Americas

More than half a million people visited the Havana International Book Fair which has just closed. The long queues that formed in order to buy books were an impressive sight. But the Fair is not only a place for the buying and selling of books, but also an open space for debate and discussion of left wing ideas.

In the last year, the metro workers have written one of the most inspiring pages in the history of the Argentinean working class of the last 30 years. The workers launched an all-out struggle for a wage increase and achieved a historic victory in their struggle for the six hour working day. After four months of intense struggle the metro workers defeated the bosses. We thank everybody who participated in the international solidarity campaign. For further information on the outcome of the conflict please see this article (in Spanish)

The Buenos Aires metro workers are heading for an all out confrontation with the bosses and the government. The dispute has become a point of reference for all active trade unionists and the left in general. Yesterday (Wednesday) there was a 24 hour general strike which has been extended by a further 48 hours for today (Thursday) and tomorrow. There is a lot at stake not only for this sector but for the whole of the Argentinean working class. See the Spanish article Solidaridad con la lucha de los trabajadores del SUBTE for more details. It is crucial that we intensify the international campaign of solidarity...

We are appealing to all our supporters to take part in an international campaign of solidarity with the Metro workers of Buenos Aires who have been involved in an ongoing dispute for some time now. A new bitter labour dispute has been unleashed, the result of which is crucial for the whole of the Argentinean working class.

Around thirty-five people participated in the presentation of the book Reason in Revolt, held at the International Havana Book Fair. Celia Hart Santamaría introduced the event and pointed out this was a very courageous book of struggle, and that the book had appeared at a time when the ideas of Marxism were being vilified.

The hugely succesful book by Alan Woods and Ted Grant, Reason in Revolt, is being presented at the Havana Book fair. We reproduce an article published by the Cuban Prensa Latina media, which highlights the presence of the Spanish Fundación Federico Engels at the 15th Havana Book Fair, taking place from the 3rd to 13th February 2005. Here is the link to the official program of February 6, when the book will be presented.

Two days ago, Venezuelan President Chavez gave a speech at the Gigantinho Stadium at the closing session of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In this speech, President Chavez gave further indications of the direction in which the Bolivarian Revolution is moving.

Dramatic events are unfolding in Venezuela. Although the nationalisation of Venepal in itself it does not yet mean a qualitative change in the class nature of the Venezuelan Revolution, this bold measure certainly signifies a step in the right direction. It indicates that the working class is intervening in the Revolution with increasing determination, pressing for its independent class interests, demanding a break with capitalism and pushing the Revolution forwards.

Not content to wait until his inauguration, President George W. Bush and his administration have already launched an all-out offensive to “reform” the Social Security system. Bush, the Republican Party and their Wall Street cronies are now desperately trying to convince the American public that the nation’s old age and disability pension system is in crisis and that privatization is necessary to save it. Nothing could be further from the truth. The only crisis facing Social Security is a ravenous reactionary government determined to rob millions of their right to retirement in order to swell the coffers of the world’s largest financial banks. From issue 16 of the...

After nearly four years of attacks by the Gordon Campbell Liberals, British Columbia workers are fighting back. With the NDP in a position to win May’s provincial election, a major confrontation is set to take place between rank-and-file workers and the leaders of the NDP and labour movement. The task of the Marxists is to penetrate these organizations and sow them with ideas that can win.

The smashing of the PATCO union in 1981 was the opening salvo in a decades-long assault by the bosses against the airline unions and the labor movement in general. Now the bosses and their government are trying to make an example of the flight attendants and machinists.

After 12 years of upheavals, war, carnage and betrayals, the revolution which broke open in 1791 in Saint-Domingue finally succeeded in abolishing slavery and achieved independence in Haiti. This revolution was the consequence and the prolongation of the French Revolution. Its successive stages, marked by numerous shocks and turnarounds, was largely determined by the flux and reflux of the French Revolution.

A look at what Bush’s “mandate” will mean for the workers of the U.S. and the world. From issue number 15 of the US Socialist Appeal.

The need for a mass party of labor based on the unions is more acute than ever. We must start building such a party now. From issue number 15 of the US Socialist Appeal.

The Buenos Aires underground workers are fighting for the same demands as other Argentinian workers: fair wages to allow us to live with dignity, to work in safe and hygienic conditions and respect for our rights as workers. Please send your solidarity messages.