When Bolivian President Evo Morales formally opened his country's constituent assembly on August 6, 2006, he highlighted the aspirations of Bolivia's indigenous majority as the central challenge before the gathering. The convening of the assembly, he said, represented a ``historic moment to refound our dearly beloved homeland Bolivia''.

This is the opening address by the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation to its central cadre convention, held in VM Hall, Bardhaman, West Bengal, September 12-13, 2006. The full title of the talk was “Let us do all we can to expand and strengthen the party organisation! Forward to victory over opportunism, pragmatism and spontaneity in the sphere of party-building!”

In the early twenty-first century, the Middle East has become one of the defining geopolitical regions of struggle. America’s quest for oil and political domination has plunged the region into deeper crisis, with struggles against us, British and Israeli imperialist domination, colonialism and occupation being fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine, while threats of “pre-emptive” action have been made against Iran and Syria.

The unconditional and mostly uncritical support that the United States has provided Israel over many decades has been more pronounced than us attitudes even to some of its most favoured Third World puppets. While the us may from time to time give half-hearted official support to criticisms by human rights bodies of other pro-us governments, in virtually every case it has used its veto in the United Nations to block even the mildest criticism of blatant violations of human rights or international law by Israel.

For socialists, internationalism has always been a sacred principle. "The workingmen have no country", declared the founders of scientific socialism 150 years ago.