There was a record participation at the congress of the Italian section of the International Marxist Tendency – Sinistra, Classe e Rivoluzione – held on 6-8 January in Bologna with more than 150 comrades from 25 cities attending. Fred Weston of the IMT introduced the debate on global relations.

Over 100 people gathered on U.S. Inauguration Day for the United Against Trump Town Hall held at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. The event was hosted by a coalition of organizations led by the Canadian section of the International Marxist Tendency, Fightback. Others who supported the event included the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW), the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario (CFS-O), the Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario (CUPE) and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).

This year, the fourth national conference of the Marxist Student Federation - taking place in London at UCL (Cruciform Building B304 – LT1) on 11th February - will be a Bolshevik celebration of the life and ideas of Vladimir Lenin, 100 years since the February Revolution in Russia kicked off events that would lead, a few months later, to the first successful proletarian revolution in history.

We are on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the most important event in world history. The first time the working class took power and held it. This anniversary also takes place at a time of severe crisis of the capitalist system. The euphoria of capitalist commentators 25 years ago, at the time of the collapse of Stalinism, has turned into depression and deep worry for the future of their own system. This confirms Ted Grant’s prediction at the time when he said that the collapse of Stalinism was only a prelude to a new period of crisis for capitalism, which would make the former look like a tea party by comparison.

On the weekend of November 19–20, nearly 30 comrades gathered in Chico, California for the fourth annual Regional Marxist School - an important new milestone for the building of the IMT in the West Coast region. 

Further to the reports from the congress of the Pakistani Marxist organisation of the IMT we publish the report on the organisational discussions which took place.

On the second day of the congress of Lal Salaam, Sunday, December 4, another 20 comrades arrived, bringing the total participation to around 280. There was also a delegation from Waziristan present. Here we provide a brief outline of the discussions on the first day.

The Second Pan-American Cadre School of the International Marxist tendency was held in Mexico City between 2-4 December, with the participation of over 90 comrades from 10 different countries across the continent.

Today, December 3, the comrades of Lal Salaam, the IMT in Pakistan, gathered for their first congress since the split in The Struggle group. On the first day of congress around 260 comrades were present from all over Pakistan.Tomorrow, on the second day, more comrades are expected to arrive, especially worker comrades who will not be at work.

To celebrate the 99th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution meetings were arranged by the Pakistan Section of the IMT in many cities across the country.

Ten years ago today comrade Phil Mitchinson died tragically at the age of 38. He was a leading cadre of the Socialist Appeal in Britain and also of the International Marxist Tendency. He played a key role in building up the forces of the Socialist Appeal. We republish here an article by Rob Sewell written one year after his death,  Phil Mitchinson: “We will finish what he began”. We are also highlighting one of his major articles, Marxism and direct action, which is the best way of honouring the comrade and showing his calibre as a leading Marxist cadre.

On 8 and 9 October, the Swiss Marxists of der Funke/l’étincelle, have organised yet another successful Autumn school. Over 130 young leftists gathered to learn about the ideas of scientific socialism. Among them were experienced Marxists, but also many young radicals who have only recently begun looking for a revolutionary alternative to this rotten bourgeois society.

The weekend of 21-23 October saw the most successful school ever for the Marxists in Britain, as over 250 revolutionary activists came to London from across the country – and Europe – to take part in the REVOLUTION! festival, hosted by Socialist Appeal and the Marxist Student Federation.

Last year the Progressive Youth Alliance was launched in Lahore. This was a landmark event gathering youth from all over Pakistan. Here we publish a report on the latest activities of the PYA, its intervention across Pakistan in recent student protests and its successes in winning leftward moving nationalist youth organisations.

The Canadian Marxists of Fightback have had a tremendously succesful campaign in the new university term. Here we publish a report of their interventions and results.

The academic year is now well underway and the Marxist Student Federation has had its most successful freshers weeks to date. There are now Marxist groups in over 30 schools, colleges and universities, meeting regularly to discuss Marxist ideas and their relevance to today.  Below are a selection of reports from some of the most recent freshers fairs.

The second Pan-American Cadre School of the International Marxist tendency will take place in Mexico on 2-4 December. Comrades from Canada, the US, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina are expected to attend to discuss a whole series of current and historic topics, in order to collectively raise our level of understanding.

News of the death of comrade Jean Lievens came as a most shocking and unwelcome surprise to all of us who knew him. Jean was always so full of life that to speak of his death seems to be unthinkable. But at the tragically early age of 59 he has been suddenly taken from us after a short fight against a serious illness.

The new and completed edition of Stalin, the critical biography Trotsky was working on at the time of his death, was officially launched at the Museo Casa de León Trotsky (Leon Trotsky House Museum) in Mexico City by the IMT with presentations by Esteban Volkov, Trotsky’s grandson, and Alan Woods, the editor of the new edition of the book.

Habent sua fata libelli -“Books have their own fate”, a Roman author once wrote. And of no book in history is this more the case than Trotsky’s biography of Joseph Stalin, the newly completed edition of which will be launched next Saturday, 20 August, at the Museo Casa de Leon Trotsky, Mexico City.