Archive for February 5th, 2015
Jean-Luc Mélenchon from the Left Front in France calls for demonstrations in solidarity with Greece
Posted by John, February 5th, 2015 - under SYRIZA.
Tags: Demonstrations, Europe Écologie – Les Verts, Front de Gauche, Greece
Comments: 8
The head of the Left Front in France, Jean-Luc has Mélenchon has called, together with the French Greens (Europe Écologie – Les Verts or EELV), for a mobilisation in the streets of France in support of Greece. He says that there is no time to waste to offer the French people a way to express solidarity with the Greek people and to defend their own independence before France too is challenged [by the troika] just like the Greeks. In light of the European Central Bank attack, and following the lead of the Left Front in France, maybe the Left should organise demonstrations across the globe where feasible in support of the Greek people and Government?
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Is Cuba coming in from the cold?
Posted by John, February 5th, 2015 - under Socialism, Socialism from above, Socialism from below, Stalinism.
Tags: Cuba
Comments: none
In a wide ranging and thought provoking article in RS21, Mike Gonzalez charts the recent deal between Washington and Havana and asks if this really is the end of an era with the lifting of the embargo. He concludes:
For socialists there is nothing to be gained from pretending, as some international commentators have done, that nothing has really changed and that the agreement is a victory for Cuban socialism. Nor can we associate ourselves with the gloating of a global capitalist class which, sadly, will be the beneficiary of the decision. From the Cochabamba water wars of 2000 onwards, a new understanding of what socialism means has been on the agenda, active on the historical stage. And it is a very different understanding from the centralized, bureaucratic state structures of the Soviet era, which Cuba reproduced. The new vision is of a society run and controlled directly by its majority, shaped by their priorities, and defined by its transparent, democratic processes. That is some way ahead, but it is present and alive in the logic of the movements that have brought change to Latin America in this last exciting decade and a half and that will continue to organize, in a complex reality, for the realisation of the dream of a better world.
To read the whole article click here.
SYRIZA, struggle and the state
Posted by John, February 5th, 2015 - under Strikes, Struggles, SYRIZA, The state.
Tags: Greece
Comments: 1
Alex Callinicos in Socialist Worker UK looks at the challenges facing Greece’s new left government—and the ideas behind its strategy. He concludes that revolutionary socialists should celebrate the new government’s victory and support the progressive measures it takes. But the entire Greek radical left will be judged by how successfully they promote working people’s self-organisation, confidence, and combativity. That is where the power to end austerity lies.