International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Goodbye to Good Friday

John McAnulty — 2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

The history books will undoubtedly list the collapse of the current version of the Good Friday agreement as stemming from the British raid on Sinn Fein's Stormont offices on 4th October. The history books will be wrong.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Ireland

The positions of German Fourth Internationalists

2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

The German section of the Fourth International is divided into two public factions, the Revolutioner-Sozialistische Bund (RSB) and the Internationale Sozialistische Linke (ISL). Their approaches to the federal elections were quite different.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Germany

Germany's election results

2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

The Social Democrats (SPD) and the Christian conservative parties (CDU/CSU) both won 38.5% of the votes, but the SPD emerged with slightly more deputies (251 against 248 for the CDU/CSU) because of its greater number of direct mandates.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Germany

A bitter victory

Manuel Kellner — 2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

With the superficial categories dear to political analysts, it has been concluded that the electoral victory of the SPD/Green coalition government in the German federal elections of September 22, 2002 marks a 'turning point' in Europe. Indeed, the general tendency has been towards the installation of conservative/liberal governments, sometimes including populist right wing parties, to the detriment of social democracy and its political satellites.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Germany

Solidarity across the Rhine

Alain Baron — 2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

At the beginning of September in Germany, when the federal electoral campaign entered its final phase and all eyes were on the floods in the east of the country, a veritable social bomb exploded: France Télécom announced its intention to cease financial support for its subsidiary, MobilCom.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Europe

"A period whose outcome is open"

Corriente de Izquierda — 2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

At a time of the debacle of neo-liberalism and a loss of governmental legitimacy coinciding with a growth of workers', popular and student struggles, the Third Congress of Uruguay's 'Corriente de Izquierda' (CI) was held on September 14-15, 2002. The CI has 350 activists and some 800 members. It groups radical left militants of diverse origins (Trotskyists, Tupamaros, independents).

- IV346 - December 2002 / Uruguay

The caudillo and the class struggle

Corriente Democracia Socialista — 2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

Former army colonel Lucio Gutiérrez was elected as president of Ecuador on November 24, 2002. The following statement was adopted by the Corriente Democracia Socialista (Ecuadorian section of the Fourth International) following the first round of the elections on October 20, 2002.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Ecuador

Towards the 3rd World Social Forum

Eduardo Mancuso — 2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

The World Social Forum in Porto Alegre is a political space under construction - a space for developing alternatives and resistance to neo-liberal globalization and imperialism. It's a process of convergence, linking up social movements, NGOs, critical intellectuals, new political vanguards and radical activists.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Brazil

A popular victory

Democracia Socialista — 2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

The result of the elections of October 2002 represents a great shift in the relationship of forces in Brazilian society. The Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT - Workers' Party) won the Presidency of the Republic, electing Lula with 61% of the votes, and became the biggest party in the National Congress with 91 deputies and 14 senators. The victory of the PT was a popular victory and a serious defeat for neo-liberalism.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Brazil

Europe: a new phase

Flavia d'Angeli , Olivier Besancenot — 2002-12-14T00:00:00Z

Flavia d'Angeli is a member of the national leadership of the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista of Italy and Olivier Besancenot was candidate for the Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire (LCR - French section of the Fourth International) at the French presidential elections in 2002. Shortly before the European Social Forum, they spoke about their hopes for the event.

- IV346 - December 2002 / Europe, New parties of the left, Social Forum