Observations on Chávez, the state and the left from within the Bolivarian processIf we try to gauge some general elements of situations in the 20th century when a revolutionary change could happen, we usually find a crisis of hegemony and of the state of the old ruling elites, an organised political vanguard and a vanguard political project that is accepted by the people as a path to liberation from an unbearable situation.The questions in the context of Venezuela are thus the following: Has the end of the System of Punto Fijo [1] led to a crisis of the bourgeois state? Can president Hugo Chávez stand in for the non-existing collective vanguard to transform the process his government started in 1999 into a popular revolution? And has the people reached a level of political consciousness … [read more]

Comments by Lars AkerhaugFollowing considerations are a comment to "On the pending Political Front of the Iraqi Resistance" by Willi Langthaler reproduced on this website.While the general view on the left was that the support of Qasim materialized in the slogan "No leader but Qasim" (la za`im ila qarim`) was opportunistic, I consider this a mistake. The position was at the time a correct assessment of the situation. Qasim was the only Iraqi leader who had the potential of uniting Iraq on an anti-imperialist basis and also creating a political unity between Shia`s, Kurds and Sunni Arabs. This position triggered the old classes, the Sunni arabs, `Ulama and the Mosuli Turkmen, and forced them partly to apply an anti-imperialist guise in their opposition to Qasim.If we draw a parallel to … [read more]

Resolution and reportIn the end of March 2005, the 3rd International Cairo Conference; with the resistance in Palestine and Iraq; against Globalisation, Imperialism and Zionism was organized in the premises of the Syndicate of Journalists in Cairo.Despite the name, it was a very Egyptian conference; Egyptian questions were as much the focus as the Palestinian and Iraqi questions. Three main tendencies may be identified at the conference: 1) The Muslim Brotherhood; 2) Kifaya; 3) "Cairo Social Forum". The Muslim Brotherhood probably represents one of the biggest mass movements in Egypt, and was using the conference as an arena for demonstrating strength. An example was the opening where they filled the meeting hall with student activists and arranged prayer in the registration area. They … [read more]

US-sponsored elections did not stabilise puppet regime, but reveal unresolved task of the resistanceElections…—the last asset of the occupationTwo years into the occupation all efforts of the United States to stabilise their puppet regime by providing it with a stable social base have been frustrated. The resistance movement has not only remained militarily powerful, but is wielding considerable influence within the popular masses.In the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates and the Sunni population in general, where traditional family and clan ties have been more preserved, the resistance enjoys overwhelming support providing the base for popular insurgencies as we have seen in Falluja, Ramadi, Samarra, Ba…‘quba and even in parts of the metropolises Mosul and Baghdad. Another … [read more]

Anti-imperialist Forum to emergeWhen the Brazilian president Lula addressed the inaugural session of the World Social Forum (WSF) taking place in January in Porto Alegre, he was rocked by loud protest chants expressing the widespread disappointment with the unfulfilled promises for a significant social change. It was symbolic importance that Lula subsequently flew directly to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, against which the anti-globalisation movement had been emerging. Later in the week, when the Venezuelan president joint the gathering, signs read "Chavez yes, Lula no". The development of the Brazilian Worker´s Party (PT) and Lula´s personal career emblematically show the turn the WSF – of which the PT is an integral and leading part – took towards integration … [read more]

Why the Uzbek popular movement does not fit US designsOnly two weeks ago Bush, visiting Tbilissi, has been praising the series of what he happened to call "democratic revolutions" in Ukraine, Georgia and ultimately Kyrgyzstan. What he actually meant were palace coups within the pro-US oligarchy using and canalising the popular discontent with the dictatorial capitalists elites to bring to power puppets even more servile to Washington – but not less corrupt. The most striking example was the Ukraine where the movement against the oligarch Kutchma, who had sent troops to Iraq to serve his masters, had chosen as its icon the main figure of the mafia which enriched herself by stealing state property in connivance with Kutchma, namely Timoshenko. No different in the other places. Under the … [read more]

As of 25 June 2005(sorted by area and alphabetically)IraqIraqi Flame (Wahaj el-Iraq), IraqIraqi Patriotic Alliance IPAPatriotic Democratic Communist Current, IraqPeople`s Struggle Movement (Al Kifah), IraqPro Iraqi and Arab solidarity associationsDanish Committee for a Free IraqFree Iraq Committee AustriaFree Iraq Committee GermanyFree Iraq Committee HungaryFree Iraq Committee ItalyFree Iraq Committee NorwayFrench Committee of the First Int´l Conference for the Support of the Resistance of the Iraqi PeopleGinette Hess Skandrani, President of the solidarity network with Palestinian People "La Pierre et L`Olivier", FranceGreek Initiative for Solidarity to Iraqi ResistanceIraq Committee Lund, SwedenIraq Committee Malmö, SwedenIraq Solidarity Stockholm, SwedenMohammed Belfilalya, … [read more]

Rome, 1-2 Octobre, 2005 Support the Iraqi Resistance! Towards the fifth anniversary of the Intifada: Build international support for the Iraqi Resistance! We, the undersigned, call for an international conference in support of the Iraqi Resistance on October 1/2, 2005, to coincide with the anniversary of the Intifada. The venue of the conference will be Italy as the popular opposition against war and occupation was paramount while the government continues to be one of the most important allies of the US providing some 3.000 occupation troops. Massive opposition was mounted against the war and occupation of Iraq. But for all those who opposed the war and occupation of Iraq it is now necessary to move on also with a clear support to the Iraqi resistance that is struggling to … [read more]

Jordan: the case of Ali HattarOn Sunday, 24th of April, 2005, The Jordanian Court has sentenced the writer and engineer Ali Hattar for three months of Imprisonment on the basis of Article 191 of the Jordanian Criminal Law accusing him of reviling the Jordanian Government in a lecture he gave in public 4 months ago, asking people to Boycott the US products and listing the brutal history of the US policy towards the world. The Case of Mr. Hattar remains a part of a whole Arabic people´s resistance against Imperialism and its puppets in the Arab World area, at the same time the US administration and its allies allege the attempts of reforms and democracy. Nevertheless, Mr. Hattar´s case is still one of many cases that freedom fighters and patriotic people face for their freedom and the … [read more]

Letter from Jalalabad communistsDeath with US GovernmentSince last week the political – security situation of Afghanistan goes towards disturbance, insecure which challenge the existence of specially US invader forces inside the country.Apparently the angry demo rise following the report of Newsweek magazine on 9 May which reports interrogatory of American authorities in Guantanamo against Koran in front of detainees where have been held about 520 inmates. But it is not the full story.It is clear that any riot and mass movement arise from series causes and ground, not as some thing incidental. Of course this is the nature of all dictator rulers to hide true and real roots and reasons of such anti rulers´ movements in the history.So the recent uprising of peasants, worker and wage … [read more]

As President Bush arrived in Moscow on May 8, the antiglobalist resistance placed a banner with the slogan `Bush, go away` on the bridge near the USA embassy. The banner was soon taken away by police, as its activity was extraordinary during the celebration of the Victory Day.***An anonymous communist participants: In general the meeting was very sad, as I could watch a set of opportunists and reformists from the CPRF, who controlled the meeting. Today people were very much infuriated as they were allowed to hold only a meeting instead of the traditional rally because of the heads of states, who came to Moscow to celebrate the Great Victory. When about 20 thousand people came to the square, they revealed themselves surrounded by about the same amount of riot police and internal troops. It … [read more]

Left Radical of Afghanistan (LRA)On Occasion of May FirstWorkers International DayAfter respect to the valuable blood of Chicago workers, we would like to celebrate first May not by chanting emotional slogans, but would like to point at five important points for the awareness of Afghanistan workers. Because in this tertiary lack of political- class culture not only workers but most of Left intellectuals as well have vagueness regarding the tasks of working class, Marxist literatures, workers international solidarity, socialist scientific theory and ……1- Tasks of ProletariatsBefore explaining working class historical and revolutionary tasks, it is most worth of mentioning that: in the opinion of numbers of left intellectuals, "there is no originally working class in Afghanistan, … [read more]

Anti-imperialist CampThe last years were characterised by an unprecedented wave of repression against the Basque independence movement on all levels. The Spanish government use the "anti-terror" hysteria instigated after September 11 to strike against any form of expression of Basque national aspirations. Batasuna, the party coalition of the Basque left gathering about 15-20% of the electorate was simply banned, silencing a significant part of the population. This incredible violation of the most elementary democratic rights passed without any questioning by the European Union although Batasuna continued to hold elected members of the European Parliament. This alone (not to mention the ban on news outlets and the rapid growth of the number of Basque political prisoners) displays the … [read more]

Draft by the Communist Party of the Peoples of SpainThe communists signing below and coming from various countries and organizations, coincide in saying NO to the proposed EU Constitution text.Without engaging in a detailed analysis of the Treaty that fixes the EU Constitution - a text which is entirely at the service of the great capitalist groups and against the interests the worker in the EU - we shall summarize our reasons to REFUSE this Treaty:1) It consolidates a super-state which, by means of institutions such as its Presidency, its Foreign Affairs Ministry and its army, transfers the sovereignty from its member states (since their Constitutions are subordinated to the European one) and installs the role of the market economy as its fundamental law.2) It reinforces the … [read more]

Defend the Popular and Revolutionary MovementIn the last decade India was largely ruled by the Hindu-chauvinist upper caste-class BJP coalition government which systematically aligned with the US and Israel. It did not only implement the notorious ultra-liberalist recipes demanded by the IMF and the WB which let the Indian and as well as Western business community rejoice faced with the huge fortunes they could make in a few years only. They also stood for Hindu upper caste chauvinism (Hindutva) unleashing ferocious repression against the lower castes and especially the Muslim community which have been collectively tapped to be terrorist – in line with the US crusade against Islam. The climax was the genocide of Gujarat in 2002 where thousands of Muslims were slaughtered by the Hindutva … [read more]

EditorialDie jüngsten Ereignisse im Nahen Osten, in Palästina, Libanon und Syrien scheinen eine lang gehegte Hoffnung der USA endlich wahr werden zu lassen: Nicht so sehr der Frieden, als vielmehr die Befriedung des Nahen Ostens – in einem US-amerikanischen Sinne – scheint in erreichbare Nähe gerückt zu sein. Mahmoud Abbas macht als Präsident der Palästinensischen Autonomiebehörde weder seiner politischen Vergangenheit als Mitglied der alten Kämpfergarde der Fatah noch seinem Titel Ehre. Nicht so sehr scheint er Präsident der Palästinenserinnen und Palästinenser zu sein, als vielmehr Statthalter von Sharons und Bushs Gnaden über die besetzen Gebiete. Was dort vonstatten geht, ist nicht mehr und nicht weniger als der Ausverkauf aller Rechte und Bestrebungen, für die das … [read more]

Press Release of CPI (Maoist)Declaring CPI (Maoist) as …‘terrorist´ by the US imperialists is direct intervention in the internal affairs of India!Oppose the attempts by the Congress-led government at the Centre and in AP to proscribe the CPI (Maoist)!On 27th April, the world´s greatest terrorist and the No. 1 Enemy of the world people…—US imperialism…—under its gangster President George Bush Jr., has declared the newly-formed CPI (Maoist) Party in India and the ULFA as terrorist. This is not at all a surprise for anyone watching the strategy of the American imperialists particularly since the 1990s. In order to achieve undisputed Global hegemony and to plunder the resources of the Third World countries without any hindrance, the US imperialists have to first stamp out every … [read more]

Condemn the UPA government´s plans to supply arms to the reactionary, autocratic Gyanendra´s military regime in Nepal!Unite to fight the sinister designs of US imperialism and Indian expansionism to attack the revolutionary bases in Nepal!Communist Party of India (Maoist)The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after his meeting with the autocratic fascist monarch of Nepal, King Gyanendra, on 23rd April in Indonesia, declared that the Indian government would supply arms and other …‘aid´ to his barbaric medieval regime if the "Emergency" is lifted or relaxed. A clear understanding was arrived at in the meeting between these two that the King would turn …‘benevolent´ within a short time and permit some form of democracy in his country. The entire talk of restoration of … [read more]

An international NATO conference with all its members and its partners will be held in the north of Sweden on May the 24-25. Among other participants we can see the USA foreign minister Condoleezza Rice and UKs Jack Straw.It will be held in the part of the country there we act and we and a big number of organisations in Sweden will cooperate to protest loudly against any participation of Sweden in this partnership. We are living in a democratic country and can´t accept an organisation that is oppressing such a big part of the world with its military force. We know that we have a world opinion backing us up and we will hand a list of opposing Swedish organisations as well as Swedish individuals to our minister of foreign affairs, who will be the host of this meeting.To strengthen our … [read more]

14-17 July, 2005, Piombino, ItalyParco della PinetinaRiotorto di Piombino (LI), ItalyWhile protest seems to be withdrawing back into its shell, those wielding power and bursting with arrogance remain. The US imperialists, with the blessing of their European allies and the other capitalist powers, remain in Iraq although the popular Resistance is striking them hard. They remain in Afghanistan despite the fact that vast zones are under the control of the guerrilla. They keep besieging occupied Palestine, Cuba and Bolivarian Venezuela. They remain in Italy forcing us under their yoke through their military bases and their bipartisan puppet politicians. They intend to take steps against the Colombian revolution and any nation refusing to subordinate to them. They want to imprison us in their … [read more]