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INDIA: Indian Farmers Surround Delhi in Protest of Pro-Corporate Laws (International Briefs)

Hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers plan a tractor parade into Delhi on Jan. 26 if the anti-people, anti-farmer Farm Acts aren’t withdrawn.

On November 26, over 500 farmer’s organizations cutting across religion and caste came together to begin a nationwide struggle against the right wing BJP government’s anti-farmer, pro-corporate Farm Acts. These laws would condemn millions in India to poverty and hunger by allowing domestic and foreign corporations total control over Indian agricultural production as well as the ability to hoard and sell essential food stuffs on the black market to maximize corporate profits.

More than sixty percent of Indians are agricultural workers. Their struggle has been joined by labor unions, students, women, youth, workers, and peasants. Recently, on December 30, the Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) held a countrywide strike at over 100,000 workplaces.

This is the longest and most powerful farmers’ protest in India’s history. This militant struggle has been brutally repressed by government forces who have already killed more than 60 people. But the farmers are steadfast. Thousands have camped out for weeks on the outskirts of Delhi and plan to hold a parade into Delhi on January 26 if the government does not address their demands, including the total withdrawal of the Farm Acts and provision of pandemic relief.

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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.

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Military Industrial Banking Complex Fosters Fascism

U.S. capitalism is in constant crisis, desperately striving by any means to sustain the profits of the ultra-rich. To do this, capitalists are driving us into the dust, reducing wages and social programs (social wages) here and around the world.

The capitalists’ addiction to war profits clears the path for fascism.

Capitalism has reached a stage where a growing section of capitalists relies on government military spending for their profits. As a result, capitalist governments hand over larger and larger portions of their national budgets to war profiteering corporations at the expense of social programs. In the U.S., the military and financial sectors have come to dominate civilian production. In doing, their political power has grown.

The military industrial banking complex is run by the most right-wing, racist sector of the capitalist class. More than any other sector, they determine U.S. domestic and foreign policy. The growth of the fascist movement can no longer be ignored. All those openly supporting the fascists should be ousted and jailed. But to snuff out fascism completely, we must go to the heart of the U.S. capitalist system.

Will the Democratic party stop the growth of fascism or fuel it?

Any change in government may sound good after Trump. And we may get a few urgently needed and long overdue relief bills. But the Democratic Party did nothing meaningful to challenge Trumpism other than carry out a sham impeachment that urged for war on Russia at the behest of the CIA and the Pentagon.

In the middle of a pandemic and a world economic crisis, both Republicans and Democrats put aside their difference to pass a record military spending bill. Our money is stolen for more jets, nuclear weapons, and aircraft carriers while people have nothing. They have also co-conspired to conceal the fact that while we die and beg for relive, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank is giving trillions to banks and private corporations.

Trumpism didn’t spring from the head of a rotten politician. Trumpism is an outgrowth of the dominant capitalist sectors wanting to divide the people, push us down, and violently crush any nation that dares to jeopardize their profits by struggling for independence.

Is it possible to combat fascism at home and fund and arm it elsewhere? No.

It is deeply disturbing how some call themselves socialists yet side with the U.S. capitalist regime change wars designed to re-impose the rule of the ultra-rich in Venezuela and Cuba. The U.S. funds and arms the fascist Columbian and Israeli governments and is responsible for genocide in Yemen and across Africa. How dare politicians say that the U.S. doesn’t resolve differences with violence when the U.S. military carries out endless wars and coups on behalf of the super-rich? The U.S. drops a bomb once every 12 minutes somewhere in the world. How many children and families does that add up to?

We must cast aside illusions and mobilize the people.

We must go to workers of all nationalities and expose the truth: fascists are puppets of the super-rich who are paid to use racism and other means to divide the people so the rich can hold on to their wealth. Just like the Nazis, the job of the fascists is to turn the people away from the real enemy so that total war can be waged against the working class.

The Biden administration could easily go to war with China or Iran or drag us into some other war we have no stake in. More than ever we must practice international solidarity. We must oppose U.S. militarism which is a noose around the neck of the whole working class. We cannot be lulled into passivity by heeding politicans’ calls to “heal” the country or defend the democracy of the few. These illusions only disarm the people when we ought to be organizing to defeat the fascists once and for all.

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End the U.S./Saudi Genocide of the Yemeni People

World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis Must be Stopped

The people of Yemen are suffering the worst humanitarian crisis in the world because of U.S. imperialism. Since 2015, the U.S. had backed a Saudi led war against Yemen by supplying weapons and bombs that have killed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people and destroyed the county’s cities and agriculture. 20.5 million of the 29 million people living in Yemen lack access to clean water and sanitation, and over 60% of the people are starving. Half of the country’s healthcare facilities have been destroyed. Every day children are dying from starvation and preventable illnesses.

Stop the War Coalition has called for a global day of action on Monday, January 25. Join the Workers Voice Socialist Movement as we stand in solidarity with workers and oppressed people all over the world to say:
No War on Yemen!
12 Noon, January 25 at Duncan Plaza
Loyola Ave at Gravier St, New Orleans

U.S. uses “terror” designation to starve more children through sanctions and blockades.

Now international organizations are withdrawing aid from Yemen because the U.S. is calling Houthis in Yemen “terrorists.” This designation goes into full effect on January 19. The Houthis are an Indigenous people that have long resisted U.S. imperialism, overthrowing the authoritarian U.S.-backed regime in 2014 and establishing a government in the north of Yemen, while the south is ruled by a U.S. puppet government. The U.S. has no right to determine the national destiny of the Yemeni people.

Not only is the U.S. spreading vicious lies about the Houthis, they are recruiting members of al-Qaeda to help Saudi-backed militias overthrow the Houthi government. The U.S. capitalist ruling class doesn’t care if millions more Yemeni people die so long as they can crush any opposition to U.S. imperialism.

Workers around the world must unite to demand an end to the U.S./Saudi war on Yemen. As workers living in the most powerful and violent imperialist country on Earth, we have a special duty to stand with the people of Yemen and demand that not one more of our tax dollars go towards aiding, supplying, or abetting the Saudis in this genocidal war.

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Letter to the Editor: COVID-19 Vaccine Can Save Lives. End Racism in Access.

With great fanfare, as if announcing a miracle, the state proudly declared the vaccine was now available to those 70 and above and those with problems that put them at higher risk. It made a good photo-op for the politicians, who receive vaccines, have healthcare, fat pay checks and are allowed to take bribes and get rich at taxpayers’ expense.

Monday, Jan 4, arrived with 7 pharmacies in New Orleans each getting 107 shots to give out. You had to have known about it and have internet access and time to sit waiting for the list to go online. After pharmacies were listed, the phones were instantly busy, and people spent all day calling, even though the appointments were gone in minutes. Hundreds ran to pharmacies, desperate, only to be turned away without a future appointment. Three hours after all appointments were gone, Mayor Cantrell’s reelection PAC announced the vaccinations were available. Anything to look good, except for those who know better.

With only 749 shots available, a disgrace in itself, the most hard-hit Black seniors and at-risk people should have been offered it first. The vaccines should have been made available at community centers within walking distance, not at far-flung pharmacies.

Once again, capitalist medicine has failed to provide real care, given huge profits to the rich, and resulted in lots of inequality. They probably want us to fight each other for the shot, but we won’t; we’ll fight the capitalists instead.

-At-risk senior in the Florida neighborhood.

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Alabama Amazon Workers Build Towards Union (Labor Briefs)

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 01: People protest working conditions outside of an Amazon warehouse fulfillment center on May 1, 2020 in the Staten Island borough of New York City. People attending the protest are concerned about Amazon’s handling of the coronavirus and are demanding more safety precautions during the pandemic. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, AL are organizing for union representation with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). This is a historic step towards organizing the first union ever in Amazon, at a time when hundreds of Amazon workers around the globe have gone on strike. While CEO Jeff Bezos’ fortune has surpassed $200 billion, Amazon workers continue to fight for benefits, a living wage, hazard pay, and safe working conditions during a global pandemic. But Amazon is already trying to sabotage workers in Bessemer by delaying the union election and will likely spend millions of dollars on union-busting campaigns. Nevertheless the struggle in Bessemer is a tremendous example to other Amazon workers around the world whose labor reaps huge profits for corporations but almost nothing for the workers themselves. A win for Amazon workers would be a win for us all!

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Corporate Campaign Bribes Pay Louisiana Legislators to Wage War on Workers

The minimum wage of $7.25 has been around since 2009. It was too low then, and it is way too low now. The official inflation rate does not count rent, food, utilities, tuition, or healthcare. The real inflation rate is between 7% and 13% depending on where you live. Adjusting for real inflation would mean a minimum wage of $12.60 to $16.88. EVen $12.60 is not a living wage. We want $15/hr.

The Louisiana Legislature is determined to totally impoverish workers even though most states have minimum wages higher than Louisiana’s. In 28 states, minimum wages are from $8.75 to $14 in 2021. While we work for pennies, Louisiana legislators live in luxury and give tax exemptions, abatements, and outright subsidies every year to corporations in exchange for campaign contributions, which are really bribes.

Florida voters have won a minimum wage increase to $15/hr over the next 4 years, despite millions spent to oppose their efforts. We want to vote for $15 an hour. Let Louisiana workers vote!

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NYC Fast Food Workers Win Just Cause Protections (Labor Briefs)

On December 17, fast food workers in New York City became the first in the country to win protections against arbitrary layoffs and reduced hours. NYC passed two “just cause” bills that prevent bosses from firing a worker or cutting their hours without giving a valid reason, either economic or related to job performance. This is a historic win for fast food workers who have been declared essential during COVID-19 but are treated as disposable, forced to work without healthcare, a living wage, hazard pay, and paid sick leave. They are often fired without warning or reason. Like many other essential work forces, the majority of fast food workers are Black and Brown people and women, who have suffered the most from COVID-19 and bear the brunt of the exploitation and lack of job security in the fast food industry. But fast food workers have fought back valiantly. They were the first to hold rallies for a $15 minimum wage and have been rallying and striking across the country demanding safety protections and higher wages since the pandemic. We should celebrate every victory for workers, anywhere and everywhere and never forget that it is our collective power that will help us win our long overdue rights.

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City of New Orleans Promotes Tourism Amid Rising Pandemic Numbers

by Daniel Meinecke, musician

Musicians in New Orleans are outraged over the decision from the city to spend money on Dick Clark’s ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ concert production. Initially Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser pushed for the state’s involvement in the even to the tune of $500,000 only if singer Lauren Daigle was to be the representative for Louisiana. This caused outrage amongst the community because Lauren Daigle was also partially responsible for the super spreader event in November that Sean Feucht hosted and the city police and leaders failed to shut down. Mayor Cantrell requested to the event promoters that they remove Daigle from the concert, which caused the outrage of Nungesser and the removal of state funds from the project. Mayor Cantrell should have used this opportunity to vilify Nungesser, who is more aligned with Daigle than the needs of the people of New Orleans. However, the Mayor was insistent on the event happening, so she funded the spot in the concert through the New Orleans Culture and Heritage Fund (NOTCF) and used it to keep the event in New Orleans, but with the New Orleans artists PJ Morton and Big Freedia.

The funds were pulled from this account because the slot in the NYE production was to be an advertisement for tourism to New Orleans. This is despite the current spike in COVID-19 cases. “New Orleans cannot market itself out of the situation it is in,” said a representative of Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleanse.

City’s misuse of Culture Fund benefits tourism companies, not artists

The biggest issue of the misuse of these funds is that the board of the NOTCF has been unable to pivot the use of these funds to help the community, but instead goes ahead with an advertisement to promote tourism. Even Kristin Palmer of the City Council who also sits on the NOTCF board said, “NOTCF is not in the business of promotion, but to invest in our people,” according to meeting minutes from an NOTCF meeting on December 18th. Kristin Palmer was also the only dissenting vote on the measure to allow the use of the funds for the concert. The NOTCF is out of touch with the community and actively digging itself into a hole as it fund projects not related to helping the community through a pandemic that has left people out of work for 9 months.

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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry: Enemy of Working People, Friend of Fascists & White Supremacists, Servant of Oil Companies

THROW LANDRY OUT!

Here are just a few of Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Crimes Against the People. Landry has overstepped his authority by actions not authorized by the people of Louisiana.

  • As head of the Republican Attorneys General, Landry organized a robocall for people to march on the Capitol. Landry refused to sign letters from other attorneys general to condemn the fascist violence in D.C. Instead he attacked Black Lives Matter protesters and said Antifa was responsible. Landry is not representing the people but a small group of racist thugs. He should lose his office for using his position to encourage them.
  • Despite 400,000 dead in the U.S. from Covid including 8,000 so far in LA, Landry sued to end safety measures in LA. Landry has opposed all workers’ safety measures against COVID, including hazard pay and universal healthcare.
  • Landry gets funding from billionaires like Charles Koch and ALEC, the ultra-right wing corporate lobby that funds most of the state legislators, and writes the laws they submit. When they say jump, he says “How high?”
  • Landry sued to get rid of Medicaid and deprive nearly 700,000 adults and children of healthcare. The people did not authorize him to do this as the State attorney general.
  • Landry wants to kick 810,000 Louisianans off of Food Stamps.
  • Landry opposes raising the minimum wage.
  • Landry opposed workers getting paid sick time off.
  • Landry is for increased fossil fuel production but not for guaranteeing jobs for oil workers.

REMOVE LANDRY FROM OFFICE AND THROW HIM IN JAIL FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE PEOPLE!