News from around the world

For the third consecutive time, since the local elections in 2007, the PST cam out on top in the commune of Barbacha Thursday 23 November, with 1,483 votes, ahead of the FFS [1] with 1,312 votes, which was close behind but did not manage to win back control of the APC (Communal Popular Assembly).

The Italian feminist movement Non una di meno (not one less) issued the following call for a national demonstration on 25 November, the International Day Against Violence Against Women.

The Philippine government officially declared on October 23 that the battle of Marawi was over and that this historic Muslim city had been fully recaptured after five months of fierce fighting against the jihadist group of the Maute clan and its allies.

In response to the Catalan Parliament´s declaration of independence, the Spanish Senate decided to apply the antidemocratic article 155 of the Francoist constitution in all its strength, allowing Rajoy´s Council of Ministers to take over the regional government of Catalonia. The Council, which had already taken over Catalonia´s finances, deposed its president, Carles Puigdemont, and his ministers, dissolved its parliament, with the excuse of calling antidemocratic regional elections on 21 December, and took over the Catalan police force, the Mossos D´ Esquadra, among other institutions.

The death of Mohcine Fikri - a fish vendor crushed in a garbage truck on October, 28th, 2016 while trying to retrieve his confiscated merchandise in Al Hoceima - has paved the way for the rise of ‘Hirak’, a popular movement of the Rif that fights for social justice and the right to equal development. Since that the date the northern region of Morocco has witnessed a historical turmoil. Despite the militarisation of the region and the state’s manoeuvre to discredit the upheaval, Hirak was able to mobilise thousands of demonstrators in the north of Morocco.

This statement was issued by Anticapitalistas, section of the Fourth International in the Spanish state, on 29 October 2017.

Today [27 October] Parliament approved the resolution that Catalonia become an independent Republic and for the opening of a constituent process based on the will of the people expressed in the referendum on 1 October. We support and welcome this decision, but it has not convinced the whole of the democratic Catalan bloc. The break with the regime was a necessary step for 1 October to be irreversible. However, it lacked a left hand to integrate non-pro-independence sensitivities, that must be included in the constituent process.

1) Look at the interactive map; if you have a solidarity committee in your area, get in touch. Go to:
http://withcatalonia.org/?lang=en

NOTE: This text had already been agreed when more very serious events took place; the imprisonment without bail of Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, leaders of the two main pro independence citizens’ movements; and the Spanish state’s attack on democracy in Catalonia by attempting to apply clause 155. These events only confirm the importance of promoting solidarity.

The centenary of the Russian revolution has been proclaimed in many different ways, throughout the year and particularly as we mark the actual anniversary. Supporters of International Viewpoint are participating in and organising events in their own countries. The IIRE and Resistance books have published a book which can be bought here or here. International Viewpoint is publishing a substantial series on the Russian Revolution and debt by Eric Toussaint [2].

A democratic revolution has begun in southwestern Europe. The day we lived through on 1 October in Catalonia was the biggest mobilization of non-violent civil and institutional disobedience experienced in Catalonia, the Spanish state or and Europe in modern history. Despite the extraordinary outbreak of repressive violence by the Spanish State police and civil guards [17 000 units, 844 civilians were wounded] 2,262,424 people managed to exercise their right to vote and expressed in an admirable and festive way their will to progress towards a Catalan Republic and the opening of a participatory constituent process.