Articles
Değerli FİT-U’lu yoldaşlar,
Sizlere, dört farklı devrimci ve sosyalist partiden oluşan ve 27 Ekim 2019’da Arjantin’de gerçekleşecek seçimlere katılacak olan FİT-U’ya (Frente de la Izquierda y de los Trajabadores-Unidad, Solun ve İşçilerin Cephesi-Birlik) desteğimizi ifade etmek için yazıyoruz.
Ülkenizin, şu anki kapitalist dünyada en şiddetli yaşanan, çok derin bir ekonomik krizin pençesinde olduğunun, hatta iflasın eşiğinde olduğunun bilincindeyiz. Arjantin’de işçi sınıfının bir kısmının özellikle işsizlerin, yoksulların açlık tehlikesiyle karşı karşıya kalmasını üzülerek takip ediyoruz. Bu kriz 2001-2002 yıllarında yaşanan krizin neredeyse bir tekrarı oldu; Arjantinli işçiler ve emekçiler o krize karşı şanlı Argentinazo eylemlerini gerçekleştirmişlerdi. Hal böyle iken yaklaşan seçimlerde, Arjantin halkının önüne o kötü ünlü krizden beri ülkeyi yöneten iki güç çıkmış bulunuyor. Bir tarafta IMF ve Trump’ın emrinde olan Mauricio Macri, diğer tarafta ise Peronist eski başkan Cristina Fernández Kirchner ile onun ekran yüzü olan Alberto Fernández, Macri’ye karşı başkan adayı. Sürekli olarak, Arjantin halkını ekonomik yıkımın ve felaketin eşiğine getiren işte bu burjuva...
La operación “Peace Spring” (Primavera de la Paz) fue suspendida en su octavo día a través de un acuerdo entre los EE.UU. y Turquía. Una evaluación preliminar apunta claramente a la derrota política de Erdogan y el AKP (Partido de la Justicia y el Desarrollo). Erdogan se vio obligado a detenerse en la línea de 120 km de Tel Abyad - Ras al-Ayn, sin siquiera alcanzar el control total de Ras al-Ayn, cuando apenas un día antes había afirmado que Turquía no se detendría hasta establecer una zona segura de 30 km de profundidad y 440 km de longitud desde el río Éufrates hasta la frontera con Iraq.
Nos dirigimos a ustedes para expresar nuestro apoyo al Frente de la Izquierda y de los Trabajadores-Unidad (FIT-U), formado por cuatro diferentes partidos revolucionarios y socialistas , en las elecciones que se celebrarán en Argentina el 27 de octubre de 2019.
Somos muy conscientes que vuestro país se encuentra en medio de una crisis económica muy profunda, la más profunda del mundo capitalista en este momento, e incluso posiblemente en el umbral de un default. Somos conscientes de que, desgraciadamente, una parte de la clase obrera, en particular los desempleados, los pobres y los indigentes de la Argentina, se enfrentan con la dura perspectiva del hambre. Esto es casi una repetición de la crisis de los primeros años de este siglo, la que los obreros y trabajadores de Argentina enfrentaron con el glorioso Argentinazo de 2001-2002. Sin embargo, las principales opciones que se presentan al pueblo argentino en las próximas elecciones son las dos fuerzas que han gobernado el país desde esa infame crisis. Por un lado, Mauricio Macri bajo el mando del FMI y Trump y, por otro, la ex presidenta peronista Cristina Fernández de Kirchner y su testaferro Alberto Fernández,...
Gli Amici della Palestina contro l'imperialismo e il sionismo hanno tenuto una manifestazione di fronte al consolato generale francese a Istanbul e hanno chiesto l'immediata liberazione di Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, un rivoluzionario libanese e un coraggioso amico dei palestinesi.
Fu arrestato dalla Francia nel 1984, e in seguito accusato di essere un membro delle Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions , un'organizzazione che ai poteri imperialisti a sostegno dell'occupazione israeliana in Libano nel 1982 fece pagare un prezzo per la loro parte nelle atrocità che affrontarono i popoli della regione. Secondo la legge, Abdallah potrebbe essere liberato dopo 14 anni, ma gli Stati Uniti e lo stato illegittimo di Israele hanno richiesto il contrario dalla Francia. Di conseguenza, la Francia, "État de droit" d'Europa, ha mantenuto la prigionia di Abdallah fino ad oggi. È il più vecchio prigioniero politico in Europa e la sua prigionia ha raggiunto il suo 35 ° anno.
Выражаем нашу поддержку FIT-Unidad, состоящему из четырёх революционных и рабочих партий, на предстоящих 27 октября 2019 выборах в Аргентине.
Нам хорошо известно, что ваша страна переживает очень глубокий экономический кризис, самый глубокий в капиталистическом мире на данный момент, находясь, возможно, даже на пороге дефолта. Нам горько от осознания того, что часть рабочего класса, в частности безработные, бедные и нищие в Аргентине, сталкиваются с серьезной угрозой голода. Это почти повторение кризиса первых лет этого столетия, с которым рабочие и рабочие Аргентины справились тогда в борьбе, известной как славная Аргентиназа 2001-2002 годов. И все же главный выбор, который встанет перед народом Аргентины на предстоящих выборах, - это выбор между одной из двух сил, управлявших страной после того печально известного кризиса. С одной стороны, Маурисио Макри под командованием МВФ и Трампа, а с другой - экс-президент перонист Кристина Фернандес Киршнер и ее фронтмен Альберто Фернандес, бросающие вызов Макри. Одни и те же буржуазные силы постоянно тянут народ Аргентины на грань экономических разрушений и катастроф.
H επιχείρηση «πηγή ειρήνης» τέθηκε σε αναστολή στην όγδοή της μέρα, μετά τη συμφωνία ανάμεσα στις ΗΠΑ και την Τουρκία. Μια προκαταρκτική εκτίμηση ξεκάθαρα επισημαίνει την πολιτική πανωλεθρία του Ερντογάν και του ΑΚΡ. Ο Ερντογάν υποχρεώθηκε να σταματήσει στην γραμμή Τελ Αμπγιάντ - Ρας αλ-Άιν των 120 χιλιομέτρων, χωρίς καν να αποκτήσει τον πλήρη έλεγχο του Ρας αλ-Άιν, όταν μόλις μια μέρα πριν είχε βεβαιώσει ότι η Τουρκία δεν θα σταματήσει προτού εγκαθιδρύσει μια ασφαλή ζώνη βάθους 30 χιλιομέτρων και 440 χιλιομέτρων μήκους από τον ποταμό Ευφράτη έως τα σύνορα με το Ιράκ.
The Friends of Palestine Against Imperialism and Zionism (FPAIZ) held a demonstration in front of the French Consulate General in Istanbul, and demanded the immediate release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a Lebanese revolutionary and a brave friend of Palestinians.
He was arrested by France in 1984, and afterwards accused for being a member of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions, an organization that ensured the imperialist powers backing the Israeli occupation of Lebanon in 1982, pay a price for their share in the atrocities that the peoples of the region faced. According to the law, Abdallah could be liberated after 14 years, but the USA and the illegitimate state of Israel demanded the opposite from France. As a result, France, the "État de droit” of Europe, maintained Abdallah’s captivity until today. He is the oldest political prisoner in Europe and his captivity reached its 35th year.
We are writing to you to express our support to the Frente de la Izquierda y de los Trajabadores-Unidad (FIT-U or the Front of the Left and Workers-Unity), composed by four different revolutionary and socialist parties, in the elections to be held in Argentina on the 27th October 2019.
We are very much aware that your country is in the grip of a very deep economic crisis, the most profound in the capitalist world at this moment, even possibly at the threshold of a default. We are bitterly aware that a part of the working class, in particular the unemployed, the poor and the destitute of Argentina are facing starkly the prospect of hunger. This is almost a repeat of the crisis of the early years of this century that the workers and labourers of Argentina countered with the glorious Argentinazo of 2001-2002. And yet the major choices put before the people of Argentina in the coming elections are the two forces that have governed the country since that infamous crisis. On the one hand, Mauricio Macri under the command of the IMF and Trump, and, on the other, the Peronist ex-president Cristina Fernández Kirchner and her front man Alberto Fernández, facing Macri as candidate...
The “peace spring” operation was put on hold on its 8th day according to an agreement between the US and Turkey. A preliminary assessment clearly points to the political rout of Erdogan and the AKP. Erdogan was forced to stop at the Tel Abyad - Ras al-Ayn line of 120 km, without even attaining the full control of Ras al-Ayn, when just a day before he had asserted that Turkey would not stop before establishing a 30 km deep and 440 km long safe zone from the Euphrates river to the Iraq border.
“Barış Pınarı harekâtı” 8. gününde ABD ile Türkiye arasında varılan anlaşma ile durduruldu. Hemen bir ilk bilanço çıkarıldığında Erdoğan ve AKP iktidarı açısından bir siyasi hezimet tablosu ile karşı karşıya olduğumuz açıktır. Bir gün öncesine kadar Fırat nehrinden Irak sınırına 440 km sınır hattında 30 km derinliğinde güvenli bölge oluşmadan durmayacağız diyen Erdoğan, 120 km'lik Tel Abyad – Resulayn hattında, üstelik Resulayn’da henüz kontrol sağlayamamışken durmak zorunda kalmıştır.
Türkiye’nin “Barış Pınarı” ismiyle gerçekleştirmeye hazırlandığı operasyon planı, Fırat Kalkanı ve Zeytin Dalı ile Suriye toprakları içinde oluşturulan NATO koridorunu, Fırat nehrinin doğusuna sınır hattı boyunca uzatma girişiminin parçasıdır. Üzerinde “Made in USA” etiketi vardır. ABD yönetiminin verdiği karışık mesajlar bugüne kadar Türkiye’yi hizaya çekmek için kullandıkları havuç sopa politikasının tezahürleridir.
Le texte suivant a été publié sur le site de DIP en turc la nuit avant le commencement de l’opération « Source de Paix » que la Turquie a entamé en Syrie. Ici on publie la version française. Une traduction en anglais a déjà été publiée sur RedMed.
Esta declaración fue lanzada por DIP en su sitio web Gerçek (www.gercekgazetesi.net) una noche antes de que Turquía comenzara la operación llamada “Manantial de Paz” en el norte de Siria. Aquí reproducimos la traducción al español de la declaración, interpretada inmediatamente para la audiencia internacional.
La operación “Manantial de Paz” que Turquía se está preparando para llevar a cabo, es parte de un intento de extender el corredor de la OTAN, a lo largo de la frontera hacia el este del río Éufrates, establecido dentro del territorio sirio con las operaciones Euphrates Shield (Escudo del Éufrates) y Olive Branch (Rama de olivo). Tiene pegada la etiqueta “Hecho en EE. UU.”. Los mensajes mixtos dados por la administración estadounidense son la manifestación de una política de palo y zanahoria que utilizan para someter a Turquía hasta el día de hoy.
This statement was launched by DIP on its website Gerçek (www.gercekgazetesi.net) one night before Turkey started the operation named “Peace Spring” in Northern Syria. Here we reproduce the English translation of the statement, immediately interpreted for the international audience.
Estimados compañeras y compañeros del FIT-U
Como comunistas revolucionarios tenemos por sentado presentarnos sistemáticamente a las elecciones, sin dejar de denunciar las ilusiones electoralistas, lo que nos permite aprobar completamente y estar en pleno acuerdo con vuestra decisión de participar a vuestras elecciones, conscientes del esfuerzo militante que esto requiere.
A pesar de no tener los elementos necesarios para juzgar la línea política de vuestra campaña ni el contenido de vuestras listas, compartimos ampliamente vuestro punto de vista sobre la crisis del capitalismo, así como también, vuestra denuncia contra la fuerte contraofensiva de la burguesía en contra las condiciones de vida de los trabajadores.
Reciban, compañeras y compañeros, nuestra solidaridad y nuestro apoyo.
Por Lutte Ouvrière:
Nathalie Arthaud, Arlette Laguiller, Armonia Bordes, Jacque Fontenoy
A. El verano del terror
April the cruelest month... Abril el mes más crue ... El famoso verso de TS Eliot del Wasteland podría parafrasear nuestros calurosos días de verano de 2019: Agosto, el mes más cruel... para el capitalismo mundial .
El 12 de agosto, fue el "Lunes Negro", como se llamó al colapso de la Bolsa de Buenos Aires, el peor de su historia, después de la derrota del presidente derechista Macri en las primarias elecciones(PASO).en Argentina, evento que provocará incendios en todo en todos los mercados bursátiles del mundo. Con Wall Street hundiéndose el 14 de agosto,Rana Foroohar escribió en FinancialTimes:
Αύγουστος 1971-Αύγουστος 2019:
Από το τέλος της Συμφωνίας του Bretton Woods στο χάος
του Σάββα Μιχαήλ
Α. Το Καλοκαίρι του Τρόμου
April the cruelest month.. Απρίλης , ο μήνας ο πιο σκληρός…Ο περίφημος στίχος του T. S. Eliot από τηνΈρημη Χώρα θα μπορούσε στις καυτές μέρες μας του καλοκαιριού του 2019 να παραφραστεί: Αύγουστος ο μήνας ο πιο σκληρός...για τον παγκόσμιο καπιταλισμό.
This is the English translation, in somewhat abbreviated form, of an article published in Turkish on the web site of DIP on 11 August 2019 (https://gercekgazetesi.net/gundemdekiler/firatin-dogusunda-nato-koridoru...). An even more emphatic article along the same lines was published on the web site of DIP several days ago (https://gercekgazetesi.net/gundemdekiler/dun-de-bugun-de-yarin-da-plan-a...).According to the latest news, the analysis in the article you are about to read to the effect that, despite all appearances to the contrary, the United States is, in fact, more than happy to let the Turkish army control the north of Syria, west and now east of the Euphrates, since this would mean NATO control of the region against the twin targets of the US, Iran and Syria. The concept “NATO corridor”, it should be noted, is the answer given by DIP to the supposed “Kurdish corridor” that the US is alleged to be building with a view to create a “greater Kurdistan” extending all the...
Desde el DIP (Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores de Turquía), estamos hablando desde un país que es casi un espejo exacto de la Argentina. Ustedes están saliendo del invierno yendo hacia la primavera, mientras que nosotros estamos dejando atrás el verano y avanzando hacia el invierno. Cuando ustedes están aún en cama nosotros despertamos, y vamos a la cama mientras ustedes aún están en medio de la tarde. Sin embargo, nuestros pueblos, la clase obrera, las grandes masas trabajadoras y los pobres, comparten exactamente la misma situación objetiva. El desempleo se dispara, la inflación los empobrece, los bajos salarios llevan a hambrunas, la represión policial golpea a los pobres y a los indigentes cuando levantan la voz, y la burocracia sindical se pone indefectiblemente del lado de la burguesía. En términos de crisis económica, camaradas, si dejamos de lado el caso tan especial de Venezuela, ustedes son el número uno del mundo, ¡pero nosotros los seguimos de cerca!
On the 27th October 2019, general elections, including a presidential vote, will be held in Argentina, a key country of Latin America, rocked by the deepest economic crisis in the capitalist world at this moment and an ascendancy of workers’ struggles, be it the piquetero movement of the unemployed, the resistance of workers of factories that are closing down, the state workers of Chubut in Patagonia and still others. The major candidates for president are Mauricio Macri, the incumbent president, and Alberto Fernández, joint candidate of various Peronist tendencies with the definitive stamp of Cristina Fernández Kirchner, twice president between 2007-2015 and considered to be the nationalist left-wing of the Peronist movement. The result of the presidential election is almost certain: The primary elections (so-called PASO) of 11th August have clearly given a quasi insurmountable lead to Alberto Fernández.
We publish this Notebook based on an analysis by E. Ahmet Tonak, which was first published in www.thetricontinental.org:
In Notebook 2 from Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, we sketch out the outlines of the contemporary production process that results in Apple’s iPhone. We move from a look at the iPhone’s production to the inner workings of profit and exploitation. We are interested not only in Apple and the iPhone, but more particularly in the Marxist analysis of the rate of exploitation at play in the production of such sophisticated electronic devices. It is necessary, we believe, to learn how to measure the rate of exploitation so that we know precisely how much workers deliver into the total social wealth produced each year.
The great poet of the dawn of the bourgeois age, William Shakepeare, in what is probably his most renowned play, Hamlet, has one of his charaters say, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, words that have become engraved, like many a Shakespearean line, in the common memory of humanity. Had Mahmoud Darwish, the great poet of the Palestinian revolt, not passed away in 2008, he would possibly have written a verse today, in allusion to that of Shakespeare, depicting out times: “Something is bleeding and seething in the Arab world”.
We wrote on behalf of the thousands of medical professionals in Bulgaria who have been "on the street" for 7 months now, protesting, resigning, striking and blocking roads in opposition to unhealthy working conditions and inadequate healthcare pay. Due to the chronic shortage of personnel in the sector, we have to work under difficult conditions, for which we receive a basic salary of less than 250 Euro per month. Therefore many of us are forced to work in two or more places in order to survive. There is a huge lack of staff in the system (about 30,000 short) due to workers who have left the country and their places are currently occupied by pensioners (over 70 years old) or carers (students or people without medical education). We work for 0.12 euro cents an hour night work rate, overtime is almost never paid, there are no mandatory medical standards (one nurse cares for between 30-40 patients in one clinic), which physically does not allow us to take good care of the patients. In kindergartens and schools, one nurse is responsible for 800-1200 children.
11 Ağustos’ta gerçekleşen ön seçimler (PASO) Arjantin’de neredeyse eşi görülmemiş bir durum yarattı. Derin bir ekonomik krizin bir yıldan fazla süredir yıkıcı bir hal izlediği ülkede, iktidardaki Macri hükümeti krizin yükünü emekçi kitlelerin omuzuna yüklemek ve böylelikle burjuvaziye verdiği sözleri yerine getirmek için İMF ile olan iş birliğini devam ettirmek adına ikinci bir dönem daha iktidarda olmak istiyordu. En büyük rakibi tarihi Peronist hareketin Kirchnerci kanadıydı. Macri'nin 2015 yılında iktidarı devralmasına kadar iki kez cumhurbaşkanı olan Cristina Fernández Kirchner, sözüm ona sol yönelimi nedeniyle uluslararası burjuvazinin günah keçisi idi. Günün somut koşullarını değerlendiren bu burjuva siyasetçisi, kendisine ortak aday olarak uluslararası finans kapitalin adamı olan Alberto Fernández’i (sadece isim benzerliği, mevcut iki aday arasında akrabalık yok) seçti. Kirchner’in Frente de Todos’u (Herkesin Cephesi) Macri’nin Cambiemos’unun (Değişelim) ana rakibi oldu.
Las PASO del 11 de agosto han creado una situación casi sin precedentes en Argentina. En un país donde una profunda crisis económica ha causado estragos durante más de un año, el gobierno de Macri buscaba un segundo mandato con el propósito de continuar su colaboración con el FMI para poner toda la carga de la crisis en los hombros de las masas trabajadoras, cumpliendo así sus promesas al capital financiero internacional y a la burguesía doméstica. Su principal competidor era el ala kirchnerista del histórico movimiento peronista. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, dos veces presidenta hasta que Macri asumió en 2015, fue un chivo expiatorio de la burguesía internacional, por su supuesta orientación de izquierda. Calculando para las circunstancias concretas del día, esta política burguesa escogió a un lacayo del capital financiero internacional, Alberto Fernández, un homónimo pero sin relación, como su compañero de fórmula. Su “Frente de Todos” se convirtió así en el principal contendiente al Cambiemos de Macri.
El sistema político-administrativo turco está históricamente moldeado según el sistema francés clásico (es decir, pre-UE) de centralismo unitario, de modo que los gobernadores de las 81 provincias de Turquía (la contraparte de los departamentos en Francia) son simplemente funcionarios del estado central, cuyas carreras pueden también incluir, y a menudo lo hacen, el puesto de jefe de policía, o los puestos de gobernante y superintendente de policía, ambos vinculados al ministerio del interior. Así, la nueva configuración implica que la administración de las tres ciudades de Diyarbakır, Van y Mardin será ejercida por la administración central, prácticamente aboliendo, para estas tres provincias principales, el así llamado sistema municipal o sistema de gobierno local, que ha sido un pilar histórico de la burguesía turca. De hecho, para encontrar una situación en la cual los cargos de gobernador provincial y de alcalde fueran ocupadas por una misma persona designada centralmente, ¡hay que remontarse al periodo anterior a 1960!
On September 1, which is the anniversary of the attack started by Nazi Germany on Poland in 1939, the head of American imperialism Donald Trump was meant to be visiting Poland to join the official commemoration. The Anti-fascist Students Committee called for a protest on the exact day he was scheduled to visit the country against the invitation of Trump and Poland’s right wing government’s collaboration with US imperialism. The collaboration between Poland and imperialist USA is advancing, especially against Russia. Before this, in June Trump had announced that US imperialism would be sending 1,000 more troops in addition to the 5,000 already in existence in Poland, to strengthen the encirclement of Russia. The protest was also against the war policies of imperialism in Venezuela and the Middle East.
Trump cancelled his visit to Poland at the last minute because of the occurrence of Hurricane Dorian. However, the official event took place gathering several imperialists, including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence filling in for Trump.
The text below is a statement that puts forth the position of DIP with respect to the dismissal, by administrative fiat, of three metropolitan mayors of Turkish Kurdistan by the Minister of the Interior and their replacement by the governors of the provinces in question as administrators. It was published (in Turkish) on 19th August, immediately after the government made public its decision. The Turkish political-administrative system has historically been modelled after the classsical (i.e. pre-EU) French centralist unitary system, so that the governors of the 81 provinces of Turkey (the counterpart of the départements in France) are simply civil servants of the central state, whose career can and often does also include the post of police chief, the posts of governor and police superintendent both being tied to the ministry of the interior. Thus, the new setup implies the administration of the three cities of Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin by the central administration, practically abolishing, for these three major provinces, the municipal system or the system of local government, which has been a mainstay of the Turkish bourgeois state in living memory. Indeed, one has to go...
The primary elections (the PASO) of 11 August have created an almost unprecedented situation in Argentina. In a country that a profound economic crisis has been ravaging for more than a year now, the Macri government in power was searching for a second term with the purpose of continuing its collaboration with the IMF in order to lay the entire burden of the crisis on the shoulders of the working masses, thereby fulfilling its promises to international financial capital and the domestic bourgeoisie. Its main contestant was the Kirchnerist wing of the historic Peronist movement. Cristina Fernández Kirchner, twice president until Macri took over in 2015, was a scapegoat of the international bourgeoisie, supposedly because of her left-wing orientation. Calculating for the concrete circumstances of the day, this bourgeois politician handpicked a lackey of international financial capital, Alberto Fernández, a namesake but no relation, as her running mate. Her Frente de Todos (Front for All) thus became the main contender to the Cambiemos (Let Us Change) of Macri.
Two weeks ago the outbreak of youth of Ethiopian origin in Israel was felt in the streets of several cities, including Kirya Haim, the northern city where an Israeli policeman killed Salomon Teka, a young man of 18 years of Ethiopian origin, with a bullet in the back at the night of June 30th.
The demonstrations took place violently in several parts of Israel, but a week of demonstrations continued in 14 places, including Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Beersheva and Jerusalem, where thousands of demonstrators of non-Ethiopian origin also expressed their solidarity with the members of the Jewish black community. As we wrote in Prensa Obrera (paper of the Partido Obrero of Argentina) in May 2015 on the occasion of a similar uprising because of the police beating of a young Ethiopian soldier at that time, the revolt shows the class character of the most exploited and segregated Jewish community within the Jewish state.
Impulsado por sus anteriores victorias aplastantes en las elecciones europeas y locales del 26 de mayo de 2019, el ala derecha Nueva Democracia (ND) también ganó las elecciones parlamentarias en Grecia el 7 de julio, obteniendo un 39,85% de los votos y la mayoría absoluta de los diputados para poder formar su propio gobierno.
Pero esta última victoria electoral no fue ni «histórica», como afirma la propaganda de la derecha, ni una «derrota estratégica» del reformista Syriza, como parte de la clase dominante y la reacción de ND esperaban y pusieron como objetivo. El liderazgo de la ND, y en particular su nuevo ministro fascista de Agricultura Makis Voridis (un conocido antisemita, ex líder de la «juventud» del dictador Papadopoulos, líder de un pequeño grupo de extrema derecha de Le Penist antes de unirse a ND) había declarado públicamente el objetivo de aplastar por completo no solo a Syriza sino a «cualquier perspectiva futura de un regreso de la izquierda, en cualquier forma, en Grecia para volver a capturar el poder».
After a sit-in that lasted close to two months (from 6 April to 3 June), which brought down the 30-year rule of the hated dictator Omar al-Bashir on 11 April, after the massacre of more than a hundred people on 3 June by the Rapid Support Forces (the militia formed by the fallen dictator, which had played a sinister role in the events in Darfour under the name of Janjaweed), after the revolution raised its head once again, with hundreds of thousands, even millions coming out on 30 June, the ruling Transitional Military Council and the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change (formerly Alliance for Freedom and Change) declared on 5 July that they have finally come to an agreement. The previous negotiations, before they were interrupted by the massacre of 3 June, had led to the shared resolution of forming a so-called Sovereign Council that would appoint the government and oversee the transition to a civilian democratic rule, but had faltered over the question of which side would have a majority on the said council. The two sides have now come to an agreement that is based on five seats for each side plus one member being appointed by consensus.
Driven forward by its previous landslide victories in the European and local elections of May 26, 2019, the right wing New Democracy (ND) won also the snap parliamentary elections in Greece on July 7, getting a 39.85 per cent of the vote and the absolute majority of deputies to be able to form its own government.
But this last electoral victory was not neither “historic”, as the right wing propaganda claims nor a “strategic defeat” of the reformist Syriza, as a section of the ruling class and ND reaction hoped and put as a target. The leadership of the ND, and particularly its fascistoid new Minister of Agriculture Makis Voridis (a well known anti-Semite, former leader of the “youth “ of dictator Papadopoulos, leader of a small Le Penist far right group before joining ND) had publicly declared the aim was to smash completely not just Syriza but “any perspective in the future for a coming back of the Left, in any form, in Greece to re-capture power”.
A month has gone by since the European elections. In this while RedMed brought light and insight for its readers on the national results of 11 countries in 8 articles. Of the six largest countries, five were covered: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland. Two more central and eastern European countries were taken up in addition to Poland, Hungary and Romania. The three Nordic countries members of the European Union (EU), i.e. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland were taken up together. And finally, Greece, the enfant terrible of the EU, was given special attention, through a party document of our sister organiser of RedMed, the EEK.
Le elezioni europee, svoltesi nel pieno della crisi capitalista, hanno portato sia diversi commentatori borghesi che molti compagni a lanciare un grido di allarme per l’avanzata del fascismo in Italia sorretto da un’ondata sovranista a livello continentale. Riteniamo che tali analisi manchino di un reale approfondimento sui rapporti tra il capitalismo italiano e quello europeo, sui possibili risvolti in merito ai rapporti di forza, tra le classi e all’interno delle classi, causati della non risolvibile crisi del debito pubblico italiano, sulla risposta appunto di classe, e non genericamente “di sinistra” o “progressista”, da mettere in campo contro i duri colpi di coda che un capitalismo decadente è in grado di assestare.
Solo ha transcurrido un año en la presidencia de Erdoğan, elegido el 24 de junio de 2018, pero el pueblo de Estambul ya les ha dado la espalda a él y a sus aliados. La gente castigó al AKP y sus aliados por la decisión ilegítima del Consejo Supremo Electoral de revocar y repetir las elecciones locales en Estambul. En esta elección que se repite bajo las condiciones prevalecientes de una de las crisis económicas más duras en Turquía, junto con las graves crisis políticas, el partido gobernante que codiciaba el pan y los votos de la gente perdió. A pesar de los gritos de “fraude electoral” por parte de la coalición AKP-MHP, el margen de votación aumentó aún más y el candidato del CHP-IYI, Ekrem Imamoglu, ahora es declarado alcalde de Estambul. ¡El margen inicial de 20 mil aumentó 40 veces hasta 800 mil votos!
It has only been a year in Erdoğan’s presidency, elected on 24 June 2018, but the people of Istanbul have already turned their backs on him and his allies. The people have punished AKP and their allies for the Supreme Electoral Council’s illegitimate decision to repeal and rerun Istanbul’s local elections. In this election repeated under the prevailing conditions of one of the harshest economic crises in Turkey, coupled with serious political crises, the ruling party that coveted people’s bread and votes lost. Despite cries of “voting fraud” by the AKP-MHP coalition, the vote margin increased even more and CHP-IYI candidate Ekrem Imamoglu is now declared the mayor of Istanbul. The initial margin of 20 thousand increased 40-fold to 800 thousand votes!
A conference on the historical legacy of Lev Davidovitch Trotsky took place in the capital of Cuba, Havana, in May. The Juan Marinello Cultural Research Centre, the Franz Hinkelammert Critical Social Thought Desk and the Philosophy Department of University of Havana organised this event. In addition to Cubans, many participants from Latin America, North America as well as Europe and Asia were present. The historical importance of this conference lay in the fact that this was the first event taking place in this land of revolution, after the construction of a workers’ state in Cuba and 60 years after the revolution. This call made to revolutionary Marxists of the entire world, at a moment where the conquests of the Cuban revolution as well as the very existence of the workers’ state is under the threat of imperialist aggression and bureaucratic oscillations, this international conference was of extraordinary importance from the standpoint of the struggle against capitalist restoration.
USA, on the 4th of June, announced that new sanctions will be imposed on Cuba. It was -classified under particular headings- possible to travel from the US to Cuba en masse. It was announced that, all group tours and cruise ships are now banned. What is the reason? Cuba's spoiling of stability, undermining the rule of law and suppressing democratic processes in support of enemies of the US in countries like Venezuela and Nicaragua. What they call the law of rule and democratic process is the self-proclaim of the US puppet Guaidó as president against Maduro who was elected by the people! The US support for democratic processes are to try to overthrow Maduro with a coup attempt and to hurl imperialist war threats on Venezuela!
We continue our series on the European Elections of 2019 with an article on Germany written by Kurtar Tanyılmaz after eight articles about the results in Hungary, Romania, Greece, Italy, France, Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark and Finland, Poland and Spain.
When compared to previous elections, the recent European Parliament (EP) elections, which have been held in the 28 European Union (EU) member countries between the dates May 23rd -26th, had a remarkably high voter turnout rate (51%), out of a total electorate of 400 million voters. Influence of the pre-election call for “no vote for the nationationalist and racist parties” on the voters seems to have played an important role in boosting that high turnout. However, it neither helped the center-right (conservative Christian democratic parties mostly) and center–left (traditional social democratic parties) recover from their long-lasting decline nor impeded the rise of liberal, green, and racist-national parties.