Showing posts with label communism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communism. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

February 2026 issue of Towards ML Unity published

Volume 7, number 5 of Towards Marxist-Leninist Unity:  A Journal of Discussion and Debate was published by the morning of Saturday, February 21st and will be posted at:  mltranslations.net  Contributions and criticisms are welcome, they sayespecially comments on the article "For a United Front against Fascism and War."  The next issue should come out in April and materials will need to be sent in by mid-March.


Some upcoming events are listed at:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2026/02/an-update-for-week-8-of-2026-history-of.html 




Contents:



For a United Front against Fascism and War


Lenin, Trump and the Insurrection Act


Climate Hawks Vote


Twin Cities general strike, coordinated actions demonstrate resolve of the people


The Minneapolis General Strike: Lessons for the next round


Struggle for Socialism Party stands with Cuba: end the U.S. blockade!


Unemployment surge signals deeper cracks in U.S. labor market


This is deeper than Trump


Trump Raping Children!


NYP nurses hold the line: 78% reject deal without enforceable staffing ratios


Dockworkers in Mediterranean ports announce coordinated action against war


Six Palestine Action Activists Cleared of Burglary


United States Secures its National Security Interests in Congo Peace Deal


TECCS repudiates the nationwide military exercises


The United States, Israel and the threat of a world war against Iran


Lenin and the Revolutionary Development of Marxism


Sección en español


Estados Unidos, Israel y la amenaza de una guerra mundial contra Irán


Lenin y el desarrollo revolucionario del marxismo


Saturday, May 17, 2025

En Marcha on the anniversaries of the defeat of Axis imperialism in '45 and US imperialism in '75

[Commentaries on the shooting of four diplomatic staff from the Israel'embassy in DC, two fatally:


A Maoist neworganization:  theworker.news/2025/05/22/a-just-act-just-not-a-correct-act/  (I wondered that evening ithis event could be used to advance the repressive agenda of Trump-Vance and the supportive Democrats, similar to Bush-Cheney and 9/11, on a smaller scaleor Nazi Germany and the 1933 Reichstag Fire, and according to the article, the PSL is being blamed, though the alleged shooter was only a member briefly, in 2017, and not connected to the party since then, according to Wikipedia.  Federal hate crime and terrorism charges might be applied, in addition to murder.  An alleged manifesto from X/Twitter is online above and at:  www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-israel-embassy-shooter-manifesto )


On individual violent actions in general, posted before May 21st redphoenixnews.com/2025/05/12/urban-guerilla-theory-the-role-of-violence-in-capitalist-crises/


[ caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/05/23/thoughts-on-the-israeli-embassy-staff-killings/ ]


[ www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2025/05/22/stinking-to-the-high-heavens-of-a-false-flag  [The shooting hacovered up the news thaIsraeshot at diplomatfrom several "Western" countries near Jenin (?) in the West Bank, Palestine and Israel was been threatened with consequences for starving Gaza.  Netanyahu is talking about "babykillers," etc. the evening o the 22nd and there wasomething from him or someone about "incitement" and "bloodlibels," by the EU (?) for daring to criticize Israel's war crimes and atrocities.  In the morning on the 22nd NPR had a headline, something about someone condemning Netanyahu's promise to 'end' the war in Gaza if the prisonerare released, Hamas surrenders (and ...?), and if Trump's "brilliant," revolutionary" plan to depopulate Gaza ifollowed, "tantamount to ethnic cleansing" someone said -- why add "tantamount?"  The liberal Town of Chapel Hill probably stands with the US, EU, UK, Canadian, Israeli, and other war criminals, to a greater extent than the City of Durham.]


[I'm sure there is interesting discussion on www.nakedcapitalism.com under the daily Links, etc.]


On the right:


envisioningtheamericandream.com/2025/05/22/murder-in-the-name-of-palestine/  (supporter of the Democratic Party?)


www.counterextremism.com/press/counter-extremism-project-condemns-murders-israeli-embassy-workers-capital-jewish-museum 


For background:  


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_killing_of_Israeli_embassy_workers_in_Washington,_D.C.  ]



[May 28th Israel claims to have killed Mohammed Sinwar (born September 16, 1975 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in Gaza), said to be the leader of Hamas in the GazStrip and leader of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades; his older brother YahySinwar (October 29, 1962, also in the Khan Yunis camp – October 16, 2024):  the morning BBC radio newprogram , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Sinwar , and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahya_Sinwar ]


[ samidoun.net/2025/05/77-years-of-ongoing-nakba-the-crumbling-zionist-project-and-the-revolutionary-road-to-liberation-and-return/ ]



There are also articlesuch as (machine translated):  



World Biological Diversity Day [May 22nd in Ecuador;  pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13778 ]

Joseph Stalin, leader of the Great Patriotic War 

Battle of Stalingrad 

Brecht, revolutionary poet and playwright

THE MOTHER, by Maxim Gorky

Dimitrov and the defense of communism in the Leipzig trial

The Fifth Congress of the Communist International 

Engels, thinker 

Dien Bien Phu, an example in the people's liberation struggle 

The PCMLE fights and denounces Chinese revisionism 

The 1970s and the development of the PCMLE 

The PCMLE disputes the political leadership of the masses 

6th Congress of the Tunisian Workers' Party 

Popular First Aid Brigade

May 29 [1969]: Student's Day 

Adolescence 




I received these two translated articles and added introductory parts that are machine translated: 


En Marcha #2136, May 7 to 13, 2025  [ www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13762 ]

Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

80 years since the victory of the epic struggles of the peoples against fascist barbarism

Commemorating the 1945 Victory from a realistic and objective perspective implies understanding that the fight against fascism is part of the broader struggle against the capitalist system that gave rise to it. It implies recognizing that the working class and oppressed peoples were the driving force of resistance and victory, and that we must strive to reclaim their emancipatory role.

[Photo]

On May 9, 1945, Nazi Germany signed its surrender in Berlin, after having provoked the bloody war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. Eighty years have passed since the roar of arms of the armies contending in Europe during the Second World War ceased and the red flag with the hammer and sickle flew over the Reichstag (Parliament) in Berlin. Eighty years since humanity, represented in the heroic struggle of the Soviet Union and the allied coalition, dealt a mortal blow to the bloodiest and most reactionary regime that history had known: Nazi Germany.

Commemorating this historic victory is not a mere exercise in memory, but a political and ethical necessity, especially at times like the present, when the ghosts of the past are trying to return. Analyzing this victory objectively allows us to go beyond the superficial and often distorted narrative, to understand the deep forces, class contradictions and material interests that clashed in the Second World War, revealing its true meaning and the defeat of Nazi-fascism as a victory of working and oppressed humanity against the most brutal expression of capital in crisis.

The Second World War did not come out of nowhere, its roots were sunk in the contradictions inherent in the capitalist system in its imperialist phase, as analyzed by Lenin, Stalin and other Marxist theoreticians. The Great Depression of 1929 exacerbated inter-imperialist tensions, leading to a bitter struggle for markets, resources, and spheres of influence. In this context of structural crisis, the bourgeoisie of some countries, especially in Germany and Italy, resorted to fascism as an extreme form of open terrorist dictatorship of monopoly capital. Fascism was not simply a crazy ideology, as some call it; it was the response of big capital to the revolutionary threat of the organized labor movement and to the very existence of the Soviet Union, the first socialist state in history. Hitler's National Socialism, with its racist delirium, its expansionist pan-Germanism, and rabid anti-communism, represented the culmination of this reactionary degeneration, seeking to annihilate the "inferior race" (Jews, Gypsies, Slavs) and crush any vestige of workers' organization or dissident thought. Its manifest goal was world domination and the enslavement of vast territories and populations for the benefit of German capital.

In the face of this onslaught of barbarism, the Soviet Union emerged as the main bulwark of resistance. Since its birth, the USSR had faced the hostility of the capitalist powers, but the fascist aggression of 1941 placed it at the epicenter of the global struggle. The Great Patriotic War, as this period is known in the countries of the former USSR and progressive sectors, was a feat of epic proportions, a life-and-death struggle for the defense of the first experience of socialist construction. The Soviet people, under the leadership of the Communist Party, led by Stalin, mobilized all their forces and resources to repel the invader. Soviet industry, massively moved eastwards in the face of the enemy advance, showed an astonishing capacity for resilience and war production, surpassing German in many respects, despite the enormous initial territorial losses.

The Red Army, composed of millions of workers, peasants and intellectuals conscious of what they were defending, fought battles of unprecedented courage and ferocity. The defense of Leningrad, subjected to a siege of almost 900 days that cost the lives of more than a million civilians; the bitter and courageous battle of Stalingrad, which marked a strategic and moral turning point in the war, destroying a large part of the German army; the gigantic tank battle at Kursk; and the unstoppable final offensive that culminated in the capture of Berlin, are milestones that testify to the supreme sacrifice of the Soviet people. It was not just a military struggle; It was an all-out war in which the civilian population, the partisans (guerrillas) in the occupied territories, the women who took up the work in the factories and the countryside, all contributed decisively to the victory. It is estimated that the Soviet Union suffered more than 27 million casualties, both military and civilian, a figure that shows the magnitude of its contribution and the price paid for victory. Without Soviet sacrifice, the defeat of Nazism would have been unthinkable or would have required an infinitely greater cost to the rest of the world.

But the victory was the result of a combined effort. The anti-fascist coalition integrated capitalist powers such as the United Kingdom and the United States, despite their contradictions with the USSR and their own imperialist interests. The United Kingdom bravely resisted Nazi bombing during the Battle of Britain and contributed on fronts such as North Africa and the Atlantic. The United States, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, deployed immense industrial and military power that was crucial, especially on the Pacific front against Japan and in the Normandy landings, which opened a second front long desired by the USSR.

It is also essential to recognize the heroism of the resistance movements in the occupied countries. Communist partisans, socialists, democrats, and patriots fought clandestinely against the invader, sabotaged its operations, rescued victims of persecution, and kept the flame of hope alive. The resistance, more often than not led by the communists, played a vital role in weakening the enemy and preparing the ground for liberation. This dimension of popular struggle and resistance from below, often downplayed in official histories, is crucial to a full understanding of victory.

From a Marxist perspective, the anti-fascist alliance was a classic example of a united front, a tactical union of diverse and even contradictory forces in the face of a common enemy. While the USSR was fighting for the survival of its socialist system and the liberation of the peoples, the allied capitalist powers were also defending their own interests: to stop an aggressive imperialist competitor that threatened their possessions and trade routes. The tensions and differences in objectives between the USSR and its capitalist allies were palpable during the war and would become evident immediately afterwards, giving way to the so-called Cold War. However, at the crucial moment of the struggle against fascism, the need for unity prevailed.

The victory of 1945 had consequences of historic scope for the development of the 20th century. Fascism, as a state ideology, was discredited and defeated militarily. A period of decolonization began, as the European imperialist powers, weakened by the war, could no longer maintain their vast colonial empires in the face of the rise of national liberation movements, many of them inspired by the Soviet example and socialist ideas. The world political map changed radically with the formation of the socialist bloc in Eastern Europe and Asia, expanding the field of countries seeking to build alternatives to capitalism. The prestige of socialism and the international communist movement reached very high historical levels.

In addition, awareness of the magnitude of Nazi atrocities, in particular the Holocaust, created an impetus for the development of international humanitarian law and the creation of multilateral bodies such as the United Nations, aimed at preventing future wars and protecting human rights. While these institutions have often been limited and exploited by the interests of the great powers, their creation was, in part, a response to the need to establish safeguards against the barbarism that fascism represented.

Eighty years later, we cannot rest on the laurels of victory. The reactionary winds are blowing again. Capitalism in global crisis creates growing inequalities, social polarization and despair, a breeding ground for the resurgence of ultra-right ideologies, exclusionary nationalism, racism and xenophobia. The denial or minimization of the crimes of fascism, the attempts to equate communism with Nazism, and the glorification of fascist collaborators in some countries are red flags that demand our utmost attention and firm opposition.

Commemorating the 1945 Victory from a real and objective approach implies understanding that the struggle against fascism is part of the broader struggle against the capitalist system that engendered it. It implies recognizing that the working class and oppressed peoples were the driving force of the resistance and victory and that we must strive to salvage their emancipatory role. It reminds us of the importance of organization, unity of action and international solidarity to face the threats of the present. The struggle for historical memory is a political struggle; combating the unconsciousness and distortion of the past is essential to defend the rights and achievements of the present and to build a different future.

The victory over fascism showed humanity's ability to overcome barbarism when united around a common goal. The immense sacrifice made by the Soviet Union and all those who fought against the Fascist Axis, imposes on us the responsibility of not allowing history to repeat itself. The struggle for a world without exploitation, oppression, racism and war, a world of peace, social justice and labor, remains the fundamental task of our time. It is the best way to honor those who gave their lives for freedom.

80 years of the Great Victory over fascism! Honor and eternal glory to the heroes of the Red Army, to the communists, partisans, to the resisters, to all workers and to the peoples who fought and gave their lives! for freedom! Fighting fascism in all its forms is an obligation for the present! For a world without imperialist wars, or capitalist oppression!

[An added photo?]






En Marcha #2136, May 7 to 13, 2025 [ www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13768 ]

Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

Vietnam: 50 Years of the Vietnamese People's Victory over U.S. Imperialism

Since the Tet Offensive, launched by the Vietnamese Liberation Front in 1969, the initiative rested with the Vietnamese people. The liberation of Saigon in April 1975 marked the end of a political-military process that defeated US imperialism and its minions.

[Photo]

April 30 marked the 50th anniversary of the defeat of U.S. imperialism in Vietnam. This historic event is of great importance for the anti-imperialist and Marxist-Leninist communist movement internationally; seen in the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese workers and people; it affirmed the solidarity, brotherhood of peoples and the internationalist struggle; it meant the reunification of the country, the victory of its self-determination and independence.

Between March and April 1975, U.S. diplomats and military began fleeing Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. It was clear that the advance of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam was unstoppable. The withdrawal of most U.S. troops during the previous months evidenced the political-military defeat that the Vietnamese people had already inflicted on the U.S.

The victory was made possible by massive popular support for the troops of the Liberation Front and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army). "We had to use the small against the big, antiquated weapons against modern weapons", "In the end, it is the human factor that determines the victory" the revolutionary and head of the Vietnamese People's Army Vo Nguyen Giap would say. The fundamental element for the victory was the people in arms, the same one that allowed for the annihilation of the military forces of imperialism, thus allowing all its political and military maneuvers to be undone. In this process, the revolutionary forces combined guerrilla warfare, insurrection in the towns and cities, workers' strikes and boycott actions by the masses. The period of simultaneous offensives and insurrections, which began with Tet in 1968 and ended with the liberation of Saigon in 1975, was the result of the coordination of the military and political struggle.

How did this victory come about?

The workers led by the Viet Minh, the League for the Independence of Vietnam founded in 1941, by Ho Chi Minh and by the Communist Party, raised armed resistance to the Japanese and later the French invader. The latter, financed and supplied by the United States, were defeated at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954.

In that same year, negotiators from France and the Viet Minh signed the Geneva Agreement to temporarily establish a territorial demarcation line that would divide Vietnam between French military forces and troops led by Ho Chi Minh.

In 1957, guerrilla forces fighting in South Vietnam and North Vietnamese troops took up arms to reunify the country. By 1963, reunification seemed imminent, so U.S. imperialism organized a provocation in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 to justify sending massive troops to Vietnam in 1965.

Nearly 600,000 U.S. troops were sent to Vietnam during the conflict to confront Liberation Front guerrillas, while the U.S. Air Force bombed Vietnam in a bloody and disproportionate way. According to some records, the United States dropped 7.5 million tons of bombs on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, a far greater amount than that used during World War II by all sides.

Vietnamese guerrilla tactics, supply routes, tunnels, traps, lightning attacks, etc., proved to be deeply resistant to the enormous technological power of the United States. During nine years of subjugation of the local population, the U.S. military never managed to break the will of the Vietnamese workers and people.

The My Lai massacres, in which U.S. troops murdered more than 700 men, children, and women (who were raped before being massacred), or the agonizing images of children with their skin melted by chemical bombs (white phosphorus, napalm, and Agent Orange), are examples of the criminal U.S. invasion. These actions of the Yankee army led to the indignation of the youth, workers and peoples of the world. Marches, rallies, festivals and other actions for Peace and in solidarity with the Vietnamese people, were generalized world-wide. To cite three examples, in 1968, millions of university and high school students in the United States staged a massive boycott in their schools as a show of opposition to the war; in 1969, thousands of U.S. citizens took the day off from work to participate in local demonstrations across the nation; in 1971, several groups of Vietnam veterans threw more than 700 medals down the steps of the Capitol. This movement in rejection of the Vietnam War was repeated all over the world.

Since the offensive carried out by the Liberation Front in 1969, called the Tet Offensive, the Vietnamese people took the initiative. The liberation of Saigon in April 1975 was the end of a political-military process that defeated US imperialism and its lackeys. This heroic deed of the Vietnamese people headed by their Communist Party shows the certain possibility of the defeat of imperialism.

The heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people had a profound impact on popular culture, with music, film and literature reflecting opposition to the war. "The black eagles break their claws / against the heroic people in Vietnam" Quilapayun sang, and there were the great concerts for peace that would star figures such as Jimmy Hendrix, The Who, the Rolling Stones and John Lennon.

Vietnam was an encouragement for struggles for social and national liberation in the dependent countries. Algeria, Angola, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala were several of the places where the guerrilla struggle would have a great influence of the tactics and strategy of the Vietnamese workers. This victory strengthened the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial movement, which spread throughout the world, promoting the struggle of the peoples for self-determination and independence.

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Class Struggle #4, April 2025, published

The current calendar post, listing some spring-summer events and anniversaries, is at:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/03/unac-stop-attacks-on-palestinian-rights.html ; I hoped to post a new one soon, but I intended it for a month ago. 




[April 29th it was announced that the French government wants to "dissolve" Urgence Palestine May 7th; there is a rapidly growing petition in opposition at:  agir.urgence-palestine.org/appelsoutiens/12/ ; it doesn't say that it is limited to French citizens; for more information on this and other domestic anti-Palestinian actions by the French government see:  samidoun.net/2025/04/stop-the-dissolution-of-urgence-palestine-take-action-now-to-confront-frances-complicity-in-genocide/  The anti-fascist group Jeunes Gardes also faces dissolution.]


Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network April 30th:


"Stop the dissolution of Urgence Palestine!

End the genocide in Gaza and throughout Palestine!

Stop the aggression against Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and the people of the region!

Haiti won, Algeria won, Vietnam won, and Palestine will win!

Victory to the Resistance!

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

We urge all in France and around the world to stand with Urgence Palestine.

  • Sign on to the Urgence Palestine collective statement against dissolutions: https://tiny.cc/stopdissolution
  • Demonstrate at a French embassy, consulate, or Alliance Française (official government representative of French cultural activities) in your area against the dissolution and repression — and against France’s ongoing complicity with Zionist genocide throughout occupied Palestine. Use the signs below!"


[The Friday, May 2nd sentencing for the stabbing to death of a Palestinian-American child, 6, in Plainfield Township, Illinoiswww.commondreams.org/news/wadee-alfayoumi ]


The 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, though US forces had withdrawn by that point, and the reunification of Vietnam is coming up April 30th.


icssmarx.org/commemorating-the-50th-anniversary-of-vietnams-victory-honor-the-peace-warrior-not-the-war-s-brian-willson-with-gerry-condon-may-4-2025-1030-am-pacific-time/


May 3rd 4-7pm in-person in New York City and onlineevents.humanitix.com/50-years-of-peace-and-social-progress-in-vietnam


vietnam50.us/


On April 28th:  "Tlaib Marks 50th Anniversary of End of Vietnam War with Legislative Package to Bring Justice for Victims of Agent Orange"  www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2025/04/28/tlaib-marks-50th-anniversary-end-vietnam-war-legislative-pac


I met someone protesting for Agent Orange victims in DC in the fall of 2018:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2018/10/reportback-from-womens-march-on.html 

  

April 28th is the 60th anniversary of a US invasion of the Dominican Republicdiario-octubre.com/2025/04/29/a-60-anos-de-la-invasion-estadounidense-republica-dominicana-alerta-sobre-amenazas-a-su-soberania/


The US occupation of Japan ended April 28, 1952?  Of course, there are still many US bases in Japan and European countries and in the Middle East, and the US government has some amount of influence. 


CBS reported on the US torture of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib, Iraq April 28, 2004?


April 28th is annual Workers' Memorial Day.


A massive and apparently not yet unexplained loss of power across capitalist Spain and Portugal and extending over the Pyrenees into Francediario-octubre.com/2025/04/29/estantes-vacios-y-alarma-en-las-calles-asi-vivieron-en-espana-el-escandaloso-apagon-masivo-videos/ , www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2025/04/29/une-gigantesque-panne-d-electricite-seme-le-chaos-en-espagne-et-au-portugal-c-est-dingue-de-se-sentir-si-vulnerable_6601149_3244.html , etc.


On US attacks on civilian targets in Yemen:  diario-octubre.com/2025/04/27/civiles-gritan-y-corren-en-yemen-durante-los-bombardeos-de-ee-uu/


diario-octubre.com/2025/04/27/las-fuerzas-armadas-de-yemen-atacan-tres-objetivos-sionistas-y-varios-buques-de-guerra-estadounidenses/


If I'm not mistaken, the fateful "pro-Palestinian [anti-war] protest" encampment at UNC-Chapel Hill was violently suppressed by a police force drawn from across North Carolina April 30th last year.  Several international students from public and private universities in the State have been forced to leave the country and people involved in the protest at UNC faced judicial and administrative attacks, though there might not have been any trials.  UNC itself now faces one or more lawsuits.  See previous posts.   


ADC Townhall - 100 Days of the Trump Administration will be April 30th at 7pm EDT:  us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GJX9opPyTMK0FziCZ82_6w#/registration


A continuous protest prevented construction of a California Highway Patrol center, now Chicano Park, in San Diego's Barrio Logan, 55 years ago May 1st?  – portside.org/2025-04-28/week-peoples-history-apr-30-may-6-2025


[April 30th is International Jazz Day, May 3rd is Wordsmith Day, May 4th is Star Wars Day, May 5th is Astronaut Day, May 6th is Nurses Day, May 7th is Tourism Day, May 8th is No Socks Day, and May 9th is Public Gardens Day Days of the Year website.]  [Joseph Campbell and Star Wars,  they say:  www.jcf.org/learn/star-wars ]

[ ]

[The Kent State Massacre was May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio.  This wasn't the only massacre of or attack on protesting students in the US at the time, and many universities and governments in the "democratic" "West" seem to want to a repeat in the mid-2020's:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings ]


[Apparently the Soviet Venus probe Cosmos 482 failed and has been orbiting the Earth since 1970, but it is coming down.  It has a heat shield designed to survive Venus' atmosphere, so it should survive re-entry.]


[A Yemeni missile hit Israel's Ben Gurion Airport the morning of May 4th.]


[On NPR hit piece from Eleanor Beardsly about a teenager who allegedly broke with his parents and secretly left Lughansk for western Ukraine.  Will he now be drafted and sent to the front, with little training?  NPR has been quieter about Ukraine recently.  Warmongering and FIRE capitalist propaganda on WUNC on the 3rd.  Apparently there is a "bipartisan" bill in the Republican-controlled NC legislature that would make it easier, even automatic, after something like 104 days, to get real estate projects approved.  Does Governor Stein support the bill?  They didn't mention the bill until now?  I thought that it was strange how WUNC spoke about legislative interference in a land use decision west of here a few months ago, I think in Greensboro, seemingly reminiscent of the Legislature's 751 South interference in Durham.  WUNC just had a fund drive, ending on May 1st, because the Trump administration is coming after NPR, despite their basic loyality to constant warfare for empire, the "rules-based international order," and neoliberalism at home and abroad.  Steve Inskeep gave Steve Bannon a friendly interviewed around April 30th and Elsa Chang interviewed torture memo author John Yoo around May 2nd, but the focus of the interview was not the Bush-Cheney administration's torture program.  The BBC has pushed "Stoicism" in recent years, and here is an actual capitalist pushing the philosophy on Open to Debate, which he is involved with, at 6pm on the 4th.  The Republican-run Legislature has taken control of the State Board of Elections, but the Board acted in an openly partisan if not illegal way under Democratic Party control in 2024.] 


[Rikka입하 , lập hạor Lìxià (立夏), the start of summer in East Asian cultures, is May 5th in 2025? – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lixia  立秋 iAugust 7th:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liqiu  立冬 is November 7th:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidong ]


[Mars is currently in or near the Beehive/Praesepe/M44 star cluster in Cancer [just north of M44 around the 4th]; in Paris the Sun sets down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and under Arc de Triomphe around this week annually; information for the week of May 6-11th:  www.imcce.fr/newsletter/html/newsletter.html#astro-article1  There are more astronomical events to add later in May.]  [M44, once thought to be a hole or weak spot in heaven or the realm of the dead, the Gate of Men for reincarnating souls, is also known as the Manger, Crib, the Little Cloud, Nubilum, the Nebula or Nebulosa, etc.  In Arabic it was or is Al-Ma'laf, the Stall.  It was called Tseih She Ke, or "Exhalation of Piled-up Corpses," in China; Mercury was seen to be less than a degree from the cluster on June 9, 118 CE according to Chinese records -- Robert Hinckley Allen's 1899 Star Names.]  


The Eta Aquariid meteor shower [pieces of Halley's Comet, along with the Orionid shower] peaks May 5-6th, though it is visible before and after [until around May 28th], and there are more obscure showers; the Northern Hemisphere's spring isn't a very meteor-rich season:  www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/2020-meteor-shower-list/ , www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/ , www.amsmeteors.org/2025/05/meteor-activity-outlook-for-may-3-9-2025/


According to Astronomy magazine for May, Saturn has an equinox May 6th, and its rings are edge-on to the Sun and hard to see from the Earth.


The relatively bright, but I think actually quite dark-colored asteroid 4 Vesta reached opposition May 2nd, with magnitude 5.7, and is in the south, between the bright stars Arcturus and Spica, specifically at the west of Libra/east end of Virgo and moving westward in the constellation.  [Vesta will be closest to the Earth around the 7th.]  Asteroid Metis, in the same area of sky, will be at opposition May 9th and Juno on May 14th.


The first quarter Moon was May 4th, it will be full on the 12th, the last quarter will be May 20th, and the New Moon will be on the 26th.  It will be near Spica and at apogee on the 10th, near Antares on the 14th, near Saturn and Neptune on the 22nd, near Venus on the 23rd, at perigee on the 25th, and near Jupiter on the 28th.  "Morning star" Venus' greatest western elongation is on the 31st.]     


[In theory a trace of a crescent Moon can be seen, very low in the sky, immediately before and after it is New, half an hour before dawn May 26th and near sunset on the 27th, but higher in the sky.]


A Resist NATO CounterSummit and Protest will take place June 21-22 in the Netherlands, at The Hague:  internationalsolidarity.org/resist-nato/ and www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ci_zwNgd_E


The People’s Summit for Korea will be held in New York City July 25-27th:  peoplessummitforkorea.org


More events are listed in the late March post linked at the top.


In 'free,' 'democratic' western Ukraine:  diario-octubre.com/2025/04/27/vives-en-ucrania-me-oyes-mujer-acosa-a-un-nino-por-escuchar-musica-en-ruso/


In Sweden:  diario-octubre.com/2025/04/27/poder-extranjero-en-un-pais-de-la-otan-quieren-expropiar-una-iglesia-rusa/


Samidoun's Mohammed Khatib attacked in Belgiumdiario-octubre.com/2025/04/23/detienen-en-bruselas-al-coordinador-europeo-de-samidoun-horas-despues-le-han-puesto-en-libertad/


samidoun.net/2025/04/samidoun-europe-coordinator-mohammed-khatib-released-following-arrest-in-belgium-stand-together-against-repression-and-genocide/


diario-octubre.com/2025/04/24/la-verdad-toda-la-verdad-y-nada-mas-que-la-verdad-pravda/


Sovkhoz former state farms in Russia; one marked its 105th anniversary November 10th last year:  diario-octubre.com/2025/04/27/las-colectividades-continuan-en-rusia-el-sovjos-lenin-de-moscu/


diario-octubre.com/2025/04/26/jefe-del-estado-mayor-ruso-soldados-de-la-rpdc-ayudaron-en-la-derrota-de-kiev-en-kursk/


simplicius76.substack.com/p/russian-general-staff-confirms-north


The CPRF near Kurskdiario-octubre.com/2025/04/25/comunistas-de-kursk-entregaron-las-tarjetas-de-militantes-a-militares-que-decidieron-unirse-al-pcfr/


diario-octubre.com/2025/04/27/la-cia-confirma-que-el-hijo-de-una-alto-cargo-de-la-agencia-murio-en-el-conflicto-ucraniano/


diario-octubre.com/2025/04/25/los-paises-balticos-son-los-peleles-perfectos-para-arrastrar-a-europa-a-una-guerra-contra-rusia/


On China's space program and surpassing the "West:"  diario-octubre.com/2025/04/26/el-dios-que-se-ha-ido-mientras-el-dragon-va/


diario-octubre.com/2025/04/22/serios-problemas/


[This is satire, but I think based on real news; I worried about the Egyptian lynx's safety, if captured by the Israeli military:  www.normalisland.co.uk/p/israel-ecstatic-to-have-captured new Hamas leader]


On Lenin at 155:  diario-octubre.com/2025/04/22/lenin-sigue-hablandonos/


diario-octubre.com/2025/04/25/arteka-la-revolucion-si-es-posible/


On Telegram diario-octubre.com/2025/04/22/durov-telegram-nunca-ha-revelado-mensajes-privados-de-los-usuarios-en-sus-12-anos-de-existencia/


On 9/11:  diario-octubre.com/2025/04/24/tucker-carlson-confidente-de-trump-revela-la-verdad-sobre-el-11-de-septiembre-con-curt-weldon/


mpr21.info/los-trabajadores-de-google-luchan-contra-la-firma-de-acuerdos-militares-con-israel/


diario-octubre.com/2025/04/25/palantir-vende-un-sistema-de-guerra-inteligente-a-la-otan/






A new issue of Class Struggle 


The fourth issue of Class Struggle was published April 25th and it will be posted at:  redstarpublishers.org/ClassStruggle/index.html  Offers of articles are welcome, they say.      



Contents:


For a United Front against Fascism and War – As Trump Supports Israel's Attack on Palestine  He Also Attacks our Democratic Rights


Criticism of the Article Below


Why Didn't the Ceasefire Last?


Displacement Plans:  How Israel and the U.S. Are Reshaping the Palestinian Landscape?


Income Growth Over Time graph


FRSO Labor Commission statement on Trump's assault on union


DOGE cuts are bloodthirsty assaults on already insufficient concessions to working people  [from APL]


Self-criticism on the left:  An inevitable and essential necessity [from the Dominican Republic; acento.com.do


From Stalin's speech at the 19th Congress of the CPSU, 1952


Reshuffle in the capitalist economy  [from the PCMLE]


La autocritica en la izquierda:  Una necesidad inevitable e imprescindible


Del discurso de Stalin en el 19 congreso del PCUS, 1952


Remeson en la economia capitalista 



Sunday, March 09, 2025

Three En Marcha articles: DR Congo in the grip of crisis, Ukraine War negotiations, and the party of the proletariat

Originally posted February 27th at:  www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13649  A rough machine translation from Google, checked against some translations I received:



Congo in the grip of crisis


The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a 21st-century example of the fate of countries rich in natural resources in the midst of a savage capitalism that expropriates them and plunges their inhabitants into misery.



A prison where prisoners escape but first rape and burn female prisoners alive, in February 2025; Mbox, monkeypox, spreads in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) without a health system to deal with it, August 2024; the eruption of a volcano that leads to the disappearance of hundreds of children, in May 2021, are just some of the tragedies experienced by the population of the DRC in the midst of the world's largest reserves of coltan, more than 40%, the mineral from which tantalum is extracted, which is very rare and is used in the manufacture of cell phones and other technological equipment.


The Tutsis, an ethnic group that suffered the Rwandan genocide in 1994, formed a defense group, the M23, which questions the government but does not define its political position. It took over the city of Goma, with a population of one million people, controls part of the coltan production, earning about USD 800,000 a month, which it uses to equip its soldiers and which has the support of Rwanda. It is now the main military force that disputes the government for control of the country, which is headed by Félix Tshisekedi, who has the support of the PPRD, a party located on the right, which among its achievements shows the decision to execute bandits and the prosecution of Apple, the multinational cell phone company, who it accuses of benefiting from the natural resources of the DRC without sharing its profits.


The multinationals of Switzerland, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and above all China own the vast majority of mines in the DRC. China controls 70% of the world's copper and 50% of its cobalt. The DRC is the largest producer of coltan, and its largest exporter is neighbouring Rwanda.


In addition to the M23, which does not claim to be a political movement, there are several political parties, most of which define themselves as centre-left. It faces 120 other armed groups, including one identified with the Hutus, a declared enemy, and another with the Islamic State.


Some history


In 1884 and 1885, the Berlin Conference was held, where the European countries shared out Africa, and it was the personal property of King Leopold II of Belgium until 1908, when it became a Belgian colony.


In 1960, supposedly, Belgian influence culminated, Patrice Lumumba, a Congolese social activist with a Marxist tendency, was appointed Prime Minister, but his leadership was short-lived, the DRC army assassinated him and took power in a coup d'état, with the support of the Kingdom of Belgium, i.e. Belgian influence remained.


In 1965 Ernesto, El Che, Guevara tried to organize armed groups to take power, but his efforts were unsuccessful, deciding to leave RCD and go to neighboring Angola.


The population of the DRC lives in poverty, its more than 102 million inhabitants, of which seven million live as displaced persons, fleeing from areas of conflict between armed groups and ethnic massacres, 75% of Congolese do not have access to drinking water, great difficulties in obtaining food, one in 12 children dies before the age of 12, the DRC is one of the five poorest countries on the planet.

However, the DRC is a very rich country in minerals, apart from its natural beauty and its native species. Its current riches are the attraction of tantalum, tungsten, cobalt, copper, gold, diamonds and the list goes on. A wealth estimated at 24 billion dollars.


The tragedy of the millions of Congolese is that they are the owners of an extraordinary wealth that has been the attraction of the capitalists of the world who, with false offers, with gigantic corruption, have extracted these riches, leaving their owners in a serious situation of survival.





Originally posted February 27th at:  www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13647 and translated with Google:



Negotiations between imperialist powers 


The European elites received a hard political blow from the decision of American imperialism; the snub by the Americans shows the servile attitude of European imperialism. 

The talks between Trump and Putin, in which they agreed to start talks to end the war in Ukraine, are moving forward at an accelerated pace, without involving Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, or the European Union. 


Donald Trump announced a new phase of negotiations for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine between the American and Russian delegations. The talks would take place in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on February 25, a week after the first round that took place in the same city on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. 


How to understand this change in the position of the United States? The answer must be found in the sharpening of inter-imperialist contradictions. Apparently, the United States is seeking to get out of a conflict that did not develop as they wanted and that has cost them millions of dollars. 


On February 14, at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany, US Vice President JD Vance said that the main threat to Europe was not Russia or China, but “the threat from within, Europe’s retreat from some of its most fundamental values, values ​​shared with the United States of America.” 
The Europeans received a hard political blow from the decision of US imperialism, the snub of the Americans shows the lackey attitude of European imperialism, they will have no choice but to turn a blind eye and throw away the money and ink invested in escalating a confrontation with Moscow, which could have been resolved by other means. 


The European leaders led by Olaf Scholz (Germany), Emmanuel Macron (France) and Donald Tusk (Poland) refused to accept Ukraine’s defeat. The trio said they would do everything possible to prevent Russian imperialism from winning the war, when the Ukrainians could no longer bear it. The three leaders decided to acquire more weapons, expand the production of military equipment and advance in the manufacture of long-range rocket artillery. The decision to confront the Russians at any cost led the EU to commit economic suicide by renouncing the cheap energy supplied by Russia. 


Ukraine lost the opportunity to reach a peace agreement with Russia in Istanbul in March 2022, just a month after the military intervention began and which would have meant better conditions for it, since it had the initiative, after having stopped the lightning invasion. The pressure of imperialism from the United Kingdom, the United States and others, guaranteed the supply of weapons and safe entry into NATO, thus sealing its future. After three years of war, the economy in tatters, with millions of dollars in debt and thousands of young people dead, the powers are negotiating their future behind Ukraine's back. 


Russia is waiting calmly and, in the meantime, is moving forward with the conquest of Ukrainian territory in order to improve the positions on the border that will be fixed in the agreement with the United States. 






Originally posted February 27th at:  www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13651 (see for links to related articles from En Marcha); roughly translated through Google (with clear errors?); slightly edited:



The Communist Party, class party of the proletariat


"The stronger our Party organisations are, the more effective Social Democrats are, the less hesitation and instability there is within the Party, the broader and more multifaceted, the richer and more fruitful will be the influence of the Party on the elements of the working masses surrounding it and which it leads..."

Maintaining the class character of the party and its status as a revolutionary vanguard are fundamental elements of the Marxist-Leninist communist party. Only an organization that keeps these aspects in mind and works constantly to affirm and develop them is in a position to lead the struggle of workers, youth and peoples for revolution and socialism to victory.


Like many other aspects related to revolutionary theory and practice, the elements mentioned at the beginning of this article have also motivated deep and heated discussions since the beginning of the international communist movement. It is enough to note that, when the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (1903) debated how to understand the party of the working class and who can be considered its militants, it split between the supporters of V.I. Lenin and the followers of Yuli Martov, thus giving rise to the separation between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.


Lenin wrote an entire book in which he analyses the events of that congress and, above all, argues his views on how to understand what the class Party of the proletariat is and who can be a member of it. The text in question is entitled One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, which was published in 1904.


The first point of disagreement at the Congress occurred when they were discussing point 1 of the statute. Lenin proposed an article that said: "Anyone who accepts its programme and supports the Party both with material resources and with personal participation in one of its organisations will be considered a member of the Party." Martov, for his part, presented the following text: "Anyone who accepts its programme, supports the Party with material resources and lends it personal collaboration on a regular basis under the direction of one of its organisations will be considered a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party."


If not given due attention, the difference between one proposal and the other would seem minor; However, there is a marked difference between the understanding of party militancy and what the revolutionary party of the working class is in itself. Lenin, in the cited work, says that disagreement "reveals nuances of a principled nature," but that "every small disagreement can acquire enormous importance, if it serves as a starting point for a turn towards erroneous concepts..." The fact is that Lenin's proposal subordinates the condition of party militant to someone who is part of one of its organizations, while Martov believed that it was sufficient to occasionally help from outside with material resources or grant personal collaboration.


We make a brief digression to present what the statute of our Party says on this subject: «Art. 1.- Any person who does not live off the exploitation of the labor of others, especially workers, agricultural wage earners, poor peasants, employees, revolutionary intellectuals who accept the Declaration of Principles, the Political Line, the Program and the Statute of the Party, who is part of one of its organizations and works actively in it, complies with the decisions of the Party, observes its discipline and pays dues according to the established norms, can be a member of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador. As can be seen, our Party adheres to the Leninist conceptions of party organization.

Continuing with the reading of Lenin, we find a fundamental statement: «The Party must be a sum (and not a simple arithmetic sum, but a complex) of organizations. …[And] I make my wish, says Lenin, I demand that the Party, as the vanguard detachment of the class, be as organized as possible and that it should only include those elements that admit at least a minimum degree of organization. Here, it is necessary to make the same clarification that Lenin establishes when analyzing this subject. “The word “organization,” Lenin clarifies, is usually used in two senses: broad and narrow. In the narrow sense, it designates a cell of a human collectivity, as soon as it has acquired even the most minimal form. In the broad sense, it means a sum of these cells, united into a whole. […] a party is also an organization, it must be an organization (in the broad sense of the word); but, at the same time, a party must consist of a series of diverse organizations (in the strict sense of the word).

Lenin advocates that the working-class party militant be dedicated to revolutionary work, and this is possible only for those who develop particular qualities. Not every striker can be a member of the Party, says Lenin himself, not because he devalues ​​the quality of the fighter, but because to be a member of the vanguard detachment of the revolution it is not enough to go out and protest. “The stronger our Party organisations are, composed of effective Social-Democrats, the less hesitation and instability there is within the Party, the broader and more multifaceted, the richer and more fruitful will be the influence of the Party on the elements of the working masses that surround it and that it leads. For one cannot, in truth, confuse the Party as the vanguard detachment of the working class with the entire class.”


[This is the 901st post on DS.]