The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.
On Tuesday, February 19, Fidel Castro announced he was no longer going to stand for the position as President of Cuba. All the talk in the bourgeois is
of the need to remove the regime, but there is no mention of the real social
gains of the Cuban Revolution. We do not stand with these vultures. We defend
the Cuban Revolution by working for an all-Latin American and international
revolution.
Spongers, Scroungers and
Scum. These are just three of the many words used by the tabloids in describing the 2.7 million people on incapacity benefits. Recent figures show that 1.2 million of the 2.7
million people on incapacity benefits are unable to work due to mental health
problems. The rising number of claimants who suffer from mental disorders is a
reflection of a service-dominated economy.
This British perspectives draft document (2008), agreed on February
3rd, has been issued by the Socialist Appeal editorial board as part of
a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in
British society. Such a document is not a blue-print, but an attempt to
understand the underlying processes at work in Britain today, and how
these will be reflected in the class struggle. The document will be
discussed at the Socialist Appeal conference at the end of April. Part 1.
Before the results had come in, President
Musharraf appeared on the state-run Pakistan Television, calling the vote "the
voice of the nation" and the "mother of elections" must be accepted. But in
fact this was the Mother of all Frauds.
We are in the final stages of the election campaign in Pakistan. The
masses are clearly backing the PPP in large numbers. Reaction is also preparing.
Blatant rigging cannot be ruled out, but this would only serve to enrage the
masses. In this context the Marxists are standing in several constituencies,
where they are running a revolutionary election campaign that is having a big
impact among the workers and poor.
This British perspectives draft document (2008), agreed on February 3rd, has been issued by the Socialist Appeal editorial board as part of a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in British society. Such a document is not a blue-print, but an attempt to understand the underlying processes at work in Britain today, and how these will be reflected in the class struggle. The document will be discussed at the Socialist Appeal conference at the end of April.
The crisis in the garments sector goes unabated in
Bangladesh. On January 30, 2008 two workers in World Dresses Ltd, Mirpur,
Dhaka, were attacked and beaten by management staff at the end of an evening shift. One died at 3am, the other is still
hospitalised with broken limbs. Fearing unrest
management closed the factory on Thursday. When knowledge of the attack
reached the company’s workers, hundreds demonstrated outside the factory.
The announcement by English football’s ruling elite, the FA
Premier League, that they intend introducing an extra round of fixtures to be
played in venues around the world over one single weekend should come as no
surprise to anyone. Since its formation 15 years ago as a replacement for the
old First Division, the FA Premier League has sought to increase the
profitability of its product (their term not mine) out of all proportion – and
at our expense.
On Tuesday 5th February the Manchester Hands of
Venezuela held a successful meeting with over 60 people attending. The meeting
was held jointly with the Green Party of Manchester to raise awareness of Venezuela,
discuss the revolutionary situation and look at changes and developments in the
country and more widely in South America as a whole.
In a speech on ‘liberty’ at the University of Westminster, Gordon Brown
outlined his vision for ‘Britishness’. Brown is, of course, a Scot.
Listing the achievements of so-called ‘British liberty’ from Magna
Carta to the Reform Act of 1832, he announced a debate on what it means
to be British. Brown’s vision, however, amounts to nothing more than
reactionary politics dressed in liberal-radical language.
New Labour
should hang their heads in shame in their ongoing programme of cuts, closures and job losses
in the public sector. Margaret Thatcher’s band of robbers would be proud of their accomplishments and
their policies sit so easily within a Tory ideology that it is no wonder the Tories don’t look
like an opposition. They don’t need to. They have been in power in the guise of New Labour for over 11
years.
This is a letter submitted to the US section of the International Marxist Tendency , the Workers International League. In this letter, Roberto Carlos depicts his experience working in a
movie theater and the problems young workers have to put up with on a
regular basis.