IV599 - December 2024

The Swiss parliaments did not wait for a dissolution before dividing into three blocs at both the cantonal and federal levels.

On 29 November, half a million workers in Italy took part in the general strike called by the CGIL (General Confederation of Labour) and the UIL (Italian Labour Union). Are we at the dawn of a new lease of life for social struggles in Italy? A faint hope in a Europe that seems to be sinking ever more surely towards barbarism. L’Anticapitaliste spoke with Gigi Malabarba , a former trade unionist and former senator on the Communist Refoundation lists.

The series continues. After Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, it is Chad’s turn to throw out the French army without warning.

After a scorching summer, peaking at 47°C, the 25 million inhabitants of the megacity have been suffocating under thick smog since mid-November. Its composition in fine particles is 60 times higher than the danger limits retained by the WHO, Reporterre informs us . A state of emergency has been declared.

The U.S. government and state governments are engaged in a broad attack on the political rights, public health, as well as the sexual and reproductive rights of the young. Federal economic programs that provide financial assistance for housing, food, and education for young people from poor families are also threatened with budget cuts.

The imposition of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 3 was quickly defeated. This is good news, but not only that.

To protect its oil multinationals, the European Union has no qualms about funding the armies of African dictatorships. Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, is home to a jihadist guerrilla group that began in 2017 with an attack on police stations in the town of Mocímboa da Praia. The group is made up of young people who have questioned the local population’s Islamic practices, deeming them to be non-compliant.

The United States said it could impose a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. This was declared on 29 November for a period of 60 days. Just long enough for Biden to say that he had ‘done the job’ and hand over to Trump at the end of January. An inglorious end to the reign of ‘Genocide Joe’, who has spent the entire year supporting, arming and ultimately encouraging Israel’s genocidal escalation.

On Sunday 24 November, the Frente Amplio (FA) won the second round of the presidential elections in Uruguay. The pairing of Yamandú Orsi and Carolina Cosse won 49.8% of the vote against 45.8% for the right-wing Partido Nacional. A clear victory. The coalition-movement, as it statutorily defines itself, won in 5 of the 19 departments, whereas previously it had only won in the 2 largest cities, Montevideo and Canelones. The FA won 16 out of 30 senatorial seats and 48 out of 99 deputy seats.

People Before Profit’s (PBP) slogan during the election campaign was “End 100 years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael”. [1] But now we are facing into yet another Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael (FF-FG) government. Why has this happened? Are we stuck in a never-ending Groundhog Day or does hope for radical change remain?