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4 May 2009, by
Highlights of the Seventh Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF-7)
The Asia-Europe People’s Forum 7 with the theme “For Social and Ecological Justice” took place in Beijing between the 13th and 15th October 2008. Since the venue was China, there were intrinsic (...) -
19 April 2009, by
The Crisis of Finance Capitalism: Challenges For The Left
The brave new world of neoliberalism lies in ruins. Its wealth turned out to be based on robbery, sham and deceit. The Left is in a new situation. Without its self-transformation and development (...) -
18 April 2009, by
The elephant not in the room: Castro and the Summit of the Americas
Cuba, and in particular its former President, Fidel Castro, is already a player at the fifth Summit of the Americas which takes place Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18, in Port of Spain, (...) -
10 April 2009, by
Y Tu, Daniel? The Sandinista Revolution Betrayed
Upon his inauguration as Nicaraguan president in January 2007, Daniel Ortega asserted that his government would represent “the second stage of the Sandinista Revolution.” His election was full of (...) -
2 April 2009, by
Seattle’s Lessons for London
Protests dominate the news as world leaders gather in London for the Group of Twenty meeting. War, the economy, corporate globalization and grass-roots opposition to financial bailouts are at the (...) -
1 April 2009, by
An Exception to Lula’s Rule
Now and then there emerges somewhere in the world a social movement that is really exceptional for its integrity, astuteness and mass appeal. For me one of those rare movements is Brazil’s (...) -
31 March 2009, by
The new tragedy of Santa Catarina
At the end of 2008, images of the great tragedy of Santa Catarina¹ impregnated with pain and perplexity eyes and hearts of all Brazilians. Floods happen, but the impact was much greater because of (...) -
17 March 2009, by
Victory for the Left in El Salvador
El Salvador is the most tragic and oppressed country in the Americas, yet today it wakes up to a new dawn of hope and anticipation, with the election victory of Mauricio Funes, the candidate of a (...) -
17 March 2009, by
`More of the same’? Or a break with `traditions’? The MAS: a paradoxical case of democratisation
The Santos Ramirez affaire marked, undoubtedly, a shift in the social perception of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS). [In February, Santos Ramirez, a former head of the state energy company (...) -
2 March 2009, by
This country has a woman’s face
Venezuela is a beautiful land with 26 million habitants, around 49.6% of which are women, half the population. Looking at the situation of these women we see the highest rate of teen pregnancy in (...) -
28 February 2009, by
The Betrayal of the Sandinista Revolution
Upon his inauguration as Nicaraguan president in January 2007, Daniel Ortega asserted that his government would represent “the second stage of the Sandinista Revolution.” His election was full of (...) -
23 February 2009, by
Chiapas Under Siege by Global Industries
The commodification of the Zapatista movement recently reached absurdist heights with the New York Times designation of rebel villages in southeastern Chiapas as a hot budget tourist destination. (...) -
22 February 2009, by
An Important but Risky Victory
The ten percentage point victory (55-45%) that President Chávez and his movement achieved on Sunday, February 15, 2009, in favor of amending Venezuela’s constitution so that Chávez may run for (...) -
20 February 2009, by
The global collapse: a non-orthodox view
Week after week, we see the global economy contracting at a pace worse than predicted by the gloomiest analysts. We are now, it is clear, in no ordinary recession but are headed for a global (...) -
15 February 2009, by
Populism and Its Long-Term Consequences
In late 2007, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez narrowly lost a vote on a constitutional referendum which would have allowed the President to run again in future elections. Hardly discouraged, he pressed (...) -
5 February 2009, by
Chiapas, 15 years later
January 1st of this year marked 15 years since the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, which coincided with the Free Trade Agreement, among the United States, Canada and Mexico, coming into effect. (...) -
2 February 2009, by
Race and Class with Obama
THERE WAS EUPHORIA in every Black community household November 4. High fives and tears of joy. No one could believe it. It didn’t matter Obama’s politics. A Black man had won! The election of the (...) -
1 February 2009, by
Landmark for Latin America
It may not help a fraught relationship with Washington, but Bolivia’s new constitution is a victory to savour Sunday’s referendum vote on a new constitution for Bolivia, which has led to a (...) -
27 January 2009, by
New Constitution Passed, Celebrations Hit the Streets
Polls conducted by Televisión Boliviana announced that the document passed with 61.97% support from some 3.8 million voters. According the poll, 36.52% of voters voted against the constitution, (...) -
3 January 2009, by
‘There is no alternative to socialism’
Samir Amin: “It was the financial corporations that asked the governments to step in and ‘nationalise’ them. The rescue package was drafted by them, and they are in control of most of the bailout (...) -
28 December 2008, by
Suspend Israel from the international institutions! Indict Barak, Livni and Olmer for war crimes!
140 dead, after the first hour of the criminal Israeli attack on the civilian population of Gaza. “It is just the beginning” said Israeli senior officials, vowing to continue the air strikes on the (...) -
3 December 2008, by
Local Elections: An Indication for Change or Continuation?
The Venezuelan local elections were a highly anticipated event in Venezuela. PSUV activists and candidates and opposition party candidates (with notably fewer activists) fought hard during the (...) -
28 November 2008, by
Feet of Clay or an Achilles’ Heel?
Media outlets were predicting a disaster for Venezuela’s Chavistas. Desperate for news that was fit to print, the opposition-controlled Venezuelan press and its foreign counterparts convinced many (...) -
24 November 2008, by
New geopolitics of world agriculture
The price of crops is rising with the rise in the cost of oil and is thus driving up food prices. In the 1960s about 80 million people suffered from hunger worldwide. In this period global (...) -
21 November 2008, by
Washington is orchestrating a vivic coup
Evo Morales is the latest democratically-elected Latin American president to be the target of a US plot to destabilize and overthrow his government. On September 10, 2008 Morales expelled US (...) -
20 November 2008, by
Asia & the US in the 21st Century
(An earlier version of this commentary was delivered as the Ted Wheelwright Memorial Lecture at the University of Sydney on Sept. 1, 2008.) Despite the glitter that surrounded the Olympics in (...) -
18 November 2008, by
ANC: things fall apart
At some point in the not-too-distant future, we might just look back at 2008 as the year in which things really started to fall apart for the African National Congress (...) -
6 November 2008, by
Women from around the world march for food sovereignty
Around 150 women came from more than forty countries participated in the 7th International Meeting of the World March of Women that took place from October 14th to the 21st in Panxón (Galicia). (...) -
5 November 2008, by
Impact of US Meltdown on Indian Economy
The Spreading Economic Contagion: A Reluctant Recognition Indian economy is insulated from the crisis…The global financial crisis will not affect us much…First Chidambaram went on in this vein (...) -
3 November 2008, by
Bolivia advances with dignity toward its second foundation
The old clock on the legislative palace of La Paz marks 12:55, (on October 21). The president of the republic, Evo Morales Ayma cannot contain his emotions and cries. Leaders from various social (...) -
26 October 2008, by
Bolivia Rejects Neoliberalism
After months of street battles and political meetings, a new draft of the Bolivian constitution was ratified by Congress on October 21. A national referendum on whether or not to make the (...) -
25 October 2008, by
African Resistance
Far-reaching strategic debate is underway about how to respond to the global financial crisis, and indeed how the North’s problems can be tied into a broader critique of (...) -
14 October 2008, by
From financial crisis to anti-capitalist alternatives
In previous issues Amandla! introduced a feature called ‘It’s the Economy Stupid, echoing former US President Bill Clinton. We are of the view that coming to terms with the economic situation is (...) -
11 October 2008, by
Working class politics or populism: the meaning of Zuma for the left in SA
The dramatic events of September 2008, which saw Thabo Mbeki and several key ministers resign, is seen by some on the left as a victory against neo-liberal economic orthodoxy. The election of (...) -
9 October 2008, by
Pan-Africanism’s new dawn
Celebrating Pambazuka’s 400th issue is celebrating pan-Africanism itself. Through its half a million readership and one thousand plus contributors from all over Africa, Pambazuka has truly set (...) -
30 September 2008, by
Continental Unity
During the past decade, Latin America has become the most exciting region of the world. The dynamic has very largely flowed from right where you are meeting, in Caracas, with the election of a (...) -
23 September 2008, by
Indigenous Government Defies US-Backed Fascists
Relative calm has returned to Bolivia following a three-week offensive of violence and terrorism launched by the US-backed right-wing opposition denounced by Bolivian President Evo Morales as a (...) -
22 September 2008, by
Free Market Ideology is Far From Finished
Whatever the events of this week mean, nobody should believe the overblown claims that the market crisis signals the death of "free market" ideology. Free market ideology has always been a (...) -
21 September 2008, by
Fall of Koirala dynasty
The historical victory of Com. Prachanda to the post of prime minister marks the beginning of a new era in Nepal. Once again, the Nepali people have endorsed the model of Nepali revolution that (...) -
21 September 2008, by
Sweet Time for the Left?
I This a short and quick one. As the American neocon state borrows a whole sheaf from Chavez and other despised socialists, and stoops to nationalizing—yes, nationalizing— the great and (...) -
20 September 2008, by
Women on the Rise
In early September I went to Venezuela to give a talk about economic vision at a conference there. I stayed a week, and with Greg Wilpert interviewed numerous people about the Bolivarian (...) -
16 September 2008, by
The current importance of Marx, 150 years after the Grundrisse
M. M. Professor Hobsbawm, two decades after 1989, when he was too hastily consigned to oblivion, Karl Marx has returned to the limelight. Freed from the role of instrumentum regni to which he (...) -
16 September 2008, by
The Struggle From Below
Jeffery R. Webber – I thought it might be best to begin the conversation by getting a sense of your personal political trajectory, how you were drawn to Venezuela, some of your most memorable (...) -
11 September 2008, by
The Left on the Move
Throughout the past eight years of the Bush administration, North and South America have politically and economically been heading in opposite directions. While Bush waged wars, curtailed civil (...) -
7 September 2008, by
Post-Referendum Conjuncture
“Summing up the aims of the new regime, Villarroel uttered his most memorable refrain: ‘We are not enemies of the rich, but we are better friends of the poor.’ This impossible pledge to favor the (...) -
6 September 2008, by
Towards a New American Isolationism
Despite the glitter that surrounded both the Olympics in Beijing and the Democratic National Convention in Denver, the messages coming to Asia from the two events were very (...) -
5 September 2008, by
Bihar Floods : Criminal Negligence, Not Divine Deluge
The Nitish Kumar regime’s boasts of ’Bihar Shining’ are now submerged by the cries of Bihar Drowning. The NDA Government’s claims of ’good governance’ have proved a washout in the face of the floods, (...) -
5 September 2008, by
When Gustav Hit Cuba
It is not an overstatement. This is the general expression of many compatriots. It was the impression of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Alvaro Lopez Miera, an (...) -
25 August 2008, by
What Future for Trade Unions?
The recently-concluded summer Olympics introduced China as a major player on the world stage in spectacular fashion. No doubt about it, the country made a superbly dramatic entrance. Of (...) -
14 August 2008, by
Moving Toward "Sensible Socialism" On One Lone Island
Cuban leaders have begun a reform process – combining certain ministries, opening up more farming possibilities and decentralizing certain functions. They have not given clear signals as to what (...) -
14 August 2008, by
Need for a New debate
In the face of the substantial social, economic and political challenges facing this country, ANC members - and indeed the great majority of South Africans - are today being fed a diet of (...) -
8 August 2008, by
CPM Historical Mistake
Communists voting along with the arch-reactionary right-wing BJP on July 22, 2008 to topple the Congress-led government of Manmohan Singh is the most puzzling of all the mistakes ever committed (...) -
5 August 2008, by
Reflections on the Cuban Revolution
You can’t build socialism in one country, chanted revolutionaries throughout much of Europe as the Bolsheviks took power in 1917. In four years, under Lenin’s leadership, the audacious insurrection (...) -
2 August 2008, by
Collapse Of Latest Doha Round: Good News For Democracy
The third collapse of the Doha Round - following the collapse in Cancun in September 2003 and Geneva in July 2006 - indicates that it is time we bury the deceptively named Doha Development (...) -
26 July 2008, by
Total Recall: Divided Nation Faces Historic Vote
In early July in Sicaya, Cochabamba, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that if he wins the August 10 recall vote on his presidency, "I’ll have two and half years left." But if he loses the (...) -
25 July 2008, by
Which Way Venezuela?
Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution is exciting and exemplary, yet few people know much about where Venezuela is headed. Misrepresentations abound. Data is limited and people interpret it in quite (...) -
23 July 2008, by
Ten Years On, Bolivarian Revolution at Crossroads
In 2006, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez was at the height of his political powers. Traveling to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, he delivered his by now infamous broadside (...) -
23 July 2008, by
The Hard Battle for Socialism
Up until now, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s socialist project has counted on broad popular support. But it is encountering – as was foreseen – numerous difficulties and an opposition that is (...) -
9 July 2008, by
Democracy and socialism
As Europe and Latin America’s leaders meet behind the “safety” of barricades and thousands of police during the Fifth Official Ministerial between the two regions, the National Engineering (...) -
7 July 2008, by
Pax Romana
I basically drew these data from statements made by William Brownfield, US ambassador to Colombia, from that country’s press and television, from the international press, and other sources. It’s (...) -
5 July 2008, by
After Ingrid
Colombia’s most high-profile hostage of the FARC guerrilla group, French-Colombian former Presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt was just freed (July 2/08) in a military operation by the (...) -
4 July 2008, by
The Rise of Food Fascism
Like many third world countries Bolivia is experiencing food shortages and rising food prices attributable to a global food marketing system driven by multinational agribusiness corporations. (...) -
3 July 2008, by
Nationwide Outrage Against Oil Price Hike
There has been nationwide protest against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s decision to hike the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. Communist Party of India (...) -
1 July 2008, by
The Revolution on Hold – Departmental Autonomy and the Crisis of the Left
When Evo Morales was elected the first indigenous president of Bolivia in 2005, he swept to power with a huge and unprecedented popular mandate, crushing his nearest opponent by a 25-point (...) -
18 June 2008, by
From Marx to Morales: Indigenous Socialism and the Latin Americanization of Marxism
Over the past decade, a new rise of mass struggles in Latin America has sparked an encounter between revolutionists of that region and many of those based in the imperialist countries. In many of (...) -
18 June 2008, by
A Narrow Opportunity for Democratic Change
In 1985, in classroom in London, Professor Geoffrey Williams explained revolution with a quote from Prof. Hans Kelsen as ‘a Law creating fact’. Revolution replaces existing legality and creates new (...) -
4 June 2008, by
The struggle for human emancipation
At a time when supposed “progress’ is controlled by transnational corporations, the struggle for human emancipation requires perseverance and transnational political organization to be able to (...) -
4 June 2008, by
Via Campesina farmers to the head of states: Time to change food policies!
Now that the FAO expects that hunger will affect an extra 100 million people by the end of the year, heads of states and leaders from around the world are gathering in Rome for the FAO (...) -
24 May 2008, by
South Africa is all of us
The mythologies we have constructed around us are imploding, write Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Firoze Manji looking at the background to the explosion of xenophobia in South Africa. The situation is the (...) -
23 May 2008, by
The Battle for Oil
On April 8, President Felipe Calderon dropped a political bomb on the Mexican political scene. The Senate received an executive initiative that would fundamentally change the structure and (...) -
20 May 2008
Govt blamed for violence ’tinderbox’
As police announced the launch of "specialised units" to combat the deadly xenophobic violence in Gauteng and the National Intelligence Agency confirmed that it was probing the violence, (...) -
20 May 2008, by
States of resistance
VANDANA SHIVA Is an internationally renowned voice for sustainable development and social justice. A Renaissance woman, she’s a physicist, scholar, social activist, and feminist. She is director (...) -
20 May 2008, by
Amazonian choice
The resignation of Brazil’s environment minister Marina Silva reveals the balance of power within President Lula’s government over policy towards the Amazon (...) -
19 May 2008, by
Smoke and Memories in Buenos Aires
We are circling over Buenos Aires. The airspace is crowded with other planes, all of them holding like ours. The pilot explains that it is the fault of the humo, or smoke, a word I will hear a (...) -
13 May 2008, by
CPI (M) Breaks New Ground
". . .the party congress held recently at Coimbatore had decided that the CPI(M) should directly take up social issues." (Prakash Karat as reported by The Hindu, May 8) As I sit to write this (...) -
7 May 2008, by
The Impact of tne Maoist Victory in Nepal
The Maoist victory in Nepal took India by surprise. But New Delhi must now critically reflect on its responsibility for the outcome, says Manjushree Thapa. -
25 April 2008, by
At the roots of the crisis
Robert Bates’ When Things Fell Apart: State Failure in Late Century Africa is a seminal contribution to understanding state crises Africa. Bates’ thesis is that in the late 20th century, (...) -
25 April 2008
Mourning unfreedom day
Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African shackdwellers’ movement reminds us in this statement and call to action that the structures of apartheid are still thriving in South (...) -
24 April 2008, by
COSATU Opposes Arm Exports to Zimbabwe
The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the statement by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman that the China Ocean Shipping Company which owns the An Yue Jiang, has decided to (...) -
23 April 2008
‘King should leave palace right after CA’s first sitting’
Maoist ideologue Dr Baburam Bhattarai has emerged as the real leader of this country after the Constituent Assembly (CA) polls. He defeated his Nepali Congress opponent Chandraprakash Neupane (...) -
21 April 2008, by
Empty stomachs, stormy politics
The violent protests in Haiti against rising food prices have exposed key problems in the already impoverished country’s political condition. -
21 April 2008, by
30 Years Ago Haiti Grew All the Rice It Needed.
Riots in Haiti over explosive rises in food costs have claimed the lives of six people. There have also been food riots world-wide in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivorie, Egypt, Guinea, (...) -
17 April 2008
International Campaign against Zionist and US Occupation
The success of the 6th Cairo Conference and the Cairo Forum for Liberation 2008, despite all the challenges and difficulties, is, by all measures, an important achievement. The objective of the (...) -
16 April 2008, by
Women’s Right to Land and Housing
Women’s Right to Land and Housing has been major concern of the women’s movement in India for over two decades. Globally, women’s land rights are becoming an area of increasing urgency. In most (...) -
9 April 2008, by
The price of food: ingredients of a global crisis
A worldwide increase in the price of basic foods is provoking anger and despair in many of the world’s poor countries. Both analysts and policymakers are attempting to rise to the challenge of (...) -
7 April 2008, by
The Left and the Political Crisis
The creation of a Europe-wide left has proved to be a much stickier process than I imagined in 2002 when I stood in Florence and watched the 60,000-strong demonstration of the first European (...) -
5 April 2008, by
Where to Now?
As the world waits to see what will happen in Zimbabwe, Patrick Bond argues that lessons should be taught and retaught about the dangers of elite transition between a voracious, corrupt, violent (...) -
3 April 2008, by
How Green is the Latin American Left?
Across Latin America, resurgent indigenous, labor and campesino movements have contributed to the rise of new governments that declare their independence from the neoliberal economic model, (...) -
1 April 2008, by
A vote for change, a vote for peace
On April 10, the Nepal peace process which formally began in 2005 with a 12-point understanding between seven parliamentary parties and the Maoists will enter a decisive stage with the holding of (...) -
27 March 2008, by
Constituting change in a divided country
Bolivia’s proposed new constitution is an innovative and progressive document constructed out of the struggles by social movements in recent years, however securing national consensus will be an (...) -
20 March 2008, by
Obama at the crossroads of a revolution?
In a nuanced article that borrows from various disciplines such as philosophy and physics, Horace Campbell argues that Barrack Obama would only be trapped by a conservative and anti-people social (...) -
17 March 2008, by
Latin America Rejects Bush Doctrine
Reeling from the blow that it received in the aftermath of the Colombian military’s illegal incursion on March 1 into Ecuador — which resulted in the brutal massacre of a number of civilians (...) -
12 March 2008, by
Political roller-coaster
With presidential elections in Zimbabwe just around the corner, Patrick Bond and Grace Kwinjeh look at who the national, regional and international players are, and consider various (...) -
11 March 2008, by
New Wave of Repression
Hugo Blanco, one of Peru’s most outstanding indigenous and campesino leaders, issued the following international appeal to supporters of democratic and human (...) -
3 March 2008, by
FROM FALSE TO REAL SOLUTIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
Amidst her welcome critique of the biofuel mania, Vandana Shiva’s ZNet commentary (December 13, 2007) also made this point: "The Kyoto Protocol totally avoided the material challenge of stopping (...) -
3 March 2008
CMP Trying to Reconcile ‘Anti-imperialist’ Rhetoric with ‘Neo-liberal Constraints’
The draft political resolution released by the CPI (M) for its ensuing 19th Congress provides quite a revealing commentary on the opportunist political trajectory of the party. The resolution is (...) -
28 February 2008, by
Historical Mapuche Hunger Strike Ends in Success
After a 109-day hunger strike, Patricia Troncoso forced Michelle Bachelet’s insensitive government to yield and allow her weekend passes and completion of her sentence at a work-study center. Two (...) -
28 February 2008, by
Capitalism in Apocalyptic Mood
Skyrocketing oil prices, a falling dollar, and collapsing financial markets are the key ingredients in an economic brew that could end up in more than just an ordinary recession. The falling (...) -
27 February 2008, by
Tribute to Fidel Castro
Blade Nzimande gives a comradely appraisal of Fidel Castro the revolutionary theorist, practitioner and internationalist. -
26 February 2008, by
In the dark about global warming
It is tragic but understandable that South African society ranks — with the United States and China — at the bottom of a recent worldwide climate-consciousness survey by polling firm Global Scan: (...)
