The coup in Honduras and the stepping
up of a US military presence in Colombia are serious warnings to the
masses of Latin America. On top of this the present world economic
crisis is having an impact on the Venezuelan economy. All this is
posing very sharply the need for a turn to a genuine revolutionary
programme on the part of the Bolivarian movement.
During his election campaign,
President Barack Obama promised to be all things to all people. After
eight years of Bush and Cheney, Americans desperately wanted to believe
that real change was coming. In this statement from the Editorial Board of the US Marxist paper, Socialist Appeal, they ask – what change and who is benefiting?
With our own NHS once again under attack, not least from the Tories who see huge profits for their big business
chums in the private healthcare sector once they are back in office, many health workers have been
looking at the debate taking place in the USA over the future of their
healthcare system. Paul Poposky from In Defence Of Marxism takes a stateside look at how things are actually shaping up and whether Obama is delivering on his election promises.
It would seem that the force of the wind, which was blowing at more
than 60 km/hr in the Neuquén capital, was an omen of what was to come.
26 deputies supported the expropriation and this sealed the
declaration that the factory was of public interest and confirmed the transfer of
Cerámica Zanon to the Fasinpat cooperative.
We are publishing here an appeal (first posted on www.marxist.com ) which we
have received from the workers at IMPA, an occupied factory in
Argentina, campaigning against their possible eviction. We ask all our readers to
circulate it widely and to make sure that resolutions are sent and
signed by as many trade unionists, workers and students as possible.
The war in Afghanistan
has re-emerged in the headlines as casualty rates for American and British
forces have now reached their highest since the invasion of Afghanistan.
Already more than one hundred American troops have been killed since the
beginning of this year alone, whilst in Britain the news has been dominated
by the deaths of eight soldiers who were killed in twenty four hours over the
weekend.
As the Pakistani army continued to be
bogged down in a ferocious battle against the Taliban inside its own borders
and yet another British soldier is killed in Afghanistan, to date the one
hundred and seventy-sixth since 2001, it is evident that the British military
is engaged in a war it cannot win.
All kinds of manoeuvres are taking place
after the coup in Honduras. The coup organisers want to hold on, but
pressure is being brought to bear for some kind of compromise solution,
which however cannot satisfy the masses. The only real answer lies in
the full mobilisation of the Honduran workers and peasants.
A
second lively picket against the coup in Honduras took place in London
on July 3rd. Members of the Latin American community, solidarity and
left wing activists gathered outside the embassy to demand the
reinstatement of president Zelaya
The coup in Honduras highlights once
again that even mild reforms within the capitalist system cannot be
tolerated by the local oligarchies in Latin America and their
imperialist masters. But Venezuela teaches that if the masses mobilise
reaction can be stopped. Now is the time to mobilise the full force of
the Honduran workers and poor.
As workers and trade unionists continue to be attacked by the Colombian state, we look at the involvement of Britain in assisting in this murderous process.
Almost 3 months
after the mistaken decision of the Irish trade union leaders to call off the March 30th
strike action, the discussions around a recovery plan are still floundering.
The trade union leaders will have to show some progress at the ICTU conference
next month, so they need something concrete to report on. But, given the severe
economic crisis that the state is experiencing it seems unlikely that anything
substantial will emerge. However there is the possibility that some sort of
deal will be done. But, as we explained recently, it’s likely to have more
holes in it than a Swiss cheese.