Zuma, the centre-left and the left-left

By Patrick Bond
December 21, 2007 – Congratulations are due Jacob Zuma – apparently far more Machiavellian than even his arch-opponent since 2005, Thabo Mbeki – and the tireless band of warriors from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), SA Communist Party (SACP) and African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) who kept his political life support on when everyone else declared him dead.

The Battle for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela

By Kiraz Janicke Venezuelanalysis.com

December 1, 2007 -- As the struggle to deepen Venezuela's revolution intensifies, so too does the battle to create the new United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Over the past four months some 14,500 "socialist battalions" of the PSUV have been discussing and debating the constitutional reforms and have formed the grassroots battalions of the Commando Zamora, created as a broad front to campaign for the reforms in the lead-up to the referendum. This follows what Luis Bilbao describes as "the extraordinary demand of Venezuelan society for social and political unification," [1] with a massive 5.7 million people registering their intention to form part of this new party over a six-week period from April to June this year.

'Without worker-management, there is no socialism'

[A talk given at the two-day seminar “Workers Management: Theory and Practise”, held on October 26 and 27, 2007, organised by the Human Development and Transformative Praxis Program at the Caracas-based Miranda International Centre. Lebowitz is the director of the program.

Armando Hart on the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution

November 7, 2007, was the 90th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Here Armando Hart Dávalos, one of the historic leaders of the Cuban Revolution, assesses the 1917 Russian Revolution in the light of historic experience. In a commentary of obvious timelessness for Cuba’s own revolutionary people and leadership, he argues that the pressures of the imperialist blockade were not the decisive causes of the fall of the Russian Revolution, but rather errors made within the country by its own leadership and institutions. Essential reading for Cubans, and for everyone who

`Socialisms' in the 21st Century

Haiman El Troudi has occupied many positions in Venezuela’s revolutionary government. He was the director of the Office of President (2005–2006) under Hugo Chavez and secretary of the Maisanta

Vietnam: On the road towards the renewal of socialism

Years ago, while we were fighting the US war of aggression, the word “Vietnam” became very familiar to the world. However, over the past decades, less information about Vietnam has reached to the outside world, and therefore understanding of Vietnam has become less among its world friends. It is against this background that I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with a broad overview about history of Vietnam, with the main focus on its development over the past 30 years.

Australia: Conference builds left alliances and international solidarity

Two articles reporting the October 11-14, 2007, Latin America and Asia Pacific International Solidarity Forum, held in Melbourne. The first written by Lisa Macdonald from Australia's Green Left Weekly and the second by Roger Annis from Canada's Socialist Voice.

Call for a greater Left unity in Pakistan

By Farooq Tariq
There has been never any other better time in history of Pakistan for greater left unity than the present time. There is a great urge among all the left and progressive forces to unite on one platform.

The labour aristocracy and opportunism in the history of Australian working-class politics

By Jonathan Strauss

The theory of the labour aristocracy argues that opportunism in the working class has a material basis. Such class-collaborationist politics express the interests of a relatively privileged stratum of workers who receive benefits supported by monopoly superprofits. Karl Marx and, especially, Frederick Engels, first developed this theory. It is most closely associated with V.I. Lenin, however, for whom it became “the pivot of the tactics in the labour movement that are dictated by the objective conditions of the imperialist era”.[1]

Hugo Blanco: A triumphant advance in Ecuador - popular forces sweep constituent assembly elections

Hugo Blanco was leader of the Quechua peasant uprising in the Cuzco region of Peru in the early 1960s. He was captured by the military and sentenced to 25 years in El Fronton Island prison for his activities, but an international defence campaign won his freedom.

Statements on Burma

Statements on the Burmese struggle for democracy from the Socialist Party of Malaysia, the Indonesian solidarity movement, the Australian Socialist Alliance and the Philippines' Partido ng Manggagawa.

Socialist Party of Malaysia

PRESS STATEMENT : 27 SEPTEMBER 2007

The 'Zumafication' of left politics in the Alliance: A critical review of the ANC Policy Conference and the SACP 12th Congre

The SACP and COSATU have been fiddling with the same strategic and political choice for over 15 years now.

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