By JEFF MACKLER Part II. (Part I appeared in August 2018.) In today’s epoch of worldwide imperialist intervention and war, real revolutions are hard to make, even harder to maintain, and sometimes difficult to define in their evolution or degeneration. Today’s antiwar movement debate on the still-unfolding dynamics operating in Nicaragua is a case in…
By CHRISTINE MARIE Since April, hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans have taken to the streets in protest of the policies of the government led by FSLN President Daniel Ortega. The protests at one point escalated to road blocks and occupations and have been fiercely resisted by the government. Undoubtedly, Nicaraguan society is in crisis. Here,…
By JEFF MACKLER The unfolding events in Nicaragua over the past three months pose two critical questions for socialists and antiwar activists. Where do we stand on the critical issue of U.S. imperialist intervention and where do we stand with regard to the dynamics of the still-unfolding confrontations? That U.S. imperialism is intervening in Nicaragua…
By CLAUDIO KATZ Writing about Nicaragua is as painful and sad as it is absolutely necessary. Memories of the Sandinista revolution are still alive among the generation who knew this feat. Remaining silent would be an affront to those who participated in that memorable insurrection against Somoza. The events of recent months offer little doubt:…
By LIGA DE UNIDAD SOCIALISTA, PARTIDO OBRERO SOCIALISTA, and LA GOTA Two days after the elections in which he had secured a sweeping victory with more than 50 percent of the total vote, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced that he will back the government of Enrique Peña Nieto during the transition period prior to the…
By CLAUDIO KATZ In the middle of his term, Argentinian president [Mauricio] Macri cannot hide the monumental abyss between his promises and reality. The promise was of an influx of dollars to lower inflation, with high growth, job creation, an entrepreneurial boom and eradication of social assistance. A drastic reduction of the fiscal deficit and…
By DEWITT KENNARD The total number of the world’s displaced people is at an all-time high. Fear of persecution caused by war, race, religion, or political affiliation is a force that drives these people from their homelands. El Salvador, a country that lost about 25 percent of its population to migration during its civil war, is…
By LAZARO MONTEVERDE Declining empires are dangerous, and the U.S. is an empire in decline. If the U.S. ruling class can avoid the Thucydides Trap with China (the tendency for a declining empire to go to war with a rising empire), they still must face their own decline as the center of the capitalist system.…
Marielle Franco ¡Presente! Socialist Action condemns the March 14 assassination of Marielle Franco, a city councilor in Rio de Janiero, and a militant of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSol) in Brazil. Anderson Pedro Gomes, the driver who accompanied Franco, was also the victim of this drive-by killing. Marielle was a frequent and vocal critic…
By CELESTE MURILLO and ANDREA D’ATRI The authors are members of Pan y Rosas (Bread and Roses), a feminist organization in Argentina. This article was written in 2017 and first appeared in Left Voice. We are re-printing it on March 8, 2018, as a contribution to the discussion on the goals and strategy of the…
By WAYNE DELUCA On Jan. 27, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is scheduled to be inaugurated for an unprecedented second term. Elections held Nov. 26 were disputed as both Hernández and challenger Salvador Nasralla claimed victory, and the Organization of American States has called for a new election. Hernández’s government cracked down on unrest in…
By JUAN CRUZ FERRE On Dec. 19, Argentina’s congress passed a drastic pension reform bill in a 128-116 vote. As debate on the vote was proceeding, the country’s largest union federation, the CGT, engaged in a 24-hour general strike, which closed down large sections of Buenos Aires. Below, we reprint an earlier article from the…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
By MARTY GOODMAN “Go out of the shadows. Go out and fight.” — Amanda Morales-Guerra, Guatemalan immigrant Amanda Morales-Guerra, a Guatemalan immigrant living in New York City, faces deportation and separation from her three children, but she is not alone. Amanda has found sanctuary for herself and her three children within the Holyrood Church in…
By WAYNE DELUCA Only days after threatening “fire and fury” against North Korea, President Donald Trump said, “We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary.” Trump was improvising, with no back-up from the Pentagon, and seems to be inventing his militaristic bombast as he goes. But we cannot dismiss the…
By ANN MONTAGUE On June 20, 691 PepsiCo workers in Buenos Aires arrived at work to see a piece of paper on the door notifying them that the plant was being relocated and they were all out of a job. In Argentina it is illegal to just close a factory and lay off workers. Companies have…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
