Workers protests are spreading across China. The state answers with repression. A conversation with Qichang Huang, worker and socialist from China. He writes for the website chinaworker.info.
The reports available in Europe on the situation of the working class in the People’s Republic of China are quite slim. Now and again we read of protests and strikes. What do you know about this?
Protests by workers and peasants are not just due to the economic crisis. Actually, since the start of this century there has been a rising tide of ‘mass incidents’. This is government language for strikes and demonstrations. In 2006 there were over 90,000 mass incidents, but last year this rose to over 120,000. That’s over 300 per day. »»»»
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Will the new constitution in Bolivia break the rule of imperialism and put an end to poverty?
In “A Quantum Solace,” the new James Bond movie, the villain tries to topple the Bolivian government with the help of a former military dictator and the CIA. His plan is to get all the water in the country under his control and sell it back to the Bolivians at high prices.
Something like that really happened in Bolivia: in the city of Cochabamba, a multinational corporation wanted to privatize the water in 2001. This plan was stopped, however, not by James Bond but by mass protests led by then trade union leader Evo Morales. »»»»
Beginning with the discussions about our “Basic Positions”, a debate about the nature of the Cuban regime opened up. Based on the article “Summer, sun and socialism?”, we want to continue this debate in an organized way. There are different opinions within REVOLUTION and we don’t want to hide this. We want to give both sides an opportunity to express themselves because this debate is going on in practically all left-wing structures. »»»»
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.” »»»»
REVOCAMP • international summer camp for revolutionary young people • August 2-8, 2009 in Liberec (CZ)
“YES WE CAN.” Barack Obama used this slogan to become President of the United States. He used it to promise serious change in the U.S. and around the world: an end to the Iraq War, action against climate change and help for people losing their homes or jobs in the economic crisis.
But now, months after the inauguration of the new President, there is little change in sight. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being pumped into large banks, but at the same time the unemployment figures reach record highs. The date for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq is being pushed back, but at the same time more soldiers are sent to Afghanistan. »»»»
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. »»»»
“Mommy, somebody broke global capitalism…”
| Categories: Switzerland
The capitalist system is responsible for the crisis, and the capitalists at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos can’t repare it.
For years, the World Economic Forum has taken place in late January in Davos, always accompanied by protests and counter-events, because the self-appointed world leaders assembled in the Grison mountains don’t necessarily meet with approval. But this year, everything is different. At least, that is what the organizers of this unequaled parade of the world elite want us to believe. They tell us that in the last few years, most of the participants were only there to the celebrate at the parties held during the forum, which are well-known in higher circles of society. That means they have bled us for years and spent billions so that a few managers and politicians could celebrate in a hermetically sealed-off Davos! »»»»
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. »»»»
50 years after the revolution – where is Cuba going?
50 years ago, in the night before January 1, 1959, the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country. The next morning, rebel troops under the young lawyer Fidel Castro entered the city of Santiago de Cuba. However, the Cuban Revolution was not only the work of a few thousand guerrillas. The students whose protests against Batista had closed down the country’s universities and especially the workers’ movement whose general strike had paralyzed the capital also played an important role in forcing the dictator to flee. »»»»
Solidarity with the youth protests in Greece!
For the last several days, the news has been filled with reports of what is happening in Greece. Left-wing youth have started the biggest riots in 25 years and according to different sources, Athens’ left-alternative neighborhood Exarchia is completely cop-free. How did this happen?
The reports differ a lot. The Greek police claim that a ricochet bullet hit the fifteen-year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in the chest, after “30 autonomists” had attacked a police car. Two of the three bullets fired were aimed at the ground, one of which hit the young man in the chest. This story is dubious. »»»»
During the night of Thursday, 27 November, Richard Gallardo, Luis Hernández and Carlos Requena were murdered in Cagua in the Venezuelan state of Aragua. The three trade unionists had been supporting a struggle of the 400 workers at the Alpina dairy products factory. The workers had occupied the factory, owned by a Colombian multinational, to protest against management threats to close the plant. Earlier in the day, they had been attacked and evicted by the police, but with the support of the three activists from the trade union they were able to re-take the factory. »»»»