International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

• France
  

  After the municipal elections, build an anti-fascist front

  27 March, by NPA-l’Anticapitaliste (NPA-A)

  The results of the local elections reflect a confusing picture of the political landscape. On Sunday evening, on the television programmes, everyone from the RN to LFI claimed to have emerged as the winner from this round of elections.

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• ?K
  

  Kanaky: Mobilization on 21 March against colonialism

  26 March, by An Gwesped

  For several months, the French government has been trying to impose on Kanaky an exit from the framework of the Nouméa Accords, by calling into question the decolonization process, even though it is recognized by the UN. The so-called “Bougival Agreement”, imposed in July 2025 against the advice of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), provides for the creation of a “state” of Kanaky-New Caledonia integrated into the French republic. A formula that in no way corresponds to independence.

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• 

  Cesar Chavez, Civil Rights and Labor icon, raped girls and women

  25 March, by Dan La Botz

  Cesar Chavez, who in the 1960s led the struggles of Mexican Americans for civil rights and of farmworkers for labor unions, was accused in a carefully researched New York Times article of having raped women and sexually abused girls as young as 13. Among those women was Dolores Huerta, herself a founder and leader of the union, who confirmed that he forced himself on her and fathered two of her children, secretly raised by others. Debra Rojas reported that Chavez had had intercourse with her when she was 15, which is rape under state law because she was too young to give legal consent.

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• Anti-fascism
  

  Towards an international anti-fascist convergence

  24 March, by Éric Toussaint

  Uniting left-wing forces to counter the rise of the far right. That is the aim of the First International Anti-Fascist Conference, to be held in late March in Porto Alegre, Brazil

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• Italy
  

  Italy: The stakes of the March referendum on justice

  23 March, by Hélène Marra

  In Italy, prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s government is continuing its authoritarian offensive with a reform of the judiciary that threatens the independence of the judiciary. The referendum on 22 and 23 March is a central political issue. After the “security” decree, the reform of the judiciary is another important link in the authoritarian project promoted by Meloni’s government. By changing the methods of electing members of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary (CSM), the latter threatens the independence of this body and limits its ability to act as a counter-power to the political and economic systems. The victory of the “No” vote in the referendum on 22 and 23 March is an important opportunity to destabilise Meloni’s coalition and to solidify the political and social opposition camp.

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...and the rest of the current issue

• Canada

  Out of the Impasse? The Avi Lewis Campaign and Left Strategy

• Collateral Damage Comes Home: Lebanon, Palestine, Iran to Michigan

• Iran: Imperialists escalate war

• Philippines-Middle East

  On the Middle East crisis and the Philippines.

• Senegal

  Senegal: Debt fuels authoritarian drift

Recently posted Features

• Series : Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the IMF: 70th anniversary (Part 4)

  SUNFED versus World Bank

  6 August 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  From 1950 to 1960, having no Marshall Plan to promote their growth, the developing countries proposed that a new UN body be created, based on a “one country, one vote” system designed to facilitate loans to their industries: SUNFED (Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development). The industrialized countries were fiercely opposed to this move, and successfully imposed a counter-proposal, the International Development Association (IDA), a branch of the World Bank, thus effectively putting an end to SUNFED. [1]

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• Series : Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the IMF: 70th anniversary (Part 3)

  Early conflicts between the UN and the World Bank/IMF tandem

  6 August 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  The World Bank and the IMF are specialized institutions of the UN, comparable in theory to the International Labour Organization (ILA) or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). As such, they are supposed to cooperate closely with the various UN bodies and the other specialized institutions to achieve the objectives set out in the Charter and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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• Series : 70 years since Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the IMF (Part 2)

  The World Bank assists the powerful witch-hunters

  28 July 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  Contrary to common belief, the mission of the World Bank is not to reduce poverty in developing countries. The Bank’s mission, as originally conceived by the victors of the Second World War, the United States and Great Britain in particular, was to help rebuild Europe, and secondarily to promote the economic growth of the countries in the South, many of which were still under colonial rule. It was this second mission that went by the name of “development” and which constantly increased in scope. The World Bank lent money first of all to the colonial powers (Great Britain, France, Belgium) to help them more effectively exploit their colonies. Then, when these colonies became independent, the Bank made them liable for the debt that had only been contracted by their former metropolis in order to better exploit their natural resources and their population.

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• Series : 70 years since Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the IMF (Part 1)

  Concerning the founding of the Bretton Woods’ Institutions

  28 July 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  70 years ago, July 22 1944, the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, better known as the Bretton Woods [2] Conference, that had lasted for three weeks, reached a conclusion.}} It was attended by representatives from 44 countries [3].

  In order to prevent a recurrence of economic crises like the crash of 1929, but also to ensure world leadership in the post-war era, the United States government began to plan for the creation of international financial institutions as early as 1941. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund saw the light of day at the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Initially, the Roosevelt administration was in favour of creating strong institutions capable of imposing rules on the private financial sector, including Wall Street. But noticing the hostility of the banking world Roosevelt backed down. Indeed, the distribution of votes within the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund clearly illustrates the will of certain major powers to exert domination over the rest of the world.

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