Americas

We're proud to reproduce this letter by four new comrades from San Francisco, in which they explain why they have decided to join the Workers International League.

On May 19th, protesters gathered outside a $500 a plate fundraiser dinner being held at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Providence, RI. The fundraiser was for Lincoln Chafee, the incumbent Senator, who was the only member of the GOP to vote against the war on Iraq. Chafee is not running primarily as an anti-war candidate, but rather as a "moderate" imperialist, with the aim of finishing up one adventure before embarking on another...

Capitalism cannot provide a decent living to everyone, but as long as it guarantees significant layers of the population a reasonable standard of living it can maintain a degree of social stability. Recent figures on the situation in the USA show that “middle America” is beginning to feel the pinch, a phenomenon which indicates that social turmoil will soon be on the agenda.

As the important struggle of the rank and file "Soldiers of Solidarity" at Delphi continues, we can learn much from the experiences of working people across Latin America, a continent in the throes of a revolutionary process. The struggles of our brothers and sisters in Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, and Mexico are rich in lessons for the US labor movement.

There's no doubt about it: the simmering discontent accumulating beneath the surface of American society is starting to bubble to the surface. As millions of immigrant workers, their families, and supporters participated in the historic "Day Without an Immigrant", a changing mood is emerging across the country. This is the latest editorial from the US Socialist Appeal.

The recent announcement by the Evo Morales government in Bolivia of the “nationalisation” of the country’s hydrocarbon resources has shaken the multinationals. This move, although in reality not complete nationalisation, is a reflection of the overall revolutionary wave sweeping across Latin America.

On April 20, Mexican police killed three steel workers while attempting to break a strike in the city of Lazaro Cardenas. This is part of an attempt by the right wing Fox government to destroy the Miners' and Steel Workers Union (SNTMMRM). The recently created Front for Trade Union Autonomy and Unity has called for a protest general strike.  See also a document by the Mexican Marxist Tendency Militante on the 1906 Cananea miners’ strike and the lessons for the miners’ struggle today: “Centenario de la huelga de Cananea; CANANEA Y PASTA DE...

This new video, created by members of the Workers International Leaguein Detroit, vividly documents the militancy of the Soldiers of Solidarity and their struggle at Delphi. Learn more about the SoS here, where you can also send these struggling workers much-needed messages of support. All support to the Soldiers of Solidarity! Click here for the Latest from Gregg Shotwell of...

Demonstrations and marches have been taking across the USA, but it wasn't until Chicago's 500,000 and Los Angeles' 1,000,000-plus marches that the mood really took off. Taking their inspiration from these historic and unexpected turnouts, millions of undocumented workers and their supporters turned out in droves for another wave of mobilizations on April 9th and 10th.

Although small compared to some of the other big rallies held around the United States, the rally in Providence, RI in defence of immigrant rights was significant because it was larger than the average rally in the city, and because it shows how deep the opposition to the US government goes.

On April 4, workers from occupied factories and factories under cogestión (workers' control) marched in Caracas from the National Assembly to the Miraflores presidential palace. The march had been organised by the recently created Revolutionary Front of Workers of Factories Occupied and under Workers' Control and included delegations from several occupied factories.

The move to the left that we workers are experiencing will be sooner or later reflected in the United States. The revolutions and insurrections we are seeing in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela and Bolivia, not only inspired the movements we are seeing at the moment in Los Angeles, they also mark a new period in the class struggle.

The magnificent revolutionary movement in Ecuador has risen once again forcing the government to declare a state of emergency in four main provinces. What we are witnessing is the early beginnings of a movement that could develop towards a new insurrection.

On the 30th anniversary of the military coup in Argentina, we remind you of Ted Grant's article on the Argentine Revolution first published in July 1973. As he predicted back then, “The capitalists having clutched the straw of Peronism, will turn to the stick of the generals once again.” This unfortunately is what happened a few years later with another military coup. Today’s activists must study the mistakes of the movement in the past in order not to repeat them today.