IV541 - February 2020

For months now, Chile has been at the centre of world news: the multifaceted popular revolt that erupted on 18 October, 2019 around an increase in the price of metro tickets has become one of the major events of the last thirty years for this country which is often described as one of the “laboratories” of neoliberal capitalism in “Latin”" America.

The western mainstream media tends to depict the situation of HK merely in a one dimensional manner, presenting Hong Kong a victim of Beijing’s tyranny while the US and the UK as supporters of Hong Kong’s autonomy and democracy. On the other hand, Beijing claims that it remains committed to Hong Kong’s autonomy and democracy but the latter is now under threat from “foreign intervention”. The two sides mirror each other in terms of their argument. The real picture is actually much more complicated.

This article was written initially for a French audience. Practical information has been changed to make it more relevant to at least part of the International Viewpoint readership.

On 21 November 2019 Colombia experienced a social explosion unprecedented in the history of the country since the middle of the last century. On that day, the National Strike Directorate (CNP, Comando Nacional de Paro) called for a protest march against the announcement of regressive economic counter-reforms. The CNP is made up of the central trade unions (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores – CUT, Confederación General de Trabajadores - CGT, Confederación de Trabajadores de Colombia - CTC) and by organizations of students, peasants, Indians, pensioners and environmental activists who, in recent years, have led the resistance by these social sectors to the policies of the Colombian state.

Last Saturday, Ireland bucked the European trend as its voters turned sharply left. Sinn Féin was the main beneficiary, but the party has some big choices to make in the months ahead if it’s going to capitalize on this breakthrough.

“It’s not pretty, it’s not beautiful, but among those of us who defend social justice it’s not goodbye, it’s au revoir.” With these words, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias conveyed this Wednesday in a video broadcast with Teresa Rodríguez a feeling that underlies Rodríguez’ departure from the Andalusian leadership: it foreshadows the probable absence of Anticapitalistas from Vistalegre III and anticipates their departure from Podemos, which will be decided in a congress at the end of March, after the State Citizens’ Assembly (Vistalegre III) of Podemos.

This analysis of the British general election result of 12 December 2019 was published by the editorial board of Socialist Resistance on 12 February. A last section dealing in detail with the elections for Leader and Deputy Leader has been omitted. The full version can be found on Socialist Resistance.

Thomas Kemmerich knew what he did when he accepted his election as prime minister of Thuringia in the Landtag of Erfurt. He was not surprised by the result, it was rather part of his political calculation: to become prime minister with the aid of the AfD and then to form a minority government of the so-called political centre. This insane strategy could only have been successful in case of a toleration by the AfD. Such a government would have been pushed ahead by the AfD permanently tightening up its demands. A minority government formed by the bourgeois parties CDU and FDP would have been the ideal constellation for such a scenario. [This article will be updated in the light of more recent events.]

In January International Viewpoint published Farooq Tariq’s article “Why we left the Awami Workers Party. Lessons to be learned”. Here Pierre Rousset fills in some of the background.

The “Trump plan” for the Middle East, pompously dubbed the “Deal of the Century”, immediately appeared for what it was: a plan to recognize a colonial fait accompli, with complete alignment on the positions of the Israeli right. The fact that it was rejected by all Palestinian forces and by the Arab League is not a surprise, as the content of this “plan” is outrageously favourable to Israel and tramples on all Palestinian national rights. It remains to be seen what consequences Trump’s proposals could have, more than 26 years after the Oslo Agreement, launched with great fanfare, of the “peace process” - whose bankruptcy is well established.