The article below is by Peter Boyle, the national secretary of the Democratic Socialist Perspective, which is a Marxist tendency in the Socialist Alliance. Boyle attended the founding congress of the new mass-based left-wing Power of the Masses Party (PLM) in Manila in February. He also met with military rebels, some supportive of the PLM, currently in prison for trying to overthrow the corrupt, neoliberal government of President Gloria Arroyo. A longer version of this article can be found at the socialist e-journal Links, http://www.links.org.au.
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The article below is by Salim Vally, a leading member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee in South Africa and a veteran anti-apartheid activist. A longer version is posted at http://www.links.org.au. Vally will be a featured guest at the World at a Crossroads conference, in Sydney, April 10-12. For more information, or to register, visit ;http://www.worldatacrossroads.org.
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A new left alliance has formed in Britain to stand in the European Union elections set for June 4.
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The combination of a ten-year long “people’s war” waged by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and a pro-democracy uprising in 2006 overthrew the centuries-old Nepalese monarchy and paved the way for elections to a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. Elected last year, the largest number of seats are held by the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, which is aligned with the PLA and currently heads a coalition government.
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Nearly 700 people marched on March 29 from a Baptist church to the courthouse of rural Powhatan County, Virginia.
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“The trouble makers are out in force again”, George Monbiot wrote on April 1 in the Guardian Online.
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Speaking on March 30 in Qatar, the day before the two-day summit of South American and Arab countries, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said the meeting represented the “coming together” of two regions that have experienced “centuries of struggle against colonialism”.
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Some 200 workers occupied the Visteon car parts plant in Belfast in Ireland's north in response job cuts on March 31. The workers acted after the bosses summarily announced the closure of the plant with the loss of all jobs. Visteon took over the plant from Ford in 2000. All plant makes parts for Ford.
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A March 27 ACN article reported that former Cuban president Fidel Castro has been awarded the Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo, South Africa’s highest distinction. South African President Kgalema Motlante handed over the order to the Cuban ambassador, Angel Fernandez.
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The Group of 20 meeting of leaders of the worlds biggest economic powers was marked for failure even before it began on April 1.
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The article below is by Brian Senewiratne, who is from Sri Lankas Sinhalese ethnic majority and a long-time Tamil rights activist. For his uncompromising stance against the long-term oppression, and current brutal military offensive, against the Sri Lankas Tamil minority by the Sinhalese chauvinist regime, he was recently barred from entering Malaysia and was singled out and victimised by Canadian and Australian immigration officials.
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Kavita Krishnan is the national secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association and a former president of the All India Students' Association. She is also a central committee member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) and editor of Liberation magazine. Krishnan will be an international guest at the World at a Crossroads conference in Sydney, April 10-12. For more information, or to register, visit World at a Crossroads.