Excerpts from “How will our People’s War Attain a Qualitative Leap?” (tags)
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has called on us all, to rally around the leadership and exert utmost revolutionary efforts, seizing every moment in our people’s war, to achieve a qualitative development of the revolutionary struggle. This is the call of the hour. At a time when US Imperialism and its European cohorts are facing grave economic and financial crisis, far worse than the Economic Depression of 1930s, our people’s war can seize this opportunity to all-sidedly intensify our struggle and bring the revolution to a new stage of qualitative development.
Venezuela: The referendum defeat - What does it mean? (tags)
At about 1am, after a long delay, the Venezuelan National Electoral Commission announced the results of the referendum on constitutional reform. The proposals for constitutional change were defeated by the narrowest of margins, with 4,504,354 votes against, (50.70%) and 4,379,392, (49.29%) for the YES. Soon afterwards, president Chávez was on the television accepting the results. He said that the proposed reforms had not been approved "for now", but that he would continue to struggle to build socialism. The result, as could be expected, was greeted with jubilation by the right wing opposition and all the reactionary forces. For the first time in almost a decade they have secured a victory. There were scenes of jubilation in the well-off middle class areas of Caracas. "At last we have shown that Chavez can be defeated! At last the slide towards communism has been stopped! At last we have given the rabble a lesson!" The joy of the reactionaries is both premature and exaggerated. A glance at the results shows that the voting strength of the opposition has barely increased. If you compare these results (after 88% of the votes had been counted) with the 2006 presidential elections, the opposition has only increased about 100,000 votes, but Chávez lost 2.8 million. These votes did not go to the opposition but rather to abstention. This means that support for the counter-revolution has not significantly increased from its highest point one year ago. How the bourgeoisie "informs" public opinion
Venezuela: the counter-revolution raises its head (tags)
In Venezuela the forces of the counterrevolution are engaged in an all-out offensive against Chavez and the Revolution. Right-wing students stage armed provocations on the campuses and the streets. The bourgeois media, nationally and internationally, are whipping up a campaign of hysteria against "tyranny" and "dictatorship". US imperialism, with the help of Juan Carlos and the Spanish bourgeoisie, is striving to isolate Venezuela and create an anti-revolutionary bloc in Latin America, based on Brazil and Colombia, Chile and Argentina. As on previous occasions - the coup of 2002, the bosses' lockout, the recall referendum and the elections of 2005 and 2006, the reactionaries are using the slogan of supposed "defence of democracy" as a means of mobilizing the counterrevolutionary forces, creating a climate of fear and instability in order to prepare the ground for a right-wing coup. In the present battle who is opposed to the reform of the Constitution? Fedecamara, that is, the landlords, bankers and capitalists, the Episcopal Conference, representing the reactionary hierarchy of the Church, the right-wing media and imperialism. On the other side of the barricades are the workers and peasants, the poor and dispossessed, the revolutionary youth and the progressive intelligentsia: in other words, all the living forces of Venezuelan society. Why does the ruling class hate the constitutional reform? They say it is because Chavez wishes to introduce a dictatorship, to be a President elected for life and so on. But the reformed constitution does not concede such powers or anything like them. It merely removes the restriction on standing for President more than twice. In Europe there is no such limitation. Sarkozy and Merkel can stand as often as they like. So can Gordon Brown. And in any case, the reformed constitution only allows Chavez to stand for election. It will be up to the people whether they elect him or not.
Otro Mundo Es Posible: Another World Is Possible (tags)
I had the wonderful opportunity to be one of the over 200 Global Exchange Delegates to the World Social Form which took place in Caracas, Venezuela from January 24, 2006 through January 29, 2006. The information I am presenting is based on what I learned from WSF presentations...as well as what I learned from...the Venezuelan people...
Review of the Venezuelan Revolution: a Marxist Perspective (tags)
Solidarity with the Bolivarian revolution
Chavez: Capitalism must be transcended (tags)
Hands Off VenezuelaCampaign
Venezuela: Free the O-12th Prisonors and the Revolution will not be Terrorised (tags)
Bolivarian Revolution
Theses on revolution and counterrevolution in Venezuela-Part 2 (tags)
solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution
Encounters with Hugo Chavez (tags)
Solidarity with Venezuela
President Chavez praises Marxist.com and backs Hnads Off Venezuela Campaign (tags)
Solidarity with Venezuela
Activists occupy Venezuelan embassy in Australia (tags)
With today's peaceful occupation of the Venezuelan Embassy, solidarity activists intended to highlight the repeated coup attempts in Venezuela and the US-sponsored civil war in neighbouring Colombia. Activists expressed their support for the elected government of Venezuela and the formation of a new clandestine government of Colombia.
URIBE TAKES FIRST STEPS TOWARDS OPEN DICTATORSHIP (tags)
Less than a week after being inaugurated as Colombia’s new president, extremist Alvaro Uribe Velez, has enacted a law that vastly curtails the rights of Colombian citizens and appears to legalise certain tactics used by paramilitary death squads. Civil society is bracing itself for the worst and already parts of the union movement are making plans to start operating in secret.
The Alternative is Struggle! (tags)
...unite and strike like a clenched fist of all the forms of mass struggle!
VENEZUELA DECLARES FULL SUPPORT OF AMERICAN BOLIVARIAN MOVEMENT (tags)
The White House is losing sleep as the Bolivarian Movement spreads throughout America like a wildfire.