Democracy

Aligning Our National Organizations With Co-Op Principles

August 20, 2024 Rebecca Kemble, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, Democracy, Self-Determination, Worker Rights and Jobs

In his 2010 Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) article “What should our movement look like in 2040?,” John McNamara, past president of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC, “the Federation”) and current Co-Director of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, used the metaphor of building a house. He saw the first four years of the USFWC (2004-2008) as the foundation laid by the cooperation and collaboration amongst three democratic regional formations: the Western Worker Cooperative Conference, the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy and the Midwest Worker Cooperative Conference.

Real Democracy And Continental Integration

August 19, 2024 Cira Pascual Marquina, Venezuelanalysis. Strategize! Bolivarian Process, Democracy, Imperialism, Latin America, Venezuela

Continental integration has been a longstanding project in Latin America. It aims to overcome the balkanization that occurred in the wake of independence, which weakens the region geopolitically. This was a goal pursued by Simón Bolivar and José Marti in the 19th century and more recently by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez. In 2004, the latter two joined forces to found The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty [ALBA-TCP], which works to build connections among the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean. In this interview, we talk with Jorge Arreaza, Secretary of ALBA-TCP, about the past and present of Venezuela’s democratic project and about his hopes for South-South integration.

US Or China, Which Is Truly Democratic?

August 17, 2024 Simon Turner, Geopolitical Economy. Educate! Capitalism, China, Democracy, Gaza, Israel, oligarchy, Palestine, Socialism, US Imperialism, Xi Jinping

Who do we want to lead? With genocide ongoing, regional wars brewing, and climate change records breaking, who is a safe pair of hands? Today a choice exists; an alternative to the US-led international order is being built, with China at its center. A Western survey, the Edelman Trust Barometer, found China to be the country rated highest globally in terms of people’s trust in their government. China has held the top spot every year but one since 2018, with a comprehensive trust index of 79 in 2024. The US is down at a mere 46.

US Rejection Of Venezuela’s Democracy Vindicates Trump

August 9, 2024 Ajamu Baraka, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Democracy, Elections, Trump, US Imperialism, Venezuela

The dust-up on January 6, 2021, was nothing compared to an opposition in Venezuela calling for the nation’s military forces to ignore the declaration of state authorities recognizing the result of their electoral process. Instead. they collaborated with external powers involved in ongoing illegal actions to undermine the state and its democratically elected leadership. Even Donald Trump didn’t attempt to institute a similar course of action following the 2020 elections. And even if he wanted to, it would not have been effective since then Joint Chief of Staff, Mark Milley, inserted himself into the local security decision-making process in order to countermand any orders coming from Trump. Talk about a coup!

Capitalism’s Unequal Distribution Deprives You Of True Freedom

August 9, 2024 Richard D. Wolff, Counter Punch. Educate! Capitalism, Democracy, Freedom, wealth inequality, Worker Rights

As the French economist Thomas Piketty most recently exposed, capitalism, across time and space, has always tended to produce ever-greater economic inequality. Oxfam, a global charity, reported that 2022’s 10 richest men together had six times more wealth than the poorest 3.1 billion people on earth. The lack of democracy inside workplaces or enterprises is both a cause and an effect of capitalism’s unequal distribution of income and wealth. Of course, inequality predates capitalism. Powerful feudal lords across Europe had blended autocracy with unequal distributions of wealth on their manorial estates.

Trade Unions Can And Must Rebuild Democracy

August 9, 2024 Luc Triangle, Portside. Organize! Democracy, International Solidarity, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

2024 is historic in the story of global democracy. Around four billion people will vote in more than 40 countries. But in what state do we find democracy? The facts speak for themselves – if democracy was a hospital patient, it would need constant care. The global trade union movement, as the world’s largest social movement, needs to stand up For Democracy. Democracy and democratic values are under attack worldwide. Unregulated, neo-liberal globalisation has left billions of people behind and this breeds support for right-wing populists. This has fed a rising tide of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes which neither respect limits on their power nor protect the freedoms and rights of workers, minorities, civil society or trade unions.

Capitalism And Democracy Are Opposites

August 4, 2024 Richard Wolff, LA Progressive. Educate! Autocracy, Capitalism, Democracy, Worker Rights

Fans of capitalism like to say it is democratic or that it supports democracy. Some have stretched language so far as to literally equate capitalism with democracy, using the terms interchangeably. No matter how many times that is repeated, it is simply not true and never was. Indeed, it is much more accurate to say that capitalism and democracy are opposites. To see why, you have only to look at capitalism as a production system where employees enter into a relationship with employers, where a few people are the boss, and most people simply work doing what they are told to do. That relationship is not democratic; it is autocratic.

Venezuela: An Attempted Coup By Any Other Name

August 2, 2024 Maria Paez Victor, Counter Punch. Educate! Coups, Democracy, Elections, Venezuela

Once again, as in 2002, Venezuela has been the victim of a combined media and diplomatic coup attempt, but this time with the added element of organized crime and a cyber-attack. Millions of eligible voters cast their electronic ballots before the presence of more than 635 international witnesses including electoral experts of the United Nations, the African Union, and electoral staff of 65 countries. How many international witnesses are allowed for the USA or Canadian elections? None. Nicolás Maduro was re-elected with 51.2% of votes (5,150,092 votes), and the far-right candidate Edmundo González lost with 44.2% of votes (4,445,978 votes). The other 8 opposition leaders received 4.6% of the total votes cast.

Organization Of American States Interference Against Venezuela Fails

August 2, 2024 Victoria Torres, Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Democracy, Elections, OAS, Regime Change, Venezuela

The Organization of American States (OAS) has failed in an interventionist attempt to try to approve a resolution targeting the sovereign presidential elections in Venezuela. The discredited regional body has been plagued by condemnations of mismanagement and ethical qualms in recent years against its secretary, Luis Almagro, as well as by its loss of credibility among regional countries regarding the body’s belligerence in recent regional crises, always protecting Washington interests or claims over regional sovereignty. By failing to obtain the necessary votes and consensus this Wednesday, July 31, the OAS was unable to pass its resolution against the Venezuelan electoral process.

An Attack On Venezuela’s Democracy

August 1, 2024 Leonardo Flores, CODEPINK - Women for Peace. Educate! Coups, Democracy, Elections, Far Right, Nicolas Maduro, US Imperialism, Venezuela

A massive cyberattack, a global disinformation campaign and armed gangs are key elements in an attempted coup in Venezuela following presidential elections on July 28. The results of those elections, in which 10 candidates competed, saw President Maduro win 51.2% of the vote against opposition leader Edmundo González’s 44.2%, with 80% of the vote counted. The remaining eight candidates combined for 4.6%, in a vote that has become controversial for all the wrong reasons. González and his far-right allies rejected the results and alleged fraud For months, the Venezuelan government has been denouncing the far-right’s strategy for these elections.

Venezuela: US Politicians Call Fraud, Election Observers Endorse Results

July 30, 2024 Alan MacLeod, MintPress News. Educate! Democracy, Elections, US Imperialism, Venezuela

Much to the chagrin of the U.S. government, socialist candidate Nicolas Maduro won a third successive term in office on Sunday, convincingly beating his U.S.-backed opponents, Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado, by seven points. Almost immediately after the results were announced, American officials began decrying the elections as a farce. “We commend [the Venezuelan people’s] courage and commitment to democracy in the face of repression,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a speech on Sunday evening, adding: We have serious concerns that the result announced does not affect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people. It is critical that every vote be counted fairly and transparently.

Nicolás Maduro Re-Elected President Of Venezuela

July 29, 2024 Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Democracy, Elections, Nicolas Maduro, US Intervention, Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been re-elected with 5.1 million votes (51.2% of the total), stated the president of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso. Far-right opposition candidate Edmundo González obtained 4.4 million votes (44.2%), and the other candidates obtained 462,704 votes (4.6%). Thus, President Maduro’s margin of victory was deemed irreversible at about seven percentage points. The first bulletin with the results of the Venezuelan presidential elections were released close to midnight on Sunday, July 28. Results were expected to be released around 11 pm. Amoroso explained that the slight delay was the result of an attack against the electronic vote transmission infrastructure.

Venezuela: National Lawyers Guild Electoral Observers Praise Fairness, Transparency Of Election

July 29, 2024 National Lawyers Guild International Committee. Educate! Democracy, Elections, Transparency, US Imperialism, Venezuela

July 29, 2024 – A delegation of five election observers from the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) monitored the presidential elections in Venezuela that took place on July 28, 2024. The delegation observed a transparent, fair voting process with scrupulous attention to legitimacy, access to the polls, and pluralism. Despite the soundness of the electoral process, the U.S. backed opposition, with support from an anti-Maduro western press, has refused to accept the results, undermining the stability of Venezuela’s democracy. The president of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE), Elvis Amoroso, called upon the attorney general to investigate the attacks on the electoral transmission system.

Multipolarity, Internationalism And Elections In Venezuela

July 28, 2024 Cira Pascual Marquina, Venezuelanalysis. Educate! Bolivarian Process, Democracy, Elections, Multipolarity, US Imperialism, Venezuela

Carlos Ron is Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America and heads up Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Institute, which promotes peace and solidarity among the world’s peoples. In part one of this interview, Ron argued that the US doctrine of Monroeism has been applied to Venezuela with the aim of toppling its government. He also discussed what he calls “Hyper-Imperialism”: an especially aggressive phase of imperialist aggression that has emerged in recent decades. Here, in part two of the interview, Ron discusses the prospects of multilateralism and the upcoming presidential election. He also addressed the challenges ahead for the Bolivarian Process.

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