President Donald Trump is neither the populist champion of working-class underdogs that some of his supporters hoped, nor is he is the fascist dictator that some feared. Co-opted by the Republican establishment, he is a dangerous, authoritarian, militarist whose programs threaten the American people, world peace, and the planet.
A state of crisis in North-East Asia
12 May 2017, byThe Korean crisis has gone from chronic to acute since the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. Against a backdrop of general instability, it is being played out on three levels: the world relationship of forces between powers; the strong tensions at work throughout East Asia; the breakdown or the maintenance of the status quo between the two Koreas. To this, let us add the situation in the USA, where Trump is tempted to compensate for his failures in domestic politics by creating a climate of national mobilization against an external threat - whether it be Russian, Chinese or North Korean. The stakes of the Korean crisis are so numerous that the uncertainties are great and there are real dangers of "uncontrolled slippages".
Regulation - Who Needs It?
11 May 2017, bySurrounded by CEOs and autoworkers bused in for the event, Donald Trump made it clear during his March 14th appearance in the Detroit area that he was going to get rid of a federal regulation in order to free up the industry so it could “make thousands and thousands and thousands of additional cars.” For him it was a simple decision: “If the standards threatened auto jobs, then common-sense changes could have and should have been made.”
The worst has been avoided – time for a Defiant Left!
10 May 2017, byVoters have rejected the immediate danger of the right-wing taking power and what it would have entailed: challenging fundamental freedoms, rolling-back democratic and social rights, persecuting foreigners, ‘preference nationale’ or putting the ‘French first’ in a bid to whip up racism …
Our Planet, Our Lives! – The climate and science marches
9 May 2017, byThis statement was produced by Solidarity’s Ecosocialist Working Group as a leaflet for the upcoming climate and science marches.
Protesting Trumps threat to the planet – Marches for Science and Earth
9 May 2017, byAlan Thornett looks at the destruction Trump is wreaking and the resistance that is growing.
Macron as president: the capitalist offensive will sharpen. Build the fightback!
8 May 2017, by ,This statement was made by Philippe Poutou for the NPA after the result of voting in the second round of the French presidential elections was announced.
A new federation?
7 May 2017, byIn the latest issue of Amandla!, we focus on the labour movement. We are soon to witness what some have called a “momentous event in the history of the working class in South Africa” – the launch of a new, independent federation of trade unions. But will it be a “momentous event?” Will the new federation be able to rise to the enormous challenges the labour movement faces?
New trade union federation launched
6 May 2017, byNearly 700,000 workers from 24 trade unions have joined to form a new trade union federation in South Africa, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), held its inaugural congress at the end of April. A total of 1,384 voting delegates from the 24 unions attended the congress to decide on the new federation’s name, logo, colours, agenda and constitution. Former Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi was central to launching the federation and below we reproduce an interview conducted earlier in April with Vavi by Amandla.