Italian dock workers are refusing to load electricity generators onto a notorious Saudi cargo ship suspected of carrying arms to be used in the war in Yemen, reports Middle East Monitor.
Italy
The past few months in Italian politics have been intense: The rise of Las Sardinas (the Sardines movement), the crisis in the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the regional elections held on January 26 all indicate the political balance could be changing.
Matteo Salvini’s far-right Lega (League) lost the election in Emilia-Romagna (a key region in northern Italy) and national polls now indicate a slightly lower approval rating for the party, writes Daniele Fulvi.
A new movement against the racist ideology of right-wing Matteo Salvini’s Lega (League) has been mobilising in its tens of thousands across Italy. But Daniele Fulvi questions whether the new "sardines" movement has what it takes to defeat Salvini's racist, nationalist agenda.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced his resignation on August 20, effectively ending the coalition government of Matteo Salvini’s right-wing Lega (League) and the Five Star Movement (M5S), which has been in power for 14 months, writes Daniele Fulvi.
A German boat captain faces a long and costly trial in Italy for charges targeting her humanitarian efforts on behalf of refugees.
Captain Pia Klemp told Basler Zeitung on June 7 that her upcoming trial in Italy for years of efforts with the civilian lifeboat Iuventa that saved at least 1000 lives, will take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Klemp faces up to 20 years in prison, but whether or not she ends up in jail, she would challenge any conviction in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, if necessary.
Italy's far right Lega, led by deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, made gains in the May 26 European elections. Salvini has now legitimised and adopted fascist slogans, including “God, Country, Family” — indulging and reviving alarming neo-fascist sentiments that are spreading across Europe, writes Daniele Fulvi.
Italian dock workers halted the loading of a deadly cargo of weapons bound for Saudi Arabia in Genoa on March 20 as they demanded Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini “open the ports to people and close them to arms”.
It has now become clearer than ever: the Italian government coalition operates at the behest of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini and his party’s racist and reactionary policies, writes Daniele Fulvi.
The Italian government is facing a very delicate situation, with its two major measures in the process of being ratified by the parliament, writes Daniele Fulvi.
Both the far-right League and the populist 5 Star Movement (M5S) that make up the coalition government know their credibility depends on the approval of economic measures that will provide for the citizenship income (the key point of M5S’s agenda) and the security decree (strongly advocated by the League’s leader Matteo Salvini).
The rise of the far right around the world, with fascist candidate Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil close to joining the growing ranks of authoritarian far right leaders, many on the left are wondering how to respond.
The parallels with the rise of fascism in Europe in the early 20th century are clear.
In July, Canadian Marxist academic and activist John Riddell gave a speech, abridged below, at a York University seminar entitled “Historical perspectives on united fronts against fascism and the far right”.
***
Italy is going through important and agitated days, writes Daniele Fulvi, with the government coalition issuing two crucial decrees concerning immigration and economy.
Four months after the new Italian government was installed, the reactionary nature of the coalition between the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) and the far-right Lega (League) emerges more clearly each day, writes Daniele Fulvi.
Despite the fact that the League won only about 17% of the votes in the last elections (compared with 32% for the M5S), the interior minister and League leader Matteo Salvini is emerging as the undisputed head of the government. He is dictating the government agenda as he sees fit.
- Previous page
- Page 2
- Next page