The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.
Ten years after the defeat of the coup
in Venezuela by the revolutionary mobilisation of the masses it is
worth looking back at the forces that were behind the coup, the reasons
why it was defeated and what happened afterwards, as those events hold
the clue to the class dynamics of the Venezuelan revolution.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the launching of Socialist Appeal, over
100 delegates and visitors assembled in London at what was the largest
Socialist Appeal conference held to date. Detailed discussions were held on
the world situation and the latest perspectives for Britain. Reports
were presented on the Sparks dispute, the work in the universities, the
fight for public sector pensions and the way forward for the Labour
Party and the unions. The tremendous mood of the conference was
reflected in the magnificent collection for the Fighting Fund where
nearly £5,000 was raised – a record!.
As part of its austerity programme the
Tory-LibDem coalition is planning to cut police officers’ wages and
making it easier to sack them. There are to be wage cuts, job losses and
more stringent requirements to enter the police force.
Hands
Off Venezuela on April 12 is hosting at Bolivar Hall the London
premiere of "Cuarto Poder" (the Fourth Power) a new documentary
examining the role of media, media monopoly and ownership, media
manipulation and related issues with special reference to the media
coverage of events in Venezuela. John McDonnell MP and Alan Woods will
be speaking at the event
The most striking feature of the presidential election campaign in France is the massive support shown for the Front de Gauche
(Left Front) under the leadership of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Long before
the campaign was really underway, there were clear signs that the most
conscious and active layer of the working class was mobilising around
the Front de Gauche.
This year as every year there will be
marches and commemorations attended by the various strands of Irish
socialism and republicanism to mark the anniversary of the Easter
Rising. There will be a remembrance of those who fell in the struggle
for national liberation and socialism in 1916, during the War of
Independence and since then. Attention is already being given to the
possible events to mark the centenary of the rising in 2016
At Easter every year in every parish
in Ireland and in many places around the world Irish Republicans gather
to pay homage to those men and women who died in the struggle for
independence. This year, 2012, will be no different. However, whereas 50
years ago there was only one Republican Movement, today there are at
least seven different republican traditions that have emerged out of the
northern struggle.
George
Galloway’s remarkable victory in the recent Bradford West by-election
has again thrown the spotlight on the Labour Party’s lamentable failure to
provide an opposition to the Tories and the Coalition government’s vicious
attacks on the working class.
The
remarkable victory of George Galloway in the Bradford West by-election has sent
a massive cannon ball flying across the boughs of the Labour leadership. At a time of huge
unpopularity of the Coalition government, Labour should have romped home in
this traditional heartland. To their astonishment, Labour was driven into
second place behind George Galloway, who scored a massive 36.59% swing from
Labour to Respect.
On Sunday February the 12, the
long-awaited opposition primary elections took place in order to select
the candidate who will face Hugo Chavez in the presidential elections
due for October this year. Cápriles Radonski, the present governor of
Miranda state won a clear victory with 62% of the vote, compared to only
28.9% for his contender Pablo Perez, present governor of Zulia state.
There are significant signs that the trades unions affiliated to the
Labour Party are growing increasingly impatient with the Blairite wing
of the party and its shadowy support organisation, known ironically as
Progress. Because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tuition fees, ID
cards, PFI and a whole raft of neo-liberal policies, Tony Blair is now
completely discredited among the majority of the rank and file of the
Labour Party. But the organisation set up to support him in 1995 is
still functioning and campaigning for quasi-Tory policies inside the
Labour Party.
Last Saturday’s rally in Ireland organised by the Campaign against Household and Water
Taxes (CAHWT) demonstrated clearly that the opposition to the Household
Taxes is likely to be a major thorn in the side of Fine Gael and Labour
over the next period. The immediate problem for the Department of the
Environment, Community and Local Government however is not the 3,000
people who attended the rally at the National Stadium and those who
attended the other rallies. It’s the fact that only 328,201 households
have registered for the Household tax, from a total of more or less 1.6
million.