How ''Progressive Reform'' Helps Preservation of Capital and Capitalism

All Republics seem to become Empires after they achieve a certain amount of industrial and military strength; the threshold is the point at which the armed and state security forces become larger than the civilian authorities. Rome, The Dutch Republic, The United States. The French Republic became an Empire twice in the period after 1789. So much for ‘Liberte’, ‘Egalite’, ‘Fraternite’; so much for de jure fictions. ‘’Progressive Reform’’ -as understood by social-liberal and social democratic types- is the counterpart, in politics, to economic Keynesians. An economic theory as flawed as its ‘’bimetallist’’ precursor. What progressive reform does for the political system of capitalism, Keynesian economics does for its economic system. Both aim to save capitalism (as a political-economy), from itself. In this sense and in the specific case of the current Empire, ‘’progressive reforms’’ had the effect of protecting the United States political system; of maintaining the illusion de jure of the forms associated with the existence of a ‘’democratic republic’’. Reform Law thus became the basis for an elaborate exercise in perception management: If it looks and feels ‘’democratic’’ then it must be. The emphasis is placed on superficial imagery and not on substance. The legal and electoral system of the United States only exists to grant legitimacy to a political economy premised on the private ownership of capital. To reinforce the illusion of ‘’democracy’’ superimposed on a highly un-democratic social reality. Hence the institution of juries and ‘’periodic elections’’ where fraud and stage management are the norm and from which legitimate opposition candidates are excluded. Discourse is limited to ideas and premises that accept private ownership of capital as immutable conditionality. The 20th Century ‘’reforms’’: Direct election of senators; Extending to Women the right to vote; Limits on presidential terms; State and local referenda; Anti-trust laws; The 8 hour day; The minimum wage; The fiction of ‘’Civil Rights’’ and ‘’Civil Liberties’’ constitute incremental steps in the process of de jure image construction, even if in most cases the reforms in question were forced upon the capitalist political class by popular movements. ‘’Progressive Reforms’’ have allowed the United States to maintain the de jure image of a ‘’democratic republic’’ while de facto it evolved, in parallel, into a highly centralised, militaristic, unilateralist, imperialist, and repressive entity that threatens humanity with nuclear extinction lest it not vow to the will of the ‘star and stripes’. The evolution of ‘Pax Americana’ begun in the 19th Century with the annexation of Florida, The Louisiana extortion, the invasion of Mexico, ‘’Indian Removal’’, the conquest of the Philippines; matured in the 20th Century with the 1947 passage of the ‘National Security Act’ creating a permanent war economy, Korea and Vietnam; and peaks in the 21st Century with the interventions in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. These events where incremental and cumulative steps on the road to a global unipolar dominion that aims to wear the mask of ‘’Freedom’’. The ‘’American Democracy’’ is only an illusion. The reality behind ‘Brand America’ is that the appearance of careful management is only the careful management of appearances. Who benefits? The 5% of the United States population that owns 80% of the wealth. The system of Empire exists for their benefit; the social heirs to the slave owning and mercantile interests that declared independence from Britain in 1776. This is why Marxists (correctly) define the capitalist political class as an executive committee for carrying out the collective will of the Bourgeoisie; and why they denounce ‘parliamentary cretinism’ for what it is.

///

post-script 2026

indymedia is still at it...

Anti-capitalist Critique of ''Social Democratic'' Party Politics

What follows is an anti-capitalist critique of sections of the 2006 Swedish Social Democratic Party election platform that deals with migration control and social policy issues:

[The Social Democratic Party led government was ousted from power during the September 17th, 2006 general election in a neoliberal-conservative landslide that saw gains by racist far right parties in local areas and medium size towns. The Left and Green parties lost half their seats in the parliament. The new regime promises to institute massive cuts in social services in its first 100 days in government, possibly Sweden will join NATO.]

I

Platform: ‘’General Election day, September 17th, is when Sweden’s future is to be decided … should we further improve our welfare system, or should we downgrade it by taking one out of every five tax krona out of the public coffers? Should we continue developing the Swedish Welfare model or should we abandon it? ‘’ It is clear that the subtext for this statement is the politics of the ‘’lesser evil’’. Implicit is the attempt to identify ‘’Social Democratic Party’’ with ‘’Welfare Model’’; while in reality the Social Democrats have long ago abandoned their original commitment to the ‘’Peoples Home’’ democratic socialism they preached in the 1970’s. It was the Social Democratic Party that dismantled the core Welfare State policies in the 1980’s and 1990’s under the rubric of ‘modernisation’. The attempt to appeal to the myth of a largely non-existent ‘’Swedish Welfare Model’’ is an effort at election time deception by praying on the fears of working class voters who know perfectly well that the level of wages has been stagnant for the past ten years (despite increases in worker productivity), and that provision social benefits and services (both in relation to actual need and inflation), have been in drastically cut. Platform: ‘’We Social Democrats want a Sweden built on diversity. The community must be founded on mutual respect for differences within the framework of accepted basic democratic values…Swedes of foreign origin still encounter prejudice and discrimination. People of foreign extraction are more likely to be unemployed. We cannot tolerate injustices of this sort.’’ If the Social Democratic Party were truly interested in Social Cohesion it would abandon the neo-liberal policies it has pursued for the last ten years. The unregulated market is premised on economic un-democracy; while the draconian and repressive migration control policies of the current Social Democratic Party government work to legitimise and embolden xenophobic and racist attitudes in the society. Platform: ‘’ In Sweden we keep our ambitions high to ensure that everyone who receives a residence permit will quickly be able to learn Swedish and find a job. We strive above all to facilitate integration by paving the way for more jobs and developing public welfare…’’ FAT CHANCE ! The craven hypocrisy and deceitfulness of this statement flies in the face of facts. Only 22% of those who apply for a residence permit receive one (among the lowest approval rates in Europe), that means that MOST immigrants are subjected to the indignities of the abusive and repressive migration control system and the ‘fast track’ deportation policy. The funding for Swedish as a second language programs as well as for housing and healthcare services for immigrants was drastically cut in 2004; and there are no quality well paying jobs for ANYONE, lest of all immigrants. The only ‘’jobs’’ on offer (aside from ‘casual’ and temporary work in the private sector), are slave labour ‘Workfare’ and ‘Practicum’ schemes where one works for roughly the equivalent of a welfare check with no benefits or legal protections. There is no link between wages from these schemes and cost of living inflation. It is hard to receive placement in the workfare schemes because the waiting list is years. I have already mentioned how Social Democratic Party governments acted to dismantle the core of the Social Welfare State during the 1990’s. Platform: ‘’Social attitudes must change, and legislation is needed to combat all forms of discrimination…’’ The actual legislation on migration control is biased against immigrants and the official policies of the Social Democratic Party in power promote anti-immigrant sentiment by capitulating to it. Less than 20% of those who appeal migration board rulings get to stay legally and there is a punitive four-year limit on access to social services imposed on EU immigrants from Eastern Europe who have a LEGAL RIGHT to migrate to Sweden if they choose according to European laws. These policies are clearly contradictory to the stated intent of the Social Democratic Party and openly discriminatory.

II

In the measure that the Social Democratic Party adapts to neo-liberal and to market-oriented ideology it denotes an implicit tendency towards abandoning the (now mythical) ‘’Swedish Welfare Model’’. Reliance on the unregulated market undermines the possibility for long-term employment and for social security and cohesion. ‘Workfare’ and ‘Practicum’ slave labour schemes are NOT real work, and insofar as they undermine gains in matter of wages, conditions and benefits won by organised labour in context of collective bargaining they have anti-social effects. ‘Workfare’ and ‘Practicum’ policies denote tokenism: the social politics of minimalism and pointillism. The solution to unemployment is a public works program that guarantees wages indexed to productivity premised on the expansion of the public sector. The Social Democratic Party advocates the contraction and privatisation of the public domain. Their proposals to ‘’combat economic crime and benefit fraud’’ and to ‘’halve absenteeism from work due to illness by 2008’’ point to their intention to implement repressive policies that would target the working class, poor immigrants and pensioners. The politics of neo-liberalism with a ‘’social’’ face that the Social Democratic Party implements undermine social security and social cohesion at the expense of workers who are forced to accept wage freezes and benefit cuts in order to maintain private sector profitability and competitiveness. Workers wages remain stagnant despite yearly increases in productivity per worker and per industry in the period between 1995 and 2005. Wages must be indexed to productivity. The fiscal policy of the Social Democratic Party is openly pro-business and pro-war. They are calling for 2.3 billion krona in subsidies for Swedish pharmaceutical, aerospace and defence concerns. The Swedish weapons manufacturing industry exports its wares to Zionist Israel and to the United States. Clearly the proposal to subsidise the weapons manufacturing industry amounts to a call for utilising taxpayer’s money to directly support the use of Swedish made weaponry against the Palestinians and the Iraqis. The Social Democratic Party is calling for a 900 billion krona across the board tax cut for business; they have already abolished inheritance taxes and want to implement additional targeted (‘’special’’) tax cuts to benefit private sector initiatives to cost tax payers one billion krona; not to mention 2 billion krona for ‘’capital risk security’’ (i.e. a subsidy for the stock market to enable more speculation). In contrast the amount earmarked for social services, education, healthcare, and housing COMBINED is to stay frozen. The only increase (30%) will be for the ‘Workfare’ and ‘Practicum’ slave labour schemes and for police so that they can implement initiatives against ‘’benefit fraud’’. In view of this it should be clear that the Social Democratic Party is actively engaged in the deception of working class, immigrant and pensioner voters. A vote for the Social Democratic Party would be a vote for neo-liberalism.

Re: ...''Hugo Chavez (and) real Anti-capitalism'' ...

***A Bolivarian Reply to some unfair criticisms of Chavez: ***

*

Re: ''The incurable flaw of the Left seems to be its weakness forleadership cults. Apparently the global left has forgotten thehorrors of Stalinism and Maoism.''

*

Reply: The basic assumptions of this comment are innacurate. Hugo Chavez isnot ''like Stalin'' or ''Mao''. The Bolivarian Revolution has not established a dictatorship. There is absolute freedom of speech, movement and the press in Bolivarian Venezuela.

**

Re: ''It is no longer capable of differentiating between grassrootscontrol and bonapartism (i.e. rule by a strongman).''

*

Reply: The propaganda that Chavez is a ''stongman'' comes from the neo-liberal, pro-Bush opposition: The Escualidos. Chavez is a democratically elected president who presides over a socialist democracy in construction. The aim of the Bolivarian revolution is to achieve a situation where the people of Venezuela will be the rulers of their own destiny: personally and collectively.

*

Re: ''The global left fools itself, furthermore it contradicts itself by thinking that following nationalist strongmen is the way to bring about a global ecologically sustainable socialistdemocracy.''

*

Reply: Chavez is not a ''stongman''. He is the democratically elected leader of the people of Venezuela. The Nationalism of the Bolivarian revolution is a positive type of nationalism because it aims to empower Venezuela against United States imperialism.

*

Re: ''The leadership cults around Mao or Stalin in the past; Castroand Chavez today all have a common denominator: The suppression of critical thinking in favor of the BIG LIE – whatever it might be, nomatter how absurd.''

*

Reply: There is no ''supression of critical thinking'' in Venezuela. There is absolute freedom of the press and absolute freedom of speech, more so than in the United States or the European Union. In Bolivarian Venezuela the right to free expression is extended to the poor and those socially excluded under neo-liberal capitalism.

*

Re: ''Honest socialists and other progressive people are focusing so much on the apparently ''anti-capitalist'', ''anti-Yankee'' rhetoric emanating from Telesur and Chavez's various media performances...that they are not looking at Chavez critically.''

*

Reply: Denunciations of U.S. Imperialism and global neoliberalism are not just ''rethoric''. The Chavez government ACTS politically, economically and diplomatically on its words to serve as a counterpoint to U.S. domination over Latin America. The media performances come from the opposition media, whose style of journalism is yellow.

*

Re: ''The Multinationals still control the economy, the rich continue to become richer at the expense of the poor, the projects related to the so-called `'empowerment'' of the urban and rural poor are no more than localized experiments, there is corruption, there is rampant crime, street children. The `'Cogestion'' (i.e. workersco-management) projects are a scam. The workers never really manage anything. The `'workers management'' meetings are staged for the benefit of visitors and TV cameras.''

*

Reply: These are lies. Yes, there is a private sector but it is taxed and regulated. The State and NGO sectors have a proportional influence over the Venezuelan political-economy. There is no private sector dictatorship as in the United States. Poverty and unemployment have been reduced consistently since 2004 while economic growth per annum has been 5 to 8 %; these facts are recognised by the World Bank. There is a crime and corruption problem, but the Bolivarian government is in the process of implementing policies to counter these phenomena. No one has said that the Bolivarian Revolution is ''perfect''. There is plenty of crime in the United States and in the European Union. There are 'Misiones' (i.e Social Programs), in place to provide services to street children and the homeless. The Cogestion program is not ''stage managed'', the workers have direct imput into production in Alcasa and PDVSA. This situation did not exist under the previous neoliberal capitalist regime.

***

For Bolivarian perspectives on Venezuela visit: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/

EGYPT !

Revolution in Egypt. 
source: Socialist Worker (USA)

26th February

not only has the imperialist media worked to portray the global revolutionary upsurge. which BEGUN in north africa and the middle east, as relatively ''inconsequential''; they have also blacked out news about the upsurge finding expression outside north africa and the middle east in wisconsin, ohio, honduras and greece. anti-capitalist and anti-imperialists should be pointing out this link. EVENTS IN TUNIS AND CAIRO ARE CONNECTED TO EVENTS IN MADISON AND ATHENS. Western imperialist media is also trying to justify political moves to hijack the north african revolutions by legitimating the pro-Western military juntas that replaced Mubarak and Ben Ali. anti-capitalists and anti-imperialists should back efforts by the people of tunisia and egypt to REVERSE THE HIJACK; the fact that protests against the pro-Western military juntas have emerged is an encouraging sign. but ultimately none of these protests will result in the establishment of worker led governments with an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist agenda unless the working class takes THE LEAD in radicalising the protest movements (implying a break with conservative forms of political islam, western neo-liberal technocracy and anachronistic ''arab nationalism''). one thing is to have working class ''involvement'' and quite another to have working class LEADERSHIP. political success is measured by TANGIBLE OUTCOMES, not by adherence to the aesthetics of theoretical / procedural "purity". /Miguel.

refs.

New Wave of Protests Rock Tunisia
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/feb2011/mide-f22.shtml

Egypt stands with Wisconsin
http://socialistworker.org/2011/02/22/egypt-stands-with-wisconsin

New mass protests against US-backed regimes in Egypt and Yemen
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/feb2011/egye-f26.shtml


On 25 February 2011 22:44, grok wrote:


The bourgeois mass-media has worked furiously over the past period to convince couch potatoes everywhere that these revolutions sweeping the World don't amount to much more than a political hiccup in the larger scheme of things... but we all should know better. In spite of the almost complete lack of competent revolutionary leadership and cadre, workers everywhere in the arab World (today) are systematically, if somewhat empirically, wending their way thru the political minefield of revolution towards their steadfast goal: the complete transformation of the political-economic order in favor of a regime run in its entirety by the working-class and its allies.


And we'll be right behind them.


Long Live the World Socialist Revolution.


All Power to the Workers' and Farmers' Councils and Communes.


-- grok.

21st Century Internationalism

(photo from Socialist Worker USA)

20th February

the problem is that the egyptian, tunisian and other protest movements have not collectively made the qualitative leap into understanding that the real solution is to REFOUND THE  STATE and on that premise reconstruct the political economy. the root of this problem is confinement of political counciousness within the paramenters of liberal minimalism. it requires a post-liberal dialectic understanding to drop the twin fallacies of liberal  methodology: 1) the failure to differentiate between ''government'' and ''the state'' (a derivative of mechanistic 19th centrury classical liberal conceptions of ''constitutional law''.)  2) the failure to understand that politics is an outgrowth of economics and that war is an outcome of politics. YOU CANNOT SEPARATE ECONOMICS FROM POLITICS AND POLITICS FROM WAR. these revolts in north africa are not primarily about wikileaks, but about hunger. the wikileaks issue vis-a-vis tunisia is peripheral. this is where ''the left'' has a lot of homework to do raising the level of discussion and counciousness. but this requires putative ''leftists'' break with liberalism. /Miguel.

On 19 February 2011 21:10, grok  wrote:


As long as "peaceful" -- i.e. purely symbolic, reformist -- protest remains the focus of these revolutions, and not the seizure of the strategic means of production and distribution in the wider society in mass general strikes, the imperialists and their local stooges and goons WILL be able to continue their repression -- and be able to regroup for their counter-offensives against the workers.


So BUILD THE GENERAL STRIKE THRUOUT THE ARAB WORLD. AND BEYOND.


Long Live the World Socialist Revolution.


All Power to the Workers' and Farmers' Councils and Communes.


-- grok.



***

A call from Egyptian socialists

SOURCE: http://socialistworker.org/2011/02/07/call-from-egyptian-socialists



Revolutionary socialists in Egypt issued this statement about the Egyptian uprising and the tasks that the movement faces as the struggle continues in the coming weeks.


February 7, 2011


Glory to the martyrs! Victory to the revolution!


What is happening today is the largest popular revolution in the history of our country and of the entire Arab world. The sacrifice of our martyrs has built our revolution and we have broken through all the barriers of fear. We will not back down until the criminal "leaders" and their criminal system is destroyed.


Mubarak's departure is the first step, not the last step of the revolution


The handover of power to a dictatorship under Omar Suleiman, Ahmed Shafiq and other cronies of Mubarak is the continuation of the same system. Omar Suleiman is a friend of Israel and America, spends most of his time between Washington and Tel Aviv, and is a servant who is faithful to their interests. Ahmed Shafik is a close friend of Mubarak and his colleague in the tyranny, oppression and plunder imposed on the Egyptian people.


The country's wealth belongs to the people and must return to it


Over the past three decades, this tyrannical regime corrupted the country's largest estates to a small handful of business leaders and foreign companies. One hundred families own more than 90 percent of the country's wealth. They monopolize the wealth of the Egyptian people through policies of privatization, looting of power and the alliance with capital. They have turned the majority of the Egyptian people to the poor, landless and unemployed.


Factories wrecked and sold dirt cheap must go back to the people


We want the nationalization of companies, land and property looted by this bunch. As long as our resources remain in their hands we will not be able to completely get rid of this system. Economic slavery is the other face of political tyranny. We will not be able to cope with unemployment and achieve a fair minimum wage for a decent living without restoring the wealth of the people from this gang.


We will not be guard dogs of America and Israel


This system does not stand alone. As a dictator, Mubarak was a servant and client directly acting for the sake of the interests of America and Israel. Egypt acted as a colony of America, participated directly in the siege of the Palestinian people, made the Suez Canal and Egyptian airspace free zones for warships and fighter jets that destroyed and killed the Iraqi people, and sold gas to Israel dirt cheap while stifling the Egyptian people by soaring prices. Revolution must restore Egypt's independence, dignity and leadership in the region.


The revolution is a popular revolution


This is not a revolution of the elite, political parties or religious groups. Egypt's youth, students, workers and the poor are the owners of this revolution. In recent days, a lot of elites, parties and so-called symbols have begun trying to ride the wave of revolution and hijack it from their rightful owners. The only symbols are the martyrs of our revolution and our young people who have been steadfast in the field. We will not allow them to take control of our revolution and claim that they represent us. We will choose to represent ourselves and represent the martyrs who were killed, their blood paying the price for the salvation of the system.


A people's army is the army that protects the revolution


Everyone asks: "Is the army with the people or against them?" The army is not a single block. The interests of soldiers and junior officers are the same as the interests of the masses. But the senior officers are Mubarak's men, chosen carefully to protect his regime of corruption, wealth and tyranny. It is an integral part of the system.


This army is no longer the people's army. This army is not the one which defeated the Zionist enemy in October 1973. This army is closely associated with America and Israel. Its role is to protect Israel, not the people. Yes, we want to win the soldiers for the revolution. But we must not be fooled by slogans that "the army is on our side." The army will either suppress the demonstrations directly, or restructure the police to play this role.


Form revolutionary councils urgently


This revolution has surpassed our greatest expectations. Nobody expected to see these numbers. Nobody expected that Egyptians would be this brave in the face of the police. Nobody can say that we did not force the dictator to retreat. Nobody can say that a transformation did not happen in Tahrir Square.


What we need right now is to push for the socio-economic demands as part of our demands, so that the person sitting in his home knows that we are fighting for their rights. We need to organize ourselves into popular committees, which elect higher councils democratically, and from below. These councils must form a higher council, which includes delegates of all the tendencies. We must elect a higher council of people who represent us, and in whom we trust. We call for the formation of popular councils in Tahrir Square, and in all the cities of Egypt.


A call to Egyptian workers to join the ranks of the revolution


The demonstrations and protests have played a key role in igniting and continuing our revolution. Now we need the workers. They can seal the fate of the regime. Not only by participating in the demonstrations, but by organizing a general strike in all the vital industries and large corporations.


The regime can afford to wait out the sit-ins and demonstrations for days and weeks, but it cannot last beyond a few hours if workers use strikes as a weapon. Strike on the railways, on public transport, the airports and large industrial companies! Egyptian workers, on behalf of the rebellious youth and on behalf of the blood of our martyrs, join the ranks of the revolution, use your power and victory will be ours!


Glory to the martyrs!


Down with the system!


All power to the people!


Victory to the revolution!

***

Announcement of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Israel
[on the Pro-Democracy Movements in North Africa and the middle East]


http://www.maki.org.il/he/english-mainmenu-106

The mass protest by vast numbers of the unemployed, the impoverished, and seekers of democracy and freedom against the pro-American despotic leaders of Arab countries, which started in Tunis and has expanded to Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Algeria as well as other states - is a crucial turning point in the development of the region as well as in the international arena. Despite the harsh measures taken to suppress the revolt, including the use of live ammunition, the protesters against misery and tyranny continue their demonstration and are demanding their right to live with dignity.

Demonstration in Nazareth in solidarity with the Egyptian people (photo: Al Ittihad

daily newspaper)

[source: http://www.maki.org.il/he/english-mainmenu-106]

After decades in which the rights of workers and of the unemployed were trampled upon, and critics and opponents were silenced, the Arab nations are learning to recognize their power to impact and change reality in the direction of progress. The spontaneous demonstrations, attended mostly by youths, are not centrally organized. We are witnessing a popular movement representing a cross-section of parties and political streams, who are formulating their messages in the midst of action.

CPI's political bureau believes that the claim advanced for many years by the world's reigning capitalist establishments, which holds that the Arab world is only suited for either tyranny and oppression or Islamic fundamentalism, has been discredited. The mass popular movement in the Arab countries, which draws its power from the rage of the masses against the rise in food prices and the deepening scarcity of job opportunities, as well as the lack of basic civil rights – is emerging as a concrete political alternative.

It is difficult to estimate at the present moment, where the popular protest movement in the Arab states will end. Will it lead in every instance to the ousting of the tyrants, as occurred in Tunis? Or will it also lead to substantive changes in the nature of the regime and its policies? What political forces will be able to draw new energies from the uprising? But even now it is possible to estimate that we are witnessing a new phase in the social and political development of the Middle East, leading to the weakening of pro-American dictatorial regimes, which lead a policy of privatization in the service of the multinational corporations and provided backing to U.S. aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Communist Party of Israel, as do all seekers of democracy and human rights in the world, stands in solidarity with the struggle of the Arab nations for a decent livelihood and freedom. The uprising of these peoples is a source of encouragement in our struggle to defend workers and democracy in Israel, and to combat racism, while demanding equal political and social rights for all.

January 31, 2011

-----


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EN COLERE !

source of photo: Agence France Press

"The revolutionary key to the situation in Europe and in the entire world is now above all in France!" - Leon Trotsky (1934)

two comments on the article by Jerome Metellus:

France: Battle over Pensions - Bring Economy to a Halt !
http://www.marxist.com/france-battle-over-pensionsbring-economy-to-a-halt.htm

J. Metellus wrote: "...After October 12, the movement against the attack on pensions has reached a critical threshold. The great days of action are no longer the centre of gravity, although they are still massive and increasingly militant, as shown by October 19. Now, the central axis of the struggle has shifted onto open-ended strikes and pickets blockading different sectors of the economy..."

[this shift is a tactical response of the movement against the deployment of police and security forces to suppress the social revolt, which is in fact a convergence of social forces against the racist and anti-worker neo-Gaullist regime. the movement started out as a workers movement in opposition to the neo-liberal pension "reform", but as it developed it was joined by the immigrant community and by students; social forces that have their own set of grievances against the Sarkozy regime. the strategy of coordinated labour power withdrawal and blockade of strategic sectors of the economy is hitting the financial oligarchy and the neo-liberal political class right where it hurts them. the development of this movement vindicates the analysis of Karl Marx and Rosa Luxembourg that it is the intensification of class struggle by the working class that serves as primary motor of social revolutionary convergence of social forces against capital. note that it was at the point that the industrial workers paralysed the energy industry, that the movement radicalised into a generalised social revolt against the Sarkozy regime.]

J. Metellus wrote: "The development of an indefinite general strike should be accompanied by democratic centralisation and coordination of the movement. Sectors on strike should coordinate at local and national level, on the basis of delegates elected by General Assemblies, and with the right of recall. A national inter-professional coordination of such delegates could centralise information, circulate it, discuss the movement from day to day and take the necessary initiatives to strengthen the strike. The national "Intersyndical" [trade union alliance], many of whom speak about quitting the movement after the Senate vote, cannot play this role."

[just as the movement has developed as a convergence of social forces, this movement must begin to develop convergent forms of organisation and a convergent program that makes political demands. this is the only way that the specific demands of the workers, the immigrants and the students will come to be implemented. this coordination of sectors on strike at the local and national level culminating in the development of general assemblies could become the basis for the refoundation of france and the emergence of a post-capitalist sixth republic. indeed. assuming the emergence of a post-capitalist sixth republic, as i wrote elsewhere: such a development would tear appart the core of the Franco-German Imperialist Entente and bring down the edifice of the so-called "European Union" (a political and economic front for the Franco-German financial oligarchy). a succesful overthrow of the neo-Gaullist regime by a convergence of worker led social forces would have a direct impact on Spain, Greece, and Iceland. it would paralyse on its tracks the effort to impose the anti-worker neo-liberal economic agenda, it would reverse the overall european trend towards anti-immigrant anti-Roma xenophobic racism, it would empower students accross the continent to revolt against efforts to destroy public education and school democracy through privatisations. i add: it would also be a direct hit upon the entire structure of atlantism in decline and have major geo-political consequneces in favour of multipolarism. France would withdraw its contingent form the AFPAK war and the process of integrating France into NATO (imposed by Sarkozy) would be reversed; meaning that a post-capitalist French Sixth Republic would join the multipolar bloc and ally itself to the Shanghai Pact and ALBA/UNASUR. a post-capitalist French Sixth Republic would also likely utilise its veto in the UN security council to thwart efforts by Anglo-British imperialism to impose Washingtons unipolar dominionist agenda. France is a major developed political-economy and a member of the G8, it also has its own nuclear arsenal. an alliance of a post-capitalist French Sixth Republic with the National Democracies of the West Eurasian Core (Ukraine, Belarus and Russia) would place the final nails in the coffin of the moribund and obsolete NATO imperialist infrastructure./n2]

photos source: World Socialist Website

refs.

The strike wave in Europe and the decay of bourgeois democracy

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/pers-o20.shtml

"...The growing struggles of the working class in Europe and internationally against mass unemployment and government austerity policies are exposing the reality behind the façade of bourgeois democracy. In every country, the government, whether conservative or nominally “left,” is cutting jobs and wages and slashing social programs in complete disregard for the overwhelming opposition of the population. Elections, parliamentary debates have no effect on policy. The state does the bidding of the financial aristocracy, tearing up the living standards of the masses in the interests of the bankers who are responsible for the economic crisis. The financiers and corporate executives are making more money than ever by exploiting mass unemployment and growing social distress to slash wages and increase the exploitation of the working class. Where the best efforts of the trade unions do not suffice to hold the workers in check and struggles break out that challenge the plans of the capitalists, most prominently in France and Greece, the state uses its powers of repression to smash strikes and protests. In France, the Sarkozy government has deployed riot police to break up workers’ blockades of oil depots and attack protesting students with tear gas and rubber bullets, arresting hundreds across the country..."

[the racist, anti-worker neo-Gaullist regime in France has unleashed the full power of its security forces to suppress the convergence of social forces aligned against the now discredited and desperate government: ]

French President Sarkozy moves to break strikes against austerity measures

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/fran-o21.shtml

"...President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to break strikes against his government’s pension cuts and social austerity policies yesterday, sending riot police and army civil service units to disperse picket lines and end oil depot occupations. Workers and students have mounted mass strikes for more than a week while debate in the Senate has continued over provisions of the pension “reform” bill. A final vote on the bill is expected by early next week..."

[Capitalism is political economy premised upon private ownership of the means of production and on the basis of private ownership of the said means, "the accumulation of (surplus) value by means of the exploitation of wage labor in the process of mass production of commodities". Rosa Luxembourg and the Venezuelan Communists would add that Capitalism also involves systematic police state repression in order to ensure private capital preservation and suppression of working class resistance. The actions of the Neo-Gaullist regime vindicate these analyses:]

How riot police broke the occupation of the Marseille oil depots

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/mars-o21.shtml

"...The French government gave the order Friday morning, October 15, to send in the CRS riot police to unblock the Fos oil depot occupied by workers near Marseille in southern France. The workers were blocking the site to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension cuts and the partial privatisation of the French ports. The CGT (General Confederation of Labour) called upon workers not to show any resistance to the police..."

Workers face a struggle for power in France

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/pers-o22.shtml

"...Police action to break strikes and blockades in the oil sector has not ended France’s fuel shortage or curtailed strikes and protests by workers and students against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s deeply unpopular pension cuts. The French strike wave is the most developed expression of growing working class resistance to the drive by European governments to impose austerity measures in the face of overwhelming popular opposition. The refusal of the unions to organize broader strikes or protests against the police attacks on oil blockades must be taken as a serious warning. These organizations will mount no struggle to defend workers from state violence. On the contrary, they are sending Sarkozy a signal that he can employ even greater police violence with their tacit support..."

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(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed and credited to their author(s), inclusive Miguel Angel Torres.

PATRIA GRANDE !

Evo, Rafa and Hugo - The Leadership of The Second Independence.

Grounding the fifth international on the existing process of Latin American Second Independence as a model would give the Fifth International an objective and concrete basis in an existing process of class struggles that project themselves geo-politically and geo-economically. From this basis, the development of a new anti-imperialist, anti-colonial internationalism could be premised upon intercontinental and interegional multipolar networks that incorporate autochthonous anti-capitalist struggles in north america, western europe, asia and africa. The convergence of the PSUV with the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) is a perfect foundation for the V International, a first step already taken. The Sandinista Revolution of 1979-1990 is the direct precursor to the Venezuelan Bolivarian Revolution, the Ecuadoran Revolucion Ciudadana and the Indigenista Revolution in Bolivia. The Nicaraguan Sandinistas where the first to base their operational model on the premise of a "civic-military alliance" that seeks to construct an ''armed democratic socialism'' in defiance to USA/Atlantist imperialism. The proliferation, in context of multipolarism, of national spaces of “armed democratic socialism” that seek simulatenously to (1) transition from neo-colonial dependence to revolutionary democracy as the precursor for the emergence of existing socialism, and that (2) foster regional integration on the model of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) and UNASUR; would progressively undermine the hegemony of North Atlantism over the globalisation process.

Multipolarism as the new Internationalist Anti-Imperialism:

According to El Economista de Cuba (The Cuban Economic Review):

“América Latina padece todos los males de la globalización y la postmodernidad y ninguna de las ventajas prometidas: el crecimiento económico sin empleo; la concentración del saber en el Norte, deja fuera a nuestros pueblos de las tecnologías de punta, de la creación y desarrollo de centros de investigación científica; la destrucción del medio ambiente —envenenamiento de las fuentes de agua potable, tala de los bosques—, etc.; el desarrollo del modelo de crecimiento basado en las exportaciones a todo trance, la privatización de las empresas estatales y servicios de correos, salud, educación, seguridad social, originando un crecimiento sustancial de la pobreza; la apertura de las fronteras para el flujo libre de capitales, de flujos financieros y de mercancías provenientes del Norte, arruinando de este modo las economías nacionales, y no así el flujo libre de personas del Sur para el Norte; reducción del salario real; dependencia alimentaria del exterior; incremento de la Deuda Externa; etc.”

[“Latin America is a showcase for all the evils of globalisation and postmodernity without any of its promised advantages: economic growth without employment growth, the concentrtation of knowledge in the north, it leaves our peoples outside the circuit of advanced technologies, it prevents the development of scientific research centres, it destroys the natural environment – poisoning aquifiers, clearcutting the forests – etc. ; the model of development and growth based on exports at all costs, the privatisation of state enterprises and of postal, healthcare, educational, social security have resulted in the substantial growth of poverty; the opening of borders for the unrestricted flow of capital and of financial transactions, and for branded products from the north has bankrupted national economies , but not the migration of people from the south to the north; the reduction of real wages, food dependence of foreign dources, the increase of external debt obligations…”]

The emergence of ALBA, MERCOSUR and UNASUR as forums independent from the OAS has created a “multipolarisation effect” in Latin America. The United States has lost control of South America. The emergence of the Argentino-Brasilian geo-economic entente and of UNASUR have broken the power and influence of the State Department controlled OAS. The SUCRE monetary system is making inroads into commercial spaces formerly dominated by transactions in USA Dollars. BOLIVARIANISM emerges as the most radicalised expression of the overall political and social movement for the Second Independence of Latin America from the status of neo-colonial domination imposed by USA/North Atlantist imperialism in the mid 19th century (when the Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed). The Second Independence calls both for the development of a self referential and autonomous post-capitalist models of political-economy for sovereign Latin American nations, for PLURINATIONALISM and for the subsequent voluntary and democratic integration of sovereign peoples into the Latin American "patria grande" (greater fatherland). The Bolivarian Revolutionary government states that its goal in Venezuela is the construction of an "armed democratic socialism" (the Bolivarian concept of Revolutionary Democracy) based on participatory democracy, civic-military alliance, nationalisation of natural resources and planned infrastructural development; where poverty is to be eliminated by empowering the poor politically and economically - i.e organising the poor politically around communal councils and allocating economic resources and targeted social services to the politically organised poor in a decentral manner so that they can solve their own problems in situ.

Bolivarianism is one of the several new global south politics that have emerged in reaction to and against North Atlantist/Imperialist hegemony, the imposition of western political values and economic ideologies (such as neo-liberalism) which seek to rationalise the exploitation and looting of global south peoples and their natural resources to sustain an objectively, socially and ecologically, unsustainable hyper-consumeristic economic model in the nations that conform the North Atlantist Core (North America, Western Europe) . Bolivarianism calls for the creation of “a multipolar world where many worlds are possible, inclusive 21st century socialist ones".

The "Bolivarian-Zapatista" Organising Model as an effective form of social and class struggle:

Elsewhere, I have cited as a model for organising against the proto-fascist right, the ORANISING and CAMPAIGN models of the Venezuelan PSUV patrullas/ “Maquinaria Roja” of 2010 and the Zapatista "Otra Campaña" of 2006, specifically as they pertain basing campaign activity on existing social movements and existing social organisations ('las bases'); because these are successful examples of grassroots organising that do not operate on the premises of neo-liberal individuation and marketisation of political activity and discourse. a political program is not a brand, and marketing does not define culture. "one man one vote" is not democracy, only the first step towards democracy. the organising model of the PSUV has delivered victory after victory to the Venezuelan transition government, while the Zapatista "otra campaña" (which was global) was a direct influence upon the victory of Lopez Obrador / PRD and the formation of the parallel APPO government in Oaxaca. The reason the United States Embassy in Mexico ordered the PAN government to fix the election in 2006 was precisely because of the success of the organising model of the ''Otra Campaña''. The Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the Bolivian MAS also based their campaigns on this "Bolivarian-Zapatista model" in 2006 and 2009 respectively; the result was two major victories for the Segunda Independencia / Second Independence. In the Nicaraguan case the FSLN returned to power, in the Bolivian sense the Indigenista Plurinational Constitution was ratified in a referendum - the first indigenous peoples' constitution in the Americas -north, centre and south. Bolivia became the first Indigenous People’s Republic in the Americas, a polity where indigenous majority rule was achieved on the basis of the political marginalisation of the hispano-criollo comprador bourgeoisie and its North American transnational patrons.

The humble origins of 21st century socialism where the “Caracazo” food riots in Venezuela against neo-liberal adjustment policies in February 1989 and the Zapatista uprising against NAFTA in Chiapas, Mexico in 1994. They chanted QUEREMOS COMER ! ( we want to eat) and YA BASTA ! (enough is enough). Their call was taken up by the anti-globalisation demonstrators who gathered in Seattle in December 1999, the PIQUETEROS in Argentina who deposed a corrupt neo-liberal regime in December 2002, and latter by those who participated in the massive global anti-war movilisations against the imperialist invasion of Iraq in February 2003. They chanted FREE TRADE IS WAR ! and FREEDOM FRIES WHILE BAGDAD BURNS ! The Fifth International must recapture this spirit, and develop it further; as it works to establish spaces of eco-social construction and democratic empowerment for marginalised social actors, in a multi-polar context free of imperialist entities and globalised transnational oligarchies dedicated to the pursuit of unipolarist domination agendas. It must impart new dynamism to the class based struggles of trade unionists in Western Europe fighting against the destructive social effects of the financial bailout; of peace activists in the United States facing repression at the hands of the FBI and Homeland Security Gestapo; and the struggle of migrant populations against systematic police repression, of the foreclosed and the homeless for housing and dignity, of the landless and those displaced by the wars of capitalism in Colombia and Afghanistan. The Fifth International must be an international of hope for those who find themselves in the losing end of global capitalism, not a talk shop for ideologues or a forum for the restatement of failed political theories from the past. /n2

 

 

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(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed and credited to their author(s), inclusive Miguel Angel Torres.

GALLO ROJO !

[PCV Campaign Closing Statement:]


http://www.tribuna-popular.org/index.php/pcv/7319-pcv-derrotemos-la-campana-anticomunista-votando-gallo-rojo

Video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xex4v1_pcv-derrotemos-la-campana-anticomun_news?start=4#from=embed


***

PCV: “Derrotemos la campaña anticomunista votando Gallo Rojo!

[Defeat the anti-communist campaign by voting for the Gallo Rojo]

LLAMAMIENTO A LAS Y LOS TRABAJADORES, AL PUEBLO VENEZOLANO

[Call to all workers - male and female, to the Venezuelan people]

Caracas, 22 sep. 2010, Tribuna Popular TP.- El Partido Comunista de Venezuela (PCV), en un llamamiento a las y los trabajadores y al pueblo venezolano, llamó hoy a derrotar la campaña anticomunista de la derecha fascista y el imperialismo, votando por los candidatos de la Alianza Revolucionaria en la Tarjeta del Gallo Rojo.

[The Communist Party of Venezuela, in a statement to all workers - male and female, and to the venezuelan people; called today to defeat the anti-communist campaign of the fascist right and of imperialism; by voting for the candidates of the Revolutionary Alliance in the Gallo Rojo ballot]

Así lo dio a conocer el secretario general del Partido, diputado Oscar Figuera, quien manifestó que la oposición fascista integrada en la MUD “Mesa de la Ultra Derecha”, ha retomado la vieja forma de hacer política imitando al dictador, Juan Vicente Gómez, quien a través del artículo 32, inciso 6º de la Constitución, prohibía las ideas marxistas.

[This is how secretary general of the party, deputy Oscar Figuera, expressed his intervention; and subsequently estated that the fascist opposition integrated around the MUD ('round table of the ultra-right') has revived outdated forms of political activity imitating former dictator Juan Vicente Gomez, who through article 32, section 6 of the constitution prohibited the expression of Marxist ideas.]

“Dentro de esa concepción retrograda, atrasada, cavernaria y cavernícola, con el respeto a los cavernícolas, sectores de la oposición han intentado instalar una matriz de opinión, queriendo contraponer democracia y comunismo”, recordó el dirigente.

[The secretary reminds us that, in context of this reactionary, backward, neanderthal conception - said in full respect to the neanderthals - sections of the opposition have tried to create a matrix of opinion, attempting to counterpose democracy to communism]

EL PCV reivindicó la sociedad comunista, aun no conocida por la humanidad, como proyecto profundamente humanista, “El comunismo es la democracia plena de los ciudadanos y ciudadanas, de los trabajadores y las trabajadoras. Es una sociedad de productores libres, asociados voluntariamente, sin explotados, ni explotadores”, señaló Figuera.

[The communist party has proposed the construction of a communist society, stilll not known by humanity, as a humanist project. 'Communism is the most complete form of democracy for all citizens and workers - male and female. It is a society of Free producers, voluntarily associated, without exploited and exploiters.']

Los comunistas venezolanos acusaron a los sectores de la oligarquía agrupados en la ultraderecha y al imperialismo, de tenerle terror a la sociedad comunista porque no les permitirá acumular riqueza sobre la base de la explotación del pueblo, “Porque es una sociedad donde no se necesitará patronos, explotadores. Donde el Estado no será un instrumento de dominación, sino que estará en control de los productores libres y organizados, desaparece la explotación del hombre por hombre”.

[The Venezuelan communists have acussed sectors of the oligarchy grouped around the ultra right and imperialism, of spreading undue fear about a communist society because such a society would negate them the opportunity to accumulate riches on the basis of the exploitation of the people. 'Because it is a society that would need no bosses, exploiters. Where the State will not be an instrument of domination, but will be under the control of free and organised producers, the exploitation of man by man will be eradicated.]

Figuera llamó al pueblo a analizar, que si son los enemigos nuestros los que se expresan así, es porque el comunismo es malo para ello, pero es bueno para el pueblo. “Los que nos han explotado históricamente, cuando nos dicen que algo es malo, es porque es malo para ellos, como explotadores, pero es bueno para el pueblo”, reiteró el dirigente comunista, candidato a la reelección por el Estado Guárico en la Lista de la Alianza Revolucionaria.

[Comrade Figuera called to the people to conclude, that if it is our enemies who express themselves in this manner, it is because communism is bad for them. ' Those who have exploited us historically, when they say that something is bad, is because it is bad for them as exploiters, but good for the people.' That statement was reiterated by the communist leader in his bid for re-election in Guarico State in the list of the Revolutionary Alliance ]

A continuación, trascribimos el Llamamiento a las y los Trabajadores, al Pueblo venezolano, leído a la prensa por el Secretario General del PCV.

[The following is a transcription of the call to all Workers - male and female, to the Venezuelan people, read to the press by the PCV General Secretary]

LLAMAMIENTO A LAS Y LOS TRABAJADORES, AL PUEBLO VENEZOLANO

[Call to the Workers - male and female, and to the People of Venezuela]

¡Derrotemos la campaña anti-comunista votando Gallo Rojo!

[We defeat the anti-communist campaign by voting for the Gallo Rojo]

El próximo domingo culmina proceso electoral en curso para la elección de diputadas y diputados tanto a la Asamblea Nacional como al Parlamento Latinoamericano. En varias oportunidades, el Comité Central y el Buró Político han trazado orientaciones de carácter político-electoral que se han dado a conocer a través de los medios de comunicación.

[Next Sunday concludes the electoral process for the selection of deputies - male and female, for the National Assembly and the Latin American Parliament. In many opportunities, the Central commite and the Politbureau have sketched orientation of a political-electoral character that has been disseminated via the public media.]

El actual proceso político venezolano, querámoslo o no, tiene su propia y contundente dinámica que incide en el ámbito nacional e internacional y contradice los designios imperialistas y de la contrarrevolución interna.

[The current Venezuelan political process, like it or not, has its own and clear dynamic that impacts the national and international context and contradicts the plans of imperialism and the internal counterevolution]

Sabido es que el PCV y la JCV, somos blanco principal de los ataques del enemigo de clase, a través de una intensa campaña anticomunista desplegada por la oligarquía, el imperialismo y sus lacayos políticos, quienes saben que jamás conciliaremos ni nos prestaremos a maniobras políticas que vayan en contra de la clase obrera, de los trabajadores, trabajadoras de la ciudad y del campo, de las clases y capas sociales aliadas con las que aspiramos a continuar profundizando y abriendo caminos a la democracia revolucionaria, la paz y el socialismo.

[It is well known that the PCV and JCV [Communist Youth] are the numner one target for attacks from the class enemy, through an intensive anti-communist media campaign promoted by the oligarchy, imperialism and its political flaks, who know that we will never surrender and that we will never collaborate with political manouvres that go against the interests of the working class, the urban and rural workers - male and female, the allied social forces with whom we aspire to continue to radicalise and open roads towards a revolutionary democracy, peace and communism.]

Por todo ello, hemos considerado oportuno en el PCV, hacer un llamado al pueblo venezolano a empeñarnos a fondo en estos días y especialmente el domingo venidero, para motivar y comprometer a todas y todos en las tareas prácticas de movilizar los votos, de llevar la mayor cantidad posible de electoras y electores a votar por el Gallo Rojo - PCV y así obtener la más alta votación histórica del PCV, como repuesta de todo el pueblo a la campaña anticomunista.

[Because of this, we consider it important for the PCV, to make a call to the Venezuelan people to intensify our effort these days and specially this comming Sunday to motivate concerted action in the practical task of movilising the vote, to elect the largest majority possible of deputies - male and female, to vote for the Gallo Rojo - PCV in order to obtain the highest historical proportion of votes for the PCV, as an answer of the people to the anti-communist campaign.]

La presencia comunista en el Parlamento continuará sirviendo para exponer, defender e impulsar nuestro programa y línea políticas, muy especialmente en el afán de impulsar nuestras reconocidas propuestas de una nueva Ley Orgánica del Trabajo y la Ley de Consejos socialistas de trabajadoras y trabajadores.

[The prescence of communists in the Parliament will serve to continue to expose, defend and promote our program and political line, specially as it pertains the promotion of our new Organic Labour Law and the Law for the Workers Councils.]

En varias oportunidades hemos denunciado los planes desestabilizadores, de sabotaje y terrorismo, que como parte de la contraofensiva reaccionaria de la oligarquía y el imperialismo estadounidense se viene ejecutando en el país. Por tanto nuevamente, alertamos sobre la necesidad de activar los planes de contingencia del movimiento popular revolucionario frente a cualquier intento de sabotaje del enemigo.

[In many opportunities we have denounced the destabilisation plans, sabotage and terrorism; that as part and subset of the reactionary counteroffensive of the oligarchy and imperialism in this country. So again, we warn about the need to activate contingency plans of the revolutionary popular movement against any attempt of sabotage that might be initiated by the enemy.]

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(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed and credited to their author(s), inclusive Miguel Angel Torres.

Pa' The Asamblea !

Is the Venezuelan National Assembly a Bourgeois Parliament ?

[Es la Asamblea Nacional Venezolana un Parlamento Burges ?]

I argue that it is not.

[yo argumento que no]

the congress of the fourth republic was a comprador bourgeois parliament; but not the national assembly that results from the 1999 bolivarian constitution of venezuela. a key point is to understand that the bolivarian process changed the structure of the political state in such a way that a legal foundation was created to allow for progressive structural transformation towards revolutionary democracy. a regular Bourgeois Parliament works to prevent social transformations away from capitalism. by no means do i argue that the AN is a "soviet" or anything like that either. i consider the AN a transitional legislative entity existing in context of a socio-political process of emergent revolutionary democracy.

[el congreso dela cuarta republica fue un parlamento de la burgesia compradora; pero no la Asamblea Nacional que resulta como producto de la constitucion venezolana de 1999. un punto clave es el entendimiento que el proceso bolivariano cambio la estructura del estado de derecho politico de manera que se creo una base legal que permite la transformacion progresiva estructural hacia la democracia revolucionaria. un parlamento burges comun y corriente trabaja para oponer transformaciones sociales contra el capitalismo. de ninguna manera tampoco argumento que la AN sea un "soviet". considero a la AN como una entidad legislativa transitoria que existe en un contexto socio-politico de democracia revolucionaria emergente.]

in order to arrive at the conclusion that the AN is not a bourgeois parliament; i begin by utilising categories of analysis developed by the Peoples Commissariat of Foreign affairs of the USSR during the 1964-1983 period (The Brezhnev Era):

[para llegar a esta conclusion empleo el "Esquema de Analisis geopolitico del Comisariado Popular para las Relaciones Exteriores de la CCCP entre 1964-1983" dentro del marco del Pacto de Varsovia y el COMECON]

Socialismo Existente/Existing Socialism (RDA/DDR)
Democracia Revolucionaria/Revolutionary Democracy (Cuba)

Democracia Nacional/National Democracy (Suecia en la decada de los 70/Sweden during the 1970's)

Estado Neocolonia/Neocolonial State (IV Republica en Venezuela/Fourth Republic in Venezuela)

Estado Imperialista/Imperialist State (EEUU/USA and its NATO cohorts)

Flag of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with eight Stars

[Bandera de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela con ocho estrellas.]

from this schema i conclude the following definitions of the nature of the state as prelude to defining the nature of the AN as a legislative entity:

[desde este punto de partida esquematico concluyo las siguentes definiciones de las condiciones del estado como premisa a definir a la AN como entidad legislativa:]

The Fourth Republic: The form of neocolonialism applied to specific Venezuelan conditions between 1953 and 1999; an oil neocolony postrate to the north american imperialist state; governed by a decadent, parasitical and racist comprador bourgeoisie and administered by a gerontocratic political class; and which utilised systematic police repression as means of social control .

[La Cuarta Republica: La forma del neocolonialismo aplicado a las condiciones especificas de Venezuela entre 1953 y 1999; una neocolonia petrolera postrada ante el estado imperialista norteamericano gobernada por una burgesia compradora decadente, parasitica y racista; administrada por una clase politica gerontocratica, que opero un aparato de control policial sistematicamente represivo para mantener control social.]

The Fifth Republic: A State of transition between neocolonialism and revolutionary democracy that implies the construction of the elements of national democracy and the achievement of national emancipation. this achievement then serves as ante-chamber or foundation for the emergence of an existing socialism adapted to Venezulean conditions in the context of ALBA and economic integration with Cuba. The direct precursor of the 5th Venezuelan Republic: Sandinista Nicaragua between 1979-1990.

The progressive administration of this "state of transition between neocolonialism towards revolutionary democracy" is denominated "Bolivarian Revolution"; a proposal to consolidate revolutionary democracy and the development of an ecological and social mode of production that is DIVERSIFIED as necessary basis for the possible construction of an "existing socialism" for the 21st century.

[Quinta Republica Venezolana: Un estado de transicion del neocolonialismo a la democracia revolucionaria que implica la construccion de los elementos de una democracia nacional y el logro de la emancipacion nacional. Este logro sirve como antesala o fundacion para la emergencia de una version del socialismo existente adaptado a las condiciones Venezolanas; en el contexto Latinoamericano del ALBA y de un proceso de integracion economica con la democracia revolucionaria Cubana. El precursor directo a la V Republica Venezolana: Nicaragua Sandinista entre 1979-1990.]

[La administracion progresista de este "estado de transicion del neocolonialismo a la democracia revolucionaria" se denomina "Revolucion Bolivariana"; como propuesta para consolidar la democracia revolucionaria y el desarrollo de un modelo productivo eco-social y DIVERSIFICADO como base necesaria para la posible construccion de un 'socialismo existente'del siglo XXI.]

after defining the nature of the Fifth Republic and placing the AN in context of it as LEGISLATIVE instrument of popular will, the AN (National Assembly) can be defined as:

[luego de haber definido la naturaleza de la quinta república, y colocándo a la AN en el contexto de la misma como un instrumnto LEGISLATIVO de la voluntad popular, la AN (Asamblea Nacional) se puede definir como:]

NOT a Bourgeois Parliament because it does not exist to legislate upon the collective interest of the comprador bourgeoise at the service of Atlantist imperialism; but a transitional legislative entity existing in context of a specific socio-political process that legislates in the interest of constructing a basis for socialism in law. the AN could NOT be called a "soviet" because it is not an assembly of elected and re callable workplace representatives, and although it includes indigenous representation it does not incorporate social corporative representation per se of socially organised sectors such as youth, soldiers or women.

[NO un parlamento burgués, ya que no existe para legislar sobre el interés colectivo de la burguesía compradora al servicio del imperialismo atlantista, pero mas bien una entidad legislativa transitoria; vigente en el contexto de un proceso específico socio-político que legisla en el interés de construir una base por el socialismo en el derecho. la AN no puede llamarse un ''soviet" porque no es una asamblea de delegaciones obreras; y aunque incluye la representación indígena, no incorpora la representación social-corporativa sui generis de los sectores socialmente organizados, como los jóvenes, los militares o las mujeres.]

/n2

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(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed and credited to their author(s),  inclusive Miguel Angel Torres.

Kyrgyzstan !

The Demise of the "Tulip Revolution"

in Kyrgyzstan.

(photo from Peoples Daily, China)

events in Kyrgyzstan point to a deterioration of western political and economic influence in former soviet eurasia, and follow up to the demise of the so-called "orange revolution" in the ukraine this year, and the military victory of russia over the georgian NATO proxy in august of 2008. the obama regime has proven incapable of containing the crisis. ATLANTISM IS IN RETREAT. the multipolar bloc is the main beneficiary of the demise of pro-western regimes in the region, as the position of the Shanghai Pact powers is strenghtened at the expense of the West. Russian and China MUST extend Shanghai Pact recognition to the Kyrgyzstan Provisional Government and even extend military protection to it if necessary on pro-democracy, civic order and humanitarian grounds.

*

like the so-called "orange revolution" in Ukraine in 2004; the 2005 "tulip revolution" in kyrgystan was a stage managed event hyped by the western media as a "pro-democracy" movement. it was nothing of the sort, rather it ushered in the stablishment of a brutal pro-western police state regime that imposed brutal austerity measures on the population. the pro-western political elite around the figure of Kurmanbek Bakiyev amassed vast wealth through corruption and graft while the people starved.

*

notable is that this anti-western counter-color revolution began as a peaceful civic protest against draconian austerity measures imposed by the pro-western regime at the behest of the USA controlled world bank and IMF. Similar to protests and strikes in Greece against austerity measures dictated by the Franco-German Entente via its "European" smokescreen; the civic movement in Biskek focused its attention on denouncing the doubling of the price of fuel and water, as well as the removal of price controls on a number of basic food commodities. the regime committed political suicide when it ordered its western trained anti-riot police to shoot on the peaceful protesters. 74 protesters where killed and 700 others injured. the use of anti-riot police to supress civic socio-economic protests is a hallmark of all Western and pro-western "market democratic" regimes; notable is the utilisation of this tactic in divese places such as Pittsburg, Reykjavík, Copenhaguen, Athens and now Biskek since the financial crisis began in autumn 2008. in the West and among its proxys "rule of law" really means rule of the politically connected and economically endowed PLUTOCRACY through systematic police violence and brutality.

*

all who advocate FREEDOM FROM THE UNIPOLAR DOMINION OF THE UNITED STATES and seek AN END TO THE WESTERN DICTATORSHIP OVER THE GLOBALISATION PROCESS should extend critical support to the Kyrgyzstan Provisional Government. - n2

*
refs:


Ukraine election marks declining US influence in region

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/ukra-j21.shtml

Struggle for power continues in Kyrgyzstan

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/kygr-a09.shtml

Russia recognizes new Kyrgyz leadership

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6944922.html

Russia sends extra troops to airbase in Kyrgyzstan

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6944786.html

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(CC) Material on this Weblog is licensed by Miguel Angel Torres, under a Creative Commons (by-nc-nd 3.0) [6] license, except for links to articles that are posted with permission. Readers are welcome to share and use material belonging to this site for non-commercial purposes, as long as they are attributed to the author(s).