You can find Aretha Franklin’s teenage church recordings online. She was a star if not the main attraction at her father’s Detroit church, where there were plenty of great singers including the pastor himself. We know in hindsight that she would develop her raw talent to become a music icon. What may have not been known is how she would use her gospel roots in her incredible career.
The evolution of the regime of President Daniel Ortega since 2007
17 August 2018, byIn order to win the presidential election of November 2006, Daniel Ortega succeeded in making his election acceptable to the ruling classes, and in particular to the COSEP (Superior Council for Private Enterprise), the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, represented by Cardinal Obando y Bravo, former presidents Arnoldo Alemán and Enrique Bolaños, and the IMF. Daniel Ortega had also done his best to keep the support of a number of leaders of Sandinista popular organizations. He succeeded in doing that, and has continued to do so until today. These leaders consider Ortega to be the protector of a series of entitlements achieved by the organisations, and above all of their leadership.
Successful youth camp survived the heatwave
16 August 2018, byOn 29 July, the 35th International Socialist Youth Camp ended in Billund, Denmark. Around 300 young people went home to Africa, Asia, North and South America and their different European countries after a week full of political education and discussions, new networks, parties, battle cries and rebel songs.
Britain: the newest ‘Pacific Island’ paradise?
16 August 2018, byIn a somewhat surreal twist, in what is already an increasingly surreal global landscape, UK trade minister Liam Fox announced on Wednesday, 18 July, that the government will do a public consultation on whether the UK should seek to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) once the UK leaves the European Union next March.
Workers say no to Vietnam’s ‘Special Exploitation Zones’
15 August 2018, byOn Sunday, 10 June 2018, thousands of people took to the streets in major Vietnamese cities—Nha Trang, Binh Thuan, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City, among others. Academics, independent journalists, and overseas Vietnamese signed petitions to join in their protest against the Draft Law on the 99-year lease of the three Special Administrative and Economic coastal zones in Vietnam. Workers, too, went on strike in two industrial zones in Long An and Tien Giang provinces. These collective actions led to a concession from the government: it would delay the National Assembly’s ratification of the Draft Law to its next meeting.
An authentic revolution in 1979
15 August 2018, byOn 9 July 1979, an authentic popular revolution triumphed over the dictatorial dynasty of the Somoza regime. The Sandinista National Liberation Front (in Spanish – Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional-FSLN) played a fundamental part in the victory thanks to its role in the armed struggle, its political initiatives and its capacity to represent the aspirations of the people. Nevertheless, the FSLN would never have won out against the dictatorship without the immense mobilization of the majority of the Nicaraguan population. Without the courage and abnegation of the people, the Somoza dictatorship, supported by Washington for several decades, could not have been decisively overthrown. Support from Cuba also had a decisive effect.
“The patriarchal system weighs on the political structures”
14 August 2018, byAlthough Argentina is currently debating abortion, the subject remains one of the great taboos of the South American continent. Charles Delouche spoke to lecturer in Latin American Studies at the University of Grenoble and “International Viewpoint” collaborator Franck Gaudichaud about the situation for the French daily newspaper Libération on August 7, 2018 (before the Argentine Senate voted to reject abortion legalisation).
Whither Korea
13 August 2018Seoul, South Korea, It is still unclear how the situation in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will develop. Beyond the process of negotiations and trade agreements among rulers, there is an urgent need to establish a class policy for the workers on the Korean Peninsula. How the Korean political situation develops will reveal itself only in the struggles between the capitalist and working classes. How should the workers’ movement operate in the context of this class struggle? The specific means may vary according to circumstances and conditions, but they will inevitably be connected to the fundamental problem, “capitalism or socialism?”
“It Really Comes Down to Empowering the Working Class”
12 August 2018On the heels of democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s unexpected victory against a ten-term incumbent in the recent Bronx and Queens Democratic primary, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi swore that socialism is not ascendant. It was kind of like a realtor informing you that the house isn’t haunted; the only reason to bring it up is because there have been sightings, the stairs creak at night.
Challenge of the Students Uprising
11 August 2018, byThe students’ movement that erupted on 29 July following the death of two students in a tragic road accident in Dhaka spread to almost all the major cities of the country. Thousands of outraged school and college students laid siege to the streets of the capital Dhaka for a week demanding road safety across the country. Within days its verve and militancy shook the despotic ‘democratic’ regime of Prime Minister Hasina Wajid’s Awami League (AL), the party of Bangladesh’s national bourgeoisie.