By MARTY GOODMAN “We have a little minority (of) rich people in this country, running this country, earning everything, and we have the mass of the population dying, hunger, and misery like this. It’s impossible,” said a Haitian protester, Valckensy Dessin, last month. Feb. 7, 2019, marked 33 years since nationwide protests forced the 1986 … Continue reading Haitians say president must go
By MARTY GOODMAN Beginning Nov. 18 and for some six days, rebellion gripped Haiti. The Haitian masses jammed the streets, shutting down schools, transportation and businesses, some lighting bonfires of rubber tires at street corners or torching symbols of authority and corruption. At least 11 were killed, mostly by police, and 34 were injured. One … Continue reading Haiti seethes with anger!
By MARTY GOODMAN Haitian immigrants face a double-barreled wall of racism, from Donald Trump as well as from the historic racism of the ruling class of the Dominican Republic, which shares its border with Haiti. After decades of racist bipartisan immigration policy toward Haitians, in November 2017 Donald Trump revoked the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) … Continue reading Haitians face expulsion from the U.S. and the Dominican Republic
By MARTY GOODMAN As if 200 years of U.S. racism and imperialism weren’t enough, Haitians must contend with the idiotic rantings of the U.S. commander in chief, Donald Trump. “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” asked Trump at a Jan. 11 immigration meeting. Trump was referring to Haiti, El … Continue reading Haitians denounce President Trump’s ‘shithole’ remark
By MARTY GOODMAN On Nov. 20, the Trump administration, after an election campaign based on anti-immigrant hate, ordered the expulsion of 60,000 Haitians living in the U.S. who arrived after the devastation of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, which killed over 200,000. Haitians who arrived by Jan. 2011 received Temporary Protective Status (TPS) under a 1990 law … Continue reading Donald Trump to 60,000 Haitians: ‘Get out!’
By WAYNE DELUCA Credit agency Standard & Poor has ruled Venezuela in default after the country missed $237 million in scheduled bond payments. This comes amidst an economic crisis with official inflation around 4000% and price increases well over 1000%. President Nicolás Maduro’s attempt to restructure is hindered by sanctions that stop U.S. banks from … Continue reading Venezuela crisis intensifies with default
By KEITH LESLIE “The only thing we need now is a hurricane.” These were the words of a financial advisor in Puerto Rico this summer, anticipating the business opportunities the devastation of a hurricane would produce. This framework—which understands disaster as an opportunity for profit—is not unusual. As Naomi Klein showed in her famous book, … Continue reading Disaster capitalism rages in Puerto Rico
Trump’s recent visit to Puerto Rico illustrated an arrogant attitude toward a dire situation. At least 30 percent of Puerto Rican's have no electricity, and electric power is not likely to return until the end of October. The president's threats to cut off aid expose the real intentions of the U.S. ruling class. Prior to … Continue reading Rebuilding Puerto Rico after the hurricane: ‘All Wall Street cares about is their money’
By CARL SACK At the time of this writing, Hurricane Nate is plowing through the eastern United States, the 14th named storm of what is on track to be the most costly Atlantic hurricane season on record. Over the summer, wildfires scorched millions of acres across the western U.S. and Canada, darkening the skies with … Continue reading Disastrous effects of hurricanes are compounded by capitalist greed
Soon after hurricane Irma devastated islands in the Caribbean and parts of Florida, Socialist Action reporter Ernie Gotta interviewed Omar Pérez Figueroa about the effects of the storm on Puerto Rico. Gotta followed up with Perez after hurricane Maria decimated the island. Pérez, a native of Puerto Rico, is a member of the Juventud Hostosiana, the youth … Continue reading Hurricane disaster in Puerto Rico: U.S. aid is slow and insufficient
Soon after hurricane Irma devastated islands in the Caribbean and parts of Florida, Socialist Action reporter Ernie Gotta interviewed Omar Pérez Figueroa about the effects of the storm on Puerto Rico. Pérez, a native of Puerto Rico, is a member of the Juventud Hostosiana, the youth group of the Hostosian National Independence Movement. He is an … Continue reading Irma lands a heavy blow on Puerto Rico
INTERVIEW BY ERNIE GOTTA Puerto Rico has suffered for generations under the direct and indirect rule by the United States. The wealth of the island has been stripped by corporate interests while farmers and workers on the island have struggled with political, economic, and environmental degradation. Activists both at home and in the diaspora are … Continue reading Puerto Rican activists fight coal ash dumping
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER — UPDATED, Aug. 2 — On July 30, Venezuela elected a new 545-member National Constituent Assembly, which takes on the task of rewriting the country’s 1999 constitution. The country faces a severe economic crisis, made worse by the economic sabotage of pro-capitalist oppositionists. Working-class neighborhoods are plagued by shortages of food, medicine, … Continue reading U.S. Hands Off Venezuela!
By ERNIE GOTTA For two months, 50,000 students on campuses across Puerto Rico participated in a strike against the U.S.-imposed Fiscal Control Board, which was proposing $500 million in cuts. Mikael Rosa, a member of the student movement at the University of Puerto Rico, shares his experiences. Ernie Gotta: What demands pushed students to go … Continue reading Interview: Puerto Rican student strike
By MARTY GOODMAN Beginning on May 19, thousands of textile sweatshop workers in Haiti walked off the job or laid down inside their textile assembly plants to protest their starvation wages. The workers are demanding a raise from $4.67 per day to $12.47 per day, a raise not tied to increased production quotas for workers. … Continue reading Haiti erupts in strikes and protests
COME TO FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL IN NEW YORK CITY MARCH 25-26, 2017 Dear Friends of Cuba: We are inviting organizations and individuals to help organize an inclusive, broad conference in New York City March 25-26, 2017 focused on US-Cuban relations. The National Conference will be held at the Fordham Law School and will bring together … Continue reading A call to mobilize for a national conference to fight for the full normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba
By LAZARO MONTEVERDE “The Man Who Loved Dogs,” by Leonardo Padura. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux), 2014. Originally published in Spanish in 2009 as “El hombre que amaba a los perros.” Available in hardcover and paperback in both languages. With the publication of “The Man Who Loved Dogs,” Cuban writer Leonardo Padura joins the … Continue reading Books: ‘The Man Who Loved Dogs’
By JEFF MACKLER Fidel Castro Ruz, Cuba’s revolutionary leader, president, and prime minister for five decades, died in Santiago de Cuba on Friday, Nov. 25. He was 90 years old. Although one of the most profound, clear-sighted, honest, and dedicated revolutionary leaders of the past half-century, Castro has been demonized by the corporate media as … Continue reading Fidel Castro’s legacy
In the early hours of Nov. 26, President Raul Castro announced on Cuban state television that Fidel Castro, the former president and revolutionary leader, had died and would be cremated later in the day. “The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening (03:29 GMT Saturday),” he said. “Hasta victoria … Continue reading Fidel Castro: An autobiographical essay
In this year’s annual United Nations vote on a resolution condemning the U.S. embargo of Cuba, the United States and Israel abstained for the first time in the 25-year history of the vote, rather than cast the lone votes against the resolution. The U.S. press celebrated this abstention as a major advance by Washington and … Continue reading End the embargo against Cuba!
By MILLY GUZMAN-YOUNG President Obama signed the PROMESA debt-restructuring bill into law imposing a Federal Control Board onto Puerto Rico that is comprised of seven appointed U.S. officials who will be in charge of the economy. I see PROMESA as a threat to the livelihood of my friends and family in Puerto Rico. It is … Continue reading What does PROMESA Mean to Puerto Ricans living in the United States?
Socialist Action reporter Ernie Gotta recently interviewed Francisco A. Santiago of Juventud Hostosiana (JH), a youth group for Puerto Rican independence affiliated with the Movimiento Independista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH). This article continues a series that Socialist Action is publishing on the movement against the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). You can … Continue reading Organizing against U.S. colonial rule in Puerto Rico
By WILLIAM WOOD — CHICAGO — On July 28, 75 people gathered in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago to Celebrate Cuba’s July 26 holiday and to demand that the U.S. government “End the Blockade of Cuba” and “Return Guantánamo.” As the most important revolutionary holiday in Cuba, the Day of National Rebellion commemorates the … Continue reading Cuba celebration in Chicago highlights plight of prisoners
By NICK BAKER — SAN FRANCISCO — Miguel Fraga, first secretary of the Cuban Embassy, which opened last year in Washington, D.C., came to the Bay Area in March for a week-long tour, speaking to students and community members about life in Cuba, renewed U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations, and the need to end the U.S. embargo … Continue reading Cuban official tours Bay Area
By MARK UGOLINI To coincide with Barack Obama’s March 20-22 trip to Cuba, 30 Chicago activists participated in a “Public Speak-Out and Discussion” at Roosevelt University’s downtown campus on March 19, demanding “End the U.S. Blockade and Travel Ban on Cuba, Return Guantánamo!” The meeting was sponsored by the Chicago Cuba Coalition, which described the … Continue reading Chicago coalition protests blockade of Cuba
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