Vavi Faction Uses Bosses’ Courts Against UnionCapitalist State: Hands Off NUMSA!
4 AUGUST 2022—With the 11th national congress of NUMSA,
the largest union in the country, the bosses have issued a massive threat to all
working people. The capitalist courts first tried to interdict the congress, and
after it went ahead following a two-day delay are now threatening reprisals,
including de-registration of the union and possible jail sentences for NUMSA
leaders. It’s in the vital interests of workers in all unions—no matter what
they may think of the current NUMSA leadership—to defend the union against this
attack. The capitalist state seeks to cripple the power of the unions by
dictating to them how they shall conduct their affairs. This comes in the midst
of a massive onslaught against workers and the poor—soaring costs of living,
record high unemployment, sabotage and privatisation of Eskom and other SOEs. To
fight against all of this, what’s urgently needed is the mobilisation of the
mainly black proletariat, at the head of the broad toiling masses, on a
class-struggle basis in opposition to all wings of the bourgeoisie and its black
frontmen in the ANC government. The precondition for this
is independence of the trade unions from the capitalist state, which is an
instrument for defending the rule of the exploiters against the workers and
oppressed. Underlining this lesson in blood, the week after enforcing the court
interdict against NUMSA, police in Tembisa township gunned down at least two
people in one day during protests against electricity price hikes and power
cuts.
It was an opposition grouping within the union that invited the state to
interdict the NUMSA congress—an act of pure class
treason. Led among others by SAFTU president Ruth Ntlokotse, this
opposition gathered support among NUMSA members by appealing to discontent over
shady dealings at NUMSA’s investment company and bureaucratic suppression of
critics of Irvin Jim and his allies. When Jim and Co brazenly suspended
Ntlokotse and dozens of others on the eve of the NUMSA congress, the latter ran
to the bosses’ courts to get the suspensions overturned. Even after that was
done, they complained that proceeding with the congress violated “the sanctity
of the court order” and have now filed for arrest warrants against Jim and NUMSA
president Andrew Chirwa for contempt of court. The opposition justifies this
rotten treachery with the lie that it is a way to defend “worker control” in the
union. As the Marikana massacre and countless other bloody acts of
strike-breaking violence show, this state is the deadly enemy of strong,
militant unions. By using the bosses’ courts against the union, the opposition
is helping the capitalists to cripple the workers’ defence organisations, while
at the same time disarming workers and shackling them to the state of their
class enemy.
If the NUMSA congress has shown anything, it is that politically supporting
either side in the bureaucratic faction fight dividing NUMSA and SAFTU can only
spell disaster for the working class. This is precisely what the pseudo- Marxist
left does, with most of them seeking to pressure the Vavi faction to the left.
The pseudo-Trotskyist Marxist Workers Party is an especially craven example.
They hailed Ntlokotse’s election as SAFTU president as the “most politically
significant of the victories” won by the Vavi faction against the Jim faction at
the May SAFTU congress, hyping her “rank-and-file opposition” in NUMSA as the
great hope for the “ideological and political rearming” of the workers movement
(marxistworkersparty.org.za, 13 June). Less than two months later, Ntlokotse and
Co are fighting for the neo-apartheid state to jail the union’s leaders and
install them in their place!
(read on)
Spartacist South Africa Leaflet
19 July 2022
The Crisis in SAFTU and the Fight for Revolutionary LeadershipBreak With the Labour Traitors—For Black Proletarian Power!Jim vs. Vavi: Both Factions Bankrupt
19 JULY—The May congress of the South African Federation of Trade Unions
(SAFTU) made it unmistakably clear that both SAFTU and its largest
affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA), are in a massive
crisis. The main expression of this crisis so far is a split in the
bureaucracy, running up through the top leadership, and a bitter struggle
for organisational control between the two factions—supporters of SAFTU
general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on one side and supporters of NUMSA
general secretary Irvin Jim on the other. The struggle for positions
repeatedly threatened to plunge the May congress into chaos and split the
federation. At one point, pro-Jim delegates marched toward the podium
singing “ungayiyijahi impi, iyabulala [don’t rush to war, it’s
deadly]” as Vavi tried to steamroller obstacles to the election of his
slate. Many expect the battle to continue at NUMSA’s 11th national congress,
which has now been postponed twice as Jim and his allies try to suppress
revolts in a number of regions by NUMSA members aligned to Vavi.
Despite the ferocity of the organisational struggle, both sides try to
obscure the political issues while making a big show of unity. Behind this
crisis is something neither faction wants to (or
can) address: the utter failure, since the split from the ANC/SACP/COSATU
Tripartite Alliance in 2013-15, to bring about the revival of a militant and
powerful trade-union movement that would defend and advance the interests of
the black toiling masses. This is what left-wing workers hoped for at the
time of the split. Many also expected it to lay the basis for some kind of
new political voice of the working class, feeling thoroughly disillusioned
with the wretched pro-capitalist SACP leaders. These hopes have been utterly
betrayed. The fundamental reason is not a “lack of urgency” or
organisational incapacity, as preached by the pseudo-Marxist left groups
whose whole strategic outlook is defined by supporting and pressuring one
faction of the bureaucracy or the other—WASP, Marxist Workers Party (MWP),
Keep Left!, etc. The root cause is the nationalist, class-collaborationist
programme of the NUMSA/SAFTU leaders, who despite their secondary
differences all seek to re-furbish the nationalist popular front by building
a “left” version of the Tripartite Alliance.
(read on)
Spartakist-Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands
Berlin, 22. Juni 2022
Schmeißt die EU/NATO-Unterstützer raus!
Vorschlag für Initiativantrag beim Erfurter Parteitag der Partei DIE LINKE vom 24.–26. Juni 2022
Im Kontext des Ukrainekriegs wollen
die deutschen Kapitalisten jeden noch so kleinen Mucks gegen
die NATO unterdrücken. Im Windschatten der Bourgeoisie sind
die offenen Stiefellecker der EU und NATO innerhalb der
Linkspartei – wie Gysi und Ramelow – in der Offensive: Sie
kämpfen dafür, jeden, der nicht auf ihre Linie einschwenkt
und der EU und NATO ewige Treue schwören will, aus dem Weg
zu räumen.
Was war bisher die Antwort innerhalb
der Linkspartei auf diese Offensive der offenen
EU/NATO-Unterstützer? Ob nun Wagenknecht oder Strömungen wie
die Antikapitalistische Linke oder Sozialistische Linke:
alle gehen dem Kampf aus dem Weg und versuchen die Einheit
mit den offenen Pro-Imperialisten aufrechtzuerhalten. So
gibt auch keiner ihrer Anträge oder Änderungsanträge für den
Parteitag eine Antwort auf die reaktionäre Offensive. Wir
haben eine Antwort.
Antrag:
Mit sofortiger
Wirkung werden die EU/NATO-Unterstützer wie Gregor Gysi,
Bodo Ramelow, Caren Lay, Susanne Hennig-Wellsow,
Christiane Schneider, Jan van Aken und alle anderen, die
fordern die EU und NATO zu unterstützen, aus der Partei
DIE LINKE rausgeschmissen.
Einladung an linke Organisationen zu einer offenen Debatte:
Krieg in der Ukraine, deutscher Imperialismus und die Krise in der Linken:
Welcher Weg vorwärts für Revolutionäre?
Der Krieg in der Ukraine und der damit verbundene Schwenk der deutschen Bourgeoisie haben in der Linken zu einer gewaltigen Krise geführt. Es ist dringend notwendig, eine revolutionäre Antwort auf die Offensive der offenen pro-EU/NATO-Agenten für den Imperialismus zu geben.
Das muss jetzt angegangen werden. Deshalb schlagen wir eine offene Debatte vor und richten uns an alle in der Linken, die es ebenfalls als zentrale Aufgabe für Revolutionäre sehen, Klarheit zu schaffen über den Ukrainekrieg, den deutschen Imperialismus und die Krise der Linken.
Wir Spartakisten haben eine revolutionäre Perspektive vorgelegt. Wie wir im Spartakist Nr. 224 sagen: „Schmeißt die EU/NATO-Unterstützer aus der Linken! – Ukrainische, russische Arbeiter: Dreht die Gewehre um!“ Dieser Artikel liegt bei.
Eure Rückmeldung ist erbeten bis zum 17. Juni, damit wir die Einzelheiten der Debatte nach den Regeln der Arbeiterbewegung diskutieren können.
Reaksyonaryong Elektoral na Circus sa PilipinasHuwag Mag-ilusyon sa mga Burges na Liberal—Para sa Proletaryong Himagsikan!
Narito na uli ang circus. Habang lugmok sa pinakamalalim na recession mula
noong World War II kasunod ng isa sa pinakamatagal at pinakamalupit na Covid
lockdown sa mundo, nakatakdang isagawa ng Pilipinas ang pambansang halalan
sa Mayo 9. Ang eleksyon ay isang re-match sa pagitan ng pinuno ng oposisyon
na si Vice President Leni Robredo at ng kanyang dati nang karibal na si
Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., tagapagmana at kapangalan ng diktador na
ang 20-taong pamumuno ay karibal sa kasakiman, kalupitan at katiwalian ng
dating dinastiyang Pahlavi at Somoza ng Iran at Nicaragua.
Si Marcos Jr., na tinalo ni Robredo sa isang mahigpit na karera noong 2016,
ay hindi inilihim ang kanyang ganang ibalik ang kanyang pamilya sa
kapangyarihan. Kapwa nakibahagi sina Robredo at Liberal Party running mate
na si Senator Kiko Pangilinan sa kilusang protesta na humantong sa pagbagsak
ng pamilya Marcos.
Sa loob ng anim na taong marahas na pamumuno ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte at
ng kanyang mga kaalyado, si Robredo ay naghahanda bilang presidente sa
inilalarawan ng lokal media na labanang “Good versus Evil,” ang tinaguriang
huling pagkakataon upang “iligtas ang demokrasya ng Pilipinas” mula sa
“pagbabalik ng mga Marcos at isang pagpapatuloy ng pamunuan ni Duterte.”
Panawagan namin: Robredo,
Marcos at lahat ng burges na partido—Huwag iboto!
Habang papalapit ang multo ng muling pagbabalik ni Marcos at mga araw na lang
ang natitira, pinagsama-sama ni Robredo ang mga Stalinista,
sosyal-demokrata, sikat na artista, liberal na intelektuwal at mga
kapitalistang amo sa isang prente popular o prenteng bayan na kawangis ng
kilusang nagpabagsak sa diktadurang Marcos. Ang suporta para kay Robredo ay
nakakuha ng momentum, habang ang mga paksyong anti-Marcos ay nagbubuhos ng
pera sa mga sorties ng kampanya na umaakit ng daan-daang libong mga
tagasuporta na kulay rosas ang suot at kilala bilang mga Kakampinks sa mga
lungsod sa kapuluan.
Ang ideolohikal na pandikit na nagbubuklod sa prente popular ni Robredo ay fight-the-rightbourgeois lesser evilism
[pulitika na labanan-ang-mga-maka-kanan sa paraan ng pagsuporta sa burges na
hindi gaano ang pagka-masama]. Matapos ang malawakang pagkatalo ng mga
Liberal sa eleksyon 2019, nakuha ni Robredo ang aral na kailangan ng partido
na magpatakbo ng isang “people’s campaign,” ibig sabihin ay sumakay
patungong kapangyarihan sa likod ng mga inaapi. Ngayon ay i-priniprisinta
niya ang kanyang sarili kontra kina Duterte at Marcos bilang “people’s
champion” na magtatanggol sa demokrasya, lalabanan ang korapsyon at
magtataguyod ng pagkakapantay-pantay.
(read on)
Workers Hammer supplement
7 May 2022
Reactionary Electoral Circus in the PhilippinesNo Illusions in Bourgeois Liberals—For Workers Revolution!
The circus is back in town. Mired in the deepest recession since World War II
following one of the world’s longest and harshest Covid lockdowns, the
Philippines is set to hold its national elections on May 9. The elections
are a rematch between opposition leader Vice President Leni Robredo and her
old rival Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., heir and namesake of the dictator
whose 20-year reign rivals the greed, brutality and corruption of the former
Pahlavi and Somoza dynasties of Iran and Nicaragua.
Marcos Jr., who Robredo beat in a tight race in 2016, has made no secret of
his appetite to return his family to power. Both Robredo and Liberal Party
running mate Senator Kiko Pangilinan took part in the protest movement that
led to the downfall of the Marcos family.
Largely sidelined during six years of draconian rule by President Rodrigo
Duterte and his allies, Robredo is casting for president in what local media
portrays as a battle of “Good versus Evil,” the so-called last chance to
“save Philippine democracy” from the “return of the Marcoses and a
continuation of a Duterte leadership.” We say: No vote
to Robredo, Marcos and all bourgeois parties!Robredo, Marcos at lahat ng burges na partido—Huwag
iboto!
As the spectre of a Marcos comeback looms and with just days to go, Robredo
has brought together Stalinists, social democrats, movie stars, liberal
intellectuals and capitalist bosses in a popular front reminiscent of the
movement that toppled the Marcos dictatorship. Support for Robredo has
gained momentum, as the anti-Marcos factions pour money into campaign
sorties which attract hundreds of thousands of pink-clad supporters, known
as Kakampinks, in cities across the archipelago.
The ideological glue binding the Robredo popular front together is
fight-the-right bourgeois lesser-evilism. After the Liberals’ massive defeat
in the 2019 elections, Robredo drew the lesson that the party needed to run
a “people’s campaign,” i.e., to ride to power on the backs of the oppressed.
Now she is presenting herself against Duterte and Marcos as the “people’s
champion” who will defend democracy, fight corruption and promote equality.
(read on)
Spartakist Ek 4
Nisan 2022
Enternasyonal Komünist Liga’nın EYK Genel Kurulu: Avrupa Birliği’ne Merkezci Teslimiyete Karşı MücadeleKahrolsun AB! Kahrolsun NATO!Leninizm’in Bayrağıyla İleri!
Aşağıdaki makale, Spartacist, İngilizce yayın
no. 66, Bahar 2020 baskısından Türkçeye çevrilmiştir.
Enternasyonal Komünist Liga (Dördüncü Enternasyonalist), Enternasyonal Yürütme Komitesi (EYK) genel kurulu
toplantısını 2019 yazında Almanya’da gerçekleştirdi. EKL’nin konferanslar arası dönemlerde en yüksek karar
gövdesi olan EYK’nin toplantısı örgütümüz açısından önemli bir zamana denk geldi. Merkezi kurucumuz ve uzun
zamandır parti liderimiz olan ve devrimci pusulamızın devam ettirilmesinde müdahaleleriyle kritik bir rol
oynayan Jim Robertson’un Nisan 2019’daki ölümü süreklilik sorusunu aşikar kıldı. Bu toplantı aynı zamanda
2017’de EKL’nin Yedinci Enternasyonal Konferansı’nda seçilen liderliğin ilk toplantısıydı. Bu konferans,
ulusal sorunu Leninist bir çerçeveye yerleştirmek ve Büyük Güç şovenizmine yapılan uyarlamaları düzeltmek
amacıyla yürüttüğümüz zorlu mücadelenin sonucuydu (“Der Kampf für Leninismus über die nationale Frage”
[Ulusal Sorun Üzerinde Leninist Mücadele İçin], Spartacist [Almanca baskı] No. 31,
Sonbahar 2017). Genel kurul ve EYK’nin oybirliğıyle benimsediği bildiri, “Leninizm Bayrağıyla İleri!”, bu
mücadelenin devamıdır.
Genel kurulun temel amaçlarından biri, 1970lerde Avrupa Birliği’ne (AB) karşı oluşturduğumuz keskin
programatik muhalefet çerçevesini yeniden sahiplenmekti. Dejenere olmuş bir işçi devleti olan Sovyetler
Birliği’ni ortadan kaldıran 1991-92 karşı-devrimi sürecinde işaretlenen yaşadığımız disoryantasyoun bir
parçası olarak, EKL Alman ve daha az da olsa Fransız emperyalizminin domine ettiği eşitsiz kapitalist
devletler konsorsiyumu olan AB’ye defalarca teslim olmuştur. Enternasyonal Sekretarya (E.S.) üyesi yoldaş
Jay’in genel kurulda belirttiği gibi:
“AB’ye temel muhalefetimiz, ‘ırkçı kale Avrupa’ üzerine gelişen
liberal öfkeye dönüştü ve emperyalistlerin ırkçı olmayı bırakıp göçmenleri savunması gerektiğini imledik.
Avrupa Birleşik Sosyalist Devletleri talebini, sanki AB’nin bir uzantısıymış gibi talep eder olduk. Ve
ekonomik kriz 2010’da Avrupa’yı vurduğunda, Avrupa Merkez Bankası ve IMF’nin bağımlı ülkelere borçlarıyla
‘yardım ettiğini’ yazıyorduk.”
Geride bıraktığımız son birkaç
yıl, AB’ye yönelik muhalefetimizi güçlü bir şekilde
ortaya koyma mücadeleleri serisine sahne oldu. Genel
kurul bildirisinin aşağıdaki yayınlanmak için
düzenlenmiş bölümü, bu konuda yürüttüğümüz tartışmaların
ve mücadelenin kodlanmış sonuçlarını içeren
bölümdür.
Enternasyonal Konferans’dan bu yana temel görevlerimizden biri, EKL’nin sosyal mücadelenin yoksunluğu ve
proleter bilincin gerilemesiyle tanımlanmış bu dönemde karşılaştığı büyük zorluklarla başa çıkabilecek yeni
bir enternasyonal liderlik kolektifinin sağlamlaştırılmasıdır. Genel kurul bildirisinin belirttiği gibi,
“Yoldaş Robertson yokken, devrimci devamlılığımızı koruma kapasitemiz büyük ölçüde EYK’nin yürütme kolu olan
E.S.’nin mümkün olan en keskin programatik rehberliği sunma kapasitesine dayanmaktadır. Görevimiz Lenin’in
yaptığını yaparak katman katman, düşünen Bolşeviklerden oluşan bir parti kurmaktır.”
E.S. 2017’den beri, bazı üyelerinin uluslararası merkezde ikamet etmediği alışılmadık bir kompozisyondaydı.
Coğrafi yayılım zorluklar getirir. Aynı zamanda, bu kompozisyon hayati bir önem taşıyor çünkü her yoldaş
daha mesafeli bir görüşe sahip ve hem Enternasyonal’de hem de diğer yoldaşların ulusal bölümlerinde
programatik düzeltici bir rol oynamakta. Bu aynı zamanda, merkezimizin dünyadaki en güçlü emperyalist ülke
olan ABD’de yer almasından kaynaklanan baskıya karşı-denge işlevi görmekte.
(devamı için)
NPD et pseudo-socialistes : fer de lance des confinements et de la répressionLe mouvement ouvrier doit défendre les camionneurs !Pour une opposition communiste au gouvernement !
21 février – Le chômage de masse, les hôpitaux bondés et les
traitements annulés, la détérioration générale des conditions de
travail, l’inflation galopante, les droits démocratiques piétinés,
les commerçants ruinés, les écoles fermées, les familles entassées
ensemble jour et nuit, une détresse et des souffrances
intolérables, la mort : Depuis maintenant deux ans, les
travailleurs et les opprimés subissent les conséquences
dévastatrices de la réponse de la bourgeoisie à la pandémie et de
ses confinements. C’est dans ce contexte que le convoi des
camionneurs à Ottawa est venu canaliser le mécontentement
largement répandu dans la société.
La bourgeoisie et tous ceux qui lui font écho dans les médias, le
Nouveau Parti démocratique et la gauche réformiste ont été pris
immédiatement d’une fureur hystérique devant cette première brèche
significative dans la campagne d’« unité nationale » de la
classe dirigeante dans la pandémie. Leur déferlement de propagande
présentant tous ceux qui participent à des manifestations
antigouvernementales comme des « extrémistes de droite »
n’est qu’un mensonge pour justifier leur
répression. Ce n’est pas « le racisme », « un
programme d’extrême droite » ou (aux dires de libéraux
tordus) un « coup d’État financé par les États-Unis »
qui pousse des milliers de personnes à sortir protester dans les
grandes villes, mais la colère
totalement légitime contre le désastre
social provoqué par les mesures sanitaires de la bourgeoisie.
Le premier ministre Justin Trudeau a décrété la Loi sur les
mesures d’urgence, la Loi sur les mesures de guerre revampée, avec
laquelle le gouvernement se donne des pouvoirs arbitraires pour
accroître la répression, suspendre les droits démocratiques, geler
les comptes de banque et étendre les pouvoirs de police utilisés
pour réprimer les camionneurs et les manifestants. Près de 200
personnes ont déjà été arrêtées en vertu de cette loi. Nous
disons : Défense des camionneurs !
Levée de toutes les accusations ! À bas la Loi sur les
mesures d’urgence !
(lire la suite)
La Riposte « socialiste » : social-trudeauiste
De tous les groupes qui pataugent dans le marais
pseudo-trotskyste au Québec et au Canada, les membres de La
Riposte se sont distingués comme les plus ardents partisans des
confinements de Trudeau et les opposants les plus acharnés des
camionneurs et des manifestants. Il n’y a tout simplement aucune
différence entre la ligne avancée par La Riposte et la campagne
hystérique de la bourgeoisie et de ses médias dociles. Un
dirigeant de La Riposte a calomnié de façon répugnante
l’intervention de notre organisation dans un rassemblement à
Toronto en soutien aux camionneurs, nous accusant sur les médias
sociaux de « soutenir l’extrême droite » ; il
ajoutait : « Il est impossible qu’ils se soient mépris
sur la nature d’extrême droite nationaliste et trumpiste de ce
rassemblement où figuraient des drapeaux de Trump et des pancartes
“Make Canada Great Again” ». En pointant du doigt quelques
individus de droite pour dépeindre ces manifestations tout
entières comme étant d’une « nature d’extrême droite »,
La Riposte dégurgite ainsi le même mensonge que la bourgeoisie
utilise pour justifier la répression.
(lire la suite)
Spartacist supplement
February 2022
NDP and Fake Socialists: Spearhead for Lockdowns and CrackdownsLabour Must Defend the Truckers!For Communist Opposition to the Government!
21 FEBRUARY—Massive unemployment, overloaded hospitals and cancelled
treatments, widespread deterioration of working conditions, crippling
inflation, gutting of democratic rights, ruined shopkeepers, closing
of schools, families stuck together day and night, unspeakable pain
and distress, death: For two years now, the workers and the oppressed
have suffered the devastating consequences of the bourgeoisie’s
response to the pandemic and its lockdowns. This is the backdrop to
the truckers’ convoy on Ottawa, which has become a lightning rod for
widespread discontent in society.
Faced with this first significant blowback to the ruling class’s
“national unity” campaign in the pandemic, the bourgeoisie, its media
mouthpieces, the New Democratic Party and the reformist left
immediately went into hysterical overdrive. Their propaganda barrage
which portrays anybody participating in anti-government
demonstrations as “far-right extremists” is but a lie to justify cracking down on them. What has pushed
thousands of people in major cities to come out in protests is not
“racism,” a “far-right agenda” or (as tinfoiled-hatted liberals
would have it) a “U.S.-funded coup,” but the totally legitimate anger against the social disaster created
by the bourgeoisie’s health measures.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decreed the Emergencies Act—a
“rebranding” of the War Measures Act—with which the government gives
itself arbitrary powers to increase repression, suspend civil
liberties, freeze bank accounts and extend the policing powers which
they’ve used to crack down on truckers and protesters. Nearly 200 have
already been arrested under this law. We say: Defend the truckers! Drop all the charges! Down with the
Emergencies Act!
(read on)
“Socialist” Fightback: Social-Trudeauites
Among the pseudo-Trotskyist swamp in Quebec and Canada, members
of the Fightback group have distinguished themselves as the most
ardent supporters of Trudeau’s lockdowns and vociferous opponents
of the truckers and protesters. There’s simply no difference
between the line Fightback has been pushing and the hysterical
campaign of the bourgeoisie and its subservient media. In a
disgusting slander on social media against our organization
intervening at a Toronto rally in support of the truckers, a
Fightback leader accused us of “supporting the far right,” adding
“There is no way that they could have mistaken the far right
nationalist and Trumpite nature of this rally which included Trump
flags and ‘Make Canada Great Again’ placards.” Painting these
entire demonstrations as being of a “far right nature” by pointing
to a few right-wing individuals, Fightback parrots the very lie
that the government uses to justify its crackdown.
(read on)
We reprint below a translation of the emergency
statement issued by the Trotskyist Group of Greece
and distributed at protests in defense of Dimitris
Koufontinas, a leader of the Revolutionary
Organisation 17 November (17N). Koufontinas, having
been on a hunger strike, is close to death.
17N group, named after the date in 1973 when the
military junta massacred students and workers at Athens
Polytechnic, engaged in assassinations of
representatives of Greek capitalism and US and British
imperialism. For that, the vindictive ruling classes are
determined to see him dead.
23 February—Dimitris Koufontinas has been on hunger
strike since 8 January, demanding, as he writes in his
letter, “to be returned to the basement of Korydallos
[Prison], to the special wing built by the minister of
repression himself, M. Chrysochoidis, to bury 17N, and
where I spent 16 of the 18 years I have been in
prison”. The Greek capitalist state, and behind it the
US imperialists, are determined to murder him. Free
Dimitris Koufontinas and all the 17N prisoners now!
Free all those arrested on demonstrations defending
Koufontinas now!
(read on)
Ανακοίνωση
Άμεση Απελευθέρωση στον Δημήτρη Κουφοντίνα!
23 Φεβρουαρίου – Ο Δημήτρης Κουφοντίνας βρίσκεται σε
απεργία πείνας από τις 8 Ιανουαρίου ζητώντας όπως γράφει
ο ίδιος στην επιστολή του «να με ξαναφέρουν στο υπόγειο
του Κορυδαλλού, στην ειδική πτέρυγα που έκτισε ο ίδιος ο
υπουργός της καταστολής, ο Μ. Χρυσοχοΐδης, για να θάψει
την 17Ν, και όπου πέρασα τα 16 από τα 18 χρόνια που
είμαι στη φυλακή». Το ελληνικό καπιταλιστικό κράτος και
πίσω από αυτό οι Αμερικανοί ιμπεριαλιστές είναι
αποφασισμένοι να τον δολοφονήσουν. Ελευθερία στον
Δημήτρη Κουφοντίνα και σε όλους τους
καταδικασμένους της «17Ν» τώρα! Άμεση
απελευθέρωση των συλληφθέντων από τις πορείες
υπεράσπισης του Κουφοντίνα!
(περισσότερα)
Workers Vanguard leaflet
No Vote for the Capitalist Democratic Party!For a Workers Party that Fights for Workers Rule!
The Democrats’ anti-Trump “resistance” has been
working overtime for four years to win back U.S.
imperialism’s chief executive office. The Democrats
paint this election as a “historic turning point.” In
reality, it is a repeat of the seemingly endless cycle
in American politics, switching from one capitalist
administration to another and back again while the
exploitation and oppression of the working masses stand
unchallenged and unchanged. The Marxist Spartacist
League/U.S. opposes on principle any support to or vote
for any bourgeois party: Democrat, Republican or Green.
What is necessary is to build a multiracial
revolutionary workers party, independent of and opposed
to the capitalist parties, to lead the exploited and
oppressed in the struggle for a workers government.
Many workers and youth have little enthusiasm for
Biden but are being roped into supporting the Democrats
with the line that you have to hold your nose and vote
them in to stop Trump. It’s a lie that putting a
Democrat in office will improve the conditions of
workers, minorities and women. Spreading lesser-evil
illusions in the Democrats, the pro-capitalist labor
bureaucracy and fake socialists chain the workers to
their class enemy. Like the Republicans, the Democratic
Party represents the interests of the American
capitalist ruling class, i.e., the owners of the means
of production and the banks. Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin
succinctly described bourgeois elections as a chance for
voters to “decide once every few years which member of
the ruling class is to repress and crush the people.”
The working class has no interest in which
representative of the capitalist class is president.
The main mechanism by which the American bourgeoisie
politically subordinates workers and the oppressed is
the capitalist two-party system. This depends in large
measure on the big lie that there are major and decisive
differences between the Democrats and Republicans. It is
an illusion entertained by many workers and fostered by
the reformists that the Republicans are more
“reactionary” and the Democrats are more “progressive.”
Both parties are equally reactionary in their
fundamental positions and policies, which are determined
by the needs of U.S. imperialism and its program of
world domination. This is the ironclad framework within
which both parties must move and maneuver.
(read on)
Workers Vanguard volante en español
¡Ningún voto por el Partido Demócrata capitalista!¡Por un partido obrero que luche por un gobierno obrero!
La “resistencia” anti-Trump de los demócratas se ha
estado esforzando al máximo por cuatro años para
recuperar el puesto ejecutivo de comandante en jefe del
imperialismo estadounidense. Los demócratas pintan estas
elecciones como un “momento histórico decisivo”. En
realidad, es una repetición del ciclo aparentemente
interminable en la política estadounidense, en el cual se
cambia de un gobierno capitalista a otro y viceversa
mientras se mantienen, sin desafío y sin cambio, la
explotación y la opresión de las masas trabajadoras. La
marxista Spartacist League/U.S. se opone por principio a
dar cualquier apoyo o voto a partido burgués alguno:
Demócrata, Republicano o el Partido Verde. Lo que se
requiere es construir un partido obrero revolucionario
multirracial, independiente de los partidos capitalistas
y opuesto a éstos, para dirigir a los explotados y
oprimidos en la lucha por un gobierno obrero.
Muchos trabajadores y jóvenes sienten poco entusiasmo
por Biden, pero están siendo engañados para apoyar a los
demócratas con el argumento de que tienen que cubrirse
la nariz y votar por éstos para detener a Trump. Es una
mentira que poner a un demócrata en la presidencia va a
mejorar las condiciones de los trabajadores, las
minorías y las mujeres. La burocracia sindical
pro-capitalista y los falsos socialistas, al propagar
ilusiones en los demócratas como el mal menor, atan a
los obreros a su enemigo de clase. Al igual que el
Republicano, el Partido Demócrata representa los
intereses de la clase dominante capitalista
estadounidense, es decir, los dueños de los medios de
producción y los bancos. El dirigente bolchevique V.I.
Lenin describió de manera sucinta las elecciones
burguesas como una oportunidad para que los votantes
puedan “decidir una vez cada cierto número de años qué
miembros de la clase dominante han de oprimir y aplastar
al pueblo”. La clase obrera no tiene ningún interés en
cuál representante de la clase capitalista sea
presidente.
El principal mecanismo mediante el cual la burguesía
estadounidense subordina políticamente a los obreros y
los oprimidos es el sistema bipartidista capitalista.
Éste depende en gran medida de la enorme mentira de que
hay diferencias importantes y decisivas entre los
demócratas y los republicanos. Que los republicanos sean
más “reaccionarios” y los demócratas más “progresistas”
es una ilusión albergada por muchos trabajadores y
promovida por los reformistas. Ambos partidos son
igualmente reaccionarios en sus posiciones y políticas
fundamentales, las cuales son determinadas por las
necesidades del imperialismo estadounidense y su
programa de dominación mundial. Éste es el marco férreo
dentro del cual ambos partidos funcionan y maniobran.
(continuar leyendo)
Ο Μπολσεβίκος Τεύχος 6
Ολομέλεια της ΔΕΕΗ Πάλη Κατά της Κεντριστικής Συνθηκολόγησης προς την ΕΕΚάτω η ΕΕ!Εμπρός με το Λάβαρο του Λενινισμού!
Το κείμενο που ακολουθεί είναι μετάφραση από το Spartacist (αγγλική έκδοση) Νο 66, Άνοιξη 2020.
Το περασμένο καλοκαίρι πραγματοποιήθηκε στη Γερμανία
η Ολομέλεια της Διεθνούς Εκτελεστικής Επιτροπής (ΔΕΕ)
της Διεθνούς Κομμουνιστικής Ένωσης
(Τεταρτοδιεθνιστικής/ΔΚΕ). Αυτή η συνάντηση της
ΔΕΕ, του ανώτατου οργάνου λήψης αποφάσεων της ΔΚΕ
ανάμεσα στα συνέδρια, ήρθε σε μία πολύ σημαντική
στιγμή για την οργάνωσή μας. O θάνατος του βασικού
ιδρυτή και για μεγάλο διάστημα ηγέτη του κόμματος
Jim Robertson τον Απρίλιο του 2019, του οποίου οι
παρεμβάσεις ήταν καίριες για τη διατήρηση του
επαναστατικού μας προσανατολισμού, έθεσε ξεκάθαρα
το ζήτημα της πολιτικής μας συνέχειας. Επίσης, αυτή
ήταν η πρώτη συγκέντρωση της ηγεσίας που εκλέχθηκε
στο Έβδομο Διεθνές Συνέδριο της ΔΚΕ το 2017, το
οποίο αποτέλεσε την κορύφωση μιας σκληρής πάλης για
την επανεγκαθίδρυση του Λενινιστικού πλαισίου στο
εθνικό ζήτημα και τη διόρθωση των συμβιβασμών με το
σοβινισμό των Μεγάλων Δυνάμεων (βλ. «Η Πάλη για τον
Λενινισμό στο Εθνικό Ζήτημα», Ο Μπολσεβίκος τεύχος
3, Οκτώβριος 2017). Η ολομέλεια και το υπόμνημα που
υιοθετήθηκε ομόφωνα από τη ΔΕΕ με τίτλο «Εμπρός με
το Λάβαρο του Λενινισμού!», αποτελούσαν τη συνέχεια
αυτής της πάλης.
(περισσότερα)