international – Workers Voice

January 17, 2021January 17, 2021

Biden Installed Fascists in Ukraine in 2014

Trump’s Gone – Good.
Don’t Count on Biden to Fight Fascism.

December 7, 2015, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko welcomes Joe Biden to Kiev, Ukraine.

On January 6, hours after the fascist storming of the Capitol, Biden was delivering a speech about this “unprecedented assault” on democracy. But Biden’s actions the day before make a mockery of this statement. On January 5, Biden announced his pick of Victoria Nuland for the position of undersecretary of political affairs. Nuland was Asst. Secretary of State in the Obama/Biden/Clinton regime. In this role she was tasked with toppling the elected government of Ukraine because they refused to cut ties with Russia and because Ukraine had resisted the building up of NATO military bases in their country.

In 2014, the U.S. got the coup they were hoping for and Nuland along with Senator John McCain could be seen at right wing rallies, standing shoulder to shoulder with openly neo-Nazi groups celebrating the overturning of the Ukrainian government. A leaked 2014 phone conversation between Nuland and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt revealed that they’d planned the coup and had even hand-picked leaders who would serve U.S. business interests.

In order to carry out the coup, Nuland and her co-conspirators relied on fascist militias who took over government buildings and drove out the elected government by force. These were the same fascist forces that months later burned 39 people alive when they besieged and set fire to a union building in Odessa. THey hoped this act of terrorism would crush workers’ resistance to their newly installed regime. For more than 7 years they’ve waged a brutal war against antifascists in Eastern Ukraine. This war has been supported by U.S. military personnel and funded with more than $1 billion worth of U.S. taxpayer dollars.

December 6, 2018. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko poses for a picture with the members of the Ukrainian military who openly display the “Totenkopf” insignia of the Nazi SS.

Biden and the wealthy capitalists that he serves took advantage of the “business friendly” environment that the fascist government enforced. Formerly state companies were scooped up at fire-sale prices and Ukraine’s rich farmland was raided by Monsanto. Biden’s son was put on the board of a formerly public owned gas company and paid $50,000 a month, just like a member of the Trump Klan.

Mass layoffs followed the privatizing of state industries. Pensioners were cheated out of their retirements on the orders of the U.S. controlled International Monetary Fund (IMF). IN a speech to the Ukrainian parliament Biden urged lawmakers to make the “difficult reforms” that the IMF demanded. Now fascist gangs patrol the streets of Ukraine to repress any resistance to these anti-worker attacks.

Last month a United Nations resolution to “combat the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.” 130 countries voted in favor of the resolution. The U.S. and Ukraine were the sole votes against. The Democratic Party did not object.

Jan 6, 2021. Fascist inside the Capitol building wears a shirt that reads “Camp Auschwitz,” a reference to the Nazi death camp where 1.1. million people were exterminated.

January 17, 2021January 17, 2021

Colombian People Charge U.S. Puppet Government with Mass Murder

by Adam Pedesclaux

Sign reads: “Here the only one who has sown violence is the government.”

On September 9, 2020, the Colombian police brutally murdered father and engineer Javier Ordonez on the street for violating a coronavirus curfew. They tased and beat him with clubs as he lay pinned on the ground, begging them to stop. At the hospital, Javier was pronounced dead.

Like the protests that erupted after the death of George Floyd, the people of Colombia had had enough. While the people were on the streets denouncing the fascist government of Ivan Duque Marquez, the police shot live rounds into the crowds, injuring many and killing several. The police continued to terrorize citizens throughout the month, shooting people down in the street, even going as far as to throw bombs at people and into open windows. At one point, the military killed a trans woman in a moving car, ignoring her lover begging for an explanation as to why they would do such a monstrous thing.

As dead protesters were being buried, spineless coward Ivan Duque commended the police for their work and even visited the police station.

For those unfamiliar with Colombia, such a story that parallels that of our own in America may come as a surprise. Being an Amerikkkan puppet state comes with all the racism, misogyny and homophobia that the U.S. has. The two governments work hand in hand to run the dehumanizing capitalist machine that has run people into the ground for short term gain for the wealthy in both countries, from massacring over a thousand striking banana harvesters to stealing land from working class people and having one of the largest disparities in land ownership between the rich and the poor. It only makes sense then that the people who get tired of the bullshit pick up rifles and fight against the enemy that kills them. Therefore, the people created guerrilla militias such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which would survive in the jungles while fighting the state.

After many years of fighting a desperate war against the state, the guerrillas were promised peace in a deal brokered by Hugo Chavez and Cuba. In 2016, the deal came with agreements for certain requirements to be met, such as honoring the victims of the war between factions as well as reparation. One of the major factors of the agreement, however, was the disarming of FARC. With this came an agreement of peace in Colombia and the promise of no more violence that both sides were supposed to adhere to.

Fast forward four years and the Colombian state is still enacting violence against working people. Thousands of former FARC members and activists, trade unionists, women’s and community group members have been killed by the government and government sponsored paramilitaries while the capitalist machine goes on. The recent rampage by the police left dozens of people dead.

It is up to the Colombian people to drive their struggle forward, but it is up to us in the U.S. to stop the boot that crushes all in its wake. As working people, we must stand up to all oppression if the death and despair is to stop.

October 19, 2020

No to Imperialist War on China

by Jennifer Lin

U.S. Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on economic relief but they recently united to vote for a $740.5 billion military budget (the total war budget is $1.2 trillion). Both are threatening to go to war with China. Trump is sending warships to the Pacific and whipping up hatred against China to get us to ignore the fact that our tax dollars are being looted to fatten the pockets of war profiteers.

From Trump calling COVID-19 “the Chinese virus” to the corporate media spreading lies about China engineering the virus, the U.S. ruling class is blaming China for the pandemic in order to distract us from how they have profited from it. While U.S. billionaires have seen their profits increase by $685 billion since March, at least 170,000 have died from COVID-19 because the U.S. government refuses to provide universal testing, healthcare, medical supplies, and PPE, and mask mandates.

What do we workers have to gain from a war on China? How would having our tax dollars looted to fund another imperialist war make our lives any better? U.S. capitalists want to invade China, take over its land, markets, resources, and exploit the labor of its people so they can continue to accumulate wealth while people suffer, here and abroad. China is attempting to determine its own path as a sovereign country, free from the rule of U.S. imperialism and capitalism.

Instead of blaming China, we should be looking at its response to the pandemic as an example of what’s possible when a government puts people over profits. The Chinese government managed to stop the spread of COVID-19 early on because it immediately provided universal testing, healthcare, PPE, medical supplies, and resources for people to survive quarantine. China has absolutely no interest in a war with the U.S. Not only has it not fought a war in over 40 years, it has upheld its commitment to international solidarity during the pandemic by sending medical personnel and equipment to over 150 countries, including the U.S.

Meanwhile, the U.S. maintains 800 military bases around the world and steals more than $1 trillion of our tax dollars every year for military spending. The $1 trillion could fund our needs for a living wage, universal healthcare, education, and housing ten times over. We have more in common with workers in China and around the world than we do with the rich U.S. ruling class who are killing us so they can get rich. We must stand in solidarity with China and say NO to U.S. imperialism!

September 30, 2020October 2, 2020

Colonialism Unmasked After Lebanon Blast

by A Guest Writer

In the wake of the disastrous port explosion in Beirut, western media outlets have pushed that it was caused by corruption in the Lebanese government. But there is zero mention of the French or other imperialist countries’ massive role in that corruption, no mention of EU or U.S. sanctions that are crippling the Lebanese economy, and literally zero mention of the fact that France created the sectarian system of government of Lebanon in the first place.

Lebanon is a case study of imperialism with former colonized subjects being told they are too incompetent and in need of firm and direct Western disciplining. Every article comes in the tone of a former colonial master lecturing its bumbling natives. Macron, speaking in Lebanon was quoted saying that French aid would not go to “corrupt hands” and that he would be calling on all of Lebanon’s political leaders to establish a “new political pact.” Undoubtedly one where former colonial forces would profit. No mention of the protestors at the same event calling for the release of Lebanese political prisoner George Abdullah.

Macron’s lecturing about corruption is not only to distract from real problems, like enormous debts to western banks, but is hypocritical considering the French leader’s governing party being accused of massive instances of corruption. Even more hypocritical, is the French government’s deep ties with some of the most corrupt elements in the Lebanese government with many of these figures storing stolen Lebanese money in French banks. There is also zero mention of French, EU, and U.S. support for the political campaigns of many of these corrupt leaders.

Disgustingly, Macron declared that he would return to Lebanon to take what he called “my political responsibility.” The same French president who famously told Africans “to get over colonialism” is now being praised as if he were the savior of Lebanon. Later he went on to call for increased sanctions while hundreds of thousands have lost their homes, jobs and lack of food.

Finally, in almost all reporting on Lebanon, like many other formerly colonized countries, the big business media almost always leave out the brutal colonial history that shaped these countries. Lebanon’s sectarian governing system was quite literally imposed on them by the French. The 1958, U.S invasion of Lebanon that prevented the collapse of the sectarian Chamoun government is part of a long history of former colonial powers attempts to keep Lebanon a divided and fractured country dependent on its former colonizers. The fake cries from Western countries about the inept and corrupt Lebanese government in the wake of this latest tragedy should always be understood as just the latest in a string of attempts to impose their dominance over the country.

October 7, 2019October 7, 2019

Hong Kong Protest Leaders Ask Britain/Trump to Re-Colonize Them

165,000 Pro-China demonstrators took to the streets of Hong Kong on June 30, 2019.

U.S. Media Censors Pro-China Demonstrations

By Gregory William

Who is leading and funding the protest movement in Hong Kong? Tellingly, demonstrators outside the U.S. consulate called on Trump to take over Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Human Rights Movement and other involved groups are funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA project. Leaders with these groups held meetings with U.S. and British officials in luxury hotels. Although many Hong Kong workers are impoverished, these organizations represent the very wealthy.

On behalf of capitalism, the U.S. government has tried to destroy China since they liberated themselves from colonialism in 1949 and set about building a socialist society. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. corporate media has not covered pro-government demonstrations in Hong Kong, even though half a million marched on August 18.

Capitalism and Colonialism to blame for Hong Kong’s problems
So-called pro-democracy groups distribute British flags and call for the return of British colonial rule. Britain cruelly colonized China for 156 years to steal its labor and wealth. Colonialism always counts on a small group of privileged people who collaborate with the colonizers to become wealthy at the expense of workers and peasants.

Through the Opium Wars (1839-1842, and 1856-1860), the British empire decimated the Chinese economy, got millions hooked on opium, and subjugated the population. This was done largely for the British East India Company, which needed markets for opium after the military takeover of India. This led to decades of rule by brutal warlords sponsored by different imperialist governments.

The majority of China was liberated from colonial rule in 1949 when the Communist Party, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, came to power. At that time, colonial conditions were so bad that life expectancy was only 36 years. With the establishment of the socialist economic system, life expectancy rose to 68 years by the early 1980s. Today it is over 76 years.

Nevertheless, the British government held control of Hong Kong until 1997, developing it into a world financial center like New York. When China regained Hong Kong, the government unfortunately agreed to allow capitalism to flourish in the territory. This is why it is one of the world’s most expensive cities. More than half of Hong Kong apartments cost over $2,550 a month. So many people sleep in 24-hour fast food restaurants that they are dubbed McRefugees. At the same time, Hong Kong is home to a million millionaires. Seventy percent of their obscene wealth is in real estate.

Democracy for millionaires, poverty for workers
Recent laws bringing Hong Kong more directly under Chinese government control have terrified the millionaires. China’s failure to alleviate the workers’ suffering, however, has alienated some workers from the mainland government. The millionaires stepped in to take advantage. Whenever there is a revolutionary vacuum this happens.

The immediate spark of the protests is an extradition bill. The proposed law would allow Hong Kong authorities to hand over criminals wanted in the mainland. The rich see this as a threat to their power. They do not want any barriers to their profits. Although there should not be billionaires or even millionaires, China does imprison and execute capitalists who go beyond certain limits of destructiveness. For example, billionaire Xu Xiang was sentenced to five years for his role in crashing the country’s stock market. This is intolerable to Hong Kong’s elite.

During Trump’s September 24 UN speech, he not only came out in support of the Hong Kong protesters, he berated the Chinese government for not allowing unfettered capitalism. He said, “Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers.” In keeping with longstanding U.S. policy, Trump wants to undermine what is left of socialism, and to recolonize China. This is the thrust of the trade wars. But why should the U.S. government dictate how other countries run their economies?

More socialism is needed, not less
The capitalist media says socialism is the problem. But the issues facing Hong Kong—and the rest of China—stem from capitalism, which has created inequality. The socialistic elements of the Chinese economic system benefit the vast majority. Workers in mainland China have no interest in losing the remaining gains of socialism. Workers in Hong Kong have an interest in accessing those gains themselves. They both have an interest in expanding socialism.

Millions of Chinese people rose up in the 1960’s and 1970’s to drive socialist revolution forward, but the Chinese Communist Party began opening the country up to capitalism in the late 1970’s. However, there was not a full-scale restoration of capitalism, as happened in the Soviet Union. This is why China has raised millions of people out of poverty. The remaining socialist elements, including the state ownership of banking and many key industries, and economic planning, have been responsible for these gains for the masses, not capitalism.

Nevertheless, the re-emergence of large-scale capitalism in China and capitalism in the Communist Party is a danger to the masses of people. The future of China depends on how well the Chinese working class organizes against this. Workers’ strikes are common in China, and this is a good thing. As Mao said, “It is right to rebel against reactionaries!”

The answer is not for the rest of China to become more like Hong Kong, or for Hong Kong to drift closer to the ruling classes of the U.S. or Britain. The answer is more socialism.

October 7, 2019October 7, 2019

Global Environmental Crisis: Millions Around The World Take to the Streets in Climate Action

The Global Climate Strike took place took place from September 20–27. Actions were held around the world. Top to bottom: Indonesia; Australia; Kampala, Germany; Kenya; Puerto Rico.