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Speak, Claudia!

March 2, 2025 Patrick Lawrence, Scheer Post. , , , ,
Lago de Chapala, Mexico—Watching that procession of hapless European supplicants passing through the Oval Office this week, my mind wandered briefly and came back with an imaginary scene I found pleasurable and instructive all at once: What if Claudia Sheinbaum went to see President Trump right after Andrzej Duda, the ineffectual Polish president, Emmanuel Macron, the ineffectual French president, and Keir Starmer, the hopelessly ineffectual British prime minister? What a kick. The spirited, self-possessed Mexican president, who took office but five months ago, would have put on full display—I am sure of this—the dynamism of an emergent generation of non–Western leaders right next to three exemplars of the wilting, wandering West.

Left Party Makes Comeback In German Election

February 24, 2025 Marcel Fürstenau, Portside. , , ,
Early projections put the socialist Left Party at over 8%, nearly twice as much as they garnered in the last election in 2021, when they won only 4.9% of the vote. Last year was a political nightmare for the Left Party: In January 2024, their former parliamentary group leader, Sahra Wagenknecht, founded her own eponymous party, then they saw their European Union representation cut in half to just 2.7%. The 2024 state elections were also a disaster, with the party losing its traditional foothold in eastern Germany. Their only state premier failed to hang on in Thuringia, while the party barely made it into Saxony's state parliament and was kicked out of Brandenburg entirely.

Lessons On Building Independent Progressive Power In A City

December 2, 2024 Steve Early, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
In 2006 Richmond, California became the largest city in the U.S. to elect a Green Party member as its mayor (a record it still holds). The successful candidate, who served eight years in that office, was Gayle McLaughlin, a leading critic of Chevron Corporation, the city’s largest employer and biggest polluter. McLaughlin co-founded the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) and is now an East Bay DSA member as well.  In 2004, she was the sole RPA representative on the council, long dominated by friends of Big Oil. In January 2025, that seven-member body will have a progressive-majority of four, including DSA-backed Vice-Mayor Claudia Jimenez, who was re-elected to the council this fall.  Richmond’s current mayor is Eduardo Martinez, one of just seven city hall leaders in the country who belong to DSA.

A Letter To My Liberal Friend Who Campaigned For Harris

November 7, 2024 Juan Cruz Ferre, Left Voice. , , , ,
We always agreed that a second Trump presidency was nightmarish to contemplate. Yet these ghastly results should lead you to question putting your energies behind a candidate that did not bother to promise solutions to any of the main problems Americans are going through, and thus left the field open for Trump to score a triumphant comeback. So no, it’s not time to blame third-party spoilers, principled leftists, the Muslim community, or anyone who did not have the stomach to support a genocide-enabler. It is time, instead, to pause and reflect, so that next time you direct your efforts toward building a political alternative to the dead-end, two-party system.

France Protests Against Macron’s Coup, Calls For Impeachment

September 8, 2024 Magdalena Valdez, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , , ,
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of several French cities on Saturday, September 7 to protest against what has been dubbed as “electoral theft” committed by President Emmanuel Macron who appointed far-right Michel Barnier as the prime minister of the country despite the fact that Barnier’s party won on;y 5% of the vote in the latest general elections. The protests were called by the center-left coalition New Popular Front (NFP) in more than 150 cities across France. The protests were organized in opposition to Macron ‘s appointment of Les Républiques party’s Michel Barnier as prime minister, a decision that has been widely criticized by the French left, which has called it a coup against the people’s will, as it was the NFP that had received the maximum number of seats in the July 7 parliamentary elections but had failed to win an absolute majority.

The French Left Won The Election But Macron Is Blocking Them

September 2, 2024 James Wright, The Canary. , , ,
The Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front) left-wing alliance won the most seats in France’s snap legislative election in early July. It took 182 seats, while president Emmanuel Macron’s ‘centrist’ coalition Ensemble took 168 and far right Rassemblement National (National Rally) won 143. The New Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon’s La France Insoumise (Unsubmissive France), social democrats, Greens, and communists, were short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. But they still won the most seats, with other coalitions even further off. Nonetheless, Macron, as president, has refused to appoint a prime minister from the left-wing coalition.

French Elections: Anti-Fascist Victory And Deep Political Crisis

July 12, 2024 John Mullen, Green Left. , , ,
Many thousands of anti-fascists celebrated all night in rallies around the country on July 7, as the news came through of the second round election results in France. It had been widely feared that the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National, RN), led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, would be forming a government this week. Instead they were beaten back into third place, with 143 MPs (including their close allies). The left electoral alliance, New Popular Front (NFP), came first with 182 MPs (and they can count on the 13 "other Lefts" to vote with them). Macron’s group got 168. A parliamentary majority is 289.

New Popular Front Poised To Win Second Round Of Elections In France

July 8, 2024 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , ,
The New Popular Front (NFP) is projected to secure the most seats following the conclusion of the second round of the general election in France on July 7. Exit polls predict the NFP could win around 200 seats in parliament, surpassing Emmanuel Macron’s liberal coalition, expected to take up to 170 seats, and the far-right National Rally, initially projected as the victor, which is polling around 150 seats. Shortly after the first post-election polls were announced, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed, called on President Macron to invite the NFP to form a government. Although the projected number of seats does not guarantee the alliance an absolute majority, left and progressive candidates emphasized their readiness to implement their program.

The Intersection Of Vulnerability And Power: The Case Of Francia Márquez

June 21, 2024 Janvieve Williams Comrie and Mauri Balanta Jaramillo, Black Agenda Report. , , ,
On June 16, during Father’s Day celebrations, Sigifredo Márquez, father of Colombia's Vice President Francia Márquez Mina, was attacked, also affecting a 6-year-old minor. This incident underscores the precarious position and constant threats that endanger the lives of Black leaders and communities in Latin America, where systemic oppression persists despite advances toward equality. Francia Márquez's political ascent has represented hope for social justice in ethnic communities, peasantry, and popular sectors. However, it has also been an affront to political and economic elites, serving as a catalyst for intensified violence not only against her but also against her community in Northern Cauca and other Afro-descendant communities in the country and region.

Network In Defense Of Humanity: Current Challenges After Two Decades

February 16, 2024 Laura Mor, Resumen English. , , ,
Within the framework of the II International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Leftist Parties and Movements this morning at the Havana Convention Palace, the Network in Defense of Humanity (REDH) held a forum which brought together 92 leading intellectuals, and academics from 35 countries, the meeting of the Network in Defense of Humanity – REDH at the Palace of the Conventions here in Havana. The REDH, as explained by José Ernesto Novaez, Coordinator of the Cuban Chapter, is based on ten principles initiated and approved in 2004 in how to act in defense of the planet, the integration of peoples, the building of solidarity,  sovereignty and international legality, unity in diversity and of culture for all, access to knowledge for all, popular participation, truthfulness and plurality of information, memory and peace; under which certain lines were drawn on how to act within the scenario of the resurgence of current neo-fascism.

The Return Of The Guatemalan Spring, Update 1

January 31, 2024 Michael Fox, The Real News Network. , , , ,
Guatemala’s new president Bernardo Arévalo was inaugurated on January 14. But it did not come off without a hitch. Outgoing opposition lawmakers did their best to try to stymie the swearing-in of Arévalo and some of his party members. Arévalo’s supporters rallied in Guatemala City. As we looked at in Episode 2, Bernardo Arévalo is the son of Guatemala’s first democratic leader Juan José Arévalo, who ushered in the Guatemalan Spring. Bernardo Arévalo has promised to lift Guatemala once again, but… even after winning the election, he faced constant legal maneuvers, led by the attorney general, that aimed to overturn the results and block his inauguration.

A Working Class Victory On Colombia’s Horizon

January 19, 2024 Omar Ocampo, Inequality.org. , , ,
A working-class victory is on the horizon in Colombia. The Seventh Committee of the House of Representatives voted to approve 16 of the 98 articles of the landmark Labor Reform bill right before the start of winter recess. The bill will now advance to a second round of legislative debates that will resume next month. This is great news for the workers movement: Labor reform represents one of the three flagship policy proposals of the Petro-Márquez administration that seeks to equitably transform society. The bill will not only restore the labor rights that were rescinded a little over twenty years ago by a far-right government — it will go a step further and expand these rights.

Bolivia’s Ruling Party Confirms Evo Morales’ Candidacy

October 8, 2023 Brasil De Fato, People's Dispatch. , , ,
The split in Bolivia’s ruling political party has become official. President Luis Arce and vice-president David Choquehuanca are no longer part of the MAS (Movement towards Socialism) party, which ratified the decision, informally announced on the 24, to present former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) as its candidate in the 2025 elections. The MAS held its tenth congress from October 3-4 in the town of Lauca Ñ, a coca growing region in the center of the country. On that occasion, the party decreed the “self-expulsion” of Arce and Choquehuanca, for not attending the meeting, and of 20 other deputies aligned with the Arce government.

How Guatemalans Are Mobilizing To Defend Their Fragile Democracy

September 17, 2023 Jeff Abbott, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
Guatemala is facing one of its most critical political crises in the last three decades following the surprise victory of progressive anti-corruption presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo on Aug. 20. The crisis stems from what many Guatemalans see as an attempt by officials accused of corruption to undermine and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the results of the country’s democratic process in order to protect their interests. In response, citizens and social movements have mobilized to defend the Central American country’s democracy as public officials attempt to undermine the will of the people.

Manifiesta To Kick Off A New Political Year For The Left In Europe

September 10, 2023 People's Dispatch. , , , ,
Left-wing forces in Belgium are unofficially kicking off a new political year as thousands of people pour into the coastal city of Ostend to participate in yet another edition of Manifiesta, the fest of solidarity, scheduled for the weekend of September 9-10. Launched for the first time in 2010, Manifiesta has evolved into a gathering of at least 15,000 people who convene not only for discussions and debates but also for bonding and evenings of music. The festival provides passersby with a glimpse of the diversity of left-wing movements. The program is shaped to address pressing topics such as workplace rights of health personnel and the climate crisis, while also emphasizing the significance of feminism, anti-imperialism, peace advocacy, and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and the Cuban Revolution.
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