América Latina

Responding to the calls for active listening by “Palestinian Women, the Pillar of Resistance” and the outcry of statements from Palestinian institutions and intellectuals, we are making some necessary propositions for immediate and forceful action with the Brazilian government, as well as urging entities and leaders of communities in Central America, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), with the leading role in the “Lula tem Razão!” [Lula is Correct] movement, from the Global South.

In this way, we position ourselves against the lies disseminated by “Zionist propaganda” in the mainstream press, which has been distorting the facts and reality of the legitimate and just cause for emancipation and the right to self-determination of the Palestinian People.

[…]

2. As we address this appeal to the Brazilian government and the leaders of Central America, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), among others that maintain diplomatic relations with [Zionism’s neocolony], we urge them to freeze their relations with [it] in order to avoid the invasion of Rafah and a military confrontation that could escalate into a war against Iran. Any country that maintains diplomatic relations with this entity, which, under current circumstances, threatens Palestinian existence and all Arab national security, will tarnish its own image. It is an ethical and moral duty of states to suspend relations with a country that violates the norms of international law.

22 years ago, the Bolivarian Venezuelan people took to the streets in defense of President Hugo Chávez, in a popular gesture that would forever mark the historical future of the Bolivarian Revolution. With the slogans "Chávez, friend, the people are with you" and "Chávez did not resign, they have kidnapped him," the Bolivarian proletariat surrounded the Presidential Palace.

A fascist coup d'état began in Venezuela on April 11th, 2002, with the Puente Llaguno Massacre—perpetrated by armed bourgeois terrorists, traitors in the Metropolitan Police backed by the fascist, bourgeois mayor Antonio Ledezma, and US snipers—and the subsequent presidential self-swearing in of another fascist head of Fedecámaras (business union), Pedro Carmona Estanga, who tried to dissolve the Revolution with its Bolivarian Constitution and Institutions.

The working-class response was that the Bolivarian people achieved a popular feat, bringing Hugo Chávez back to power, which would leave a lasting mark on the historical and political future of Venezuela and Latin America.

Inflation and a poor economy had plagued Argentina even before Milei was installed in Casa Rosada (the Pink House). But things have gone from bad to worse, as inflation has given way to hyperinflation. With the price of basic goods having doubled or tripled, even items as simple as bus tickets and common food staples are now out of reach for millions of people.

The inflation rate hit 270% following a deliberate devaluation of the Argentine peso, pushing the majority of Argentine dwellers into crisis. According to a study done by the Catholic University of Argentina, more than 57% of the people now live in poverty, a 20-year high. (Reuters, Feb. 18)

The combination of rising poverty and declining social services is as deadly as it is intentional. In the Argentine people’s hour of need, the Argentinian government (which manufactured the crisis) has abandoned them.

Argentina boasts 38,000 Meal Centers, which until recently entitled citizens to a warm meal even when wages were down and prices up. One of Milei’s first acts as president was to end all federal assistance for this vital public service.

By now, the food warehouses are as empty as the bellies of the people.

[…]

Accusations that Milei is reminiscent of leaders from the fascist regimes of Argentina’s past are proving more relevant by the day. Milei’s sympathy for the 1974–83 military junta — which murdered 30,000 Argentines — is old news.

Just a reminder: of the ~30,000 people that the neofascist junta intentionally massacred, 12% (or ~3,000) were Jewish… yet Milei is a ger (that is to say, a convert to Judaism)… meaning that despite being a Judaist, he’s idolizing an antisemitic régime.

I have no comment.

About 100 marchers, including seniors, children and disabled persons, were spirited in their solidarity and defense of Palestine against the settler-state colonial entity and its [neo]imperial U.S. partners. Shoes of children were collected and placed on the ground in front of the embassy to symbolize the many thousands of people slaughtered by U.S. bombs. Flags of the U.S. and [Zionism] were spattered with red paint and burned.

Speakers denounced the fascistic storming of the Mexican Embassy, comparing it with the [neocolonial] bombing of Iran’s embassy in Damascus on April 1, which the U.S. has not condemned. (See the video of the march at fb.watch/rjDn2jk1C.)

The U.S. response to these problems has two wings. One involves setting up an unannounced naval blockade. Its existence was hinted at March 24 when Haitian sailor Jean-Robert Cinéus tried to get to La Gonâve, a fairly large island close to Port-au-Prince, but was turned back by U.S. Marines in a Zodiac boat from a U.S. Navy vessel stationed in Port-au-Prince Bay.

Google-search turns up thousands of articles and TV reports on how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol, the Coast Guard and the U.S. government in general are preparing to deal with large numbers of fleeing Haitians.

The second involves an opinion piece in The Washington Post published March 25 by former U.S. ambassador to Haiti James B. Foley entitled “The United States will have to intervene in Haiti.” Foley was the ambassador in 2004 when the coup against Aristide was organized. Foley often provides the authoritative, near-official U.S. comments for TV and other media reports on conditions in Haiti.

Whatever the scenario, anti-imperialist forces need to be ready to oppose U.S. [re]intervention in Haiti.

Cobre Panamá, the largest such mine in Central America, had been infamous for threatening forest ecosystems, ruining local drinking water, and aggravating regional poverty at least since 2011, when a previous president of Panama sought to strip the Indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé people of their autonomy so that foreign companies could exploit their land.

In response, Canadian Dimension reported, “Panamanians rose up, demanding the annulment of mining and hydroelectric concessions on Indigenous territory.” Protesters blocked the mine entrance in an action that turned violent amid a heavy-handed government crackdown. The Panamanian government eventually caved, claiming mining would not take place on Ngäbe-Buglé lands after all.

The 2023 mass demonstrations, which Al Jazeera called Panama’s “largest protest movement in decades,” left the nation “in a state of siege,” emptying hotel rooms, grocery shelves, and gas pumps. Protesters “have demanded a greater share of profits from foreign mining activity, the protection of Indigenous rights, and stronger environmental regulations,” Canadian Dimensions reported.

These demands, which extend in scope beyond the operation of any single mine, are ongoing, and have special resonance in the nation with jurisdiction over the Panama Canal, and hence a significant chunk of global trade.

The United States, France and the United Nations have a bad reputation among Haitians. The armed groups that the U.N. and the corporate media throughout the world call Haitian “gangs” are either criminal enterprises engaged in kidnapping, extortion, robbery and drug dealing, or “vigilance brigades” that defend neighborhoods against the gangs and the police.

Despite the support from these vigilance brigades, hundreds of thousands of Haitian families have been driven from their homes by the violence between the armed groups and the cops.

Five million of Haiti’s 12 million people go hungry every day. One million face famine, dying because they don’t get enough calories.

When de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry visited Africa to gather support for his regime, the various armed groups suddenly joined together at the end of February and demanded he resign.

CARICOM— the organization of Caribbean nations — called an emergency meeting of a presidential council to find a replacement for Henry. The council is still accepting nominations, as of March 17. Ambassadors of the U.S., Canada, the European Union and the U.N. are meeting in Jamaica with the Caribbean countries signing on via Zoom.

The political situation in Haiti is fluid. Major changes can occur overnight. Given most Haitians’ anger toward prior U.S. and U.N. interventions, any future direct role for them in Haiti will be challenged.

The trial exposed numerous instances where JOH, along with his predecessor President Porfirio Lobo and other politicians belonging to JOH’s National Party, took bribes from known drug traffickers in Honduras. This bribe money was then laundered and used to finance their electoral campaigns following the 2009 U.S-backed coup that overthrew democratically-elected President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya.

In return the two former presidents and their cohorts looked the other way as tons of cocaine made their way to the United States. Originating in Colombia, the cocaine traveled through Honduras, where it was processed, then to the U.S., often by way of Mexico. The trial revealed JOH’s connection to the Mexico-based Sinaloa drug cartel.

Thus the coup regime bears some culpability in the promulgation of cocaine, including crack cocaine, in U.S. urban and rural communities.

In addition, one of the witnesses against Hernandez testified that, “The woman who transported money for us from Honduras to Colombia was an official in the [Zionist] embassy.” (Al Jazeera, March 8)

This should not come as a shock, given the Zionist state’s long history of allying itself with brutal dictatorships, from the former Colombian government to the apartheid government in South Africa until the first free elections in 1994.

JOH is expected to appeal his conviction but is not likely to prevail.

There is a major media campaign brewing to try to justify foreign intervention in Haiti. The Washington Post describes the bodies on the streets. The TV networks are concentrating on the violence (5,000 people killed in 2023), hunger and lack of education and health care.

Given the Haitian people’s nearly total rejection of foreign troops, however, sending foreign troops to Haiti is a hard sell. The Pentagon and its counterparts in other countries appear to be reluctant to pursue this course, but the media is making a case in favor of intervention, should the [neo]imperialists decide there is no alternative.

(Archived link.)

An economic dispute between the U.S. and Venezuela is creating yet another instance of vulnerable migrants being used as bargaining chips. The situation has to do with economic sanctions levied by the U.S. in retaliation against Venezuela allegedly failing to fulfill terms of an agreement, which in turn has led Venezuela to threaten to reject deportation flights from the U.S. No word on whether either country cares about the best or most humanitarian solution for the migrants themselves.

The U.S. will try to take the moral high ground on this matter, but the negotiations over the border bill show that seemingly no one in power is above using vulnerable people for political gain at the expense of those vulnerable people.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action. I can’t say that I approve of the ‘both sides’ vibe that their commentary on this particular news is giving me, but oh well. It is what it is.)

Milei’s honeymoon with the Argentine masses — if he had one — came to an abrupt end on Jan. 24. Argentina’s union movement called a general strike that day. Tens of thousands of workers took to the streets in Buenos Aires and each of Argentina’s major cities. Hundreds of thousands more participated in the strike, and thousands in many world capitals held solidarity actions.

Hundreds of thousands of workers protest the new president in Argentina. Buenos Aires, Jan. 25, 2024.

The call to strike was made by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), an umbrella organization larger than any other union or union federation in the country. At times, its leadership has represented the interest of the workers. At other times, its leaders have collaborated with neoliberal administrations and cut deals in the interests of the ruling class.

But, in this instance, the CGT has placed itself firmly on the side of the workers in its unwavering opposition to Milei and his disastrous so-called “reforms.”

Many in the opposition to Milei have condemned the strike, even though it was called with the hope of blocking Milei’s war on the workers. From the anti-Milei Peronist coalition to the smaller capitalists who are most threatened by Milei’s policies, the élites of Argentina have demanded the CGT cease striking. (Peronist refers to the political tendencies identified with late Argentine President Juan Peron.)

This is a textbook example of how contradicting interests within the bourgeoisie can temporarily come together. Even when they disagree, no portion of the ruling class sincerely wants to empower the people — and certainly not the working class.

Yes, large swaths of the capitalist class oppose Milei, while other portions fervently support him, but they are all in accord that a united working class expressing solidarity and exercising its strength is forbidden. Nevertheless, the will of the people cannot be held back forever. Even a united ruling class cannot easily impose its will on a united and combative working class.

[…]

As always, supporting the free market means more freedom for corporations to exploit, not freedom for the workers themselves.

(Emphasis original.)

Camaradas:

Valoramos también la demanda que ustedes hoy realizan exigiendo el fin del recrudecido bloqueo y el retiro de Cuba de la espuria lista de países patrocinadores del terrorismo.

El bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero constituye el principal obstáculo para nuestro desarrollo; impide obtener insumos indispensables e impacta en todos los ámbitos de la sociedad. Es una hostil política que priva también al pueblo estadounidense de las potencialidades médicas, culturales y científicas que Cuba ofrece.

Exigimos el respeto a nuestra soberanía y el cese de la ocupación ilegal de la Base Naval en Guantánamo.

Resulta esencial combatir las campañas de desinformación contra la Revolución cubana y las agresiones en las redes digitales que promueven los círculos de poder en EE.UU., con el objetivo de quebrar la voluntad de los cubanos de permanecer libres e independientes.

La unidad y la resistencia creativa de nuestro pueblo demuestran que el [neo]imperialismo no tiene capacidad para vencer la fuerza de la verdad y las ideas.

Cuba continuará defendiendo la paz, construyendo una sociedad socialista cada vez más justa y solidaria con los pueblos oprimidos del mundo.

¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

Partido Comunista de Cuba

The delegation found that extractive industries like mining in Guapinol; the loss of sovereignty, as in the CAFTA [Central America Free Trade Agreement]-imposed ISDS [Investor-State Dispute Settlement] tribunal on the $10.7 billion ZEDE [Employment and Economic Development Zone] Próspera suit against Honduras; the dispossession of campesinos in the Aguan Valley and Garifuna communities along the north coast; and Canada’s praise for textile company Gildan, which has closed a factory, violating injured workers’ rights, all benefit multinational corporations while failing to solve the deep issues of inequality in Honduras.

These companies benefited economically from the coup and continued doing business to their own profit and benefit under the narco-state.

The U.S. is now seizing the opportunity of the trial of Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH) and his cronies, including the former head of the national police and a family member of Hernandez, to whitewash its own complicity in the narco-dictatorship from 2009 to 2022. It is obvious that those being tried could never have committed the dreadful crimes they are accused of without being enabled by the U.S. and Canada in exchange for favorable treatment for the U.S. military, its drug war and for North American corporations.

For all these reasons, the Honduras Solidarity Network and its members are launching a campaign and will present evidence of the complicity of the two nations during the trial. The campaign will take place before, during and after JOH’s trial in New York that begins on February 5.

El 9 de Enero fue una revolución popular victoriosa (aunque su materialización demorara en el tiempo) que nos heredó la descolonización de la Zona del Canal, la desaparición de las bases militares y el traspaso de la administración del canal a Panamá. Sus efectos nos llegan hasta hoy, cuando la bonanza económica que se vive tiene su fundamento principal en la reversión del canal y el aumento de sus aportes a la economía nacional, aunque sean cuestionables los criterios que se están utilizando para repartir sus beneficios.

El 20 de Diciembre, en cambio, el imperialismo yanqui pudo imponernos el régimen económico neoliberal que había fracasado con Barletta, disfrazándolo de “democrático”. La invasión permitió al imperialismo norteamericano reimplantar el régimen tutelado y oligárquico de antes del 68, incluso manejaron la posibilidad de la permanencia de bases militares disfrazadas de combate a las drogas (CMA de Pérez Balladares), pero fracasaron ante la movilización popular. Aunque luego han impuesto acuerdos de seguridad más sutiles.

La invasión también hizo posible mediatizar el triunfo del 9 de Enero con un Título Constitucional y una Ley Orgánica que convirtió la Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) en una entidad controlada por la oligarquía que no luchó por la soberanía (los nuevos zonians) y de la que pueblo quedó excluido, hasta ahora.

Superar los efectos negativos de la invasión para que el pueblo panameño pueda recibir una proporción mayor de los beneficios que genera el canal, requerirá la estructuración de un gran movimiento de carácter antiimperialista, antineoliberal, democrático y popular que asuma el poder político para sacar del poder a la oligarquía vendepatria.

Camaradas, buenas.

Tenemos un discord socialista que tiene actividad regular. Si te llama la atención, muestra interés o mándame un mensaje y te mando la liga.

No la pongo acá porque ya me tocó ver comunidades que les llegaron los “Socialista nacionalista” y pues, eso es algo que trato de evitar.

Me encuentras en otros lados con el nombre de usuario de (reddit) @elPerroAsalariado o (Twitter) @PerroAsalariado por ejemplo.

Jan. 9 was a victorious popular revolution (although it took a long time to materialize) that left us with the decolonization of the Canal Zone, the disappearance of the military bases and the transfer of the administration of the canal to Panamá. Its effects still reach us today, as the economic bonanza that we are experiencing has its main foundation in the reversion of the canal and the increase of its contributions to the national economy, even though the criteria being used to distribute its benefits are questionable.

On the other hand, on Dec. 20, 1989, Yankee [neo]imperialism was able to impose on us the neoliberal economic régime that had failed under [former President Ardito] Barletta, disguising it as “democratic.” The invasion allowed U.S. [neo]imperialism to reimpose the controlled and oligarchic régime of pre-1968; they even managed the possibility of the permanence of military bases disguised as a fight against drugs [Multilateral Anti-drugs Center or CMA of former President Ernesto] Perez Balladares, but they failed in the face of popular mobilization. Although, later, they imposed more subtle security agreements.

The invasion also made it possible to partly reverse the triumph of Jan. 9, 1964, with a Constitutional Title and an Organic Law that turned the Panamá Canal Authority (ACP) into an entity controlled by the oligarchy that did not fight for sovereignty (the new Zonians [U.S. citizens residing in the Canal Zone]) and from which the people remained excluded, until now.

Overcoming the negative effects of the invasion so that the Panamanian people can receive a greater share of the benefits generated by the canal will require the structuring of a great anti-imperialist, anti-neoliberal, democratic and popular movement that will assume political power to remove the sell out oligarchy from power.