With the news from David Cameron that the UK will now provide 330 military personnel to Mali and West Africa, we publish this recent article by Roberto Sarti of the Italian Marxists Falce Martello, who provides an analysis of the imperialist motives behind events in Mali.

Contrary to the statements of François Hollande and his government, the intervention of the French army in Mali has nothing to do with the stated “French values”, “human rights” or any other humanitarian preoccupations. It is an Imperialist intervention aiming to protect the interest of French multinationals in the region.  La Riposte, the paper and website of the French Marxists, reports on the situation in Mali.

On January 23, Caracas was once again the scene of a huge mass mobilization in defence of the revolution. January 23 is a national day of struggle in Venezuela. It was the day that the infamous Marcos Pérez Jímenez dictatorship fell in 1958, overthrown by the mass movement from below. The opposition tried to cynically take advantage of Chávez illness and called for a demonstration to protest against “the unconstitutional situation”, i.e. against the postponement of the swearing in of Chávez. The PSUV leaders responded by calling on the masses to take the streets on the same day.