboring states. In response, the hashtag #NiUnaMenos (Not one less woman) has gone viral on Twitter, with Lionel Messi, one of the best soccer player on the planet, lending his voice on Twitter: We join all Argentineans today in shouting out loud #NiUnaMenos. In an article published in La Izquierda Diario (The Daily Left) from Argentina, Andrea D’Atri and Eduardo Castilla report from the June 4 mass demonstrations in Buenos Aires and the solidarity actions around the country and the region. THE MAIN mobilization in front of the National Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was gigantic, but it also surpassed all expectations in more than 70 cities all across Argentina. And that’s not all—coordinated protests took place from Chile to Uruguay to Mexico on Thursday, June 4. In downtown Buenos Aires, the march grew so massive that it was almost impossible to move, and participants had to wait their turn to take even one step forward. Estimates range between 300,000 and 500,000, making it one of the biggest protests in recent history. At 6:30 p.m., even as thousands began to leave the Plaza de los Dos Congresos, there were still just as many people trying to get into the square. Just going one block could take up to half an hour. People covered almost the entire plaza, but also poured out along Avenida de Mayo, down Avenida 9 de Julio, and filled up several blocks of side streets in all directions. The mobilization had a broad character. It was very different than the march that took place on February 18 in support of the prosecutors in the Alberto Nisman case. That march saw the upper-middle class in the streets in opposition to left-of-center President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s national government, but the upper strata were absent on June 4. This time, the majority was a multi-gender crowd of young students and workers (as well as some professionals), many wearing school or work uniforms and coming straight from their factories, offices, hospitals and schools. Feminist, labor, student, social and community organizations turned out in force alongside many people who came to march as individuals. Dozens of busses and vans were parked, which showed that many people had organized themselves from the surrounding towns and suburbs to get the march. And it was obvious that for many of them, marching in Buenos Aires was a new experience because so many had to ask for directions to this or that street. All of this added up to an enormous multitude rejecting the epidemic of murder and violence against women. In a special area in front of the main stage, families hung photos around their necks of slain female relatives. Their faces showed a powerful mix of sadness and pain, mingled with the joy of being surrounded by the solidarity of hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Let’s try to march over there, said one girl to another around 6 p.m. But just then, a column from the Public Employees Association (Asociación Trabajadores del Estado—ATE) began to enter the plaza. So the two young friends were stuck in the middle of the street, hemmed in by the crowd. A few minutes later, on the other side of the plaza, the railroad workers marched in. Meanwhile, the contingent from the pro-Kirchner youth group La Cámpora appeared, headed by Florencio Randazzo (Minister of Interior and Transportation) and Augustín Rossi (Minister of Defense), among other ranking government officials and bigwigs. [image: -] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - VARIOUS POLITICIANS from the bosses’ political parties were out, making a big display of their official staffs. For example, Dulce Granados, a deputy in the National Assembly and the wife of the Buenos Aires Province Minister of Security, showed off a little heart drawn on her right hand while surrounded by dozens of supporters waving placards emblazoned with her own name! The government threw its support
[Marxism] ARGENTINA: Why we strike?
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. * Source: http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/ARGENTINA-Why-we-strike ARGENTINA: Why we strike? 1- No ceiling on salary increases at wage negotiations. Bank tellers and oil workers have shown it is possible to break the government policy on salaries (they’ve reached increases over 30 percent). 2- Living wage for all workers and decent pensions. Pensions to retired workers should be 82 percent of a living wage. According to the Argentinian Statistics and Census workers (INDEC), the basic family cost of living was estimated in 12,800 pesos (near 1,300 dollars) in February. But in Argentina, half of the workers only reach 5,500 pesos. Seventy percent of retired workers get only the minimum pension (3,821 pesos), far away from the 82 percent rule, which should be applied. 3- No More Families Left in The Streets! Support ongoing struggles. There are layoffs in many industries like auto parts and a car industry (Fate and Fiat). Also workers from Cresta Roja (food processing plant) faces layoffs. Printing sector workers face massive attacks like the closing of Worldcolor. The workers controlled factory Madygraf (formerly Donnelley) along with other militant rank and file unionists have started a campaign to support Worldcolor’s workers. 4- Job protection for all workers. No more precarious jobs. During the last Kirchnerist decade, bosses and companies have benefited from low wages and poor working conditions imposed on workers. This is because workers have no protection and they can be fired workers at will. Half of the working class only receive a minimum wage (which does not cover basic needs) and have no rights at the workplace. We demand contracts and job protection for all workers. 5- Women workers’ rights. Women face inequality and abuse at workplaces everywhere. After massive demonstration #NiUnaMenos http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Hundreds-of-thousands-demonstrate-across-Argentina-against-femicides, this national strike must support women workers’ rights. 6- Stop the attacks from the thugs of the union bureaucracy. Every time workers start organizing themselves independently, they face resistance from the State, the bosses and the union bureaucrats. Read about the union thugs’ attacks against Damian Gonzalez, reinstated worker in Lear Corporation http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/LEAR-The-war-against-the-workers-continues. This is not an exception; more than 5,000 workers, students and left activists face legal persecution. 7- Against income tax, which unfairly burdens the workers. Let’s tax the bosses, the rich and the judges. Wages are not profit! 8- Stop precarious jobs. Millions of workers face poor working and living conditions. The textile industry is one of the worst; many workers live at the workplaces (sweatshops) with their families. Argentina faces a serious housing crisis (14 million people live in precarious conditions). 9- Let’s support ongoing struggles. We need to take bakc and rebuild workers’ organization, organize the unorganized and fight the union bureaucracy. 10- Workers see wages drop as the bosses get richer. The bosses got wealthier during the Kirchnernist governments. Scioli, Massa and Macri take the side of the employers too. That’s why a massive general strike, with demands of the working class, organized by the rank and file, is the best way to fight against the bosses, the state and the union bureaucracy. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Mexico: Initial Conclusions of the Militarized Elections
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. * *Source: http://laizquierdadiario.com/Initial-Conclusions-of-the-Militarized-Elections http://laizquierdadiario.com/Initial-Conclusions-of-the-Militarized-Elections* *Mexico: Initial Conclusions of the Militarized Elections* This was the most significant operation carried out to protect the electoral process in recent history, with the backing of the National Electoral Institute and the Congressional parties. Even though the government’s central concern was to protect the elections in the so-called “red focal points” (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacán, Guerrero Veracruz), it was extended to the rest of the country. The overall objective was to contain the protests that, since last Monday, have been growing. The teachers and other sectors have played a leading role in organizing the protests, creating an unstable political climate that could threaten the electoral process. This was preceded by acts of aggression and persecution against activists - as was seen in Puebla and Veracruz – as well as state repression against the teachers, as was seen in Guerrero. In order to confront all of this, Peña Nieto sent thousands of military and police into the streets, demonstrating that this degraded democracy is only able to guarantee its “democratic peace” through the use of military force. Despite the conditions, throughout the day there were important protests. Confrontations were reported in different areas in Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Guerrero, as well as in Mexico City, the state of Mexico, Morales, and Guadalajara. The State responded to the actions by repressing the protestors, resulting in a significant number of injuries and hundreds of political prisoners in Oaxaca and other areas, such as Talapa, Guerrero, where a student died due to the police and military repression. These actions were primarily lead by organized sectors such as the teachers and political and social organizations. The government and the repressive actions were able to contain the protests and prevent them from changing the general course of the elections– to which tens of thousands of people attended. The government was also able to prevent the protests from impeding the installation of the election booths in any of the states. But, at the same time, the elections took on an atmosphere far from the “democratic peace” that Peña Nieto wanted to create, and resulted in the expression of nationwide political instability. In the backdrop of all of this is the general loss of credibility in the so-called democratic institutions. The elements of political instability that have surfaced in the past few weeks demonstrate that that the continuation of a wide sectors of the population’s display of discontent with this political regime could result in a new wave of protests and mobilizations in the next few months. *The PRI remains standing, PRD free falls* These elections decided the outcome of 9 congressional seats, seats in the senate and congress as well as a number of state and local positions. At the closing of the publication of this article the numbers from the “Preliminary Electoral Results Program” continue to come in. However, it’s possible to make initial conclusions with the numbers that are not yet definitive. In the area of federal elections, the PRI appears to be the winner with around 30% of the votes and the PAN has around 22%, while the PRD didn’t pass 12%. These percentages are lower than what was reported by the election surveys and lower than the votes from 2012 (when the PRI ran along with the Green Party and received over 38%). In the case of the PRI, the coalition with the Greens (who won around 7%), and their ability to take advantage of the PAN and PRD’s loss in popularity, resulted in obtaining the first minority in the House with the potential to win the simple majority. The most significant information resulting from the elections is PRD’s enormous drop in popularity, signifying that their parliamentary presence will very likely be reduced to half, and the rise of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s MORENA as the fourth most voted party with 9%. In turn, this is creating a certain reconfiguration of the parliamentary map (including other political parties, such as Movimiento Ciudadano with 7%). It’s also important to consider that there is over 52% abstention and the spoiled or illegitimate votes are around 5-6%. *…Elections lacking legitimacy* On the one hand, the elections express a wide sector of the population’s general lack of confidence in the traditional parties. This is, without a doubt, a result of the corrosion of the institutions that only escalated after October 2014 with the Ayotzinapa crisis.
[Marxism] MEXICO: Militarized elections
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. * Source: http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Militarized-elections MEXICO: Militarized elections Thousands of teachers from the National Teachers Coordinator (CNTE), along with students, social organizations, the parents of the 43, local farmers, and popular sectors have been organizing a great mobilization for the past few days in order to boycott and stop the elections. Up until Friday, Lorenzo Cordova, the president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), was announcing his guarantee that the elections were going to take place throughout the whole state of Oaxaca. The actions taken by section 22, section 18, and 7 of the State Coordinator of Education Workers in Guerrero (CETEG) alongside popular sectors to boycott the elections demonstrates the profound hatred and out right questioning of this “democracy” and their militarized elections. After 72 hours the following has taken place: In Veracruz students and activists houses were raided by paramilitary and “thugs” heavily armed, resulting in a number of injuries; 2 students from the Autonomous University of Puebla (UAP) were detained and accused of a bomb attack; a professor is dead and a student teacher (normalista) is in a coma after confrontation between the police and armed civilians. There is a report for 2 missing students. Also, organized “thugs” in Pachutla attacked teachers from the 22nd section of CNTE who had taken over a gas station. A few hours ago in Xolapa, Guerrero, the “community police” was unarmed and 10 members were executed without any kind of trial. Tanks, helicopters, artillery units and hundreds of other army materials flown into Oaxaca by military planes have been arriving in preparation for the elections. This is an unprecedented situation in which they are forcing the population to vote with a gun to their backs. It is a clear example of how degraded and illegitimate the regime has become. These elections are militarized, revealing just how profoundly undemocratic and reactionary the capitalist system really is in its attempt to legitimize an election that has been heavily questioned. The PRI party and all the parties of the regime, are willing to continue their plans to give away the nation resources in favor of U.S. imperialism, no matter what the cost. In the next few hours there is a possibility of new confrontations with the army and the police in the states that are mobilized, especially in Atyotzinapa, where last night students were denouncing that the electric power had been cut off and there were threats that the police would enter the student campus. Meanwhile, the PRD governor Mancera has withdrawn all the police from Mexico City to the barracks so that they can be deployed to the election polls today Sunday the 7th, in order to guarantee a “peaceful” election day. Due to the mobilization of armed forces, and the virtual “state of siege”, human rights groups have begun to denounce horrendous human rights violations by the State. This repressive dynamic is similar to the one that began with the inauguration of Pena Nieto’s government back in Dec of 2012, when mobilized popular sectors protesting Pena Nieto’s elections were severely repressed. Nothing good can become of the “democracy for the rich” proposed by the parties of the regime, PRI, PAN, PRD, PVEM. They can only have more repression, misery, hunger, unemployment and exploitation to offer. It’s necessary to take the struggles of the San Quintin laborers as an example, along with the workers of the Triumph multinational, the miners of Cananea and other sectors that are mobilized despite the militarization, the “narcos”, the para-military and this terrible attack by the bosses and the government. This is why we are calling on all the unions who call themselves democratic, social organizations, civil and human rights groups, rural workers, women, indigenous communities, and students to begin organizing a great democratic movement on the streets to stop the militarization of the country and to organize ourselves independently from the parties in power in order to stop the attack. Translation: Sara Jayne @surdaso _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Imperialist cynicism / The US removes Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism
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. * Source: http://laizquierdadiario.com/The-US-removes-Cuba-from-the-list-of-countries-that-sponsor-terrorism The US removes Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism The US President, Barack Obama, had announced on April 14 that he would take Cuba off the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. A 45-day process of review, that ended this Friday, with a formal announcement from the State Department. *Juan Andrés Gallardo* @juanagallardo safari-reader://laizquierdadiario.com/Juan-Andres-Gallardoo *Spanish version from La Izquierda Diario http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/EE-UU-retira-a-Cuba-de-la-lista-de-paises-que-patrocinan-el-terrorismo* Taking Cuba off the list is a measure with a symbolic, more than practical, significance, because many of the benefits that Havana could obtain are limited by other sanctions, a result of the economic embargo, in force since the beginning of the decade of the 1960’s. According to the Reuters agency, a US official indicated that rescinding (...) the designation of Cuba is a big step, but in practical matters, the majority of the restrictions on exports and foreign aid will continue, given the broad commercial and weapons embargo. Cuba had said that its inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism was an obstacle to re-establishing diplomatic relations and so that the so-called Interests Sections in Havana and Washington would become embassies. From the practical point of view, Cuba could not open a bank account in the US, for the functioning of its embassy in that country, for which reason it is expected that one of the next steps will be moving forward in the re-opening of diplomatic headquarters in both countries. Washington had placed Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1982, when it said that Havana backed armed guerrilla movements in Latin America. This only shows the enormous cynicism with which the United States manages to define a tailor-made concept of armed terrorism. *Imperialist cynicism* The idea that the US has a list of countries sponsoring terrorism is only the sign of an absolute hypocrisy, since it concerns the State that has most financed and supported terrorist actions throughout its history. To take only the most recent decades, it suffices to say that the United States not only supported all and each one of the Latin American dictatorships during the 1970’s, but that it financed various groups to destabilize governments that emerged from revolutionary processes throughout the world. It armed and financed the contras in Nicaragua; it did the same thing with the government of Iraq, to start a war against Iran, after the revolution of 1979, and it also did that with the Taliban in Afghanistan, against the USSR. Oddly enough, from there emerged two of of those that would be No. 1 enemies of the US, years later: Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the US designed its own blueprint to determine what terrorism is and what anti-terrorism is. In an historic speech, George W. Bush warned the world that whoever is not with us, is against us. After this speech, hundreds of secret jails were installed in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, in which thousands of people accused of terrorism were tortured and brutalized, without any type of control. One of those jails is located in Guantánamo, on the island of Cuba itself, and, despite Obama’s promises to close it, it still continues to operate. The United States is the main ally of the terrorist State of Israel, the biggest recipient of military aid, that uses terrorist methods to assassinate and intimidate the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank. Another of its allies, Saudi Arabia, was at the forefront of financing the crushing of the Arab Spring and in supporting the Iraqi Sunni groups dissatisfied with the (dis)order after the setback of the US’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once again, from a part of those dissatisfied, the current Islamic State, a new No. 1 enemy of the US, has emerged . The doctrine imposed by the US after the September 11 attacks was meekly employed by many of the governments of the region, even those that call themselves progressive, in the form of anti-terrorist laws that violate the right of social protest, by worsening the punishments, and, in some cases, they permit greater interference by the US, that includes military bases, joint exercises, espionage and even US military intervention, as in the case of the so-called war against drug trafficking. As we see, the United States will be hard-pressed to be able to have some type of authority to bring something
[Marxism] (Argentina) Zanon and Madygraf: Workers’ Management as a Response to the Crisis
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. * *Source: La Izquierda Diario* http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Zanon-and-Madygraf-Workers-Management-as-a-Response-to-the-Crisis *Zanon and Madygraf: Workers’ Management as a Response to the Crisis* By Juan Cruz Ferre When the workers of Donnelley arrived at the plant on August 11, 2014 they found a note at the gates explaining that the company was shutting down its operations in the country and that it “regretted the inconvenience.” This has become a fairly familiar scene. A company shuts down its plant, in order to move operations abroad and take advantage of a cheaper and more docile labor force. Under capitalism, the capitalists are free to relocate their businesses when they are no longer profitable, even if this means leaving 400 families in the streets. The workers, on the other hand, are only free to choose by whom they will be exploited. Faced with this desperate situation, the workers’ response might have been resignation, but this was not the case. The workers decided to open the gates of the factory, occupy the plant, and restart production. They showed that “no hierarchy is needed to run the production of the factory” in the words of Hugo Padua, a worker at the factory for the past 22 years. The company’s declaration of bankruptcy was denounced by the attorney representing the workers and later rejected by the Ministry of Labor for the Province of Buenos Aires. The reasons that Donnelley offered to justify abandoning its factory in the country were determined to be invalid and the bankruptcy was declared fraudulent. The workers did their part immediately. In less than a month, the workers of MadyGraf (the new name given to the factory by the workers) had finished a job worth $500,000. They enrolled in the national registry of cooperatives and obtained the authorization to function as such. However, a series of bureaucratic obstacles prevented them from receiving their salaries for 45 long days. But the experience had shown the workers of MadyGraf that concessions do not come from the good will of the bosses or the government. They immediately mobilized to demand their salaries http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/MadyGraf-marcharon-para-exigir-salarios-adeudados, and they formed links with other factories, the student movement, and political parties. The Women’s Commission http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/10/behind-every-worker-is-a-family/, formed in 2011, was and continues to play a fundamental role in this struggle. It participates in assemblies, it collects donations for a solidarity fund, and now, with the factory under workers’ control, the women decided to open a daycare to look aftertheir children during the workday. The ‘recovered factories’ movement of the 1990s and 2000s Toward the end of the 1990s, the advancement of neoliberal policies in Argentina caused the closure of several companies, some of which were occupied by the workers and put into production. After the economic and political crisis of 2001, the seizure of factories extended throughout the country at breakneck speed. Hundreds of companies declared bankruptcy or left the country. In many cases, the response of the workers was to occupy the factory and resume production under worker’ control, beginning a true movement of recovered factories across the country. Today, there are more than 311 recovered companies, employing over 13 thousand workers http://www.recuperadasdoc.com.ar/Informe_IV_relevamiento_2014.pdf. One can see two major tendencies within this movement. The first aims for the transfer of machinery and infrastructure of the factory to the worker’s hands, for them to become owners and create a cooperative. The other, more radical, position proposes as a final objective the expropriation of the factory and its nationalization, while maintaining workers’ control. In the latter strategy, the cooperative model is accepted only as a temporary stage. The first, more moderate, option has the advantage of being more accessible. There is less resistance on the part of the politicians and the legal road is relatively clear cut. The reasons why this model is not resisted lie in its own limits. The seemingly radical measure of seizing a factory from its owners becomes a legal procedure whereby capital remains private and simply changes hands. Sure, the owners are now also the workers and they toil daily to assure production and their own salaries, which is generally distributed equitably. But this model exists within a system of capitalist production. And this brings us to the second limit of this strategy. The new company is bound by the rules of the free market, and will enter into unequal
[Marxism] Internationalist Conference held in Buenos Aires
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. * Source: http://laizquierdadiario.com/Internationalist-Conference-held-in-Buenos-Aires The Ninth International Conference of the Fracción Trotskista - Cuarta Internacional (FT-CI - Trotskyist Fraction - Fourth International) was held from April 28 to May 3. The International Conference of the FT-CI was attended by delegations from the Movimiento de los Trabajadores Socialistas (MTS - Socialist Workers Movement) of Mexico, the Movimento Revolucionário de Trabalhadores (MRT - Revolutionary Workers Movement (former LER-QI) of Brazil, the Partido de los Trabajadores Revolucionarios (PTR - Revolutionary Workers Party) of Chile, the Courant Communiste Révolutionnaire (CCR - Revolutionary Communist Current) of the New Anti-capitalist Party in France, Clase contra Clase (CcC – Class against Class) from Spain, the Liga Obrera Revolucionaria (LOR - Revolutionary Workers League) of Bolivia, the Liga de Trabajadores por el Socialismo (LTS - Workers League for Socialism) of Venezuela, the Juventud Revolucionaria Internacionalista (JIR - Revolutionary Internationalist Youth) of Uruguay and the Revolutionäre Internationalistische Organisation (RIO - Revolutionary Internationalist Organisation) of Germany. In order to inform our readers about the main conclusions of this important international meeting, we interviewed Christian Castillo (Argentina) along with the youth leaders Sergio Moissens (Mexico), Diana Assunção (Brazil), Fabián Puelma (Chile) and Daniela Cobet (France). These comrades have been part of the major political events and class struggles in their countries, such as the YoSoy132 (“I am 132”) student movement and the fight for the re-appearance of the 43 student teachers kidnapped in Mexico, the massive mobilizations of 2013 in Brazil and the teachers’ strike in São Paulo, as well as the massive struggle against the profit-driven education system in Chile. *What topics were addressed at the Conference?* CC: The Conference agenda covered the main problems of the international situation as well as the work of revolutionaries to build revolutionary workers parties and move towards the reconstruction of the Fourth International. In the first session there was a rich discussion concerning the definition of the character of China, its “imperialist traits” and its possible evolution on the basis of a document presented by Juan Chingo. In the second session, we discussed current trends in the economy and the theorizations of bourgeois economists, which demonstrate that we are a long way from the capitalist triumphalism that preceded the crisis. This discussion was centred on a document prepared by Paula Bach. We also discussed the complex geopolitical situation in the Middle East in the light of an assessment of the “Arab Spring”, taking as a starting point the document on the subject presented by Claudia Cinatti. Finally the discussion addressed the document of political orientation presented by Emilio Albamonte, basing this discussion on the positions that have been conquered in the labour and student movements, the oppressed sectors of youth and women workers, the parliamentary positions of the PTS in the Left and Workers’ Front (FIT) in Argentina, as well as the innovative tools we are using to expand the dissemination of revolutionary ideas such as La Izquierda Diario, all of which must function to construct strong combat workers’ parties, both nationally and internationally. These documents, enriched by the fruitful discussions that took place at the Conference, will be published in an upcoming issue of the magazine Estrategia Internacional (International Strategy). ** *Can you give us a snapshot of the main discussions and resolutions?* SM: From the economic point of view, we analysed the evolution of the capitalist crisis that began in 2008. Despite the application on the part of the capitalist states of various quantitative expansion measures, combined in Europe with harsh austerity, which has allowed them to avoid economic collapse, prospects remain critical. The recovery in the United States, while important compared to other central economies, is too weak to promote a new cycle of strong growth. In the European Union tendencies towards stagnation prevail, while in Latin America the fall in the price of raw materials has set in. It has also become clear that there is an economic slowdown in China, which has been the engine of economic growth in the first phase of the crisis. Although today the most explosive factors seem to be under control, one cannot rule out that events such as the Greek debt crisis or an interest rate rise in the United States can again trigger an acute
[Marxism] Argentina: The Left and Workers’ Front with another strong electoral showing
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. * Source: http://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Argentina-The-Left-and-Workers-Front-with-another-strong-electoral-showing After coming in third place in Mendoza the previous weekend, the Left and Workers’ Front finished in fourth place in Sunday's primary elections in Buenos Aires City and won two provincial legislator seats in the province of Neuquen. Zanon ceramics worker, Raul Godoy, was elected for the second time to the Neuquen Legislature. Buenos Aires held its primary elections Sunday, while in Neuquen, which does not have primaries, yesterday’s results were final. Buenos Aires City Mayor Mauricio Macri’s PRO party (center-right) won 47.34 percent of the votes (Horacio Rodriguez Larreta was elected as Mayor candidate); The ECO party (center-right) achieved second place with 22.26 percent (choosing Martin Lousteau); Frente para la Victoria (the party of President Cristina Kirchner) came in third place with 18.72 percent of the votes (Martin Recalde was the winning candidate). The Left and Workers’ Front came in fourth place and was the only left slate that will reach the general election. *The Left and Workers’ Front will be the left alternative in July’s general election* The slate headed by candidate for Mayor, Myriam Bregman, a human rights lawyer representing the workers of Zanon and Madygraf (both occupied factories) and a militant of the Socialist Workers Party (PTS), won 2.30 percent of the votes (the established minimum is 1.5 percent; any candidate below that percentage won’t move on to the general elections). The fifth election ballot will be the one headed by Luis Zamora, an independent candidate from Autodeterminación y Libertad (a coalition organized exclusively for elections). Sunday night, the Left and Workers’ Front addressed the press at the Bauen Hotel (occupied and run by its workers), a few blocks from Congress, and later they spoke to militants, activists and supporters gathering in front of the hotel. Myriam Bregman shared the press conference with Marcelo Ramal from the Workers Party (PO) and Patricio del Corro from the PTS, both candidates for legislator. Bregman noted that the Left and Workers’ Front wasn’t a local movement, but a national political force: “We are a national political force; we will have two legislators in Neuquen, where Raul Godoy from the Zanon factory has been elected again. We have also achieved great results in Mendoza and Salta; we came in third place in the governor’s races in both provinces’ ” Also, national Congressman Nicolas Del Caño came in second place in Mendoza City’s primary election for city Mayor. Compared to its 2011 results, last Sunday’s election has showed a step forward for the Left and Workers’ Front. In July of 2011, the left coalition reached just 0.78 percent for Mayor and 1.01 percent for City legislators. This year, the Left and Workers’ Front received three times that figure for Mayor, and doubled its previous number of votes for legislators. *Neuquen: new left and workers’ deputies* Elections in Neuquen came after the eruption of the Calbuco volcano in Chile last week. All of Patagonia, including the province of Neuquen, has been greatly affected. The current administration party (MPN, right-wing) got 37 percent of the votes. In second place was for Frente para la Victoria (Kirchnerist party). The Left and Workers’ Front had a strong showing in both the governor’s race (3.4 percent) and legislator’s race (4.7 percent), earning two seats in the legislature. Thanks to this electoral success, Left and Workers’ Front will have now two provincial deputies: Raul Godoy, Zanon worker and PTS militant, and Patricia Jure from the PO. *Left and Workers’ Front grows as the Left alternative* After coming in third place in Mendoza’s governor race the previous weekend, Left and Workers’ Front ended in fourth place in Buenos Aires City primary elections and got two provincial deputies in Neuquen. Zanon ceramics’ worker, Raul Godoy, got elected for the second time in Neuquen’s Legislature. Now, the left coalition prepares to get a wider support for the future local general elections in several provinces, and in presidential elections in August and October. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] What Can We Expect from Podemos in Spain?
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. * *A political outsider takes center stage* Outside of Syriza in Greece, there is perhaps no European political party in recent years that has experienced a rise in popularity quite as rapid as that of Podemos in Spain. Like Syriza, Podemos was born out of the widespread discontent with the social democratic, liberal, and conservative parties of the European establishment who have held power for decades and who have all embraced the policies of neoliberalism. However, also like Syriza, Podemos has not offered political solutions that would break from the capitalist status quo that has left millions in poverty and desperation across the continent. Without a doubt, Podemos is the first party [1 http://www.ft-ci.org/What-Can-We-Expect-from-Podemos-in-Spain?lang=en#nb1]. in recent history to mount a significant challenge to the two parties of the Spanish ruling class—the social democratic Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and the conservative People’s Party (PP). According to an April 9th poll, Podemos would win the general elections if they were held today, with 22.1 percent of the vote, just ahead of the PSOE, which earned 21.9 percent support. In January, the party had its strongest show of strength yet, when more than 100,000 people filled Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, to show their support for Podemos and denounce the austerity programs carried out by the PP and PSOE. With December’s elections fast approaching, all eyes are on Podemos and its charismatic presidential candidate, Pablo Iglesias. *The origins of Podemos* In the days and weeks following May 15, 2011, tens of thousands of young people occupied the plazas throughout Spain, demanding jobs and an end to austerity. The youth, who came to be known as the indignados (the indignant), captured the attention of the world and would later inspire the Occupy movement in the United States. With an unemployment rate of nearly 25% in the country and austerity programs which brought massive cuts to health care, education, transportation, and other public services, the Spanish workers and oppressed classes lost faith in the ability of the PSOE to provide solutions to the crisis at hand. The fall from grace of both parties of the Spanish political establishment has been hastened too by multiple corruption scandals linked to both the PSOE and PP [2 http://www.ft-ci.org/What-Can-We-Expect-from-Podemos-in-Spain?lang=en#nb2]. This was the context in which the Podemos (We can) party arose. Within a just few months of its founding, the party had won five seats in the European parliament. The origins of Podemos differ from those of the social democratic and eurocommunist left of years past in that its roots are not in the trade unions. Instead, the party was launched by university professors and public intellectuals, among them the political science professor Pablo Iglesias, who had become a popular television personality. Podemos was also joined by the Izquierda Anticapitalista (Anticapitalist Left) party, a member of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. *A Participatory Process?* The founding manifesto of Podemos made connections to the indignados movement and declared the need for an open, participatory process of organization. Yet, despite its links to the youth movement, which had made decisions by assembly and stressed horizontalism, the leadership of Podemos has increasingly adopted undemocratic and vertical methods of organization. In November 2014, following the party’s Citizens’ Assembly, Podemos carried out an online vote among its members on three documents which would determine the party’s policies, methods of organization, and ethics. The voting system, which was organized by a committee of experts close to Iglesias, only allowed for vote en bloc, whereby a vote for one faction’s organizational document also meant a vote for their political and ethical documents as well. In this system, it was inevitable that all the documents of the Iglesias faction would win out. Furthermore, Iglesias, conscious of the power of his charismatic figure, threatened to resign from the leadership, if his documents were not voted upon. An important component of the faction’s ethical document was a prohibition on dual militancy which would prevent militants of other parties such as Izquierda Anticapitalista (IA) from holding positions of responsibility within Podemos. This restriction prevented Eurodeputy for Podemos, Teresa Rodríguez from holding a position of leadership within Podemos because of her militancy within IA. Two weeks after the election of documents, the party held internal elections for its leadership positions.
