In the local elections on 1 October Portugal’s ruling Socialist Party won 38 per cent of the vote. The major rightwing opposition party, the PSD only won 16 per cent and lost control of 8 cities. Abstention was 45 per cent.
Land at the centre of President Zuma’s Radical Economic Transformation
12 October 2017, byFarm workers and farm dwellers have generally been excluded “as beneficiaries” of radical land distribution.
“It is a curious war, in which Maduro constantly rearms his enemies”
11 October 2017The political crisis that has been shaking Venezuela for months is at the heart of a war of information and propaganda, which is even inviting itself, albeit for other purposes, into the French political debate. Beyond binary discourses, we wanted to take the risk of complexity with Fabrice Andreani, doctoral student in Lyon-II University, who is working on the Bolivarian revolution.[CQFD]
“The popular classes must intervene with their own tools of mobilisation”
10 October 2017The one-day general strike on 3 October 2017 in Catalonia was the biggest mobilisation in more than forty years on this territory. It was called by the Intersyndical Alternativa de Catalunya (IAC, an inter-professional federation of combative Catalan trade unions), the Confederació General del Treball (CGT, of libertarian tradition), the Sindicat de Comissiones de Base (a split from the Workers’ Commissions) and Intersyndicale – CSC. The idea of a political strike against police repression and for public liberties has had a decisive impact in the pro-independence process. Alex G. of l’Anticapitaliste spoke to Lito, a member of the IAC and Anticapitalistes, about this historic mobilisation.
Iraq Kurdish Independence Faces Threats from Outside and Contradictions from Within
9 October 2017, byWith a victory of the “yes” at over 92% in favor of the independence and a participation rate reaching 72%, the results of the referendum are clear and confirmed the popular enthusiasm of the vast majority of the Kurdish population seen the weeks before the vote.
The Marxism of C.L.R. James
8 October 2017, byCyril Lionel Robert James (1901-1989) has begun to enjoy a revival among U.S. and European intellectuals which promises to spread his influence more widely in the present and future than was the case at any time during his life. He is best known for his magnificent history of the Haitian revolution, entitled Black Jacobins (first published in 1938 and reprinted often since then), but a growing number of people are becoming increasingly familiar with many other facets of his work.
Catalonia’s paradox
7 October 2017, byOctober 1 shook Catalonia and the Spanish state. What happens now?
Some Lessons of the Hurricane
7 October 2017, byCrises raise new, sharp problems that unveil and accentuate both the admirable and the negative aspects of the societies they affect. They also pose new tasks and offer new perspectives on already established plans. The case of Puerto Rico and the effect and response to the strike by Hurricane MarÃa is no exception.
Brics summit in China: A missed opportunity
6 October 2017, byThe ninth BRICS summit was held in Xiamen, China, on September 3-5. Sharmini Peries from the Reel News network spoke to Patrick Bond shortly after the end of the summit. Bond is Professor of Political Economy at Wits University in South Africa. Bond is the author of the recent books, South Africa - The Present as History (with John Saul) and the 3rd edition of Elite Transition. He is also the co-editor of BRICS: An Anti-Capitalist Critique.
Let us support the struggle of the Catalan people
5 October 2017, byAfter the referendum held on 1 October in Catalonia and the victory of Yes in favour of the independence of Catalonia, despite the great legal, judicial and police difficulties imposed by the government of the Popular Party, there has been the strike (mainly followed in the administrations, transport and rural areas) and a national stoppage (with lockouts in small and medium-sized enterprises in protest against repression) by other layers of the population on 3 October. The first result is a victory of the popular movement and a defeat of the Rajoy government that could not prevent these two great expressions of the movement.