Europe
Europe: Greece, Spain, Portugal – the arc of resistance to austerity hardens
On September 25-26-27, 2012, up to 50,000 demonstrators tried to encircle the parliament, calling for the resignation of the government and d
Basque Country: Behind the rise of the EH Bildu left coalition
EH Bildu's main election rally.
By Dick Nichols
Portugal's Left Bloc: 'The people now have a goal: resignation of the government'
A million people protested across Portugal on September 15, 2012.
Resolution of the national board of the Left Bloc of Portugal, September 22, 2012, passed unanimously.
[The following articles and documents first appeared in the October 2012 issue of International Viewpoint, magazine of the Fourth International.]
1. The gigantic demonstration on September 15, 2012, [see article below], which cannot be compared to any other mobilisation in recent decades, turns the page of Portuguese politics. This was the response of the social majority to the government offensive, adopting a clear position against the Troika and demanding a break with the policy of impoverishment, austerity and destruction. The demonstration by the people in the streets did not demand time to slow down austerity, or the protection of the Troika: it demanded the end of the Troika in Portugal.
This was a signal sent to all the oppositions, to the financial markets, to Germany's Angela Merkel and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission.
Holandés: Una resaca en lugar de un terremoto
Emile Roemer.
Farewell Spain? Catalan independence march sends shockwave
By Dick Nichols, Barcelona
Netherlands elections: A hangover instead of an earthquake
Dutch Socialist party leader Emile Roemer.
Emile Roemer.
[English at http://links.org.au/node/3010.]
Por Will Wroth, traducción para www.sinpermiso.info por Gustavo Buster
Septiembre 9, 2012 -- www.sinpermiso.info -- Aunque las elecciones legislativas se suelen considerar con demasiada frecuencia como "históricas" y sus resultados, celebrados como "avalanchas decisivas" o "terremotos políticos", cuando el polvo de la batalla se disipa, en la mayoría de los casos no es para tanto. Pero las elecciones legislativas en los Países Bajos el próximo 12 de septiembre parecen despertar todo tipo de expectativas.
La caída imprevista del anterior gobierno minoritario, el más derechista del que se tenga memoria y rehén del apoyo del Partido de la Libertad (PVV) del demagogo xenófobo Geert Wilders, ha provocado la convocatoria de unas elecciones que pueden producir un cambio inédito en el espacio político de la izquierda y unos resultados que planteen algunos problemas estratégicos fundamentales a los socialistas tanto en los Países Bajos como en el resto del mundo, al mismo tiempo que enfrentaran a la oligarquía económica y política del país a una realidad cuanto menos molesta.
Cartoon of Socialist Party leader Emile Roemer that appeared in Quote, a Dutch business magazine. Caption reads: "If Roemer becomes prime minister, we’ll all move to Switzerland.”
September 1, 2012 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Although parliamentary elections are often billed as “historic”, and results hailed as “landslides” and “political earthquakes”, it usually turns out not to have been quite that dramatic when the dust settles. But the September 12 national elections in the Netherlands really do seem to be living up to expectations of that magnitude.
The unexpectedly early fall of the previous minority cabinet—the most right wing in living memory, and hostage to the support of xenophobic demagogue Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom (PVV)—has triggered an election that seems likely to usher in a radical realignment of the landscape on the left, and could realistically produce an outcome that poses some fundamental strategic questions for socialists in the Netherlands and beyond, while presenting an uncomfortable reality check for the country’s economic and political establishment.
Eyewitness account: SYRIZA and the Greek grassroots challenge to the politics of austerity
France: The rise of the Left Front (Front de Gauche) – a new force on the left
Jean-Luc Melenchon.
[Read more on French politics HERE.]
By Murray Smith
August 2, 2012 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Left Front (Front de Gauche) emerged onto the political scene at the beginning of 2009. As the Left Front to Change Europe, it was established by three organisations -- the French Communist Party (PCF), the Left Party (PG, Parti de Gauche) and the Unitary Left (GU) -- with the aim of standing in the European elections of June 2009.