IV507 - April 2017

IVP 507 April 2017 PDF magazine available to download

Rarely did such a limited attack as the one launched by the United States by means of cruise missiles against the Syrian air base of Shayrat provoke so much ado. US President Donald Trump authorized the attack in the evening of Thursday 6 April, shortly before having dinner with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his own Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. It is in all likelihood the minimal option that Barack Obama had envisaged when the Syrian regime crossed his “red line” in August 2013. In one of his memorable statements, John Kerry described that option as “a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort,” one that would be “unbelievably small.”

It’s victory for the people in struggle in Guiana, but also those who have supported their movement. It is also a demonstration that, in the face of capital and its state, the only tool that works is not decades of elections, but strikes, street activities, blockades, and all other means necessary.

In Venezuela the polarisation between supporters and opponents of the Maduro government is sharpening, with tragic consequences, on the basis of a deep economic crisis and a changed political conjuncture across South America.

Donald Trump’s way to “drain the swamp” is evident: Put the swamp creatures in the cabinet. But one example in particular, the appointment and confirmation of Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., shows as much about the opposition as it does about Trump.

Feminist writer Angi Becker Stevens gave this talk at an International Women’s Day event in Ann Arbor.

Recent regional elections in India handed Modi’s BJP important new majorities. How can it be stopped?

Its amazing to see what 60 or so Cruise missiles (price tag $1.6 million apiece) and one $16 million 22,000-pound “Mother of All Bombs” (MOAB) can do for a floundering White House.

This statement was made by Philippe Poutou on behalf of the NPA on the evening of the first round of the presidential elections.

Does the return of neoliberals to government in certain Latin American countries question the experiences of emancipation in recent decades? The realities are more complex, Franck Gaudichaud, university lecturer and co-president of France Amérique Latine
tells us. The interview was conducted by Michèle Kiintz.