Archive for the Category 'Statements'
We are surprised and disappointed that the Revolutionary Socialist Organization (RSO) unilaterally broke off the process of discussions and fusion with us which began 15 months ago and was no secret in the left. In this way, the comrades dismantled our perspective which was oriented completely towards this fusion. »»»»
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We are being watched more and more – but can Pirates help against that?
They want to fight against increasing state surveillance, completely revolutionise copyright laws and campaign for a democratic society. The Pirates have set themselves honourable goals and are currently very successful. But will they be able to implement their programme? »»»»
The expropriation of Zanon is a historic victory.
It was just before midnight on August 12th as the result of the vote was announced: the parliament of the Argentinean province Neuquén voted 26 to 9 for a law to expropriate the ceramics factory Zanon. The buildings, machines and even the brand name “Zanon” no longer belong to the capitalist Luigi Zanon – they belong to the workers’ cooperative FaSinPat (“Fabrica Sin Patrones”, which means Factory Without Bosses). »»»»
Will there be a negotiated solution after the coup?
Three weeks ago there was a coup in Honduras – on July 28, President Manuel Zelaya, still in his pajamas, was kidnapped by the army and put on a plane to Costa Rica.
It was the first coup in Latin America since the ousting of the President of Haiti in 2004. Western newspapers spent weeks reporting about the protests against the electoral fraud in Iran on their front pages. Although a democratic mass movement has also been repressed in Honduras; in the eyes of the western media it is of marginal significance. »»»»
Lack of information and unprepared schools forced school students to protest
On Friday, June 19, students went out into the streets of Prague to express their opinions about plans to establish centralized state-wide final exams. Their demonstration was coordinated vie popular social networks, i.e. Facebook. The demonstration started at 12:00 pm on Palacky square. 20 minutes before the beginning of the action the square was really full of students equipped with banners, flutes or ratchets. Those who stood near the statue were able to hear speeches from the organizers. The megaphones on hand were too weak to reach everyone in the crowd, so the others began spontaneously chanting slogans against the state finals. »»»»
On the New Anticapitalist Party in France
At the beginning of February, a new party was founded in St. Dénis, a suburb of Paris, whose aim it is to unite the French Left and to initiate a new era of class struggles in France: the „Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste“, the New Anticapitalist Party. As of yet, it is not clear what role the NPA will play in France in the future because its political basis is as broad as its name suggests. »»»»
Guillermo Lora, a historic leader of Bolivian Trotskyism, died on May 17, 2009 in La Paz at the age of roughly 87 – his age was never certain because, born in the early 1920s in the town of Uncía in the department of Potosí, he never received a birth certificate. From its foundation in the mid-1930s, Lora’s Revolutionary Workers’ Party (Partido Obrero Revolucionario, POR) – also known by the name of its periodical “POR-Masas” – played an important role in the Bolivian workers’ movement, especially amongst the miners. It was one of just a few Trotskyist parties, along with those in Vietnam and Sri Lanka, to win a mass base in the working class. »»»»
On April 27, 2009, in the Czech city of Brno there was a brutal attack against several members of the Union of Young Communists of Czechoslovakia (SMKČ), the successor organization of the Communist Youth Union (KSM), which was banned by the Czech government for their goal of replacing capitalism with socialism. Even if our ideas of socialism differ significantly from the “socialism” of the SMKČ, we see the legal dissolution of the KSM, accompanied by police harassment of its leaders, as an attack on the entire radical left because, of course, the goal of overcoming capitalism is shared by other groups and organizations. »»»»
On March 25, 2009, six activists from Denmark were convicted of “supporting terrorism”. Their crime? Making and selling t-shirts.
The fashion company FIGHTERS+LOVERS was started back in January 2006: they produced stylish t-shirts – pink and mango in color – with the logos of anti-imperialist organizations like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). As Ulrik Kohl from the group explained: “We didn’t want typical, trashy political clothes that people only wore because of the message.” »»»»
Fight Imperialism! Against the NATO summit on April 3-4, 2009!
At the beginning of April we are going to see a showcase of those who organize misery and death all around the world. NATO wants to celebrate its 60th anniversary in Strasbourg and Baden-Baden. The bourgeois media will faithfully report which head of state and which top-ranking general prattles about what in front of the press. We will hear about „worldwide terrorism“, „stabilisation“, about „peacekeeping operations“ and „global security“. In fact, NATO is no guarantee of security. Instead, it stands for the aggressive enforcement of the interests of the most powerful governments and the capitalists standing behind them. »»»»
The World Social Forum is meeting for the ninth time and offers an opportunity to share experiences and coordinate protests around the world. The problem is that the ESF is dominated by bureaucrats from trade unions, reformist parties and NGOs, so there’s usually a lot of talking and very few concrete plans for action.
Many of the ESF’s participants are young people, but our participation is hardly encouraged: there are high fees (so it’s mostly “professional youth activists” who can attend), few young people on the podiums and no focus on young people’s issues in the official program. This makes it difficult to to coordinate the resistance against cuts in education, imperialist wars, our living and working conditions, and capitalism in general. »»»»