“Kali phtochia chronia!” (“happy new year of poverty!”) instead of “Kali proto chronia!” (“happy new year!”): that was the ironic wish that the workers on the big daily newspaper “Eleftherotypia”, unpaid since the summer and on a rolling strike for a week, published during a message requesting support for their struggle. This humour is today indispensable, partly not to fall into despair before the situation of poverty which grows daily, and partly to maintain the flame of resistance, which in appearance has not weakened for a year and a half, but which obviously flickers from seeing a considerable, but disunited force held back by the union of the bourgeoisie and its international bodies. - read article...

What is happening in Burma? On January 12 a presidential amnesty led to the release of approximately 300 political prisoners. A strong gesture which seems to want to send a message to the country and to the international community that Burma is taking the road of democracy. This announcement comes in a political context of significant change on at least three levels: the political scene and relations with the opposition; the question of the armed ethnic groups who are at war with the Burmese state; and international relations. - read article...

“Indignation is a beginning! A way of rising up and getting going. First you feel indignant and rebel, then you see. You feel passionately indignant, even before you understand the reasons for this passion”. [1] Written ten years ago, these words by Daniel Bensaid, who died two years ago on January 12th, have resonated vividly in 2011, a year in which we have definitely lived what one might call very Bensaid moments. I remember that more than once, during those magic and unforgettable moments when Catalunya square was occupied by protesters, I found myself having imaginary conversations with Daniel, who would certainly have looked with passion on the “untimely” uprisings of the Arab revolution and the indignad@s. - read article...

In the ongoing Euro-crisis, our political leaders are constantly criticized for ‘playing catch-up’ and not being ‘ahead of the curve’ (although others might feel that they are completely round the bend). Perhaps, therefore, it is time to look up from the turmoil in the sovereign bond markets and the counsels of the European Union, dust off the crystal ball, and look forward to the next banking crisis. For it is becoming increasingly clear that banks across Europe face a much more serious problem than a 50 percent haircut on their holdings of Greek government bonds; and that problem goes to the heart of what is wrong with the current culture and practices of the financial sector. - read article...

The defence of the earth, the ecosystem and biodiversity is one of the most important topics on the agenda of the social movements in Latin America today and that is precisely what is at stake in the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development Rio +20, which will take place in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro. The thematic Social Forum ’capitalist crises, environmental and social justice’, which concluded on Sunday 29 January in Porto Alegre (Brazil), served to establish the basis for mobilisation for this key date. - read article...