Americas

Beginning Friday, around 300 workers at the Republic Window & Door factory in Chicago have occupied the plant demanding severance and back-pay owed by the company. For the first time since the birth of the CIO union federation in the 1930s, US workers are occupying their workplace. As the bosses push to place the burden of the failing economy on workers' shoulders, the class struggle is back on the agenda in the US.

An overwhelming 95 percent of black voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama in the recent elections in the United States. The scenes on the streets in Chicago and around the country were full of jubilation, as many working people, both Black and white, fervently believe that change is now on the horizon. But does Obama's victory really mean the end of racism in America?

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just shut down Parliament until the end of January. However, it appears that this blatantly undemocratic act is popular across the country. Why? Because the maneuvers of all the parties have completely disgusted Canadians. The sell-out deal between Liberal leader Dion and NDP leader Layton was completely incapable of raising any enthusiasm amongst the working class.

On Thursday, November 27, in the evening, three trade union leaders were assassinated in Aragua, Venezuela. The International Marxist Tendency condemns these brutal killings of workers' leaders whose only crime was to stand firm in the defence of workers' interests against the intimidation and terrorism by the capitalist class. We call on the international workers' movement to mobilise against these killings and demand that those responsible be identified and brought to justice.

With the financial crisis as a backdrop, Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government may not survive another week. Less than two months after the last election the government is facing a confidence vote on its budget update and all three opposition parties say they will vote against. Rumours are rife of a Liberal-NDP coalition to replace the Conservatives. The Conservatives must be defeated, but there can be no coalition with the bosses’ parties.

The final results of the Venezuelan elections are now out. The Socialist United Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has won about 80% of all local councils and 17 out of the 22 governors that were up for election (there were no elections in the state of Amazonas, ruled by a pro-Chavez governor).

The first results that have been issued of yesterday's local elections in Venezuela confirm that there is still widespread support for the Revolution, but in some areas tiredness is setting in and the Opposition, in spite of losing around 300,000 votes, has taken advantage of this. This is due to the delay in the revolution. The only conclusion revolutionaries can draw is that it is time to complete the revolution once and for all.

On Sunday November 23, 2008 Venezuela faces one of the most decisive elections in its history. These elections will determine who controls the governors and the key municipal positions throughout the country. What happens on Sunday will have a profound impact on the future of the Bolivarian Revolution.

In the United States anger continues to boil over about the nearly one trillion dollar bailout of the banking industry . It's no surprise, then, that there is a growing ear for populism of the far-right. Many working people are very confused about where the system "went wrong" and are looking for someone to "fix it." Third party figures of the right, such as Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin and Ron Paul, claim to have the solutions.

Teaching assistants, graduate assistants and research assistants at York University in Toronto have been on strike since November 6th. York University workers have traditionally been amongst the most militant in Canada. Recently, thousands of students demonstrated for lower fees in numbers not seen in a decade and many other campus workers are heading into possible strikes. Therefore this strike has the potential of becoming the spark that ignites a generalized movement.

We are proud to announce the publication the first issue of El Militante-Bolivia, the voice of the IMT in Bolivia. We provide here the front page to give our readers an idea of the high quality production of the journal. We would also like to thank all those comrades, supporters and sympathisers who contributed to the financial appeal to help the Bolivian Marxists. Your donations have been invested well and have served to strengthen the Marxist tendency in this key country for the Latin American revolution.

The U.S. has elected a new president, Barack Hussein Obama. Along with the dramatic turn in the economic situation, this marks a definite turning point in the history of the country and of the world. Big illusions have been created that Obama will provide "change". What American workers have voted for is an end to policies that benefit the rich, but Obama does not represent real change. In the coming years workers will learn from real life experience that what is required is a genuine voice of the US working class, and that can only be a mass party of labor.

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

The Bolivarian government still enjoys mass support. But the defeat in the constitutional referendum last December was a clear warning. After 10 years of revolution, the main problems facing the workers have not been solved. The masses that support Chávez are growing weary of seeing a lack of profound social changes and a lack of a clear perspective to complete the revolution. It is time to take firm action against the oligarchy.