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Inspired by the unfolding socialist revolution in Venezuela, as well as the continuing example of socialist Cuba, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal is a journal for "Socialism of the 21st century", and the discussions and debates flowing from that powerful example of socialist renewal.
Links is also proud to be the sister publication of Green Left Weekly, the world's leading red-green newspaper, and we urge readers to visit that site regularly.
Please explore Links and subscribe (click on "Subscribe to Links" or "Follow Links on Twitter" in the left menu). Links welcomes readers' constructive comments (but please read the "Comments policy" above).
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Inquiries to Links
Due to illness affecting Links editor, Terry Townsend, publishing of pieces and communcation may be slower than usual, although we will endenvour to keep a stready flow new pieces and respond to queries as rapidly as possible. Please send queries or submissions to contact (AT) links (DOT) org (DOT) au.Scottish Socialist Party to affiliate with new left alliance
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/https://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/IMAG0285-871x493.jpg)
For more on the Scottish Socialist Party, click HERE and for more on left politics in Scotland
By the Scottish Socialist Party,
August 8, 2015 -- Scottish Socialist Party, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) National Council members have voted in favour of the party becoming an affiliate of a new electoral alliance for the Scottish elections next year.
Party co-spokesperson Sandra Webster highlighted the potential for socialism to grow in this alliance.
At our NC ... the comrades present voted to enter an alliance with the soon to be renamed Scottish Left Project. All of our comrades should be proud of their passionate discussion and resolution. The SSP look forward to being at the heart of the alliance hoping socialists may be elected to Holyrood in 2016. I look forward to continuing to build the SSP and building a movement that is truly grassroots.
Venezuela: Chavez gone, but Chavismo here to stay
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/images_set/images/2014/04/maduro-chavez_2535198b.jpg)
For more on Venezuela, click HERE
By Federico Fuentes
August 5, 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Had Hugo Chavez not passed away in 2013, the former Venezuelan president and revolutionary socialist would have turned 61 on July 28. However, though Chavez is gone, his indelible imprint on Venezuela’s political landscape endures.
On December 6, Venezuelans will go to the polls for the 20th time since Chavez was first elected president in 1998. Between then and now, a process of pro-poor transformation has significantly cut poverty and empowered the poor majority.
It has also confronted serious obstacles blocking further advances and threatening the survival of the “Bolivarian revolution”, as the process pushed by Chavez is known.
The December election for the National Assembly is shaping up to be another critical battle between forces that for 15 years either supported or opposed Chavez.
For the Chavista forces, victory is vital to defending and deepening the revolution.
Puerto Rico, la Grecia americana
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/https://www.greenleft.org.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-image/debtbums-800-326x235.jpg)
[English at http://links.org.au/node/4542.]
Por Barry Sheppard, traducción Faustino Eguberri para VIENTO SUR
31 de julio de 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, Viento Sur -- Mientras el mundo entero tiene su atención fija en el espectáculo que dan el FMI, la CE y el Banco Central Europeo (la troika) aplastando al pueblo griego, hay otros numerosos ejemplos de poderosos países imperialistas que utilizan la "crisis de la deuda" para extraer más riquezas de los países más débiles que ellos, así como de países imperialistas más pobres.
Un caso típico es el de la colonia de Puerto Rico (3,6 millones de habitantes). En una entrevista concedida al New York Times, el gobernador de la nación caribeña declaró: "Nuestra deuda, que asciende a 73 mil millones de dólares, no es pagable. No hay otra opción. Sería feliz si hubiera otra opción más fácil. Pero no es cuestión de política, sino de matemáticas". Puerto Rico no ha podido pagar un plazo de más de mil millones de dólares que vencía el pasado 1 de julio.
Malaysia: Democracy movement calls Bersih 4 mass protest for August 29-30
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/PSM-JERIT-PSWS.jpg)
PSM general secretary Sivarajan Arumugam (second from left) protests workers' conditions in Malaysia.
By Peter Boyle
August 6, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/Green Left Weekly -- The Malaysian democracy movement, BERSIH, has called its fourth major mobilisation — named Bersih 4 — for August 29-30, 2015, amid increasingly desperate and repressive attempts by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government of PM Najib Razak to suppress investigations of his alleged involvement in a multi-billion corruption scandal embroiling the debt-ridden state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
A 36-hour, overnight protest is being planned in the capital Kuala Lumpur and simultaneous solidarity events are being organised in other Malaysian cities and all around the world. Previous BERSIH protests have drawn hundreds of thousands out into the streets since 2007 despite police repression.
Nicos Poulantzas: State, class and the transition to socialism
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://versobooks-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/000005/504/Poulantszas-fdccef7c4729ada9602303dd9dcee948.png)
Click for more on Nicos Poulantzas and more by Doug Enaa Greene.
By Doug Enaa Greene
August 5, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- We live in an era where too much of the left, both in the USA and abroad, remains stuck to old orthodoxies and failed strategies. Marxism is reduced to holy writ and rote, devoid of any ability to either interpret or change the world.
In order to win, the left desperately needs to break away from past habits and recover the ability to raise questions anew by using Marxist methodology to formulate strategy. In this endeavour, there are a number of thinkers we can profitably learn from; one of whom is Nicos Poulantzas. Despite the limitations and contradictions within Poulantzas' methods, he was not afraid to ask the right questions and to develop new strategies.
To that end, it is worth looking at Poulantzas' work in three areas: the state, class and the transition to socialism.
I. Biography
Barry Sheppard: Screwed by vulture funds, Puerto Rico is the Washington's 'Greece'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/https://www.greenleft.org.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-image/debtbums-800-326x235.jpg)
For more on Puerto Rico, click HERE, and more by Barry Sheppard.
By Barry Sheppard
July 27, 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The world has been focused on the spectacle of the “Troika” of the International Monetary Fund, European Union and the European Central Bank crushing the Greek people, but it is far from the only example of strong nations using a “debt crisis” to extract more wealth from those that are weaker.
A case in point is the US colony of Puerto Rico. In a June 28 New York Times interview, the governor of the Caribbean archipelago nation declared its debt of US$73 billion “is not payable. There is no other option. I would love to have an easier option. This is not politics. This is math.”
Puerto Rico, which remains a territory of the US, has missed a July 1 deadline on a payment of more than $1 billion.
United States: Kshama Sawant wins 52% of vote in primary
Kshama Sawant's 2015 primary election night speech. As of the close of counting August 7, Kshama's total vote was 51.88%.
Click HERE for more on Kshama Sawant and other socialist municipal election campaigns.
By Tom Crean, Seattle
August 5, 2015 -- Socialist Alternative, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- A fired-up crowd of more than 200 supporters of Socialist Alternative Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant gathered in the Melrose Market Studios in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighbourhood to hear the result of the non-partisan primary for the Seattle City Council election.
Many thousands more around Seattle and the nation were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the first stage of the most important electoral battle for the left in the United States in 2015, to hold the seat Kshama won in 2013 as the first open socialist elected to a council in a major urban area in decades.
Porto Rico. La «Grèce» américaine
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/https://www.greenleft.org.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-image/debtbums-800-326x235.jpg)
[English at http://links.org.au/node/4542.]
Par Barry Sheppard
18 juillet 2015 -- A l'encontre -- Pendant que le monde entier a eu son attention fixée sur le spectacle montrant le Fonds monétaire international, la Commission européenne et de la Banque centrale européenne (la « Troïka ») en train d’écraser le peuple grec, il y a de nombreux autres exemples de pays impérialistes parmi les plus puissants qui utilisent une «crise de la dette» pour extraire plus de richesse de pays plus faibles qu’eux, ainsi que de pays non impérialistes plus pauvres.
Alexis Tsipras: 'Austerity is a dead end ... the struggle continues'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://stokokkino.gr/photos/500x330/tsipras1438159251.jpg)
Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal hopes to contribute to the left debate on Greece by providing background information, thoughtful comment and presenting positions of various left organisations.
For more on Greece's struggle against austerity, click HERE.
Alexis Tsipras interviewed by Kostas Arvanitis (STO kokkino radio), published in French in L’Humanité, July 31, 2015; translated by Eric Canepa (unauthorised version)
Michael Lebowitz on SYRIZA and us: Social democracy or revolutionary democracy
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/b1149.jpg)
Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal hopes to contribute to the left debate on Greece by providing essential background information, thoughtful comment and presenting the positions of various left organisations.]
For more on Greece's struggle against austerity, click HERE. For more by Michael Lebowitz, click HERE.
By Michael A. Lebowitz
Video: Struggle and suffering: The 1946-49 Greek Civil War
For more by Doug Enaa Greene, click HERE.
August 2, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Greek Civil War was one of the major events shaping modern Greek history. The Greek Civil War from 1946-49 was fought between the Communist Party and the monarchy aided by the United States. The Civil War was one of the first major clashes of the Cold War. Communist historian Doug Enaa Greene lectured and led a discussion on the roots and course of the war for the Center for Marxist Education.
To read a transcript of the talk, see http://links.org.au/node/4514. To learn more about the Center for Marxist Education, see https://www.facebook.com/CenterForMarxistEducation
Socialist Resistance: Jeremy Corbyn win would be a 'victory for the whole left'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://i2.wp.com/socialistresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/11041710_852989828112062_5670868039834462947_n.jpg)
A Corbyn rally in Bristol.
By Socialist Resistance (Britain)
July 31, 2015 -- Socialist Resistance, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Jeremy Corbyn campaign for the Labour Party leadership is a remarkable phenomenon. He stands a very good chance of winningunless the Labour Party establishment can turn around the tide over the next six weeks.
As things stand, the tide remains with him. The Labour leadership is like a rabbit in the headlights. Large numbers of people, young people in particular, are joining Corbyn's campaign and people are flocking to his rallies and campaign events. Many are signing up to Labour as registered supporters or as affiliated supporters through their trade unions. (According to Labour List in late June the figures were registered supporters: 9115, affiliated supporters: 3788 while the number of full members has also grown significantly since the general election.)
The support from inside major trade unions for Corbyn’s candidacy has been extraordinary.
United States: Should the left back Bernie Sanders' campaign? Two views
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://socialistworker.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/330/images/16305933820_734afc892a_k-a.jpg)
The attitude to the presidential campaign of long-time independent US senator and self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders has become a major debate on the US left. Some see his decision to run as a Democrat as the major dividing line, accusing him of sidetracking the left into support for the capitalist Democratic Party. Others, while recognising Sanders' shortcomings, point to the wider role his campaign can offer in providing a more radical pole of attraction in US politics at a time when the left is weak. Below Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal makes available two views from significant sections of the US socialist left. Readers' comments are encouraged in the comments box after the articles.
Bolivia's green gains the media and critics are not talking about
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://www.telesurtv.net/__export/1416441355423/sites/telesur/img/news/2014/11/19/arbol3.jpg_1718483346.jpg)
Bolivians receive free tree saplings as part of the "My Tree" program, which combats deforestation. Photo via TeleSUR.
For more on Bolivia, click HERE.
By Federico Fuentes
July 27, 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- When Bolivia's President Evo Morales announced in May that his government was allowing oil and gas drilling in national parks, mainstream and progressive media outlets alike were quick to condemn his supposed hypocrisy on environmental issues.
Writing for the Associated Press, Frank Bajak argued that although Morales is known internationally for his outspoken campaigning on climate change, at home he faces constant criticism from conservationists “who say he puts extraction ahead of clean water and forests”.
Bajak said this contradiction was a result of Morales’ strategy of developing extractive industries as a means of cutting poverty, regardless of the environmental cost.
Ecological crisis: Tragedy of the commons or tragedy of the commodity?
By Stefano B. Longo and Brett Clark
July 21, 2015 -- Climate and Capitalism, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with permission -- We live in an era of ecological crisis, which is a direct result of human actions. Natural scientists have been debating whether the current historical epoch should be called the Anthropocene, in order to mark the period in which human activities became the primary driver of global ecological change.[1]
Selahattin Demirtaş: 'How Turkish government endangers peace process with Kurds'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://www.sirnakhaber.com.tr/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/cekilme-sonbaharda-tamamlanabilir-4529469_2325_400.jpg)
For more on the struggle of the Kurdish people
Selahattin Demirtaş (pictured) interviewed by Ezgi Başaran
July 28, 2015 -- Hurriyet Daily News, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The government of Turkey’s refusal to provide legal guarantees for the Kurdistan Workers Party'(PKK), coupled with the construction of military fortresses, effectively ended the ceasefire in Turkey, Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş (pictured) explained.
Sam Gindin and Leo Panitch: SYRIZA's dilemma
![Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during a swearing-in ceremony this month. Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/https://www.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1297727696456_ORIGINAL.jpg)
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during a swearing-in ceremony this month. Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters.
[The Greece-EU “agreement” has set off debates on the left on why the SYRIZA government "agreed" to such harsh terms and what are the next steps for the left in Greece, and across Europe. Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal hopes to contribute to this by providing essential background information, thoughtful comment and presenting the positions of various left organisations.]
For more on Greece's struggle against austerity, click HERE
By Sam Gindin and Leo Panitch
Turkey wages war on Kurds under 'cover' of fighting ISIS
For more on the struggle of the Kurdish people
July 29, 2015 -- Democracy Now!, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Turkish jets have reportedly launched their heaviest assault on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq since airstrikes began last week, effectively ending a two-year truce. Over the past week, the Turkish military has launched combat operations on two fronts: one against the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria (also called Daesh and ISIS or ISIL), another against Kurds inside Turkey and in northern Iraq, where Kurdish groups have been fighting against the Islamic State. This means Turkey is now essentially bombing both sides of the same war.
Greece: SYRIZA central committee member John Milios on how to end austerity
![A man receiving food from a solidarity network in Attica, Greece. Greece Reporter](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/https://www.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/soup-kitchen11.jpg)
A man receiving food from a solidarity network in Attica, Greece. Photo Greece Reporter.
July 21, 2015 -- Jacobin, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with permission with permission -- Greece continues to be in flux. On July 5, the Greek people went to the polls and voted over 60% against austerity. One week later, the Greek government agreed to a new memorandum in principle after an all-night negotiation that was described at times as “mental water-boarding”. Finally,on July 15, the first pieces of enabling legislation were passed by the Greek parliament with a large rebellion of SYRIZA members of parliament voting against the laws.
Britain: Why Jeremy Corbyn's Labour leadership bid panics the right
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151115154302im_/http://www.redpepper.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/jeremy-pride-800x449.jpg)
The surprising support for Jeremy Corbyn in the race for the leadership of the British Labour Party has electrified the left and is terrifiying the right. Below a number of articles from the British left explain why.
* * *
Left Unity Newsletter, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal on July 28, 2015-- The movement in support of Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader has set politics alight – and got the media in a panic. Corbyn’s candidacy is demonstrating the mass support that exists in society for the policies he stands for, and Left Unity has also supported since its foundation: an end to austerity and war, a different society based on peace and equality.
This unexpected movement is an expression of the same sentiment that is seeing a new left rise across Europe – with the difference in expression perhaps down to Britain’s archaic electoral system.
Left Unity wishes the campaign all the best. This is an opportunity for the Labour Party to become the party it was founded to be, defending and extending its great achievements of the welfare state – the party that millions want.
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