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Left Politics

To Win The Run-Off Election, Ecuador’s Left Must Confront Past Mistakes

September 2, 2023 Peter Bolton, Orinoco Tribune. , , ,
On August 20, Ecuadorians went to the polls to elect a new president just over two years since the previous presidential elections of 2021. Luisa González of the Citizens’ Revolution party topped the poll with 33%. But since no candidate achieved the necessary threshold to win in the first round, the election will now be decided via a run-off election in October. She will face political newcomer Daniel Noboa of the center-right National Democratic Action Party, who surprised political observers by placing second in a crowded field with 24% of votes counted. González’s party was founded by former firebrand socialist president Rafael Correa after his original party, Country Alliance, became sullied by his successor Lenin Moreno.

There Can Be No Justice Until Capitalism Is Removed From The Earth

July 19, 2023 Tanupriya Singh, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
“What is the path that we are going to chart towards socialism?” This is the question that animated the first day of the ‘Dilemmas of Humanity: Pan African Dialogues to Build Socialism’ conference, which is being held in South Africa between July 17 to 20. The conference has been divided into commissions, each with a mandate to deliberate upon a particular theme and draft a concrete plan of action which will be adopted in the form of a resolution on the final day. The commissions on July 17 addressed the themes of food sovereignty and agroecology, gender struggles against patriarchy, and urban struggles for housing.

Luisa González, The New Face Of Correísmo

July 8, 2023 Ociel Alí López, Orinoco Tribune. , , ,
Less than a month after a surprise designation as the presidential candidate of the Citizens’ Revolution, polls show Luisa González as the favorite to win the elections in Ecuador, far ahead of her closest opponent. Her candidacy’s strong point lies in being endorsed by the Citizens’ Revolution (RC) movement, led by former President Rafael Correa. This movement has won three consecutive presidential elections: firstly with Correa from 2007 to 2017, followed by Lenín Moreno’s term from 2017 to 2021. It was only in the 2021 presidential elections that the movement faced defeat in the runoff against current President Guillermo Lasso.

Left Parties, Unions Oppose Bill To Ban ‘Rioters’ From Protests

May 24, 2023 People's Dispatch. , , ,
A controversial bill proposed by Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne calling to ban ‘rioters’ from participating in protests has drawn widespread criticism. Working class sections and rights groups claim that provisions of the bill can be misused to brand trade unionists and activists as rioters and curtail their freedom to participate in protest and strikes. Earlier this week, due to fierce opposition from legislators of the Workers Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) in the Justice Committee of the Chamber of the Belgian Parliament, Quickenborne backed down from asking for an immediate vote on the bill.

Lessons From Barcelona’s Eight-Year Experiment In Radical Governance

May 11, 2023 Mark Engler and Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
In May 2015, this slogan was the rallying cry of a Spanish movement that startled its country’s political establishment by propelling into power Ada Colau, Barcelona’s first female mayor. Colau took office alongside a winning slate of city councilors who had joined together in a new formation called Barcelona en Comú, Catalan for “Barcelona in Common.” Their victory reflected a decision by activists to move from occupying the town squares to taking over city halls, and it would have profound consequences for the future of one of Europe’s most prominent metropolitan areas. Eight years later, Ada Colau and the Comuns, as they are referred to locally, face a different political situation.

Guatemala Blocks Leftist Indigenous Leader From Presidential Race

February 7, 2023 Jimmy Zúñiga Wallace and Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy Report. , , ,
Guatemala’s notoriously corrupt right-wing government has blocked a prominent leftist Indigenous leader from running in the June 2023 presidential election, in a move that international observers have condemned as an “electoral coup”. Nearly half of Guatemalans (44%) identify as Indigenous. The Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP) is a left-wing party that was created to represent the First Nations who have for so long been ignored by Guatemala’s political system. The MLP is led by Thelma Cabrera, a social movement activist and human rights defender from the Maya Mam community. She has pledged to fight poverty in Guatemala (one of the poorest countries in the region), resist neoliberalism, and establish a plurinational state that gives full rights to Indigenous nations, like Bolivia. The newly created MLP party ran for the first time in the 2019 presidential election.

Perú: Attempts To Remove Castillo Continued Until Abrupt End

December 9, 2022 Carlos Noreaga, Orinoco Tribune. , , ,
Rural teacher and trade unionist Pedro Castillo has had a troubled presidency. From the beginning, he faced attempts by the right wing in parliament, where the extreme right predominates, to remove him. However, he was also weakened by his abandonment of campaign proposals that raised many hopes among Peruvians, the serious shortcomings of his management, repeated signs of ineffectiveness, questioned appointments, and corruption scandals. There were four attempts to remove him from the presidency before Castillo decided to attempt carrying out his own coup against Congress, trying to shut it down in an unconstitutional decision that failed. Castillo surprisingly won the 2021 elections. In a fragmented election, he went to the second round with 19 percent of the votes and narrowly defeated Keiko Fujimori.

Bringing The People’s Voices Into Government

December 2, 2022 Teri Mattson, WTF is Going on in Latin America and the Caribbean. , , , ,
This episode was broadcast LIVE FROM BOGOTÁ with guest Lilia Solano, Vice Minister of Social Dialogue and Equality for the government of Colombia Host Teri Mattson has been in Bogotá since 24 November attending several encuentros organized by Vice Minister Lilia Solano.  In this episode Teri and Lilia discuss the Petro government’s vision of bringing the 1991 Constitutional reform of direct democracy to reality among the Colombian people and the creation of social movements to develop informed citizens, build political formation and continue to create electoral candidates for the continuation of the Pacto Historico.

Hundreds Of Thousands Mobilize In Support Of President AMLO

November 30, 2022 People's Dispatch. , , ,
Mexico City, Mexico - On Sunday, November 27, hundreds of thousands of Mexicans flooded the streets of the capital Mexico City in support of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his pro-people policies. People of all ages and from all walks of life arrived in the capital from different states of the country to participate in the march called by President AMLO to commemorate his four years in office. Supporters began gathering in the Paseo de la Reforma avenue early in the morning. At around 9 am (local time), they began marching from the Angel of Independence monument to the Zócalo, waving flags and enthusiastically singing the president’s name in chorus: “Obrador, Obrador, Obrador…” Soon, they were joined by the governors, deputies, and senators of the ruling center-left National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party as well as family members of the president. President AMLO also joined the sea of people who were eagerly waiting for him. .

Colombia’s New President Reverses US Coup, Visits Venezuela

November 4, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. , , ,
Colombia’s first ever left-wing President Gustavo Petro made history on November 1 by visiting his neighbor Venezuela, officially normalizing relations after years of hostility. After a meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the two leaders signed a joint declaration pledging to unify the countries and integrate Latin America, following the anti-imperialist model of Simón Bolívar. Petro said it is “suicidal” to divide the countries, “because we are the same people,” in “historically one single Bolivarian nation, reunited.” The presidents symbolically posed for photos in front of large portraits of Bolívar, the revolutionary general who led a successful armed uprising against Spanish colonialism and established many of the modern states of South America.

What Can The Western Left Learn From Lula’s Breathtaking Victory?

November 1, 2022 Alex Fleck, Brasil Wire. , , ,
The Worker’s Party in Brazil has just won the most contested election in the country’s history. From a jailed politician up until 2019 to now the president elect with the largest amount of votes in the country’s history, Lula built a formidable coalition in order to overcome all obstacles, smears, and illegal use of public funds that would be used against him. The extent to which Bolsonaro moved every lever he could to get reelected cannot be overstated. At the beginning of the year, the federal government pushed through Congress a 50% increase in the direct cash payment program “Auxilio Brasil”, Bolsonaro’s rebranded version of “Bolsa Familia”, a worker’s party program. The move also expanded to include more families on the program. Then, after the first round of voting, his administration used State-owned banks to start offering government-backed micro-loans to beneficiaries of Auxilio Brasil.

ManiFiesta 2022 Ends With A Call To Change The World As We Want It

September 21, 2022 People's Dispatch. , , ,
The ManiFiesta 2022 festival, organized at the Wellington racetrack in the Belgian city of Ostend from September 17-18, concluded with a resolve to mobilize for alternatives for the future. The 12th edition of ManiFiesta was organized by the Solidarity magazine and Medicine For the People (MPLP). Over 14,000 people participated. Around 160 events including political discussions, speeches, debates, book fairs, exhibitions, a food festival, and 35 concerts were organized as part of the festival. Raoul Hedebouw, president of the Workers Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA), Bolivian Vice-President David Choquehuanca, Chris Mitchell from the Enough is Enough movement in the UK, Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, Holocaust survivor Simon Gronowski, British economist Grace Blakeley, author and PTB leader Peter Mertens...

Argentina’s Vice President Survives Assassination Attempt

September 2, 2022 Orinoco Tribune. , , ,
Argentinian Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner survived an assassination attempt this Thursday, September 1, when a man pointed a gun in her face and made the gesture of pulling the trigger before a crowd of her supporters and security agents surrounded him. The incident occurred late on Thursday evening when Fernández was getting down from her car in front of her home in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Recoleta and greeting supporters who have been on vigil there for almost two weeks, showing their support against the political-judicial persecution that is trying to disqualify her from the 2023 presidential race.

Leftist Parties In Turkey Form New Political Coalition

August 27, 2022 People's Dispatch. , , ,
On August 20, left-wing organizations in Turkey formed the Union of Socialist Forces, a new electoral alliance. The alliance comprises the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), the Revolutionary Movement (Devrim Hareketi), the Left Party (Sol Party) and the Communist Movement of Turkey (TKH). In a press conference organized in Ankara last week, the Union of Socialist Forces launched its manifesto regarding the 2023 general elections. The press conference was attended by Ozan Yılmaz of TKP, Ercan Bölükbaşı of Devrim Hareketi, İsmail Hakkı Tombul of the Left Party and Umut Kuruç of TKH. The Union of Socialist Forces has resolved to end the conservative regime in Turkey led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his right-wing Justice and Development Party (AKP).

From Resistance To Governing Power In Honduras

August 22, 2022 Gerardo Torres and Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle, Convergence. , , ,
A month after the coup d’état I was delegated by the new Front Against the Coup d’état to go to the U.S. to make known what had happened in Honduras. I had been working around international representation and communications in two formations, the National Coordinator of Popular Resistance and the Bloque Popular (Popular Block). These were spaces for coordination amongst the social movements that were confronting the impacts of neoliberalism, specifically the struggle against the Free Trade Agreement, which was impacting everything related to our agricultural capacity. Small and mid-sized Honduran producers had no possibility of competing against the big North American companies who were subsidized by the U.S. government and who generated a completely asymmetrical and unjust competition amongst producers.
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