Mexico

For Mexico, the world economic crisis has provoked a severe fall in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of -10.3% in the second quarter alone - the worst on record since 1981. 36,000 companies have gone bankrupt and 735,000 workers have lost their jobs. Massive government spending cuts are further aggravating the situation.

On January 15, the workers at Olympia de México SA de CV in Edomex, México, went on strike to protest against the fact that the company had not paid them bonuses agreed in the collective bargaining contract. Faced with the lack of interest of the bosses in solving their just demands, the workers have now decided to struggle for nationalisation under workers' control.

Last weekend more than 100 revolutionaries from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, El Salvador, the USA, Canada, Ecuador, Cuba, Guatemala, gathered in Mexico City for the first Pan-American Marxist School of the International Marxist Tendency. A new tri-lingual Pan-American journal of the IMT, America Socialista, was also launched at the event.

On Thursday, February 26, the Marxist Tendency “Militante” had called a meeting in Mexico DF for Alan Woods to present his latest book Reformism or Revolution. Marxism and socialism of the 21st Century – a reply to Heinz Dieterich. Trotsky's grandson Esteban Volkov also addressed the meeting.

There's an old saying that when the US economy gets a cold, the Mexican economy gets pneumonia. The deepening US financial crisis is already having a violent knock-on effect around the world, and Mexico will be among the hardest hit.

In January we interviewed Luis Enrique Barrios, a leading member of the Mexican Marxist Tendency Militante. He explains how the struggle against electoral fraud has led to heightened working class militancy, such as the struggle of the miners, and it is merely a question of time before this erupts in a new wave of mass mobilisations.

Our attention has been drawn to an article published in the Mexican newspaper El Financiero on August 27, 2007. What is significant about this article is that it makes a specific reference to the Revolutionary Marxist Current (CMR) in Venezuela and the Marxist Tendency Militante in Mexico. The Venezuelan CMR is mentioned as one of the "tools for ideological propaganda" with the aim of spreading the "socialist revolution in the 21st century".

The attacks against the Marxist Tendency Militante in Mexico have stepped up. A further 10 arrest warrants have been issued for comrades involved in student struggles in the summer. Given the class polarisation in Mexico, the increasing repression at the hands of the state and the increasing unwillingess of the people to back down, Mexico is headed for a social explosion.

Yesterday pickets were organised outside Mexican embassies around the world, calling for the release of Adan Mejia (an APPO activist and supporter of the Marxist Tendency Militante) and of all the other political prisoners presently being held in Mexican jails. The campaign will continue until everyone is released and all charges are dropped.

Francisco Jay Alguilar is free at last! After enduring an extremely difficult situation in prison, comrade Alguilar has been freed and returned to his family. The struggle of all our comrades in prison was exemplary. Now our task is to continue the fight and build the revolutionary organisation.

The campaign to free Adán Mejía is calling for an International Day of Action on September 13th, when pickets should be organised outside Mexican consulates and embassies around the world. We are also calling on all labour movement and youth activists to pass resolutions supporting the demands of the campaign and to make donations towards the legal defence fund, which will cover the costs of the campaign.

After the successful demonstration to the presidential palace on August 8th, the campaign for the release of the student activists from the CLEP-CEDEP and the MENA arrested on August 6th while demanding more university places continued with more demonstrations and actions.

On Monday August 6th, a force of nearly 1000 police officers attacked a peaceful sit-in demonstration of students who were demanding access to university. The protest had been organised by the Movement of Non-Admitted Students, a campaign launched by the Committee in Defence of State Education - Committee of Student Struggle.