IV490 - November 2015

IVP 490 November 2015 PDF magazine

The state of emergency decreed by the French government banned the demonstration on 29th November marking the beginning of COP 21 and demanding climate justice. Certain organisatiosn maintained a call to show themselves in the street by forming a human chain from Place de la République to Place de la Nation, involving from 5000 (police) to 10000 (organisers) participants.

There was also a call for a demonstration protesting against the ban on demonstrations. The police were much more repressive towards this demonstration. The following statements were issued during the evening by the NPA.

Solidarity with the victims!

November 13 represents a change in the national and international political situation. The Islamic State (IS, Daesh) has struck again; and even more strongly. In January, the targets were the journalists of Charlie Hebdo, police and Jews. This time, it was the youth of the country that was the target. They did not kill just anyone, just anywhere: they attacked young people, young people in all their colours, whatever their origins, their religion (if they had one), their political beliefs. At least 130 dead, over 350 wounded - at the very least a thousand direct witnesses of the carnage. Many of us have relatives among the victims and, if not, we have friends who have. The shock wave, the emotion, is profound.

On the third day of the "Brussels lockdown" as the shutting down of the city by the activation of the "level 4” alert was known, the LCR/SAP issued the following statement.

In the afternoon of 24 November the Portuguese president finally asked the SP general secretary to form the government. Catarina Martins, spokesperson of the Left Bloc stated, ”This decision respects the existing majority in the Parliament and recognizes the stability of the agreement reached”. This article from the Left Bloc English-language site explains the terms of the discussion between the President Cavaco Silva and Antonio Costa of the SP.

In response to the attacks in Paris Friday, November 13, Anticapitalistas [section of the Fourth International in the Spanish state] condemns this barbarism and is in solidarity with those who suffer. Our message of support and empathy is for the people that have been affected and our indignation and anger is at what happened.

This morning (Monday 23 November), the Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva finally invited the general secretary of the Socialist Party, Antonio Costa, to discuss forming a government. He asked him for a number of clarifications on questions that do not appear in the agreements that the SP has made with the Left Bloc, the Communist Party and the Greens to know whether there will be a “stable, lasting and credible” government. While waiting for the next stage, we publish this article in which Luís Leiria explains what has happened in Portugal since the elections on October 4th.

In January 2011 an immense hope arose, a hope for a new path in the history of the Mediterranean basin, and beyond:

• In the Arab region, the revolutionary wave that started in Tunisia quickly spread to many countries;

• The example of the occupation of Tahrir Square in Cairo directly inspired the "indignant ones" of the ”movement of the squares" against neo-liberal austerity in Greece and in the Spanish State.

Nearly five years later, the counter-revolution has undeniably scored points, including:

• The massacres organized by Assad and the Islamist forces in Syria;

• The return in Egypt to an even more repressive military power than Mubarak’s was.

Moreover, war is also raging in many countries of the region, especially in nearby Libya.

On Friday, November 20, 2015, the Socialist Party mayor (burgomaster) of Saint-Gilles, Charles Picqué, decided at the last minute to ban the conference “Wars and revolution in Syria”, organized in Pianofabriek by the Léon Lesoil educational foundation.

The horrific attacks that took place in Paris on Friday night left 129 dead and 352 wounded – including more than a hundred in critical condition. This indiscriminate and reactionary violence, sparked nationwide – but also worldwide – astonishment, indignation and revolt. This weekend spontaneous solidarity rallies took place.