Violence and repression in Syria have caused half the country’s population—some 11 million people—to flee their homes. And now the desperate exodus will grow worse following a scorched-earth assault on Aleppo by the Syrian regime, backed by Russian warplanes and other allied forces.
Will Britain vote to leave the EU?
23 May 2016, byA referendum on whether or not to stay in the European Union will take place in Britain on June 23. The decision to hold it was a concession made by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron to try to placate right-wing Eurosceptics in his own party. As predicted, it is resulting in a carnival of reaction.
Spring of the great loneliness
22 May 2016, byWhat was predicted to be “The Kosovar Spring” in fact turned out to be opposition’s “Spring of the great loneliness”, if we can raise an analogy with one of the masterpieces of the Albanian novelist, Ismail Kadare, The Winter of the Great Loneliness in which he describes Albania’s break with the Soviet Union in 1961 and the solitude of the country, which had just turned its back on the Warsaw Pact.
Europe’s Border Guards
21 May 2016, by , , ,Last year, the attempt of Greece’s newly elected radical-left government to resist austerity policies imposed by the European Union institutions and the International Monetary Fund put the country at the center of world attention. This battle was definitively lost when Alexis Tsipras capitulated in July to the demands of the creditors, signing up to a third memorandum only days after a referendum in which Greeks had rejected a softer EU proposed austerity package. Since that moment, the plight of Greek society has only deepened. But it is now a silent suffering, deprived of the expectation of change and hope that had fueled the mobilizations of recent years. But 2016 again made Greece headline news, this time for a different reason. The laboratory of neoliberal shock therapy is also Europe’s entrance gate for the millions of people leaving countries devastated by war and poverty. Syriza’s capitulation to the troika has made the plight of refugees even worse.
Brazil: the coup d’état
20 May 2016, byLet’s call a spade a spade. What has just happened in Brazil, with the dismissal of the elected president, Dilma Rousseff, is a coup. A coup which is pseudo-legal, “constitutional”, “institutional”, parliamentary, anything you want, but a coup all the same.
Argentina’s left at a crossroads
20 May 2016, bySince winning last year’s presidential election in Argentina, the conservative Mauricio Macri has carried out an onslaught against the working class and social movements. His drive to impose neoliberal austerity measures and to escalate repression against dissent has led to wide discontent and signs of a revived resistance, but the left has crucial questions to answer in order to build an opposition that can turn the tide.
What remains of all our outrage?
19 May 2016, byIt’s been five years since the massive occupation of May 15, 2011 that gave birth to the movement of los indignados, 15M. Five years of faltering progress with many advances and set-backs along the way. Five years of a tremendous crisis, civil unrest and mass protest. So, what remains today after such a sustained period of outrage?
Corbyn confounds the plotters
19 May 2016, byElections took place across Britain on Thursday 5 May, they included the election of more than 2600 local councillors, elections to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies and elections of directly elected mayors in some cities including, most notably and most importantly, London.
Solidarity with the resistance of political prisoners in Syria, Iran and throughout the Middle East
18 May 2016, byThe repressive policies and actions of authoritarian regimes to crush popular movements and any forms of resistance have increased the number of political prisoners throughout the region during the past few years. The activists and revolutionaries imprisoned nevertheless do not kneel in front their jailers despite the torture and repressive conditions of detention. From their cells, when they can, they continue their struggle for democracy, social justice and equality. In this article, I want to show our solidarity with ALL the political prisoners throughout the region and affirm once again that their struggle is our struggle as well; that the destinies of the people of the region is linked and it’s only through increasing collaboration between the people of the region that we can challenge the authoritarian regimes and their international and regional backers.
After the Philippines election
17 May 2016, byFive days after the national and local elections in the country and the final conclusion had still to be reached. The Commission on Election (COMELEC) sitting en banc, as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) announced that they would proclaim the winning candidates on the national level on May 17 or 19 of this year. The NBOC will proclaim the 12 winning Senators and more than 50 Party List Representatives. The Congress (House of Representatives and the Senate) sitting as one body will canvass the voting results for the President and Vice-President respectively and formally proclaim the winners in the last week of this month.