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President Hugo Chavez’s governing party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), got mixed results in the regional and local elections held on November 23, winning strongly in 17 out of 23 states, but losing the country’s two most populous states and the Capital District of Caracas.
Postal balloting for national elections in the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) began on November 19 and will continue until December 10.
Isn’t it great to be young? Isn’t it great to be a university student?
The following article is based on a talk given by Felix Donovan, a Year 10 Bulli High School student and Resistance member in Wollongong. Donovan was speaking at a November 15 rally outside transport minister David Campbell’s office, organised by Wollongong Public Transport Coalition. The rally was in response to a recent Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) recommendation to increase train fares and cut services.
The first 12 months of Kevin Rudd’s federal Labor government have proved to be a continuation of the conservative, pro-war and anti-environmental politics of the Howard years.
Noel Washington is a senior vice-president of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in Victoria. He has been a union organiser for 27 years. On December 2, simply for doing his job well, he faces a possible jail sentence under laws supported by the federal Labor government.
Areyonga community members have begun a campaign to defend teaching in Pitjantjatjara at their local school.
On November 14, 70 people attended the Gleebooks launch of Trade Unionism in Australia — From Flood to Ebb Tide by Queensland academic and Socialist Alternative activist Tom Bramble.
On November 11, around 50 people attended a public meeting at Unions NSW on building unions under a Labor government, organised by new left-wing “think-tank” Catalyst.
Bette Boreham, an activist recently returned from volunteer work in Kiribati, told a Socialist Alliance meeting on November 12 about how the low-lying Pacific Island country is facing annihilation by rising seas. Boreham spoke of the courage of the Kiribati people, and the horror of knowing their country would soon be gone. She also recounted the important role that Cuban doctors are playing in the country, providing essential medical care.
The federal Labor government announced on November 18 that it will extend into Western Australia a key component of the racist intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
On November 16, in his first interview since his election victory, US president-elect Barack Obama told the CBS program 60 Minutes that his administration would close the notorious US concentration camp on the illegally occupied Cuban territory of Guantanamo Bay, and end the use of torture.