Solidarity with the Mass Uprising in Colombia
by Tom Burns (WPUSA) and Carlos Magrini (Liga Socialista of Brasil)
Colombia’s far right president, Iván Duque, lit the fuse of an uprising from working-class and middle-class Colombians with a proposed tax increase, raising eight billion US dollars ostensibly to pay down the country’s debt, calculated by the IMF as between 43 (net) to 49 (gross) per cent of the country’s GDP. The Tax reform Bill, sent to Congress on April 15, included a rise in Value Added Tax (VAT) of 19% on basic services such as electricity, gas, Internet, water, and sanitation but also, bizarrely, on funeral services. In addition, an increase in the price of gasoline was announced and every worker earning more than twice the minimum wage would start paying income tax. The middle class too would be hard hit with tax increase of 300 to 500 per cent, facing many small businesses with ruin. More
No to the US-sponsored coup attempt in Venezuela!
¡No al intento de golpe de estado patrocinado por Estados Unidos en Venezuela!
The struggle for power has entered a new stage in Venezuela. It is likely to be a decisive one. On Wednesday, January 23, Juan Guaidó, hitherto chairman of the right wing dominated parliament, declared himself interim president of the country at a mass rally of the opposition forces. Within a matter of minutes, Donald Trump and the US administration declared their support for this self-appointed president, recognising him as the sole legitimate representative of the country. More
La lucha por el poder ha entrado en una nueva etapa en Venezuela. Es probable que sea decisiva. El miércoles 23 de enero, Juan Guaidó, hasta entonces presidente del parlamento dominado por la derecha, se declaró presidente interino del país en un mitin masivo de las fuerzas de la oposición. En cuestión de minutos, Donald Trump y la administración de EE. UU. Declararon su apoyo a este presidente autonombrado, reconociéndolo como el único representante legítimo del país. Continuar
Venezuela: Constituent Assembly Opens New Chapter
Venezuela: La Asamblea Constituyente abre nuevo capítulo
The convening of a new Constituent Assembly has opened the latest, and possibly decisive, chapter in Venezuela’s political crisis. President Nicolas Maduro summoned the Assembly to give his regime greater democratic legitimacy and to sideline the parliament, which is dominated by the right wing opposition alliance, MUD. More
La convocatoria de una nueva Asamblea Constituyente abrió el capítulo más reciente y posiblemente decisivo, en la crisis política de Venezuela. El presidente Nicolás Maduro convocó la Asamblea para dar mayor legitimidad democrática a su régimen y dejar de lado el Parlamento, dominado por la alianza opositora de derechas, MUD. Continuar
Crisis in Venezuela: the Next “Color Revolution?”
¿Crisis en Venezuela: la próxima “revolución de color”?
For two months, the right opposition in Venezuela has been mobilising against the Maduro government. It no longer limits itself to peaceful mass demonstrations, but tries to occupy government institutions, or even army bases on the border with Colombia, by force. More
Durante dos meses la oposición de derechas se ha movilizado en Venezuela contra el gobierno de Maduro. Ya no se limita a las manifestaciones masivas pacíficas, sino que intenta ocupar por la fuerza las instituciones de gobierno, e incluso bases del ejército en la frontera con Colombia. Continuar
Brazil in Turmoil: The Temer Tapes
On May 17, a political bomb exploded in the capital city of Brazil, Brasilia. One of the big media networks broadcast a tape that proved that President Temer was not just one of the many corrupt bourgeois politicians in Brazil, but that he was obviously at the centre of the best known of the country’s corruption scandals. More