When the Eaton Fire first began its retreat from Altadena, I was in one of many self-organized mutual aid teams scattered across the area, cleaning up debris. Around this time, I connected with some Black community members who had just lost their homes. They had returned from evacuation almost immediately to help coordinate mutual aid for their neighbors. But they were harassed by the police as they tried to return to their homes. Hundreds of armed California National Guard, summoned by Los Angeles police and sheriffs, had effectively begun occupying parts of Altadena. The fires already disproportionately affected Western Altadena, the historically Black area of the city where most of the deaths have been located so far and where residents were given notices to evacuate hours after those in majority-white areas of Altadena were informed. [1]
In memory of Patrice Lumumba, assassinated on 17 January 1961
27 January, byOn 17 January 2025, we commemorate the 64th anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961).
Ukraine’s Debt: an instrument of pressure and spoliation in the hands of creditors
26 January, byIn the present article the author focuses on Ukraine’s debt since the 1990s and more particularly in the years after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. It provides answers to several questions. Who are Ukraine’s creditors? How much are they owed? What do they demand in exchange for their loans? What part does the European Union play? Why does Ukraine’s integration into the EU go against the Ukrainian people’s interests? What is done with frozen Russian assets? Why should Ukraine’s debt be cancelled? Why does Zelensky oppose any cancellation? What are the alternatives to current indebtedness? Some questions are not addressed for want of space such as the stage the conflict has reached, the provision of weapons, the debates within the Left.
Environmental and climate debt: Who is responsible?
18 January, by ,The concepts of climate debt and ecological debt are central to successfully achieving the ecological bifurcation. The ecological debt owed by States – and in particular the wealthiest States and major corporations – of the North to the populations of the Global South must be recognized. That recognition must take the form of cancellation of the debt of the countries of the Global South and paying of reparations by the States of the North. The latter must compel the wealthiest interests to contribute and assume responsibility for climate disruption and for taking the actions that are urgently needed to limit its consequences and its aggravation to the maximum extent possible.
Why do socialists organise internationally?
31 December 2024, byWhat are the arguments for eco socialists to be part of a revolutionary international?
Nicaragua’s blanket of repression
29 December 2024, by”The Ortega-Murillo regime has betrayed the legacy of the Sandinista Revolution and makes a US-led neoliberal takeover more feasible.”
A Short Diary of a Trip to Ukraine: Resistance and Social Movement in a Country at War
29 December 2024, by“The new leader of the Ukrainian Social Movement introduces herself as a trade unionist and mother. Her son is fighting at the front. Her husband, a miner, died in a work accident. She points the finger at a regime that sends its workers to war but gives them no say in the running of the country. ”
“The future of the Syrian and Kurdish people must be decided by the self-organization of their popular classes”
11 December 2024, by“Far from relying on one or another capitalist power, the future of the Syrian and Kurdish people must be decided by the self-organization of their popular classes, guaranteeing the freedoms of women, queer people and oppressed peoples.”
The Assad regime has fallen, long live the Syrian people’s revolution!
11 December 2024, by“In Europe, it will be in the interests of the peoples in struggle to allow themselves to be inspired and to learn from the Syrian revolutionary process, and to stand alongside it in the new period that is opening up, fraught with opportunities but also with dangers.”
Bashar al-Assad has fallen! Long live the Syrian people!
11 December 2024, by“We welcome the end of his reign. We are in solidarity with the emancipatory and democratic aspirations of the Syrian people, which the Kurdish forces in particular are carrying forward.”
Footnotes
[1] Terry Castleman and Ian James, “Western Altadena got evacuation order many hours after Eaton fire exploded. 17 people died there,” Los Angeles Times, January 20, 2025, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-20/in-much-of-altadena-evacuation-orders-came-hours-after-the-fire-arrived; Adam Mahoney, “Why were Black Altadena Residents Not Warned to Evacuate in Time?” Capital B, January 24, 2025, https://capitalbnews.org/eaton-fire-los-angeles-lawsuits/.