By the International Socialist Organization, United States

April 14, 2010 -- Socialist Worker -- The US has repackaged its strategy -- but the terrible threat of nuclear war remains. The administration of US President Barack Obama is out to upgrade the US nuclear arsenal and pressure world leaders into imposing sanctions against countries -- like Iran -- that allegedly harbour ambitions to develop nukes of their own.

That's the agenda behind the April 12-13 Washington summit on nuclear security, which followed the announcement of a supposedly less belligerent US nuclear strategy and the signing in Prague of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia.

The START treaty was billed as a first step towards fulfilling Obama's call a year ago to rid the world of nuclear weapons. In fact, START would leave the US and Russia with the means to blow up the world many times over.

If Washington is willing to make a deal with Moscow to cut the number of nukes today, it's because politicians in both countries -- especially Russia -- want to minimise the prohibitive cost of building such weapons. So the total number of warheads will be limited under the treaty to 1550 apiece.

By Patrick Bond, Durban

April 14, 2010 -- Just how dangerous is the World Bank and its neo-conservative president Robert Zoellick to South Africa and the global climate? Notwithstanding South Africa's existing US$75 billion foreign debt, on April 8 the bank added a $3.75 billion loan to South Africa's electricty utility Eskom for the primary purpose of building the world's fourth-largest coal-fired power plant, at Medupi. It will spew 25 million tons of the climate pollutant carbon dioxide into the air each year. [For more background go to http://links.org.au/node/1570.]

South Africa's finance minister Pravin Gordhan has repeatedly said that this is theWorld Bank's "first" post-apartheid loan, yet the bank's 1999 and 2008 Country Assistance Strategy documents show conclusively that Medupi is the 15th credit since 1994.

Celebrating the 8th anniversary of the Venezuelan people’s defeat of the April 11, 2002, coup against Hugo Chavez, and solidarity with the Venezuelan Revolution

By the Socialist Party of Malaysia

April 11, 2010 -- World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth via Climate and Capitalism.

By Farooq Tariq

On April 10, 2010, Mian Abdul Qayum, a labour leader in Faisalabad, submitted his nomination papers as candidate for the Punjab Assembly constituency 63 by-election on May 15. The other candidates are from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and the National Muslim League. We need your support to contest this by-election.

Tailandia se encuentra en una profunda crisis. Las cargas policiales y militares han matado a 21 personas y herido a unas 900. Los “camisas rojas” protestan por la falta de libertades en el país. Os envío la declaración solidaria con la lucha del pueblo tailandés suscrita por organizaciones de Malasia, Indonesia, Tailandia, Filipinas y Australia. (Gracias G. Buster.)

Declaración regional conjunta de Partido Socialista de Malasia (PSM), Asociación de Trabajadores de Indonesia (PRP), Partido Democrático del Pueblo (PRD), Giro a la Izquierda de Tailandia, Alianza Socialista de Australia, Partido Lakas ng Masa Filipinas

Estamos profundamente preocupados por la actual situación en Tailandia donde el primer ministro que está apoyado por los militares Ahbisit Vejjajiva ha declarado el estado de emergencia y ha empezado una sangrienta campaña en medio de una escalada de protestas pidiendo nuevas elecciones.

An interview with Rob Albritton

March 2010 -- Rob Albritton’s Let Them Eat Junk: How Capitalism Creates Hunger and Obesity (2009), published by Arbeiter Ring Press in Canada and Pluto Press in the UK, offers a welcome and urgently needed analysis of “how the profit fixation of capital has led us deeply into a dangerously unsustainable system of food provision, a system that totally fails when it comes to distributive justice and to human and environmental health” (p. 201). His analysis takes us inside capitalism and shows how its “deep structures” manage our agricultural and food systems in irrational ways.

Socialist Project’s Relay magazine recently asked John Simoulidis to interview Robert Albritton about his book and current global struggles to address the failures of our agriculture/food system. Posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with permission.

ต่อต้านการใช้ความรุนแรงต่อประชาชนและการละเมิด สิทธิมนุษยชนของกองทัพไทยและรัฐบาล

The following statement by Thai Red Australia Group for Democracy was released at a protest rally in Sydney on April 12, 2010.

“At least 19 people have died and 825 injured as a result of violent clashes in Bangkok Thailand, as troops tried to retake areas from anti-government protesters on 10th of April 2010.”

แถลงการณ์พรรคสังคมนิยมมาเลยเซียและองค์กรสังคมนิยมอื่นๆ ในเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้

เรา องค์กรสังคมนิยมในประเทศเพื่อนบ้าน มีความเป็นห่วงอย่างยิ่งเกี่ยวกับสถานการณ์ในประเทศไทย เนื่องจากรัฐบาลของ อภิสิทธิ เวชชาชีวะที่มีทหารหนุนหลัง ได้มีการประกาศภาวะฉุกเฉินท่ามกลางการประท้วงของประชาชนเพื่อเรียกร้องให้มี การเลือกตั้ง
สถานการณ์ปัจจุบันในประเทศไทย ยิ่งน่าเป็นห่วงเพราะรัฐบาลปิดกั้นสื่อเสรีและใช้อำนาจตาม พรก.ฉุกเฉินที่สามารถใช้ความรุนแรงต่อผู้ประท้วงได้

April 10, 2010 -- News footage of Thailand's security forces opening fire on Red Shirt pro-democracy protesters.

By Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM), Working People's Association (PRP) of Indonesia, People’s Democratic Party (PRD) of Indonesia, Turn Left Thailand, Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) of the Philippines, Socialist Alliance of Australia, Solidarity (Australia)

April 10, 2010 -- We are deeply concerned over the current situation in Thailand where military-backed Prime Minister Ahbisit Vejjajiva has declared a state of emergency and started a bloody crackdown amidst escalating protests calling for a fresh election.

By Federico Fuentes, Caracas

April 10, 2010 -- Bolivia Rising -- Although final figures will not be known until April 24, the results of Bolivia's April 4 regional elections have ratified the continued advance of the "democratic and cultural revolution" led by the country's first Indigenous president, Evo Morales. However, it also highlights some of the shortcomings and obstacles the process of change faces.

Initial results from the election for governors, mayors and representatives to municipal councils and departmental assemblies have confirmed the Morales-led Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) as the sole political force with strong support across Bolivia.

It follows the historic 64% vote to reelect Morales and the two-thirds majority MAS obtained in the Plurinational Assembly last December.