Coronavirus and Racism, Worker Resistance, Sanctions & more -- The Week in News and Opinion April 5 - 12

This week's list of articles, news items, visuals and opinion pieces 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  April 5 - 12.

This week's edition begins again with a very large roundup of news and left opinion about the capitalist coronavirus crisis and its impact on working people globally. There are a number of links related to such topics as racist attacks as well as the impact of systemic racism on coronavirus outcomes, the worker fightback in the United States and internationally, and the ongoing impact of cruel, criminal American imperialist sanctions against a number of countries. The Featured Article link at the start is an excellent refutation  by Glenn Greenwald of the false notion that American non-voters are somehow "privileged".

We have tried to arrange this coronavirus news thematically and to touch on many different areas of concern.

Featured Article:

Nonvoters Are Not Privileged. They Are Disproportionately Lower-Income, Nonwhite, and Dissatisfied With the Two Parties.

"NOT EVEN 24 HOURS have elapsed since Bernie Sanders announced that he was suspending his presidential run, and already a shaming campaign has been launched against those who are contemplating abstaining from voting due to dissatisfaction with the two major party candidates. The premise invoked for this tactic is that only those who are sufficiently “privileged” have the luxury of choosing not to vote — meaning that nonvoters are rich and white and thus largely immune from the harmful consequences of a Trump presidency, which largely fall on the backs of poorer and nonwhite Americans."

Capitalist Coronavirus Crisis:

- Not on the Backs of Workers! -- The Capitalist Coronavirus Crisis News on The Left Chapter

- Coronavirus didn't bring the economy down — 40 years of greed and corporate malfeasance did

- The Plan Is to Save Capital and Let the People Die

- There is no vaccine to humanize capitalism

- The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Exposing the Plague of Neoliberalism

- Capitalism provides what is superfluous, while socialism provides what is necessary

- No more unconditional corporate bailouts

- Social Distancing Is a Privilege

- It’s Time to Stop Calling Essential Workers ‘Unskilled’

- Dumped Milk, Smashed Eggs, Plowed Vegetables: Food Waste of the Pandemic

- Global Lockdowns Resulting In 'Horrifying Surge' In Domestic Violence, U.N. Warns

- Coronavirus pandemic exacerbates inequalities for women, UN warns

- Declare abortion a public health issue during pandemic, WHO urged

- Don’t Blame China For Your Government’s COVID-19 Failures

- Spitting and coughing assaults on service workers 'ramped up' amid COVID-19, union says

- YouTube moves to limit spread of false coronavirus 5G theory

- Muslims Spitting, Sneezing, Hiding in Mosques to Spread Coronavirus Are All Fake News Stories

- Smashed windows and racist graffiti: Vandals target Asian Americans amid coronavirus

- 'It happened because I'm Asian': Toronto ER nurse says she was spit on, verbally assaulted

- Pope Francis Calls for Debt Forgiveness and Ending Sanctions

- #BloqueoNoSolidaridadSi campaign seeks to end cruel American sanctions

- The United States was always the Evil Empire

- Billionaire-backed Human Rights Watch lobbies for lethal US sanctions on leftist governments as Covid crisis rages

- Why is the US blockading poor countries in a pandemic?

-  Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain: “Imperialism is the real virus that kills the people”

- U.S. wages economic war on Iran during pandemic, as mainstream media looks away

- US ready to block Iran's requests for coronavirus aid from the IMF, officials say

- Cuban Doctors Arrive in Angola to Train 1500 Health Technicians

- Cuban Medical Team Arrives in Barbados to Help Fight COVID-19

- Cuban Medical Aid in Italy Shows Positive Results

- Contribution from China to support Cuban fight against COVID-19

- LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE US FROM PRESIDENT MADURO

- Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration Blasts US Moves

- The U.S. Should Fight COVID, Not Venezuela

- Adolf Trump goes for Venezuela: A jump into nothingness?

- Venezuela Donates COVID-19 Tests to Caribbean Countries

- Venezuela Receives Humanitarian Aid From UN, WHO, Russia

- Trinidad & Tobago Rejects Possible US Intervention on Venezuela

- Brazil: Judge Prohibits Bolsonaro From Lifting Quarantines

- Chile’s Elite Escaping by Helicopter for Easter Amid Pandemic

- Peru: Indigenous People in Lockdown Without Electricity, Sewage

- Honduran Doctors Need More Medical Supplies to Fight COVID-19

- Paraguayans go hungry as coronavirus lockdown ravages livelihoods

- Latin America: 14 Million People Lost Their Jobs to COVID-19

- Ecuador Indigenous Ask IACHR to Investigate State Over COVID-19 Crisis

- Ecuador's Guayaquil Runs out of Coffins as COVID-19 Deaths Soar

- Ecuador’s Virus-Hit Guayaquil Begins Burials of 1,000 Bodies

"They wait until they die out here to attend to them. Then, their families pick them up after they die.":


- "They're Crooks": Coal Industry Aims to Exploit Coronavirus Crisis to Cut Payments to Miners With Black Lung (United States) 

- Stealing masks and stockpiling hydroxychloroquine — what America has become during this epidemic is deeply worrying

- US Seizes Ventilators Destined for Barbados

- Coronavirus Is Forcing the GOP to (Tacitly) Admit Its Ideology Is Delusional

- Trump was warned in January of Covid-19's devastating impact, memos reveal

- Trump’s campaign to reopen businesses risks hundreds of thousands of lives

- Trump Administration Tells Employers Not To Worry About Recording COVID-19 Cases

- Trump Considering New Aid Package Favoring Big Business: Report

- Dear Jeff Bezos, instead of firing me, protect your workers from coronavirus

- Chicago Amazon Workers Picket with Supporters—and Their Cars

- Coronavirus: Amazon workers threaten revolution!

- America's billionaires are giving to charity – but much of it is self-serving rubbish

- A tale of two New Yorks: pandemic lays bare a city's shocking inequities

- We’re in a Plague — Yet Andrew Cuomo Just Passed an Absolutely Brutal Austerity Budget

- In a Push to Re-Open Schools, Florida Governor Falsely Claims No One Under 25 Has Died from COVID-19 Nationwide

- How Did the U.S. End Up with Nurses Wearing Garbage Bags?

- Fast Foods Workers at 50 Restaurants Across California Are Going on Strike

- Grocery workers are beginning to die of coronavirus

- Dying to work: Frontline workers bear the brunt of the lethal virus

- The Irony of Being Essential, But Illegal (United States)

- 'A perfect storm': poverty and race add to Covid-19 toll in US deep south

- Black Americans raising concerns about being profiled for wearing masks amid coronavirus

- BLACK WOMEN HAVE LONG FACED RACISM IN HEALTHCARE. COVID-19 IS ONLY AMPLIFYING IT.

- In Chicago, 70% of COVID-19 Deaths Are Black

- Chicago mayor signs order ensuring immigrants, refugees have access to COVID-19 relief provided by city

- The US Seeks to Set New Military Base in Syria Amid Pandemic

- No rent was paid in April by nearly a third of American renters

- REPORT FROM INSIDE ANGOLA PRISON PAINTS A TROUBLING PICTURE AS CORONAVIRUS GRIPS LOUISIANA

UK healthcare professionals are being silenced and threatened for speaking out about their work during the coronavirus outbreak:




- We're not all in it together, your majesty

- Hundreds of UK care home deaths not added to official coronavirus toll

- Bus driver killed by coronavirus 'told his pay would be cut if he missed work' (United Kingdom)

- While 'low-skilled' migrants are saving us, the government is cracking down on them (United Kingdom)

- In India, Coronavirus Fans Religious Hatred

- COVID-19 Hasn’t Stopped Ford From Trying To Speedup Future Evictions (Ontario) 

- Ontario bans Airbnb and short-term vacation rentals during pandemic

- Ontario's long-term care workers still working at multiple facilities as B.C. clamps down

- Ontario suspends environmental oversight rules, citing COVID-19

- Ontario conducting far fewer COVID-19 tests than promised as cases keep climbing

- 16 people died at Ont. nursing home before sick residents were separated from the healthy

- Quebec premier confirms 31 dead at Dorval long-term care home

- Petition Re: Dollarama: Dollarama respect pandemic rules and give workers protective gear

- Fraser Institute Uses Coronavirus Pandemic to Push Dubious Claims About the Health Benefits of Plastic Bags

Africa:

- UN Seeks $130 Million To Prevent Hunger Catastrophe in Zimbabwe

- Libya War Escalation is Straining ‘Decimated’ Health System

Canada:

- Police and bylaw harassment is not a coronavirus cure

- Canada lost more than 1 million jobs last month as COVID-19 struck

- Ontario releases more than 1,900 inmates, many with nowhere to go

- Fight for publicly-owned medical manufacturing in Ontario

- Passengers hoping for refunds for cancelled flights will be out of luck

- CO-OP REFINERY SCAB GROUP: NO SAND N****R, PRAIRIE N****R, OR UNION POS TOUCHES MY TRUCK

- Big banks slammed for charging customers interest on interest for deferred mortgage payments

- THE CANADA EMERGENCY WAGE SUBSIDY IS A SUBSIDY TO BUSINESS, NOT WORKERS

- CLC LEADERSHIP NEEDS TO STEP UP

- Documents suggest Canada paid millions more than admitted to fight Cindy Blackstock

- Anti-poverty activist and writer Pat Capponi dead at 70

- Actress-activist Shirley Douglas, daughter of medicare's Tommy Douglas, dies

- Canada re-embraces Saudi monarchy by lifting freeze on arms exports

Cuba:

- Despite U.S. blockade, Cuba’s comprehensive health system looks after every citizen

Climate Change:

- Tolkien was right: giant trees have towering role in protecting forests

- Antarctica Was a Rainforest During the Times of Dinosaurs, New Study

- Will the next great pandemic come from the permafrost?

Ideas:

- Corbynism Lost, Sandersism is Losing: Why Working Within Capitalist Parties Fails

Latin America:

- Cuba’s Promising Approach to Cancer

- Ecuador: Ex President Correa Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison

- BRAZILIAN MILITARY CURTAILS PRESIDENT BOLSONARO’S POWER OVER COVID19 DISPUTE

United Kingdom:

- UK hunger crisis: 1.5m people go whole day without food

- Right turn for Labour

- An open letter to UK Labour leader Keir Starmer

United States:

- Another Sanders Betrayal

- NYT Writes Post-Mortems for a Sanders Campaign It Did Its Best to Kill

- Airlines Want To Cancel Rule Requiring Them To Refund Fares For Canceled Flights

- 'One of the Most Brazen Acts of Voter Suppression in Modern Times' as US Supreme Court Blocks Absentee Ballot Extension in Wisconsin

- Trump Signs Order Allowing Private Companies to Mine the Moon

- Trump to open more wildlife refuge land to hunting, fishing

"Socialism is imperative for our health!" -- International workers' parties call for socialist solutions to the capitalist coronavirus crisis

As the capitalist coronavirus crisis unfolds it is clear that, after a generation of brutal neo-liberalism, our governments are not up to the task of making sure that people are placed first. For decades they have destroyed the social safety net, eliminated hospital beds and gutted civil society to give tax cuts to the wealthy and wipe out regulations and workers' rights on behalf of the corporations.

In many countries, like Greece and the United Kingdom, there have been years of relentless, vicious austerity.

Working people, their parties, unions and movements need to mobilize in unprecedented ways to demand immediate steps be taken to ensure that workers are not left behind like they were after 2008 when the corporations were bailed out and it was the people who paid the price.

Around the world leftist, anti-capitalist and workers' parties are making demands for a just and fair response to what we are facing.

While some solutions are, of course, specific to given countries, many are more universal and can be raised everywhere.

Greece:

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas released two statements yesterday and today.

As the Central Committee statement noted:

The truth is that the real danger stems from the tragic shortcomings of the health system that were known before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. These shortcomings did not occur accidentally, they are not objective. They are the result of the anti-people's policy pursued by all governments, based on the EU directions for the commercialization and privatization of Health, to support the profitability of business groups and safeguard the surpluses. This policy cancels out, in practice, the great scientific and technological possibilities that exist today to meet all the needs of prevention and healthcare of the people. So, for example, today there are only 550 beds in the Intensive Care Units, while 3,500 were needed before the coronavirus outbreak.

This lack of hospital beds is also tragically true in places like Ontario, Canada.

Koutsoumbas stated:

It has been tragically proved that social goods, such as the highest good of life and health, cannot be left to the mercy of profit, to the unaccountable market laws. It is characteristic that the current state cannot even provide the simple, minimum prevention and protection measures. It has to resort to various business groups, domestic and international, for medicines, masks, antiseptics, raw materials and more. Even in conditions of soaring prices and huge profiteering.

The KKE demands include opening all closed beds of the Intensive Care Units, immediate re-opening of the hospitals closed by the ND - PASOK governments in 2013,  protecting the income and rights of the workers in quarantine, the ending of all evictions and foreclosures, and extra funds for pensioners, the unemployed and the self-employed.

Paraguay:

In a statement on March 17 the Paraguayan Communist Party noted "the main lesson of this crisis is the need to overthrow the power of the bosses and build the popular power of the working majority. To this project, the members of the Paraguayan Communist Party are fully committed, with the firm conviction that the labor movement, together with the peasant and popular movement, is the only alliance capable of overcoming our miseries and building a Paraguay with social justice."

They are calling for 12 steps that include an additional tax on banks, obliging private health centers to attend to those affected by coronavirus, increasing the minimum wage by 40%, subsidies for small businesses, and  severe penalties for pharmacies and healthcare product distributors that engage in price speculation.

Turkey:

In a statement entitled Socialism is imperative for our health! the Communist Party of Turkey writes:

The capitalist world and Turkey are sliding into a desperate chaos against the novel coronavirus outbreak. We are not doomed to this situation. In socialist Turkey, the outbreak would be brought under control easily and prevented from turning into a social disaster for the workers.
But how? In this way;

1. All the private hospitals and institutions would be nationalized.
Today, the state is functioning with half-power because most of the medical institutions are private. Even the state hospitals have been restructured for market-oriented profits. The first task would be to nationalize and reorganize all of them on the basis of pro-people principles to serve for the struggle against the outbreak.
2. The banks, the industrial plants and the service sector would also be nationalized.
These nationalization practices would largely enhance the state power in the struggle against the outbreak. Today, the capital-oriented government is busy with cutting off the public expenditures to transfer the resources to the crisis of the bosses. Under current circumstances, however, all the resources should have been used for developing and protecting the public health.
3. The nationalization practices would enable central planning. 
Central planning means the political will of the working people. This is the only way to cope with a social problem in a rational way by use of every means available. In addition to the production, the cities, the public spaces and the transportation would be on the agenda of the planning. 
4. Institutes would be established immediately for vaccination, treatment and the criteria of diagnosis against the coronavirus.
Turkey can neither produce vaccination nor medicines for treatment. To what extent the criteria of diagnosis is functioning properly is doubtful, and it has been impossible to receive reliable information in this respect so far. One of the initial affairs of the socialist Turkey would be to gather the scientists to focus on this task in institutes where rapid developments would be provided.
5. Health services would be completely free of charge. 
All the people would have free health services. Everyone would unconditionally be under social security. Masks and disinfectants against the outbreak would be provided free of charge. Access to health services would be provided not only in medical institutions but also in neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces.
6. Religion and state affairs would be separated.
In socialist Turkey, the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) would not have an effect on decision-making processes. The people returning from the Umrah pilgrimage would be put in quarantine healthily, the students would not be evacuated from their dormitories at midnight.
7. The implementation of quarantine would not be arbitrary but a compulsory social task. 
The implementation of quarantine, the most efficient method against the outbreak, would not be arbitrary for the people, it would be a compulsory and accurate practice as a social task.
8. The media would be reorganized in a way to broadcast the truths to the public.
The media would not be a trumpet of the ruling power, it would be reorganized for enabling the people to reach true information. Therefore, the people could reach reliable information with regards to the prevalence of the outbreak.
9. The plundering of the markets and stockpiling would not be allowed.
The people have emptied the shelves to stock food and health materials since they do not trust in the state against the outbreak. In socialist Turkey, however, the shares of everyone would be guaranteed and delivered even under severe conditions. Stockpiling would not be allowed.
10. Economic crises would not emerge.
There would be no bankruptcies since the nationalized enterprises would not seek profit. There would be no dismissals because of bankruptcies and the bosses’ greed for profit.
11. Selfishness would be condemned, the spirit of sharing and solidarity would prevail. 
The conscious people of the socialist society would initially care about the individuals in need of protection, and mobilize altogether to meet their needs in such states of emergency. The measures would rapidly prevail over the conscious society, and the current eclipse of reason would not be experienced.
12. A socialist society would be hopeful.
It would be possible to talk about a confident and cold-minded society that trusts in science and the future against such challenges instead of a mental state of panic, helplessness and hopelessness led by the coronavirus.
Once again, we can see the importance of all these facts in these current days of outbreak. We believe that humanity will overcome these days. Humanity will stand out with and only with these values.
The Communist Party of Turkey calls for such a social order.

Mexico:

"The Communist Party of Mexico considers that in capitalism the problems of the human race are unsolvable, that socialism-communism is necessary for there to be deep and far-reaching solutions; But we also know that in an emergency situation, the proper organization of workers and popular sectors is the only alternative, which is why it is necessary to get down to work."

Their statement then goes on to demand (excerpts):

-...that all financial, logistical and technical resources necessary to strengthen the public health system be earmarked shortly...Rural areas and indigenous communities where infrastructure is most precarious deserve special attention...
...It must be guaranteed immediately that the entire public network of hospitals, and in every workplace, have the necessary supplies to reduce the probability of contagion, such as disinfectants, antibacterial gels, mouth covers and drinking water.
-The work centers must guarantee and assume the costs for prevention measures. Under no circumstances should workers or their unions pay for such supplies.
-The cutting of water and electricity services must cease immediately for working class...Drinking water and electricity are basic and essential at this time.
-The migrant concentration camps must be stopped immediately, where thousands of migrant brothers of other nationalities are detained on the southern and northern borders of the country. Our fellow migrant workers must be freed from these potential sources of contagion.
- ...salary and insured benefits must be guaranteed for all workers
- In Mexico City, and the great metropolises of the country, free nightly operation of the public transport network must be established to be able to go to hospitals in case of emergency.

They conclude, in part:  "The cost of this pandemic must be paid by those who benefit from the product of our work. We can expect nothing from a government at the service of the capitalists."

 Austria:

The Party of Labor of Austria states:

It is an absolute priority that the working class should not have to bear the cost of the measures. All workers and employees (as well as freelancers, freelance artists and self-employed) in the private and public sector who:
- fall ill themselves,
- are particularly at risk due to health factors,
- have to care for sick minors or elderly members of their families,
- have to care for their children due to school closures, or
- are prevented from working due to measures and regulations,
should be given immediate release from work with full pay or compensation for loss of earnings.
It is also important to prevent the situation from being exploited by companies to undermine workers' rights and make employment relationships more flexible. It is precisely now that it is important to defend and assert our rights.

Belgium:

The Communist Party of Belgium begins its statement with a "salute the heroic mobilization of the medical profession which has worked and continues to work in exhausting and dangerous conditions to respond to the emergency."

Rightly they say "there is no question of national unity with those who have attacked our rights for decades, speculating against our health, exerting employer pressure that exhausts us and stresses us, thus weakening our immune defenses. Workers do not have to pay for their crisis."

They continue that this "is why the Communist Party of Belgium supports the immediate demands of the workers:

- Immediate measures for precarious people directly effected by government restrictions. Among other things: suspension of repayment of outstanding mortgage loans, foreclosures, relaxation of the rules for debt mediation.
- Urgent measures for the homeless: requisition of empty buildings, collection and distribution of scarves when a mask is not available, distribution of disinfectant gel, use of state and EU food stocks to compensate for the closure of the day relief agencies
- Distribution and equipment to workplaces of disinfectant gels, masks and gloves, adaptation of equipment to avoid contact or projections, systematic cleaning of keyboards, screens and other equipment
- Maintaining the full wages of workers through a crisis tax on dividends
- Replacement income for delivery and precarious workers (Uber, Deliveroo, etc.) to be paid by the platforms themselves, which will make a profit thanks to the crisis
- Recruitment of medical staff and doctors

Ecuador:

The Communist Party of Ecuador called for the government to accept Cuban assistance and pharmaceuticals.

They note:

In the face of world panic, Cuban medical science shines once again, despite international campaigns and blockades by the North American empire. Where are the pharmaceutical transnational companies that profit from human pain? And why are the corporate news media not talking now about Cuba and the scientific success of the millennium?
...Socialist Cuba and communist China are an oasis in the midst of universal despair. We are witnesses of this reality. China and Cuba assisting Italy, one of the most affected countries, and offering their aid to the world.

UK Election, Chilean Protests, Colombian General Strike & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos November 17 - 24

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 November 17 - 24.

If you are looking for this week's news, videos and updates about the ongoing imperialist backed right wing racist coup in Bolivia see: "It’s called a coup" -- News, Videos, Statements and Developments about Bolivia.

We have changed the format of the round-up so that the links, videos and photos are presented in sections related to topic.

Chilean Protests:

An impression of the atmosphere at the continuing mass protests against neoliberal policies and the government in Santiago after more than one month of non-stop resistance.

 
- Chile Police Continue to Use Pellet Rounds Despite Ban

- After a month in the streets, Chileans continue to resist

- Chile: Human Rights Violations May Lead to Piñera's Impeachment

Latin America / Caribbean:

- Uruguayan Presidential Elections are Under Way

(Update: Too Close to Call It: Uruguay’s Results to Be Announced Thursday, Friday)

- Evangelical Groups Are the New U.S. Tool for Coups in Latin America

- OAS Seeks to Divide Latin American Countries: Zapatero

- Conspiracy and silence from the Organization of American States

- Dominica Rejects OAS Interference in Elections in Washington DC

- Venezuelan students march in defense of democracy, peace and sovereignty

- Another Failed US-Backed Coup Attempt in Venezuela Goes Unnoticed

- Nine reasons why Colombians are going on strike

 - Colombia: Curfew in Bogota On Nationwide Strike's Second Day

- Clashes in Colombia as hundreds of thousands protest against government

- 187 Ex-FARC Members Killed Since Signing of Peace Deal: Gov't

- Media continues its smear campaign against Lula

- Bolsonaro is turning back the clock on Brazil, says Lula

- Bolsonaro Leaves PSL to Create Own Far-Right Political Party

- Ecuador's Assembly Rejects President Moreno's Economic Reforms

Violent clashes broke out in Haiti as police fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at protestors demonstrating against the arrival of the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations:



- Haiti Commemorated 'Victory Day' Demanding Moise's Resignation

British Elections:

- British politics is changing dramatically – and the left sees an opportunity

- The Corbyn effect in Scotland - campaign report

- The manifesto that will change the terms of debate

- 'It's Time For a Real Change', Labour Party Vows To Britain

- Jeremy Corbyn won victory over Boris Johnson among undecided voters in first election debate, poll shows

Europe:

- Prince Andrew showed what true power is: turning a blind eye to abuse

- Ukrainian young Communists lead campaign against Zelensky land sell-off

Canada

- Montreal police have no plans to end street checks, despite concerns

- Teamsters point finger at CN Rail over propane shortage from strike

- Around 3,000 Canadian National Railway Workers Go on Strike

- Metro Vancouver will see bus system shutdown next week if no deal reached for transit workers, union says

- Ontario court strikes down measure allowing students to opt out of fees for 'non-essential services'

- Ontario high school teachers vote in favour of possible strike

- Coach's Corner was a two-man farce for three decades

- More than one-third of people shot to death over a decade by RCMP officers were Indigenous

- Edmonton Monument Glorifies Nazi Collaborator

The United States:

- Why the Hell Did Democrats Just Extend the Patriot Act?

- Not guilty: Jurors acquit border aid volunteer Scott Warren on harboring charges

Middle East:

- Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu charged with bribery, fraud

- Israeli Warplanes Carry Out Airstrikes Over Syria's Damascus

- ‘Orwellian absurdity’: US reversal on settlements draws international outrage

- ‘NY Times’ report on killing of Gaza family is part damage control for Israel’s military

Africa:

- ‘Zone Rouge’: An army of children toils in African mines

Global:

- INTERNATIONAL MEETING CELEBRATES CENTENARY OF COMINTERN, STRESSES DEEPER UNITY OF COMMUNIST MOVEMENT

Ideas:

- Accelerationism: the obscure idea inspiring white supremacist killers around the world

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.

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)