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Created: Thursday, 31 January 2019 16:41

Written by Sam Mcgill

The brazen attempt to overthrow Nicolas Maduro and the United Socialist Party in Venezuela intensifies. The US has now imposed an oil embargo, with the Treasury Department declaring all PDVSA assets under US jurisdiction blocked and US citizens and companies prohibited from engaging in transactions. Steve Mnuchin, Treasury secretary, indicated they will use all economic and diplomatic tools to support opposition leader Juan Guaido, who illegitimately swore himself in as president on 23 January.  National security advisor John Bolton coldly calculated the move would cost Venezuela $11bn in exports in addition to $7bn of frozen assets. The Bank of England has reiterated its refusal to release $1.3bn of Venezuelan gold to the PSUV government. Instead, Guaido has written to Theresa May requesting the gold to be released to him.

This is economic warfare, designed to suffocate the Bolivarian revolution, cutting off access to food, medicine and basic goods for the majority.  Despite such heavy blows, the Bolivarian revolutionaries refuse to accept defeat. The armed forces remain loyal to the legacy of Hugo Chavez, the Bolivarian militias have been mobilising to defend against civil war and foreign intervention whilst the Bolivar and Zamora revolutionary current promote popular defence brigades ‘as a contribution for the social territorial organisation in the defence against fascism and imperialism’.  

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Created: Friday, 30 November 2018 13:30

Written by David Yaffe

Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 267 December 2018/January 2019

After months of negotiations, with further concessions having to be made by the British government, Prime Minister Theresa May was able, finally, to announce on 14 November 2018 that all aspects of the withdrawal (transitional) deal – including settling accounts, citizenship, and the Irish border – had now been finalised and agreed at negotiator level. This agreement is essential if the UK is to retain the benefits of the single market and customs union for a further 21 months after leaving the EU on 29 March 2019. The transitional period itself, however, depends on the withdrawal deal being agreed and ratified by both the UK and EU parliaments. The negotiators have also agreed on the outline of a political declaration on the future UK-EU relationship. DAVID YAFFE reports.

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Created: Friday, 14 December 2018 12:04

Written by Tom Vickers

The British government have flaunted high official employment figures, suggesting this is good news for workers, and the Autumn Budget was full of promises for ‘hard working families’ and ‘strivers’. But an overwhelming proportion of ‘jobs’ that have been created since the 2007/2008 financial crisis have been precarious, and this is extending to increasingly broad sections of the working class. This both contributes to poverty – around 60% of those in poverty today are in a family where at least one person works – and represents a hidden labour reserve, which shifts the balance of forces against the working class and puts downward pressure on wages. Tom Vickers reports.

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Created: Monday, 24 December 2018 15:29

Written by Lucy Roberts

Kurds view the US decision to withdraw approximately 2,000 US troops from Northern Syria as preparation for a full-scale Turkish military invasion and then occupation of the region. Turkish forces, armed with heavy artillery, are massing at the Syrian border. Since 2012, the Kurdish people and their allies in what they call Rojava (Western Kurdistan) have achieved self-government and implemented an authentic revolutionary process. Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Syriac, Armenian, Druze, Circassian, Turkmen and other peoples living in the region have established unity and been building democracy. More than 10,000 of their people have been killed fighting Islamic State and other jihadi groups, which have been backed by the government in Turkey. What the Kurds and their allies have established is a threat to the regional status quo and to the Turkish state, with its large Kurdish population, in particular. In January 2018, Turkey and its jihadist auxiliaries invaded the western most enclave of Rojava, Afrin, without protest from the western governments or from Russia. They have killed Afrin’s people, others have been driven from their homes - but guerrilla resistance continues there. Below we carry a review of a book on the Rojava revolution.

Hands off Rojava!  

Serkeftin: a narrative of the Rojava revolution Marcel Cartier, Zero Books £10.99

The introduction to this book is a moving tribute to revolutionary Mehmet Aksoy, who had lived in London, from whom the author clearly drew a lot of inspiration. Mehmet was killed on 26 September 2017, becoming a martyr for the Rojava revolution and for all humanity. Reading the correspondence between Mehmet and Marcel brought me to tears and this sets the tone for what is truly a powerful and inspiring read.

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