Let there always be sunshine, children and peace: Youth Peace March New York, 1982 -- Daily LIFT #35

Let there always be sunshine, children and peace: 
Youth Peace March New York, 1982 

-- Daily LIFT #35

(The Daily LIFT - Leftist Image for Today - is a new The Left Chapter feature posting a daily photo, cartoon, artwork or other image related to leftist history or contemporary realty.)

Canadian hypocrisy and double standards in South and Central America on full display

Update: Since this was first published there has been a military coup in Bolivia that predictably and shamefully Canada has immediately backed. 

Canada's total hypocrisy and double standards in South and Central America are on full display, again, after the profoundly cynical Trudeau government and Global Affairs Canada stated on Tuesday that they would not recognize the Bolivian election results.


Leftist Evo Morales won the Presidential elections in the first round with over 47% of the vote. Bolivia's election laws allow for a first round win by a candidate even with less than 50% of the vote as long as they get over 40% and also lead their closest competitor by over 10% which Morales did.

Both Morales and others warned in advance of the elections that the United States and its imperialist allies were planning a coup should the left win the elections. It would seem that sock puppet Canada is stepping up to play its part.

While Trudeau and Canada are speaking out on Bolivia -- despite the fact the Bolivians are allowing an OAS audit of the election results to proceed -- why not take a look at events in the region that they have not spoken up about.

- Canada recognized the results of the elections in Brazil that saw fascist Jair Bolsonaro take the Presidency despite the fact that allies of Bolsonaro had imprisoned his main potential opponent -- leftist former President Lula da Silva (popularly known as Lula) -- on trumped up corruption charges. The process leading to Lula's jailing was totally rigged. Canada has not questioned Bolsonaro's legitimacy in anyway. In fact you see can a picture of Trudeau and Bolsonaro warmly greeting each other above.

- Since the eruption of protests against a transit fare hike that transformed into general strikes and mass demonstrations against neo-liberalism and inequality in Chile generally, the Chilean government has imposed curfews and martial law with the military patrolling the streets in a disturbing echo of the Pinochet era. Hundreds of people have been arrested, hundreds more injured or shot, at least 20 killed and there are widespread reports of torture, sexual assault and rape by the Chilean military and police. Not a peep from Canada. In fact Trudeau had a pleasant chat with the Chilean President on Tuesday.

- After betraying his promise to continue with his predecessor's leftist agenda, Ecuadoran President Lenín Moreno adopted a harsh austerity regime in exchange for IMF loans and began to intimidate, harass and arrest some of his former allies. A mass protest movement against these moves led by Indigenous peoples in early October has forced Moreno to back down, at least for now. During these protests Ecuador imposed martial law, and police violence and brutality led to the deaths of at least seven people, the wounding of at least 1,300, the arrests of at least 1,100 and the imposition of a 24 hour curfew in the capital. Canada said nothing.

- Honduras saw a military coup in 2009 that ousted the democratically elected government of President Manuel Zelaya. Since then a series of clearly fraudulent elections have ensured that right wing, pro-American and pro-business governments have remained in power including a sham election in 2017 that saw the "victory" of  President Juan Orlando Hernández. Canada?:

“Canada has remained a steadfast ally to the [post-coup] regime,” Tyler Shipley, professor at Humber College and author of the book Ottawa and Empire: Canada and the Military Coup in Honduras, says. “Canada helped the coup government consolidate its power, and worked diplomatically to reintegrate the country into the OAS after they were kicked out of the organization. Canada was also one of the first to recognize the election in 2009 after the coup.”

This support began with the Harper government and continues under Trudeau and Foreign Minister Freeland.

According to Shipley "No country – save perhaps the United States – did more to facilitate the rise of the Honduran dictatorship than Canada" and "Canadians who believe that their country is a good citizen of the world would do well to take a closer look at the nightmare in Honduras. After all, it is a nightmare Canada has helped create."

- In Haiti there have been months of mass protests against President Jovenel Moïse.  "Police have killed dozens of demonstrators since anti-corruption protests began last year. In the worst documented case, the UN confirmed the Haitian government’s culpability in a terrible massacre of up to 71 civilians in the impoverished Port-au-Prince neighborhood of La Saline in mid-November 2018." And yet continued support for Moise by Canada led to the publication of an Open Letter signed by David Suzuki, Roger Waters, Linda Mcgaig, Amir Khadir, Will Prosper, Tariq Ali, Yann Martel, Maude Barlow, Sid Ryan, John Clarke and more than 100 other writers, musicians, activists and professors demanding that this stop.

It is perfectly clear that when Trudeau, Freeland and the Canadian government prattle on about "freedom" and "democracy" they are only talking about countries where leftist governments win elections such as Venezuela and Bolivia. Their concern for "freedom" is the freedom of big business and corporate interests to run South and Central American countries on behalf of international capital and their version of "democracy" are election results, fair or otherwise, that install governments that will reinforce this.

Youth Festival - painting, Mikhail Gurvich USSR 1985 -- Daily LIFT #34

Youth Festival - painting, Mikhail Gurvich USSR 1985 -- Daily LIFT #34

(The Daily LIFT - Leftist Image for Today - is a new The Left Chapter feature posting a daily photo, cartoon, artwork or other image related to leftist history or contemporary realty.)

Stop backing a corrupt, repressive and illegitimate Haitian president -- Open Letter

Open Letter calling on the Canadian government to stop backing a corrupt, repressive and illegitimate Haitian president

In recent months, Haitians have demonstrated their overwhelming opposition to President Jovenel Moïse. There have been massive protests and multiple general strikes demanding Moïse leave. We consider their demands legitimate.

A recent corruption investigation by Haiti’s Superior Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes accused Moïse’s companies of swindling $2 million of public money. Some two billion dollars were pilfered under Moïse’s mentor Michel Martelly from Petro Caribe, a discounted oil program set up by Venezuela. Yet, the people’s demand for justice in this money squandering scandal has been met with fierce repression. Police have killed dozens of demonstrators since anti-corruption protests began last year. In the worst documented case, the UN confirmed the Haitian government’s culpability in a terrible massacre of up to 71 civilians in the impoverished Port-au-Prince neighborhood of La Saline in mid-November 2018.

Let’s remember that Moïse assumed office in 2017, through voter suppression and electoral fraud. Barely one in five Haitians voted. The people have been protesting and voicing their opposition to Moïse since day one, but he clings to power because of support from the US, Canada and members of the so-called “Core Group” (France, Brazil, Germany, Spain, EU and OAS). Canada has provided financial, policing and diplomatic support to the unpopular government. Canadian officials have repeatedly promoted and applauded a police force that has been responsible for countless abuses. Recent Canadian and “Core Group” statements completely ignore Moise’s electoral illegitimacy and downplay the enormity of the corruption and violence against protesters.

The undersigned call on the Justin Trudeau government and Canadian state, member of the “Core Group” - to stop backing a corrupt, repressive and illegitimate president Haitians massively reject.

Please note the situation is urgent, as the people’s access to basic necessities is more precarious everyday while the country is paralyzed and dysfunctional due to the political crisis.

Signatories,

David Suzuki, award-winning geneticist/broadcaster

RogerWaters, co-founder Pink Floyd

Amir Khadir, ex-deputy Québec Solidaire, responsible for international solidarity issues

Maude Barlow, Honorary Chairperson of the Council of Canadians

Linda Mcgaig, author/journalist

Joel Harden, MPP for Ottawa Centre

Will Prosper, filmmaker/human rights activist

Françoise Boucard, former chair Haiti’s National Truth and Justice Commission

Sid Ryan, former president of Ontario Federation of Labour and CUPE Ontario

Sue Montgomery, Mayor of NDG/Co-creator of #BeenRapedNeverReported

JimManly, Member of Parliament 1980-88

Yann Martel, author

Tariq Ali, author

Frantz Voltaire, editor

André Michel, president Artistes Pour La Paix

Michele Landsberg, journalist/activist

Chris Hedges, author

Frantz André, Solidarité Québec-Haïti #Petrochallenge 2019

Bruce Cockburn OC, musician/songwriter

El Jones, poet

Rawi Hage, author

RobynMaynard, author Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present

George Elliott Clarke, OC, poet

Greg Grandin, professor history Yale University

Rinaldo Walcott, professor and writer

Terra Lightfoot, singer-songwriter

Jean Saint-Vil, journalist/activist

Alain Deneault, philosopher

Antonia Zerbisias, journalist/activist

Medea Benjamin, co-director CODEPINK

Stephen von Sychowski,President Vancouver & District Labour Council

Gordon Laxer, author/founding Director Parkland Institute

Èzili Dantò, Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network/Free Haiti Movement

Jord Samolesky, Propagandhi

Janis Alton, Co-Chair Canadian Voice of Women for Peace

Yves Engler, author/activist

Carmen Rodriguez, author

Christopher C. Black, Canadian international criminal lawyer, list of counsel, ICC

Peter Hallward, author Damming the Flood: Haiti and the Politics of Containment

Monia Mazigh, PhD/author

Azeezah Kanji, journalist/legal academic

Charlie Demers, writer/comedian

Renel Exentus, regroupement des haïtien.ne.s de Montréal contre l'occupation d'Haïti

Grahame Russell, Co-Director Rights Action

Wade Davis, Professor of Anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at University of British Columbia

Eva Manly, retired filmmaker

Pierrot Ross-Tremblay, professeur Université d'Ottawa

Clayton Thomas-Muller Author, Director, Senior Campaign Specialist - 350.org

Frederick Jones, retired professor Dawson College

Marie Dimanche, Solidarité Québec-Haïti #Petrochallenge 2019

Torquil Campbell singer and a songwriter for Stars

Rosina Kazi, vocalist LAL band

Alexa Conradi, author/activist

Bianca Mugyenyi, activist

Jonathan Kuttab, co-founder Al-Haq

Kevin Edmonds, educator/activist

Mostafa Henaway, author/Immigrant Workers Centre

Donald Cuccioletta, coordinator Nouveaux Cahiers du Socialisme andMontreal Urban Left

Derrick O'Keefe, writer/co-founder Ricochet

Scott Weinstein, health care worker

Bill Ross, activist

Margaret Flowers, co-director Popular Resistance

Jennie-Laure Sully, Solidarité Québec-Haïti #Petrochallenge 2019

Kevin Zeese, co-director Popular Resistance

Ann Rogers, Political Studies Vancouver Island University

Andrea Levy, coordinating editor Canadian Dimension magazine

James Winter, author and Professor in the Graduate Program in Communication and Social Justice University of Windsor

Kari Polanyi Levitt, development economist

Patrick Mbeko, Canadian political scientist of Congolese origin
Rafaelle Roy, painter
Jan J. Dominique, writer

Gary Klang, writer

Tamara Lorincz, board member Canadian Voice of Women for Peace

Greg Beckett, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Western University

Kevin Skerrett, union researcher

Nikolas Barry-Shaw, researcher/activist

Darren Ell, teacher/photographer

Henry Heller, professor

Turenne Joseph, Solidarité Québec-Haïti #Petrochallenge 2019

Richard Swift, journalist

Claudia Chaufan, MD, YorkGraduate Program Director and Associate ProfessorSchool of Health Policy and Management

Robin Mathews, retired Professor/Poet/Playwright/Activist

Jay Watts, co-chair Toronto Association for Peace & Solidarity

Michael S Goodman, activist

Rosemary Hnatiuk, activist

Ajit Singh, lawyer/graduate student

Ali Mallah, former Ontario and Federal NDP Executive member

Raul Burbano, activist

Justin Podur, writer/academic

Elaine Hughes, activist

Trevor Herriot, writer, activist

Ken Collier, Retired academic and current activist Mission, BC

Syed Hussan, Migrant Workers Alliance

Ralph Gastmeier, Retired cooperative housing coordinator

Saul Bottcher, Green Party of Canada candidate 2015

David Heap, Teacher-Researcher & Community Human Rights Advocate

Bev Currie, Past President Saskatchewan NDP

Phil Taylor, Host and producer of Taylor Report, CIUT 89.5 fm Toronto

Nadia Abu-Zahra, Assistant Professor, School of International Development and Global Studies University of Ottawa

Martin Lukacs, journalist

Youri Smouter, journalist

Sid Shniad, retired union research director/activist

Eva Bartlett, independent journalist/activist

Jooneed Khan, journalist and human rights activist

Barry Weisleder, co-editor, Socialist Action newspaper, chair, NDP Socialist Caucus

William Sloan, ex. refugee lawyer

Dimitri Lascaris, lawyer/journalist/activist

John Philpot, international defense lawyer

Arnold August, Montreal journalist/author on US-Latin America

Antonio Artuso, Front uni contre le fascisme et la guerre

Gary Engler, author

John Wesley Delva, journalist/poet

Jonathan McPhedran Waitzer, consultant in organizational development

Jeanne-Marie Rugira, Professor at the University du Québec à Rimouski

Mouloud Idir-Djerroud, political scientist/pan-Africanist activist

Franklin Lopez, Filmmaker, Voluntarily Unemployed

Nadia Duguay, cofounder Exeko

Amel Zaazaa, feminist and anti-racist activist
Marita Mariasine, activist in Ayiti since 2010
Pascale Brunet, community organizer
Christian Tremblay, anticolonial activist

Christian Gagnon, Bloc Québécois candidate in Papineau
Nawel A. Hamidi,  lawyer, PhD student University of Essex(UK)

Rushdia Mehreen, community organizer / anti-racist activist
Athena R. Kolbe, Professor of Social Work University of North Carolina

Robert Green, Green Party Candidate for NDG-Westmount/Teacher at Westmount High School

Brian Concannon, Human Rights Lawyer and Board Member of IJDH

Freda Guttman artist/activist

Rael Nidess, M.D.Marshall, TX USA

Khaled Mouammar, activist

Richard Sanders, author/activist

Marv Gandall, activist

Karen Rodman, activist

Larry Hannant, historian/activist

Dave Greenfield, activist

Judith Deutsch, psychoanalyst

Raoul Paul, co-editor Canada-Haiti Information Project

Travis Ross, public school teacher/co-editor Canada-Haiti Information Project

Greg Albo, York professor

Paul Larudee, nonprofit administrator/former academic/US government advisor

Denis Rancourt, Researcher Ontario Civil Liberties Association, former Professor of Physics, University of Ottawa

Anthony James Hall, Professor Emeritus/Editor In Chief American Herald Tribune

Peter Eglin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University/activist

Mary Ellen Davis, cinéaste/travailleuse culturelle

Ken Stone, Treasurer of Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War

Samir Gandesha, Associate Professor and Director SFU Institute for the Humanities

Carmen Aguirre, theatre artist/author

Anastasia Marcelin, activist/politician

Pierre Beaudet, Nouveaux cahiers du socialisme

John Clarke, activist

Harsha Walia, activist/writer

Aziz Fall, President Centre Internationaliste Ryerson Foundation Aubin

Sacco and Vanzetti, Woodcut Engraving by Antonio Frasconi, USA 1965 -- Daily LIFT #33

Sacco and Vanzetti - Woodcut Engraving by Antonio Frasconi, USA 1965

To read more about these working class martyrs murdered by the state of Massachusetts see:

Sacco and Vanzetti Murdered August 23, 1927

(The Daily LIFT - Leftist Image for Today - is a new The Left Chapter feature posting a daily photo, cartoon, artwork or other image related to leftist history or contemporary realty.)

Robeson Defies McCarthyism, 1956 -- Daily LIFT #32

Paul Robeson testifies in Washington June 12, 1956, before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Standing up in the face of blacklisting and intimidation, having had his passport revoked for years, Robeson famously said "Whether I am or am not a Communist is irrelevant. The question is whether American citizens, regardless of their political beliefs or sympathies, may enjoy their constitutional rights." and "My father was a slave, and my people died to build this country, and I am going to stay here, and have a part of it just like you. And no Fascist-minded people will drive me from it."

(The Daily LIFT - Leftist Image for Today - is a new The Left Chapter feature posting a daily photo, cartoon, artwork or other image related to leftist history or contemporary realty.)

Demand Freedom for Disappeared Prisoners in Chile!, World Peace Council 1977

Vintage Leftist Leaflet Project

Demand Freedom for Disappeared Prisoners in Chile!, World Peace Council 1977

With protests and general strikes against inequality and neo-liberalism gripping Chile right now, the state and government have responded with a violence and repression not seen since the fascist military junta of the 1970s.

This distressing echo of the Pinochet years has led to headlines that tell a terrible tale. Chile Protesters Tortured, Sexually Abused by Security Forces: Report, Chile: State Violence Leads to 1,420 Arrests and 11 Deaths and 'So Awful': Military Returns to Streets in Chile as Unrest Simmers are just a few.

We looked at the situation in The Left Chapter's two last news roundups Chile Protests, Federal Election Results, Evo Morales Wins & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos October 20 - 27 and Mass Protests in Chile, Honduras, Ecuador and Catalonia, Bolivia Votes & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos October 14 - 20.

This leaflet issued by the World Peace Council in 1977 reminds us of the horrific disappearances, repressions and brutality of the Pinochet years, the last time the military patrolled the streets of Chile and martial law was imposed after the overthrow of the democratically elected leftist government of Salvador Allende.

It chronicles cases of state violence and disappearances. These include figures like Communist leader Victor Diaz who was arrested in 1976 and never heard from again. We now know he was murdered after months of torture. 

It also contains suggestions and plans to put international pressure on the junta. Sadly the Pinochet regime would remain in power for another 12 years.

Leaflets like this serve as a stark reminder as to why international pressure must be brought to bear to stop Chilean state and military violence now.

(Click on scans to enlarge)

When The Left Chapter began part of what I wanted to do on the blog was to show and highlight vintage public leftist election/political leaflets and booklets. While many of these have been offered with commentary to date, a very large collection of hundreds of them from several different sources remains and to preserve these often quite rare documents we will be posting them on a regular (almost daily) basis now often without or with minimal commentary so that people may have access to them as quickly as possible as an historical resource. 

While these will all be leaflets from a variety of different leftist viewpoints and countries, they are being posted as an historical/study resource and the views or opinions expressed in them do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or blogger.

All of these posts (as well as posts made to date) will be listed on the page: Vintage Communist/Socialist Leaflets  (which is still being updated with past posts).

If you have any public, vintage leaflets or booklets you would like to contribute to this project please contact us via theleftchapter@outlook.com

Petition for Peace Poster, Labor Progressive Party, 1950 -- Daily LIFT #31

Petition for Peace Poster, Labor Progressive Party, 1950 -- Daily LIFT #31 

A poster in support of an anti-nuclear, pro-disarmament petition drive in 1950 by the LPP as Canada's Communist Party was known at the time.

(The Daily LIFT - Leftist Image for Today - is a new The Left Chapter feature posting a daily photo, cartoon, artwork or other image related to leftist history or contemporary realty.)

Chile Protests, Federal Election Results, Evo Morales Wins & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos October 20 - 27

This week's list of articles, news items, opinion pieces and videos that I see as a must if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers.



This list covers the week of October 20 - 27.

1) Over 1 Million People March in Chile's Largest Protest

Telesur 

Over one million people are marching in the streets of the Chilean capital, responding to the convocation of students and labor unions who organized on social media "The Largest March in Chile" on Friday afternoon, with rallies paralyzing major cities.

- "the right to live in peace".
Victor Jara.

✊🏽🌹❤️

#porunavidadigna



One million in the streets of Santiago, Chile today to protest the austerity program of the right-wing Pinera government and the army/police repression of the people!



2) Chile Unrest: Rights Groups Warn of Dictatorship-Like Practices

Telesur

In Chile 2,138 people have been arrested, including 243 minors and 407 women, 9 of whom were stripped during police procedures, according to the National Institute of Human Rights (NHRI).

The popular movement against Piñera’s neoliberal government and its repressive policies, is unprecedented in Chile’s modern history, and it has grown stronger following the beginning of a 48 hours general strike called by several social organizations.



Day 7. Santiago. Over 500 thousand in the streets.

Latin American is rising up against Neoliberalism.



3) Chile Protesters Tortured, Sexually Abused by Security Forces: Report

Telesur 

The National Institute of Human Rights in Chile (INDH) has confirmed that they have received cases of possible torture at the hands of the authorities amid protests that began against public transport fare hikes but have extended into an uprising against President Piñera’s neoliberal policies.

4) Chile: Popular revolt exposes a violent economic system

Pablo Leighton, Green Left Weekly 

Countless symbols of neoliberalism came under attack during protests in Chile over the October 18–20 long weekend.

5) In Chile, Protesters Continue To Defy The President And Military

Paige Sutherland, NPR

Massive protests have continued over economic inequality in Chile this week, defying the president and security forces' efforts to restore calm. The widespread and sometimes violent unrest has led to more than a dozen deaths.

Demonstrations have now turned into a general protest against neoliberalism in Chile.



6) Chile Faces Mine Stoppages as Workers Join Protests

Laura Millan Lombrana, Bloomberg

Anti-government protests that have shaken the world’s largest copper producing nation Chile for the past three days have spread to the mining sector as unions call for stoppages.

7) Chile: State Violence Leads to 1,420 Arrests and 11 Deaths

Telesur 

Chile's National Institute of Human Rights (NHRI) presented on Monday night the latest statistics of detainees and injured since the social protests began on October 17th. According to its report, there have been 1,420 arrests and 84 people wounded by gunfire so far.

8) 'So Awful': Military Returns to Streets in Chile as Unrest Simmers

Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams 

Demonstrators in Chile continued their "pots and pans" protests Sunday following a week of unrest that saw hundreds arrested and the military patrolling the streets for the first time in decades.

In what appears to be amateur video, here is more footage of military personnel in Santiago yesterday shooting an unarmed protester.

Military shooting people in the streets of Santiago, Chile.




9) Swiss elections: Landslide Green gains tip parliament to the left

Urs Geiser, Swiss Info

Green parties have made historic gains at the expense of those to the right and the left in elections to the Swiss parliament.

10) Free Public Transit is Key to a Green New Deal: Free Transit for Toronto

Herman Rosenfeld, Socialist Project Bullet 

One of the few identifiable issues raised in the Canadian election campaign so far is the need to address the climate crisis. The concept of a Green New Deal has been raised by the left and environmental movements across the continent, in Canada through Greenpeace’s Pact for a Green New Deal and obliquely through the NDP (“A New Deal for Climate Action and Good Jobs”), and the Greens (“Green Climate Action Plan”). Addressing the climate emergency has become a theme for all the main parties, even in the cynical and flawed manner of Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer.

11) Abortion and same-sex marriage legalised in Northern Ireland, despite DUP opposition

Elly Badcock, Counterfire 

Activists in Northern Ireland celebrated the legalisation of abortion and same-sex marriage at the stroke of midnight, as a cynical last-ditch attempt by unionist parties to restore the executive failed. The Stormont Assembly has now been defunct for over two years, prompted in large part by DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Foster refusing to stand aside after being embroiled in the ‘Cash for Ash’ scandal, where businesses were allowed to exploit green energy incentives and gain taxpayer-funded subsidies. RTE reported that some businesses were receiving £1.60 in subsidies for every £1 they spent on energy, and investigations uncovered businesses running up to ten boilers in order to make millions from these subsidies.

12) Everyone Is a Russian Asset

Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

Rather than confront the devastating absurdity of defeat before an ad-libbing game show host who was seemingly trying to lose – a black comedy that is 100% in America’s rich stupidity tradition – Democrats have gone all-in on this theory of foreign infiltration. House speaker Nancy Pelosi even said as much in a White House meeting, pointing at Trump and proclaiming: “All roads lead to Putin.”

13) Hillary Clinton's attacks on Tulsi Gabbard are embarrassing

Nathan Robinson, The Guardian 

Hillary Clinton has kept a relatively low profile since her embarrassing 2016 election defeat, popping up only occasionally to make out-of-touch elitist comments that confirm why she lost. So it was somewhat surprising to hear her weigh in on the 2020 Democratic primary with a truly bizarre comment about (of all people) Tulsi Gabbard.

14) Hillary Clinton called me a 'Russian asset'. The establishment is losing its grip

Jill Stein, The Guardian

The McCarthyist smear against the Green party shows the lengths to which Clinton will go to blame others for her 2016 defeat.

15) Iraqi Security Forces Killed 149 People In Recent Protests, Inquiry Concludes

Richard Gonzales, NPR

Iraqi security forces killed 149 people and wounded over 3,000 in protests that began Oct. 1, a government-appointed inquiry announced Tuesday.

16) Uruguay: Leftist 'Broad Front' Leads Polls With 38% of Vote

Telesur

Less than a week before the presidential elections in Uruguay, citizens' support for the Broad Front, Frente Amplio (FA), a coalition of left-wing organizations which is currently in government, is growing and widening its distance from the opposition led by the center-right National Party (PN).

17) Uruguayans Vote for President, Leftist Candidate Leads Polls

Telesur

Uruguayans voted Sunday in general elections with the Frente Amplio, which has ruled for more than 14 years as a favorite, but their center-left policies face the challenge of a coalition of conservative parties.

18) Jewish Leaders Arrested For Protesting Trump One Year After Mass Shooting at Pittsburgh Synagogue

Democracy Now

Ahead of Trump’s arrival in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, police arrested 14 people as they held a sit-in protest blocking a bridge near the Shale Insight Conference. The protest was led by Jewish leaders who marched behind a banner reading “Our solidarity will defeat White Nationalism.” It came almost exactly one year after a gunman armed with an AR-15 assault rifle opened fire inside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 worshipers. Just ahead of the shooting, the gunman posted a racist screed echoing President Trump’s language about an “invasion” of immigrants. This is Dove Kent of the group Jewish Action, who led Wednesday’s protest.

19) 'Together we are powerful' – McDonald's workers announce biggest wave of fast food strikes Britain has seen

Marcus Barnett, The Morning Star

MCDONALD’S workers have warned bosses that “together we are powerful” as they announce the biggest wave of fast food strikes Britain has ever seen.

20) History falsified as Europe says Nazis and communists are the same

Phil Katz, People's World

When I wrote my book, Freedom From Tyranny, the “Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism”—which in terms of falsifying history ranks up there with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion—was still taking shape.

European countries increasingly miss communism.


21) “Unprecedented” Protests Rage Across Lebanon as People Demand PM’s Resignation and End to Austerity

Democracy Now

Mass protests in Lebanon have entered their sixth day as hundreds of thousands around the country are taking to the streets to demonstrate against dire economic conditions, austerity and corruption, demanding the country’s leaders step down. The protests were sparked last week when the government announced a tax on WhatsApp calls, but the massive demonstrations have since grown into a call for revolution. More than a million demonstrators flooded the streets of Beirut, Tripoli and other cities over the weekend. Prime Minister Saad Hariri revoked the WhatsApp tax on Monday and announced a package of economic reforms, but protesters are continuing to call for his ouster. For more, we speak with independent Lebanese journalist Kareem Chehayeb, whose recent piece for The Washington Post is headlined “Lebanon’s protests and wildfires tell the same grim story.”

22) Lebanese Communist Party calls for a general strike

SOL International

The Lebanese Communist Party encourages the people to escalate the uprising and calls for a general strike to force the government to resign.

23) Lebanon Protesters Back in the Streets

Telesur

Protesters poured back onto streets and squares across Lebanon on Saturday, despite army efforts to unblock roads, with no end in sight to a crisis that has virtually shut down the nation for the past 10 days as demonstrators demand the government leaders resign. 

24) An inside account of the Indigenous uprising in Ecuador

Michael Otto and Zoila Ramirez, IAC

On Oct. 7, 4000 Indigenous people from towns in and around the same canton marched for four hours to Ibarra to present a manifesto to the governor of Imbabura. The governor refused to meet with them and later rejected their primary demands: Cease the military aggression against Indigenous communities and support their resistance to the “paquetazo” (economic package) ordered by the International Monetary Fund and Decree 883, which removed fuel subsidies.

25) Ecuador: Indigenous Organizations Propose a People's Parliament

Telesur

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) on Thursday convened to form a popular parliament so as to outline an economic model and present it to President Lenin Moreno.

26) Bolivia: Morales Officially Wins Presidency

Telesur 

With 99.99 percent of the votes counted in Bolivia, Evo Morales is once again president of the Andean country with 47.07 percent of the votes.

27) Morales Calls on Opposition Groups To Respect Electoral Result

Telesur

Bolivia experienced on Friday a full day of strikes led by opposition groups who were dissatisfied with the results of the presidential elections that took place on  October 20. The election saw an important victory for President Evo Morales who won with 47.08% of the votes.

28) Mexico Condemns OAS Interference in Bolivia's Elections

Telesur

The Mexican government has criticised the OAS Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) for prematurely raising ‘concerns’ about Bolivia’s elections before carrying out a full audit which the Bolivian government invited them to do. 

29) Boycott Puma protests to take place after brand sponsors Israel

The Morning Star

HUMAN rights activists are to protest outside sportswear brand Puma’s stores, offices and sponsored teams’ events across the world today against the company’s sponsorship of the Israeli Football Association (IFA).

30) Activists declare victory in #RaptorsDontGo campaign

Marion Kawas, Mondoweiss 

The Canadian BDS Coalition issued a statement on October 22, 2019, declaring victory in the campaign to stop the NBA 2019 champions, the Toronto Raptors, from going as a team on a “promised trip” to Israel. The Coalition noted that the new 2019-20 National Basketball Association NBA season has officially started, and “no reported public team visit” to Israel has occurred.

31) Spain: Sanchez Backs Security Forces in Catalonia Crackdown

Telesur

In the middle of the political crisis that has hit Catalonia for the last eight days, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited Barcelona Monday, where he expressed his full support to the police officers dealing with the protests and warned them that the current situation will be longspun.

32) MINORITY GOVERNMENT: STRONG EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY MOVEMENT NEEDED TO FORCE GAINS

People's Voice

Throughout this election campaign, opinion polls projected the probability of a minority government. It was a scenario that many progressives anticipated with relish, in the hopes that it would provide a strong opportunity for the labour and people’s movements to win meaningful reforms.

(Related: The NDP's election disaster shows again the need for something new on the left)

33) Trudeau rules out coalition, promises gender equity in new cabinet

Kathleen Harris · CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today ruled out a governing coalition and said his minority government's new cabinet will have gender balance when it's sworn in on Nov. 20.

34) Trudeau extends olive branch to Western Canada, vows to build Trans Mountain despite opposition

 John Paul Tasker, CBC News

Two days after much of Western Canada rejected the Liberals on election day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today vowed to be more sensitive to the needs of Alberta and Saskatchewan and to build the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline in the face of entrenched opposition from environmentalists.

(Related: No, the NDP losing over 600,000 votes and 20 seats is not a "victory")

35) ELECTION RESULTS NO EXCUSE FOR NATIONAL CHAUVINISM

Dave McKee, People's Voice

As the votes were being counted on October 21, it quickly became clear that the NDP was not going to see its much anticipated (and expected) breakthrough in Toronto. For the last two weeks of the campaign, polls consistently suggested that New Democrats were on track to win in the downtown ridings of Toronto Danforth, Parkdale-High Park, and Davenport. In the end, it wasn’t even close – the Liberals won the first two ridings by 8000 and 10,000 votes, respectively, and held Davenport by a close-but-comfortable 1500.

36) Oil Chauvinism and the Western NDP Schism

Dock Currie


The schism between the Federal NDP and the Alberta NDP cannot be, and should not be, papered over. It represents a real, material disagreement, and, in the case of the Alberta NDP, a massive departure from the policies and principles of the Federal NDP.

(Related: The election results in Toronto tell a story the NDP does not want to hear)

The election results in Toronto tell a story the NDP does not want to hear

The NDP's Toronto federal election results really put the lie to a number of the narratives their partisans and organizers are trying to spin.

Already the line -- also adopted by a surprising number of "left" commentators outside the party -- that the NDP would now be more "powerful" even after losing over 600,000 votes and 20 seats because "it will hold the balance of power" has been shown to be an illusion.

Justin Trudeau very quickly ruled out any type of coalition and why wouldn't he. Only needing 13 votes to pass legislation he can turn to the Bloc Quebecois, the NDP or even the Conservatives in some cases. None of the parties will really want to fight another election too quickly for a variety of reasons so it is pretty safe to say the Liberals are likely to get at least a couple of years out of this minority without the need of explicitly pandering to the NDP at all even if you assume the NDP would have pushed a radical agenda in exchange for its support which I do not.

The case of the NDP backing austerity budgets during the minority Liberal government in Ontario shows that their price can usually be had pretty cheap.

There has also been a tendency in some quarters to try to say the party's lackluster results are due largely to "racist Quebec". Dave McKee deals with this bogus line very effectively in the People's Voice piece "ELECTION RESULTS NO EXCUSE FOR NATIONAL CHAUVINISM". As McKee notes:

Upon seeing that the NDP had been reduced to a single seat, CBC anchor opined, “It is fair to also ask whether Quebec was ready for a person of colour to be leading a party.” When Chantal Hebert pointed out that the Bloc Quebecois “ate [all of] the Liberals, the Conservatives and the NDP,” Barton quickly moved to another question. Whereas elsewhere in the country, the NDP’s poor results were packaged into somewhat understandable or even supportable excuses, its near wipeout in Quebec was immediately attributed to racism.
Never mind that Maxime Bernier, leader of the ultra-right racist People’s Party was trounced in the Quebec riding he’d held since 2006. Never mind that a key issue for Quebecers is supply management in agriculture, a system the Bloc squarely committed to defending. Never mind that the same CBC election broadcast included a clip of an anglophone Canadian saying of Jagmeet Singh that “people aren’t ready for his [points to her hair] religion.” And never mind the numerous incidents of racism that Singh directly encountered in English-speaking Canada, virtually all of which were celebrated as examples of the NDP leader’s “principled response” rather than condemned as examples of xenophobia.
The narrative that “Quebec is the racist core of Canada” is not confined to CBC or other media pundits. It has, unfortunately, been echoed by some on the political left, with comments ranging from a smug tsk-tsk to outright bigotry against Quebecers. Much of this discourse seeks cultural evidence by pointing to Quebec’s “Law on the Secularism of the State”, Bill 21, which bans most public workers from wearing or displaying religious symbols and is widely understood to be focused on Muslims. But the legislation has received a lot of opposition within Quebec.

Obviously NDP partisans are upset that the big upsurge in support they were insisting was occurring, despite the rather scant evidence for it, did not happen. If not scapegoating Quebec they have also turned to the notion that "at the last second" voters in places like Toronto changed their minds and voted Liberal out of fear swinging ridings to Trudeau that Singh and crew had been about to win.

To some extent this probably did occur, though as we will see this is a deeper trend than New Democrats might want to admit and cannot be used to explain everything away. Despite their protestations that the NDP was running on a truly "left" platform that was resonating with voters there was actually no indication that this was the case going into the election at all.

In fact, despite knowing when the election would occur the NDP was totally disorganized, its headquarters obsessively blocking or ghosting potential nominees for months meaning they had many ridings with no candidates just a few weeks or even days before the writ dropped, and far from having done the work to build momentum on the ground or in the streets that you need to do to promote a transformative platform the party was only saved from oblivion by the combination of a terrible outing by the Greens and a good couple of weeks from Singh.

The NDP's fate is always tied to electoral shifts like this as it eschews any meaningful movement orientation between elections of any kind and has been entirely electorally focused for decades. I still remember NDP partisans confident that Tom Mulcair's strength as a parliamentarian and during things like Question Period would bring victory and impress the people prior to the 2015 election.  Of course it didn't.

With a party's outcomes being based on the whims and short-term currents of bourgeois electoralism you can be up one week and down the next given the reality that most voters do not really think there is all that much that fundamentally separates parties like the Liberals and the NDP.

They are not wrong. Decades of the NDP in "power" in many provinces as well as in opposition have shown this to be a basically sound assessment regardless of whether the NDP brass have decided to cycle rhetorically more left or more centrist in this or that election and in response to this or that trend. So if the one looks the more likely to win than the other many progressives often don't really care either way.

That the NDP's various incarnations over the years have failed to build a serious base of support and left movement in places where they absolutely need it to "win" or to have any true influence on the country's political agenda is made nowhere more clear than in its results in Toronto.

Doug Nesbitt compiled a very telling chart of the NDP's fortunes in the city of Toronto since 1962 federally which I am using here with permission.

These are not relative numbers they are the NDP's vote and seat wins in absolute terms meaning that in 2019 the party only took just over 1,000 more votes in Toronto than it did in 1972 and won 5 fewer seats. As we all know, Toronto's population is much higher now and there were 5 fewer seats to win in 1972 so this looks even worse once that is factored in.

Not only did the Liberals win far more votes in Toronto in 2019 (681,551) so did the Conservatives (291,776). Only in the riding of Davenport did the NDP come close enough to winning for a last second shift to be a believable explanation for the loss.

Toronto is quite possibly the most diverse city in the world. It is politically progressive overall and given the pressures many Torontonians face in terms of housing, transit, the high cost of living and the consequences of social inequality and stratification, the failure of the NDP to build support that is not ephemeral in it tells a story the party does not seem to want to hear or learn from.

If you spend decades running on platforms that are just ever so slightly to the "left" of the Liberals, that are indistinguishable now from the Greens and that are packaged and framed with all the usual cynicism and "what is in the news this week" electoral thinking of bourgeois party politics then this is the likely result.

The NDP can try to spin the 2019 election as if it is detached from a broader reality all they want. But it is not and the fact that they are getting the same number of votes in Toronto that they did 47 years ago makes that pretty clear.

See also our other related pieces on the 2019 election results The NDP's election disaster shows again the need for something new on the left and No, the NDP losing over 600,000 votes and 20 seats is not a "victory"

Jobs, Peace, Socialism: CPUSA Convention Poster, Cleveland 1983 -- Daily LIFT #30

Jobs, Peace, Socialism: CPUSA Convention Poster, Cleveland 1983 

-- Daily LIFT #30

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the 

Communist Party USA.

(The Daily LIFT - Leftist Image for Today - is a new The Left Chapter feature posting a daily photo, cartoon, artwork or other image related to leftist history or contemporary realty.)

Committed to Our Own Principles -- Speech by Cuban President Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado to the Non-Aligned Nations Summit Meeting in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in September 1961

Vintage Leftist Leaflet Project

Leaflet: Committed to Our Own Principles -- Speech by Cuban President Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado to the Non-Aligned Nations Summit Meeting in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in September 1961

This leaflet contains the text of the speech of Cuban President Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado to the Non-Aligned Nations summit meeting in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in September 1961.

In it the President deals with the many issues that were confronting the revolutionary Cuban government and people as well as issues of colonialism, neo-colonialism and the struggle for global liberation and peace at the time.

One notable quote among many still relevant today:

I believe we should take special care in considering the subtle proceedings with which the imperialist countries intend to promote the survival of the colonial exploitation of the peoples. Many nations have earned the title of independent states, and have obtained their political liberty, but these nations come into international juridical existence with a limited economic and social development, and circumstances are therefore extremely favorable for attempts to mutilate the economic independence of those countries and limit their political liberty. Through pretended economic assistance that misdirects the national development and establishes political conditions, or through the obligation imposed on the new countries of taking part in military blocs, or through the establishment of strategic bases in their territories, the hateful forms of neo-colonialism appear which today threaten the Afro-Asiatic countries, and that is why it is timely to cite the words of President Nkrumah, when during the last session of the United Nations General Assembly he reiterated his constant warning to the African countries to be on guard against what he called "clientele sovereignty," or false independence granted by the metropolitan Power with the hidden intention of making the liberated country a client state by means not necessarily political. 

This installment of the project was contributed by Jeff Tomlinson who was the Communist Party candidate for Oshawa in the federal election. If you would like to conctribute a leaflet to the project please contact us at: theleftchapter@outlook.com

(Click on scans to enlarge)

When The Left Chapter began part of what I wanted to do on the blog was to show and highlight vintage public leftist election/political leaflets and booklets. While many of these have been offered with commentary to date, a very large collection of hundreds of them from several different sources remains and to preserve these often quite rare documents we will be posting them on a regular (almost daily) basis now often without or with minimal commentary so that people may have access to them as quickly as possible as an historical resource. 

While these will all be leaflets from a variety of different leftist viewpoints and countries, they are being posted as an historical/study resource and the views or opinions expressed in them do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or blogger.

All of these posts (as well as posts made to date) will be listed on the page: Vintage Communist/Socialist Leaflets  (which is still being updated with past posts).

If you have any public, vintage leaflets or booklets you would like to contribute to this project please contact us via theleftchapter@outlook.com