International Viewpoint


The Invasion of Capitol Hill
Decaying Institutions, Rightwing Insurrection, and the Need for a Mass Movement
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionTrump fanatics invade Capitol as his presidency disintegrates
“Humanity's future also rests on the emergence and consolidation of a new and independent Black, Latinx and Native American leadership to champion the struggles of the most oppressed and exploited and establish democratic control of their communities while opening the way to the formation of independent Black and Brown parties in the political arena.”
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionNationalism and patriotism: the opium of the masses
“Unifying people across racial lines on a national basis has not just resulted in the harmful othering of non-nationals, it has placated us so that we don't think about how our lives are completely in the service of capital.”
- 2021 / South AfricaCapitol (United States): Attempted insurrection fails
The attempted coup to overturn the election in the mass riots and invasion of the Capital Building to prevent Congress counting the Electoral College results, was prepared months in advance.
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionHong Kong's mass arrests are an assault on grassroots advocacy
The fight for political freedom and grassroots social justice are inextricable
- IV552 - January 2021 / China, Hong KongThe Washington Riot Was a Defeat for the Far Right, Not a Triumph
The riot at the Capitol on Wednesday was a symptom of right-wing weakness, not power. The real danger isn't a MAGA coup, but a restoration of the neoliberal status quo that produced the nightmare of Trump and his minions.
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionWe Cannot Let Yesterday's Farce Become Tomorrow's Tragedy
“We can give no support to the bourgeois establishment, the new Biden administration, or their state repression at home and imperial reassertion abroad. Instead, we must rally our forces to build anti-fascist united fronts everywhere to confront the right in large numbers and drive them off the streets, out of workplaces and social organizations.”
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionThe Freedom Struggle Is a Labor Struggle, Then & Now
“They have adopted new strategies, … are leading the way, building the most dynamic labor movement we have seen in generations.”
- IV552 - January 2021 / USA, Trade unions/workplace organizing, Anti-racismMob takeover of Capitol highlights instability of U.S. political system
“Building a powerful, self-motivated movement of working people and their allies is the best weapon against the fascists—who prey on people who are politically demoralized and lack a clear direction.”
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionGrand Theft Election?
“For the left and the social movements, all the more important to remain active and mobilized to fight for what we need, not for a few crumbs. Celebrating Trump's self-destruction is certainly in order; a leftwing honeymoon for Biden most certainly is not.”
- IV552 - January 2021 / USAReactionary uprising against the Parliament
“Trump found that government control does not give absolute control over the levers of the state.”
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionWas it a coup?
“But defeating Trump at the polls, and today's fiasco, has given us some breathing space. We must use it well. The results today in Georgia, Black Lives Matter, teachers and nurses' strikes, MeToo, and the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America all indicate the direction we must take.”
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionRiot on the Hill
“Freed from Trump's electronic fatwas, moreover, some of the younger Republican senators may prove to be much more formidable competitors for the white college-educated suburban vote than centrist Democrats realize. In any event, the only future that we can reliably foresee – a continuation of extreme socio-economic turbulence – renders political crystal balls useless.”
- Debate / USA, Debate sectionQuick notes on Trump's putsch
“We are in the midst of the deepest crises (yes plural) of the capitalist system since the 1930s. These will continue to stoke profound polarization within countries, waves of class and social struggles, and greater conflict between capitalist states in the hierarchy of global imperialism. Out of this a new socialist left will be born and take organizational form. We must do everything in our power to arm it with revolutionary socialist ideas, strategies and tactics.”
- Debate / USAAfter the fascist coup in the United States No time to lose - counter-offensive now!
“Our hope is for the forces that in recent years have shown that the United States is so much more than the banner of big business and imperialism, from politicians of Bernie Sanders' cut to activists in Black Lives Matter, it abounds in campaigns for health care reforms and other social reforms to the socialist currents that have smelled morning air in the tracks of these movements.”
- Debate / USA, Sweden, Fourth InternationalWorld Faces Covid-19 “Vaccine Apartheid”
Even countries that hosted vaccine trials — like Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, and Turkey — will not receive adequate supplies.
- IV552 - January 2021 / USA, Covid-19 PandemicNew Challenges for African Americans
The U.S. Congress certified Joe Biden's election as 46th president in the night of 5-6th January despite the invasion of the Capitol by Trump supporters. (New York Times, 6 January 2021 “Congress Certifies Joe Biden as President”). The inauguration is now two weeks away. What lies in store?
- IV552 - January 2021 / USA, Anti-racismRepeal the Farm Acts
“This is a movement where the majority of people are fighting for their immediate and longer term survival. ”
- IV552 - January 2021 / India, PeasantsRising Up Against Corruption
THE DRAMATIC RECENT events in Peru, barely covered by mainstream U.S. media, have seen a popular uprising of massive self-organized protests. In November the student-led demonstrations in Lima and other large cities were met by riot police equipped with water cannons, tanks, and helicopters.
- IV552 - January 2021 / PeruLess flag waving, more rights
In June 2016, after a close referendum result, a slim majority of British voters supported leaving the European Union (EU), initiating one of the longest and most complex divorces in our recent continental history. More than four years later with British governments having fallen along the way, several elections, three negotiating extensions applied, and a transition period that culminates this 31 December, Brussels and London finally signed the trade agreement that will govern relations (...)
- IV552 - January 2021 / Britain, Spanish state, European Union