IV441 - October 2011

The agreement made at dawn on the 27th October 2011 brings no solution to the eurozone crisis, neither to the banking crisis, the sovereign debt crisis or the euro crisis. The decisions taken do not solve any of the problems in an acceptable way, they only postpone them. CADTM considers this agreement unacceptable.

A PDF file of International Viewpoint 441 can be downloaded here

In old Europe, the indignados of several countries are inventing and experimenting as they combat the austerity and the arrogance of those in power. At a time when the commodification of education is underway everywhere in the European Union, the Chilean example can provide arguments to those who are opposed to it. In the Arab world, revolutionary processes are trying to deepen their conquests. Chilean youth in revolt are also responding, indirectly, to this faraway echo. And above all, the "Chilean May" has joined the different popular rebellions which have swept across the whole of Latin America in the last ten years. Argentinean, Mexican and Colombian students are now taking the mobilizations in Santiago as an example. Chile seems in this way to have finally found the pulse of its sister countries, across the Andean cordillera.

This statement was made by the SAP (Danish section of the Fourth International) leadership at its meeting on October 1st 2011.

The day of October 15 (15-O) was the first coordinated global response to the crisis and saw the emergence of a new international movement. With the revolutions of North Africa as the initial impetus, through an effect of emulation and imitation, the protest reached the periphery of Europe. The Mediterranean world has thus stood at the epicentre of this new wave of social opposition, at a time where we enter a second phase of the crisis which has as its focal point the crisis in the euro zone.

The declaration by ETA of the cessation of armed activity is certainly good news that helps open up a new stage in the fight for the legitimate national rights of the Basque country.

PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport McMoran Cooper and Gold – of which 90.64 percent of the shares are owned by Freeport CEO James R. Moffet – is the largest mining company in the world. Freeport contributes 95 percent of the entire production of gold by Freeport McMoran and a significant percentage of its copper production.

The threat of a new food crisis is already a reality. The price of food began to rise to record levels again, according to the FAO Food Price Index of February, 2011, which does a monthly analysis of global prices of a basic food basket made up of grains, seed oils, dairy products, meat and sugar. The Index came to a new historic maximum, the highest since the FAO began to study food prices in 1990. In the past months, prices have leveled off but analysts predict more hikes in the coming months.

The relative evolution of the official discourse of the Iranian Government, the inflection of the discourse of Hezbollah and their call for dialogue between the Syrian Government and the opposition with a view to reforms, as well as the diplomatic movements, from Turkey to Qatar, passing by Russia or the Arab League with the latter’s Syria initiative, raise many questions about what is happening in Syria.

This interview for the Swiss fortnightly SolidaritéS was conducted on October 13 by Jean Batou and Juan Tortosa . Sebastian Farfán Salinas, 23 years old, is president of the Student Federation at the University of Valparaiso and a member of the national executive of the student movement. He belongs to the radical wing of the Confederation of Chilean students (Confech). Coming from a poor family, he is the first to go to university, where he is studying history.