Americas

Hollywood is known as a “dream factory,” but for film and television writers it’s become simply a factory like any other, with all the drudgery and exploitation that entails. Sea changes in the industry brought about by streaming and artificial intelligence (AI) technology have made writing all but untenable as a career. To confront what it calls an “existential crisis”, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) presented the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) with a list of demands including major changes to how writers are paid, staffing guarantees, and safeguards against being replaced by AI. After six weeks of negotiations, the AMPTP refused to even counter many of

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The government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is approaching its final year. His tenure has been fraught with complications at all levels: the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis driven by it, unchecked violence, bashing by the right wing, etc. Nevertheless, polls indicate his support stands at over 65 percent. He enjoys massive support among the poorest. Against the odds, his personal backing will allow the party that he formed, Morena, to win the elections next year, notwithstanding something out of the ordinary.

Marxists from Mexico City, Mexico State, Puebla, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Chihuahua, Sonora, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo and Yucatán met to participate in the 2023 Congress of Izquierda Socialista, the Mexican section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). It began with a talk on the world situation by Jorge Martín, a leading member of the IMT. The meeting room was full; comrades were excited to discuss what is happening in the world. Although many veteran comrades took part, the congress was notable for the presence of a younger layer, which played a key role in the discussions. There were students in attendance from Mexico’s main universities, as well as young students and workers from a

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The International Marxist Tendency has warned from day one that the government of Gabriel Boric has been marching to the drumbeat of the right. As early as the second round of the presidential elections in 2021, we denounced his populist use of immigration and public security issues in the campaign. With this repressive agenda, he aims to win the support of moderate or depoliticised layers of society and draw them away from the right. Ultimately, this merely adds grist to the mill of the far right. Last month, President Boric spearheaded a policy that was overflowing with betrayals and inconsistency by supporting the enactment of a ‘trigger happy’ law for the police (the ‘Carabineros’,

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We republish here an article written by comrades of Fightback, the Canadian section of the International Marxist Tendency, written in advance of the recent public sector strike. This strike involved over 155,000 workers organised by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), making it one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. This article, originally published 18 April, provides useful background information for an international audience.

When the workers of Warrior Met Coal downed tools on April 1, 2021, they didn’t realize they were launching the longest miners’ strike in US history. But these miners had every reason to prepare for a serious fight, and they held their picket line for over 600 bitter days—until the union leadership threw in the towel. Just shy of the strike’s two-year anniversary, president Cecil Roberts of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) submitted an “unconditional offer to return to work.” He justified the surrender by arguing that the strike was at an impasse.

10 April marked the 100th day of the new Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) government in Brazil. Lula's victory at the ballot box in 2022 was a victory of the struggle of young people and workers, who mobilised to defeat the hated Bolsonaro government and its reactionary policies. But, as we explained during the campaign, this was not the end of the struggle. Bolsonaro and his supporters have gone nowhere – even if they have been weakened – and the government of Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin is pursuing a policy of unity with the bourgeoisie, submitting itself to the fundamental interests of the ruling class and imperialism.

US officials are reeling from a major leak of over 100 pages of highly sensitive intelligence, uploaded to the internet by persons unknown [now alleged to be 21-year-old Air National Guardsman, Jack Teixeira – 14/4], and first shared by gamers on Discord. The wide-ranging documents lift the lid on the extent of US involvement in the Ukraine War, the serious difficulties faced by the Ukrainian side, the role of the Israeli secret services in fomenting mass protests against the Netanyahu regime, and much more besides.

On Monday 27 March, at around 10pm a humanitarian catastrophe occurred at a migration detention centre, run by the National Migration Institute (INM) in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, which resulted in (at the time of writing) around 40 deaths and more than 20 people being left in critical condition.

On 18 and 19 February, 460 Marxists from across Canada, as well as international guests, met for the Montreal Marxist Winter School 2023, hosted by Fightback/La Riposte, the Canadian section of the International Marxist Tendency. This year’s event was themed around “The Revolutionary Party”, with sessions discussing the lessons of previous efforts to build a revolutionary Marxist organisation. In case you missed it, you can now watch and listen to all the talks online!

The US-led invasion of Iraq began 20 years ago. Since then, the country has been torn apart by war, sectarianism, and fundamentalism. To end the horror and barbarism of imperialism, we must fight for revolution and overthrow capitalism.

This morning, banking shares fell rapidly – not only in the US and not just regional banks, but all over the world – in the aftermath of the collapse of US regional banks, SVB Financial and Signature over the weekend. What caused their collapse and are there wider implications?

Recently, a public meeting held by Socialist Revolution, the US section of the International Marxist Tendency, was ‘infiltrated’ by a member of the far-right group ‘Turning Point USA’. We encourage readers to watch the video made by Socialist Revolution in response to the vacuous 'exposé' produced by these reactionary idiots. It is clear that big sections of the US capitalist class, and its rabid dogs on the far right, are spooked by the increasing popularity of Marxism and communism, particularly among the young. Their fears are warranted! The comrades of Socialist Revolution are conducting a fundraising campaign to redouble their efforts to spread revolutionary ideas across the

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The plot thickens! A month after acclaimed American journalist Seymour Hersh released a bombshell report, accusing the CIA of masterminding the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany last year, two articles simultaneously appeared in major US and German news publications linking Ukraine to the attack. Not only that, but they claim western secret services knew all along! What are we to make of this?

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Hugo Chávez. To honour the legacy of this courageous class fighter, we republish below an obituary, written by Alan Woods at the time of his passing. The article offers a detailed analysis of the role of the Venezuelan president in the Bolivarian Revolution, as well as his relationship with the masses. For a deeper understanding, we would also like to draw readers’ attention to Permanent Revolution in Latin America, published in 2018 by Wellred Books. The book presents a history of the revolutionary movements in Venezuela, as well as Cuba and

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According to Donald Trump, he was brilliantly accurate when he predicted in 2019 that “America will never be a socialist country.” Why? Because, as he stated a few weeks ago, “the train didn’t stop at the socialist station… We hit the Marxist station and the communist station.” Meanwhile, the House of Representatives recently passed a bipartisan resolution denouncing the “horrors of socialism.” Based on these latest absurdities from the political establishment, one might be forgiven for thinking that we are on the brink of an imminent and

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The situation exploded in Suriname on Friday 17 February. Protests against Surinamese President Chan Santokhi's policies in Paramaribo led to a storming of the National Assembly, followed by riots and looting of shops. After a one-day curfew and over 100 arrests, calm has now seemingly been restored. What is going on?