Americas

On Thursday, July 14, a group of Young Socialists and representatives of the Editorial Board of Der Funke organised a picket in front of the Brazilian embassy to protest against the threatened repression of the Cipla and Interfibra workers who have occupied their factories to defend their jobs.

In his weekly Alo Presidente TV programme, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced that some 136 closed factories are being surveyed with the aim of expropriating them. Within the workers’ movement this has been enthusiastically received. The main discussion now is what is meant by socialism, how to apply “co-management” and what the role of the workers is in the revolutionary process and in the economy.

The recent terrorist attacks in London only confirm the volatile position the world finds itself in at the beginning of the 21st century. Bush and Blair’s war on terror and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have done nothing but further destabilize the situation. In the United States, the mood is finally turning against the war. This is the editorial of the latest issue of the American Socialist Appeal.

Titanic sums of money - the taxes paid in mostly by the working class - have been spent by the Bush Administration primarily on two things: the continuing slaughter in Iraq and the further enrichment of the top 10 percent of Americans. Millions of working people in the United States continue to worry about whether or not they will have a job two months from now or even next week. And how does the ‘compassionate conservative’ in the White House soothe the nation’s anxiety? By handing out billions of dollars to the modern-day robber barons of Capital.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's atypically frank condemnation of the treatment of U.S. prisoners around the world cause a storm of criticism. The bulk of the critics purposely skewed Durbin’s apt comparison, ignoring the widespread tactics used in the war on terror which without question include torture. The ugly truth is that prisons in Iraq are merely a reflection of the prison system here in the U.S.

Every victory by working people in the struggle to improve their lives is a step forward that must be applauded. Working people have power when they organize. But it is not enough to petition the bosses and their cronies in government to throw a few crumbs to those at the bottom. From the latest issue of the American Socialist Appeal.

After Bush’s reelection, many around the world thought the end of the world had come. According to them, the American “sheeple” had been duped once and for all, and Bush would effortlessly ram through his ultra-reactionary policies at home and abroad. However, Bush’s honeymoon period disappeared in a flash. Now, seemingly overnight, the mood of the American people has finally turned against the war in Iraq.


In his new book, Alan Woods examines the broad sweep of American history from a Marxist perspective. Many Americans view the ideas of socialism and Marxism with suspicion and distrust. In Marxism and the U.S.A., the author shows that these ideas are not at all foreign to the history and traditions of the American people. The book can be ordered from Wellred USA for $15 within the U.S. and for $20 for International orders.

Marxism and the USA is an updated and greatly expanded version of an essay on this question originally written in 2002. We produce here Alan Woods’ introduction to give our readers an idea of what the book is about.

Ramon Samblas interviewed Juan Carlos Galvis from SINALTRAINAL, the Colombian food processing and beverages trade union. Juan Carlos spoke today at one of the recent G8 Alternative meetings.

In 2002 the workers of Cipla and Interfibra occupied their factories to defend 1,000 jobs. In the last few days the possibility of imprisonment of the coordinator of the Factory Council, Serge Goulart, and the occupation by the police of these factories is increasing. We appeal to all trade unionists and left politicians, to all the progressive organisations internationally, to workers and youth in general, to send resolutions demanding an immediate cessation to the threats against the workers of the occupied factories in Brazil.

Over the past couple of years the U.S. economy has gained some momentum and avoided slipping back into recession, but this was based on the increased squeezing of the U.S. and world working class, not job growth or significant investment in productive capacity. Even if the U.S. economy miraculously takes off in the second half of 2005, the damage has already been done for millions of working Americans.