These notes on the current situation in Europe, the state of opposition to the austerity policies implemented by all governments, and the prospects for rebuilding the radical left are the result of a report and discussion in the Bureau of the Fourth International.
The women’s movement fights back
20 November 2012, byFeminism, as a modern social movement, is not a new political phenomenon for in Turkey. At the end of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century women began organising themselves as feminists and published dozens of newspapers and journals, organised demonstrations like their sisters did in 19th century Europe for their political and social rights.
One of the biggest strikes ever
20 November 2012, byThe week of struggles in Portugal began on November 12th, with the arrival of Angela Merkel in Lisbon. Two demonstrations in Lisbon - one organized by the CGTP trade union confederation and another by the movements that organized the civic demonstration on September 15 – brought together thousands of people to protest against the austerity programme and debt dictatorship that is sinking the country in recession.
A congress against the Troika
20 November 2012, byOn November 10- 11, 2012, Portugal’s Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc) held its 8th congress in the context of the preparation of demonstrations against Angela Merkel’s visit to Lisbon on November 12 and the general strike of November 14.
Stop a New Israeli Massacre in Gaza: Boycott Israel Now!
19 November 2012, byOn November 8, Israel carried out an attack on civilians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip, shooting 13-year-old Ahmad Abu Daqqa while he played football with friends. By November 14, Israel had intensified its attacks on Gaza and begun to implement an intensive plan of aggression that at the time of writing has killed at least 15 Palestinians, including at least 6 children, and injured over 150, predominantly civilians.
Australian imperialism in the "Asian Century"
14 November 2012, by ,It was only appropriate that Prime Minister Julia Gillard launched her Government’s new Australia in the Asian Century” White Paper at the Lowy Institute, sponsored as the Institute is by Australia’s wealthiest businessman, Frank Lowy. This White Paper is a manifesto for the 1% written, fittingly, by a team headed up by former Treasury Secretary, now National Australia Bank director, Ken Henry.
A call to join in the international days of solidarity against political repression in Russia
12 November 2012Today we, the representatives of Russian leftist organizations, turn to our comrades all over the world with an appeal for solidarity. This call and your response to it are very important to us. Right now we are facing not just another instance of dubious sentencing by the Russian “justice” system or another case of a human life broken by the encounter with the state’s repressive apparatus. Today the authorities have launched against us a repressive campaign without precedent in the recent history of Russia, a campaign whose goal it is to extinguish the left as an organized political force. The recent arrests, threats, beatings, aggressive media attacks and moves towards declaring leftist groups illegal all point to the new general strategy on the part of the authorities, much more cruel and much less predictable than that of recent years.
After Venezuela’s elections: defeat for the right, challenges for the left
10 November 2012, byAt the beginning of October, much of the world’s media descended on Caracas hoping to report on the end of an authoritarian regime. “Too close to call” was the refrain on almost every network. Market analysts at places like Barclay’s Capital urged investors to pile into Venezuelan debt on the assumption of an opposition victory. Months earlier Robert Zoellick, then still head of the World Bank, revelled in the certainty that Chavez’ days were numbered. Better still, Chavez’ defeat would put a stop to Venezuela’s subsidies to Cuba and Nicaragua and spell the end for those ’regimes’ too, bringing “an opportunity to make the Western Hemisphere the first democratic hemisphere”. When those pictures came out a week before the poll, of tens of thousands at the final opposition rally, it seemed they might be right. Many of us had forgotten that the Venezuelan opposition turned out dozens of equally massive rallies and marches back in 2002 to 2004. Even among left activists there were more and more of us mumbling about whether there was really much to save in the Bolivarian revolution.
Alexis Tsipras calls for a European conference on the debt
8 November 2012, byVisiting Paris, Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Greek radical Left, has proposed again, in a guest article written for Les Echos, that Europeans should organize a conference with a view to cancelling a large part of his country’s debt. He especially denounced the temptation to generalize austerity policies across the continent.
Occupy Obama
8 November 2012, byA few weeks before the November 6 elections, the Republican and Democratic parties held their conventions. While the Republican Party represents the hard Right, the two candidates agree on most of the economic and social policies to be carried out, far from the demands of the “99 per cent”. Cinzia Arruzza in New York made this assessment for the September 13th issue of the weekly French newspaper Tout est à Nous (TEAN).