Sunday, September 30, 2012
Madrid - More Police Violence Against Protestors
Sporadic clashes have broken out in central Madrid, with twelve people reportedly injured after riot police moved in to clear the Plaza de Neptune, threatening to arrest those who would not leave.
The demo turned violent when police encircled about 300 protesters who refused to leave the square.
The demonstrators chanted slogans, while some threw projectiles at police vehicles
see also : http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/spanish-revolution-live-feed.html
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Land Grabs in China threat to Food Security
Who will feed China: Agribusiness or its own farmers?
Decisions in Beijing echo around the world
"China can put the brakes on industrial meat production, start supporting small scale livestock farming based on local feed resources, and ends its aggressive efforts to convert farmers into cheap labourers.
Protests in rural China seem to indicate that many smallholder farmers are fed up with being pushed off of their farms, having their land and water poisoned by industrial and agricultural pollution, and struggling to make ends meet.
They are capable of producing the food necessary to feed their country, but face increasingly difficult barriers, most of which are associated with a corporate food system that is becoming evermore firmly entrenched"
From Grain - August 2012
(Photo: Reuters)
When China began importing soybeans as animal feed in the late 1990s, it ushered in one of the most dramatic agricultural transformations the world has ever seen. On the other side of the world, 30 million hectares of farms, forests, savannahs and pastures in the Southern Cone of Latin America were converted to soy plantations to provide China’s new factory farms with a cheap source of feed. And within China, low prices paid to farmers and other policies favouring large agribusinesses pushed millions of households out of meat production. Corporations and large commercial farmers made fortunes, but rural communities, both in China and the Southern Cone, paid the price (see Box 1, 2 & 4).
Cheap meat for China’s growing urban population was supposed to be the payoff. But in 2008, prices for pork spiked because of a massive disease outbreak that swept through China’s pork industry, and now the country is on the verge of a more serious round of food inflation as a drought in the US causes global prices for soybeans to surge. On top of this, China’s consumers have had to contend with numerous food safety scandals and environmental disasters brought about by the shift to industrial meat production.
The problems generated at home and abroad by China’s growing dependence on imports of feed crops will get much worse if China continues to open its market to imports of maize, the other major crop used for industrial feeds. In 2012, China will import a record five million tonnes of maize, and it is on track to buy another seven million tonnes in 2013. This is only around 5% of national maize consumption, but it is still more maize than China imported during all previous 25 years combined and it is already affecting global prices.[1]
China is now the world’s largest global food market. What Chinese people eat has repercussions on everyone, because of the increasingly global reach of how and where that food is produced. If the Chinese government opens the country up to maize imports as it did with soybeans, it could unleash another global agricultural transformation on par with what occurred with soybeans. Recent developments show that this is already starting to happen.
Power plays for China’s maize supply
China’s soybean imports have generated immense profits for transnational agribusiness companies like Monsanto and John Deere, who supply Brazilian farmers with seeds, chemicals and tractors. And they have been a deep source of profit for grain traders and feed processors like Cargill and Bunge who now control China’s soybean processing industry.
The shift to factory farms and soybean imports has also enabled the rise of a new class of Chinese agribusiness corporations. State-owned COFCO and privately-held New Hope Group are now transnational agribusiness corporations in their own right.
A soybean-style boom in maize would suit all of these companies very well and they are lobbying heavily for it while they prepare the terrain.
Figure 1. China's soy and maize imports
If these corporations get their way, the Chinese government will reduce or eliminate the quotas and other measures which until now have protected domestic production of maize from cheaper imports. China’s consumption of soybeans ballooned by more than 160% between 2000 and 2011 when import barriers were removed, but the area planted with soybeans declined by 20% during those same years. Chinese farmers were simply unable to compete with imported soybeans that were RMB 300 to 600 (US$45-90) cheaper per tonne than domestic be[b]ans. Imported soybeans now account for three-quarters of the soybeans processed into cooking oil and feed in China, the products of soybean crushing.[2]
In contrast, during the same period, China protected and regulated maize as a strategic crop for food security. As consumption increased, so did local production. Between 2000-2011, the area planted with maize rose by 44% and yields by 25%.[3]
The more maize China imports, the more it will undercut its own farmers and the more it will require from overseas.
But where will these new supplies come from? The US, with its subsidised maize production, is an essential source for Chinese demand in the near term, which explains why Japan's Marubeni paid a startling US$5.8 billion to take over US grain trader Gavilon in May 2012. But, as this year's drought in the US has underlined, geographic diversity of supply matters. In the year before taking over Gavilon, Marubeni signed a cooperation agreement with China's New Hope to work together in developing operations in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South America, it bought a grain elevator in Brazil and it entered into a joint venture with China's state grain trader Sinograin to establish feed plants and pig farms in China.
“We will expand in Latin America, maybe eastern Europe, Australia and Africa,” says Daisuke Okada, head of Marubeni’s foods division. “So if we think about future demand in China, we need to have more certainty of supply.” Okada expects increased demand for feed will quadruple China’s imports of maize to 15 million or 16 million tonnes by 2020, while its imports of soybeans will increase from 60 million to 90 million.[4]
Chinese corporations are also making moves to control the supply of agricultural commodities going to China. COFCO, China's biggest grain trader as well as one of its largest meat and dairy companies, is exploring investments in grain and soybean production and trading logistics in Russia, Brazil and Argentina. Chongqing Grain has put aside US$6 billion to invest in grain and oilseed production and trade in Argentina, Brazil, Canada and other countries. Beidahuang, China's largest farming company, says it has started planting soybeans on 13,000 ha in Argentina, and intends to expand further through a partnership with the country’s biggest farmland owner (see Box 3).
"China has 800 million farmers, of which 300-400 million are moving to cities. That will increase the demand for agricultural products and decrease the supply. This is positive for agricultural companies, like us," says New Hope Group President Liu Yonghao, China’s fourth richest person and Vice-Chairman of the Committee for Economic Affairs of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Liu wants China to open its maize market as it did with soybeans, by changing maize's classification to a non-strategic crop for food security
New Hope, the largest privately-owned agribusiness company in China, has gone the furthest in its overseas expansion. It owns 16 feed factories outside of China and plans to open 7 or 8 more per year. The company also plans to set up plants and farms in the Middle East, South Africa and Central Europe, backed by a fund launched in November 2011 which counts sovereign wealth fund Temasek (Singapore) and global grain traders ADM (US) and Mitsui (Japan) among its investors.
But global supplies of agricultural commodities are already tight and China is not the only country with an expanding appetite for them. China's neighbours, especially Japan, Korea and India, are also deeply concerned about their future food security, and they are making similar moves to support their companies in securing global supplies.
Meanwhile, the food deficit ( i.e. the difference between imports and exports of food) in Africa and the Middle East is actually larger and growing faster than it is in Asia, and the wealthier countries in the region, particularly the Gulf countries, are taking aggressive actions to secure control over food production outside of their borders.
Added to this is the growing demand for agrofuels, which competes for supplies of agricultural commodities, like maize, palm oil and sugar, as well as for the land on which crops can be grown for food. Globally, ethanol accounted for 27.3 percent of maize usage in 2011.[5]
“I see China’s increasing demand for corn as inexorable,” says David Nelson of Rabobank, one of the biggest lenders to the farming industry and an investor in global farmland (see "Marubeni bets on China with Gavilon deal," Financial Times, 29 May 2012).
The next frontier
Beyond these tussles for control over the current centres of export production, there is a big push to open up new frontiers for the low-cost production of maize, soybeans and other agricultural commodities, along the lines of what transpired in the Southern Cone of Latin America. With strong global demand, higher commodity prices are likely here to stay, and – at least in low-cost areas of production where there are possibilities for new large-scale farming operations – industrial agriculture is now seen as a profitable enterprise that many players, from pension fund managers to grain traders, want to get involved in.
Greg Page, the CEO of US-based Cargill, the world’s largest grain trader and one of the biggest exporters of agricultural commodities to China, thinks that 20% more of the world’s land will have to be converted to agricultural commodity production to match growing global consumption. He expects much of the increase will happen in Africa, on land currently cultivated by small farmers.
"The world has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in Africa and we have nothing to show for it in terms of small producers," argues Page. "We need their acres, but we need to do it thoughtfully."[6]
Large swaths of the African continent are being eyed as the new Brazilian cerrado, a place where companies can take advantage of low prices for fertile land, water and labour to produce commodities for export on a large-scale. Parts of Eastern Europe, Colombia, Central Asia and Southeast Asia are targets too. The International Land Coalition calculates that since 2002, 83.2 million hectares or 1.7% of the world’s agricultural land has been acquired by foreign investors for agricultural production, with over 60% of these land deals happening in Africa.
In the process, communities are being displaced, millions of people are losing access to water, and local food systems are being destroyed to make way for exports. The opening of the next frontiers for agricultural commodity production is well under way. More maize exports to China will only add fuel
to a fire that is burning out of control.
to a fire that is burning out of control.
Residents of Nanwan village in southern Guangdong province protest outside a government building against alleged corruption surrounding a farm built on their land.A simple solution
The world does not need to go down this path. In the face of yet another spike in prices for global agricultural commodities, China can put the brakes on industrial meat production, start supporting small scale livestock farming based on local feed resources, and ends its aggressive efforts to convert farmers into cheap labourers.
Protests in rural China seem to indicate that many smallholder farmers are fed up with being pushed off of their farms, having their land and water poisoned by industrial and agricultural pollution, and struggling to make ends meet. They are capable of producing the food necessary to feed their country, but face increasingly difficult barriers, most of which are associated with a corporate food system that is becoming evermore firmly entrenched.
Government decisions to rely on agricultural commodity imports serve the interests of agribusiness and its need for cheap sources of feed, but they are not in the interest of the majority of Chinese people, do not serve to secure their food needs and threaten the land, livelihoods and local food systems of communities across the globe.
Box 1: From farms to factories
Ten years ago in China’s main pork producing provinces Fujian, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan or Jiangsu, you would be hard pressed to find a household that didn’t keep half a dozen pigs. Today such homes are rare.
Despite government subsidies and rising meat prices, the number of Chinese households raising pigs dropped by half in 2008 alone, and has continued to decline ever since. People in China’s cities may be eating more pork, but villagers are eating – and earning – less.[7]
China’s 200 million farming households have average incomes less than a third of their urban counterparts and it is hard to find evidence of China’s booming meat consumption in the average Chinese village.
Yet pigs have long been central to life in much of rural China. They have enabled families to convert kitchen waste and farm residue into meat for sale or household consumption and into manure for their fields. But low prices and policies favouring large farms and urban migration have forced many Chinese households to give up their pigs.
Now factory pig farms dot the countryside, spewing enormous quantities of waste that they cannot safely dispose of.
One of the consequences of this shift to factory farms, not only for pigs but also for poultry and other livestock, has been a massive growth in demand for industrial animal feed.
The average pig raised in a Chinese factory farm eats around 350 kg of grain to grow to slaughter, while a pig raised on a Chinese family farm eats only 150 kg because it also consumes household waste and other non-grain, local feed sources. China is not only eating more meat these days, its farm animals are eating more crops – much more than what is produced in China.[8]
Figure 1. Share of total pig production in China by farm type, 1985-2007 (%).
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Box 2: Ripple effects
Ituzaingó is just one of the communities affected by the massive expansion in soybean production in the Southern Cone of Latin America that followed from the opening of China’s soybean market to imports in the late 1990s.
"We used to have farms, and cows and fruit trees," says Sofía Gatica, a resident of the community of Ituzaingó, Argentina. "But they destroyed all that and planted genetically modified soybeans."[9]
 The Mothers of Ituzaingó, cofounded by Sofía Gatica,launched a “Stop Spraying” campaign to warn the public about the dangers of pesticides.
Ituzaingó is just one of the communities affected by the massive expansion in soybean production in the Southern Cone of Latin America that followed from the opening of China’s soybean market to imports in the late 1990s.
Like other communities in the path of the soy boom, Ituzaingó lost more than just local food production. Every year in Argentina over 50 million gallons of pesticides are aerially sprayed on soybeans. Because of the aerial spraying of pesticides on the surrounding soybean fields, its cancer rate is now 40 times Argentina’s national average. Sofía Gatica's daughter died when she wa[c]s three days old from kidney failure caused by exposure to pesticides.
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Box 3: Some Chinese companies with overseas agriculture projects
Chongqing Grain Group (CGG)
State-owned CGG has set aside US$3.4 billion for an overseas expansion that includes a 200,000 ha soybean farm in Brazil, a 130,000 ha soybean farm in Argentina's Chaco province, and plans to produce oilseed rape in Canada and Australia, rice in Cambodia and palm oil in Malaysia.
Beidahuang
State-owned Beidahuang manages over 2 million ha of farmland in the province of Heilongjiang. In Argentina, it is pursuing a partnership with Cresud, the country’s largest farming company, to acquire farmland. A US$1.4-million deal it signed with the governor of Río Negro province to secure a supply of soybeans, maize and other crops for 20 years from farms covering 320,000 ha was suspended by court order. Beidahuang is awaiting approval for a project to develop 200,000 ha of rice, maize, and other crops in the Philippines and is reported to have made offers on a number of farms in Western Australia, amounting to about 80,000 ha of land. Heilongjiang Province, meanwhile, has leased 426,667 ha of land in Russia.
Sanhe Hopeful
Privately owned Sanhe Hopeful says it will invest US$7.5 billion in the Brazilian state of Goias to secure six million tons of soybeans per year. It also has a joint venture with Argentine businessman Francisco Macri to produce and ship soybeans from Argentina's Northwest through the port of Santa Fé.
ZTE Corp
ZTE, China's largest telecommunications company, acquired 30,000 ha of oil palm plantations on Indonesia's Kalimantan Island, 50,000 ha for cassava production in Laos, and a 10,000 ha farm in Sudan for maize and wheat. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo it has two pilot farms and a 100,000 ha concession for an oil palm plantation that it has yet to develop.
Pengxin Group
Shanghai real-estate company Penxin Group invested more than US$20 million in a 12,500 ha Bolivian soybean and maize farm, established large-scale farms in Cambodia and Argentina, is negotiating to buy 200,000 ha of land in Brazil for soybeans and cotton, and purchased 16 dairy farms in New Zealand.
Tianjin State Farms Agribusiness Group Company
Tianjin State Farms acquired 2,000 ha of land in Bulgaria to grow maize, alfalfa and sunflower for export to China and is pursuing negotiations for a further 10,000 ha.
Shaanxi State Farm
Shaanxi State Farm signed a US$120-million investment agreement with the government of Cameroon that includes a long-term lease on 10,000 ha of land where the company intends to produce rice, maize, and cassava.
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Box 4: Major impacts of the industrialisation of meat production in China
Industrialisation of livestock production, combined with liberalisation of the soybean sector, have resulted in a number of serious consequences for the environment, public health, and smallholder farmers. The following is a summary of five major impacts, all of which challenge the notion that industrial agriculture can solve food security needs now or in the future.
Environmental impacts
1. The massive increase of animal waste from industrial livestock operations is the main source of water pollution in China today. China's first pollution census – conducted in 2012 – found that the combined impacts of livestock farming and fertiliser and pesticide runoff from fields, surpassed industry as the county’s biggest source of water pollution. Rural people who depend on polluted waterways for household and agricultural use are worst affected in the short-term, but the dead zone that has developed in the East China Sea from excess nitrogen and phosphorus – directly related to industrial meat production – is a sign of larger-scale ecological crises in the longer term.
2. Industrial meat production also contributes significantly to increased greenhouse gas emissions, to the steep decline in indigenous livestock breeds and native soybean varieties, and to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten human and animal health.
Health and dietary impacts
1. Food safety has become a hot button issue in China along with the industrialisation of agriculture in general and livestock production in particular. From the highly publicised melamine milk scandals and animal feed and meat recalls, to the heavy metal, pesticide, and mycotoxin residues commonly found in meat, food safety issues are endemic to today’s industrial meat industry.
2. China's urban middle- and upper-classes are eating more meat, more often while spe[d]nding a declining share of household income on food . Rural residents, on the other hand, eat only half as much meat as their urban counterparts, but spend a larger share of their income on food (43.7% of rural income, versus 37.9% of urban income). In a sign of this growing inequality, urban Chinese are suffering increasingly from diet-related diseases of affluence (coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and a range of cancers), while meat remains a luxury to many in rural China, where 150 million people fall below the US$1.25 per day poverty guideline, with another 140-230 million (20-30% of the rural population) precariously close to joining them in cases of illness, natural disasters, or economic recession.
Smallholder and rural livelihood implications
1. Smallholder farmers living in China’s vast rural regions are most vulnerable as a group to the livelihood transformations that result from the industrialisation of meat production. In the new agribusiness-led meat economy, smallholder livestock farmers struggle for market access against severe disadvantages in terms of evolving meat quality standards that favour leaner pork, safety requirements based on international standards, and the structure of state subsidy programs that provide support to the agriculture industry. Concurrently, small-scale soybean farmers are faced with cheap GM imports, a struggling domestic soybean crushing industry, and infrastructural challenges of getting their harvest to potential markets. These farmer households are continually losing money, and many have already had to give up livestock and/or soybean production.
(This box was written by Mindi Schneider and is based on her study “Feeding China’s Pigs: Implications for the Environment, China’s Smallholder Farmers and Food Security,” IATP, May 2011)
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Going Further:
GRAIN, “Big Meat is growing in the South,” October 2010: http://www.grain.org/e/4044.
GRAIN, New agricultural agreement in Argentina: a land grabber’s “instruction manual”, 27 January 2011: http://www.grain.org/e/4139
Mindi Schneider, “Feeding China’s Pigs: Implications for the Environment, China’s Smallholder Farmers and Food Security,” IATP, May 2011: http://www.iatp.org/documents/feeding-china%E2%80%99s-pigs-implications-for-the-environment-china%E2%80%99s-smallholder-farmers-and-food
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[1] "Marubeni bets on China with Gavilon deal," Financial Times, 29 May 2012.
[2] For a more detailed discussion of China’s moves to allow in soybean imports, see Mindi Schneider, “Feeding China’s Pigs: Implications for the Environment, China’s Smallholder Farmers and Food Security,” IATP, May 2011: http://www.iatp.org/documents/feeding-china%E2%80%99s-pigs-implications-for-the-environment-china%E2%80%99s-smallholder-farmers-and-food
[3] Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson, “Tilling Foreign Soil: New Farmland Ownership Laws Force Chinese Agriculture Investors to Shift Strategies in Argentina and Brazil,” China SignPost, No. 57, 28 March 2012.
[4] Ben McLannahan, “Marubeni eyes more deals to supply China,” Financial Times, 27 June 2012.
[5] US National Corn Grower's Association's World of Corn report 2011
[6] http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/apr/13/cargill-ceo-says-food-shortage-fears-unfounded/
[7] China’s National Bureau of Statistics reports that rural people’s annual consumption of pork per person dropped from 15.62 kg in 2005 to 13.37 kg in 2007.
[8] The information in this box comes primarily from Li Jian, “The Decline of Household Pig Farming in Rural Southwest China: Socioeconomic Obstacles and Policy Implications,” Culture & Agriculture Vol. 32, Issue 2, 2010.
[9]http://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/sofia-gatica
Xi Jinping - The rise of yet another Princeling
China's ruling Communist Party will hold a congress to appoint a new generation of central leaders from November 8, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday, citing the decision of a Politburo meeting.
At the 18th Party Congress, President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other long-standing leaders will give up their main party posts, making way for new leaders likely to be led by current the Vice President Xi Jinping, who is virtually certain to replace Hu as top leader.
The handover of state posts will then be formalized at the annual meeting of parliament, probably in March next year, when Xi is likely to be appointed state president and Li Keqiang named the new premier.
Xi Xingping - Princeling
Xi and his siblings are the children of the late Xi Zhongxun, a revolutionary fighter who helped Mao Zedong win control of China in 1949 with a pledge to end centuries of inequality and abuse of power for personal gain.
That makes them“princelings,” scions of top officials and party figures whose lineages can help them wield influence in politics and business
The Wealth of Xi Xingping -
Most of the extended Xi family’s assets traced by Bloomberg were owned by Xi’s older sister,Qi Qiaoqiao, 63; her husband Deng Jiagui, 61; and Qi’s daughter Zhang Yannan, 33, according to public records compiled by Bloomberg .
Xi Xing ping has interests which include investments in companies with total assets of $376 million; an 18 percent indirect stake in a rare- earths company with $1.73 billion in assets; and a $20.2 million holding in a publicly traded technology company.
The figures don’t account for liabilities and thus don’t reflect the family’s net worth.
Deng held an indirect 18 percent stake as recently as June 8 in Jiangxi Rare Earth & Rare Metals Tungsten Group Corp.
Prices of the minerals used in wind turbines and U.S. smart bombs have surged as China tightened supply
Democracy and Class Struggle has been exposing the toxic character of rare earth mining in China and especially it use in production of of so called "Green" Windmill technology.
Now the future President of China's family makes money from this toxic stuff - not a good omen for the ecological future of the the People of China.
For ideas from inside China on an alternative path to Neo Liberalism read :
ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY Hanjiangchunmeng on bbs.people.com.china
In 1997, the World Bank published a long report "China 2020" calling for privatization of public owned enterprises and further liberalization of market. There was very little dissent from the Chinese people; in fact, very few of them knew what was going on in the policy making circles. The later history suggests that the Chinese government followed the advice from the World Bank very closely. Not only had the bureaucrats privatized almost all the public owned enterprises, they also provided "market solution" to education, health service and residential housing issues.
Recently, the World Bank and the research institution under the Chinese State Council published a new report "China 2030". This report gives basically the same prescription as 15 years ago. But the reception is different this time. In the World Bank news conference, Du Jianguo, an independent scholar stood up and protested against the structural reform doctrine advocated by the World Bank. He condemned the report as "poison" and demanded the World Bank to leave China. This protest was reported by several independent media and received enormous support from the online communities.
Interestingly enough, just a short while ago, the authoritative People’s Daily published an editorial calling for further reform while acknowledging the potential oppositions as "trivial critics". In the Chinese context, "further reform" in the mainstream media means neoliberal reforms like privatization and marketisation. This article attracted lots of critique from Marxists and the left wing in general, the scale of which is very unusual in the last 20 years.
All these widespread oppositions to the market reform give us a clear signal: the Chinese people are now explicitly hostile towards neoliberalism (even though not all of them have even heard of this term). There are several major reasons worth mentioning. First of all, we "have been there". The last wave of neoliberal reform has laid off millions of workers and destroyed millions of families. The marketisation of education, health service and residential housing made the life of the working class miserable. Second, the leftist movement has grown much stronger since 1990s. Several large leftist websites are more and more visible in public discussions and all of them explicitly oppose the reform plans from the World Bank and the central government. Many grass-root worker/peasant organizations have come into being and they are in nature anti-neoliberalism.
Last but not least, neoliberalism is in crisis all over the world. The recent economic crisis refreshes the memory of those Chinese people whose mentality remained at the "end of history" more than 20 years ago.
These oppositions and discussions gave birth to a People’s Proposal on China’s future development. The first draft was written by a writer on one of the largest online forums in China. Red China website quickly edited them into a concise version. After that, people have been enthusiastically discussing the proposal all over the Internet and have been adding other things. The China Study Club in UMass Amherst (which I belong to) collectively translated the Red China version into English to give people a sense of what the proposal looks like. This achievement is definitely a milestone in the working class movement in China in that for the first time in the recent three decades so many people are consciously questioning the whole program of the ruling class and have begun discussing what they want. The proposal does not use any Marxist terms, nor does it mention socialism, but everyone can see where it is heading towards.
A SIXTEEN-POINT PROPOSAL ON CHINA’S REFORM
1. That the personal and family wealth of all officials be publicised and their source clarified, and all "naked bureaucrats" be expelled from the Party and the government. ("Naked bureaucrats" refers to those officials whose families live in developed countries and whose assets have been transferred abroad, leaving nothing but him/herself in China.)
2. That the National Congress concretely exercises its legislative and monetory function, comprehensively review the economic policies implemented by the state council, and defend our national economic security.
3. That the existing pension plans be consolidated and retirees be treated equally regardless of sector and rank.
4. That elementary and secondary education be provided free of charge throughout the country; compensation for rural teachers be substantially raised and educational resources be allocated on equal terms across urban and rural areas; and the state assume the responsibility of raising and educating vagrant youth.
5. That the charges of higher education be lowered, and public higher education gradually become fully public-funded and free of charge.
6. That the proportion of state expenditure on education be increased to and beyond international average level.
7. That the price and charge of basic and critical medicines and medical services be managed by the state in an open and planned manner; the price of all medical services and medicines should be determined and enforced by the state in view of social demand and actual cost of production.
8. That heavy progressive real estate taxes be levied on owners of two or more residential housings, so as to alleviate severe financial inequality and improve housing availability.
9. That a nation-wide anti-corruption online platform be established, where all PRC citizens may file reports or grievances on corruption or instances of abuse; the state should investigate in an openly accountable manner and promptly publicise the result.
10. That the state of national resources and environmental security be comprehensively assessed, exports of rare, strategic minerals be immediately cut down and soon stopped, and reserve of various strategic materials be established.
11. That we pursue a self-reliant approach to economic development; any policy that serves foreign capitalists at the cost of the interests of the Chinese working class should be abolished.
12. That labour laws be concretely implemented, sweatshops be thoroughly investigated; enterprises with arrears of wages, illegal use of labour, or detrimental working condition should be closed down if they fail to meet legal requirements even after lawfully limited term for self-correction.
13. That the coal industry be nationalised across the board, all coal mine workers receive the same level of compensation as state-owned enterprise mine workers do, and enjoy paid vacation and state-funded medical service.
14. That the personal and family wealth of managerial personnel in state-owned enterprises be publicized; the compensation of such personnel should be determined by the corresponding level of people’s congress.
15. That all governmental overhead expenses be restricted; purchase of automobile with state fund be restricted; all unnecessary travelling in the name of "research abroad" be suspended.
16. That the losses of public assets during the "reforms" be thoroughly traced, responsible personnel be investigated, and those guilty of stealing public properties be apprehended and openly tried.
ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY Hanjiangchunmeng on bbs.people.com.cn
EDITED BY RED CHINA WEBSITE (http://redchinacn.com)
TRANSLATED BY CHINA STUDY CLUB IN UMASS AMHERST.
EDITED BY RED CHINA WEBSITE (http://redchinacn.com)
TRANSLATED BY CHINA STUDY CLUB IN UMASS AMHERST.
Bo Zilai - the fall of a Princeling - now he his to go on Trial. Plus doubts about poison that killed Neil Haywood
This documentary below on Bo Zilai by the Wall Street Journal provide background on the on the current poltical war between the Princelings inside the Chinese Communist Party.
We do not endorse the documentary, has it does not expose the corruption of the other top leaders in China, and just selectively attacks Bo Zilai.
Bo Xilai scandal:
Doubts raised over Neil Heywood death : Gu Kailai was convicted of Mr Heywood's murder last month
A prominent Chinese forensic scientist has cast doubt on the official version of the death of British businessman Neil Heywood, which triggered a huge political scandal in China.
Wang Xuemei told the BBC there was little evidence Mr Heywood died from cyanide poisoning.
Ms. Wang is among the highest-profile figures in China to publicly doubt the government's official narrative of events surrounding Mr. Heywood's death.
Her comments, coming at a particularly sensitive moment in Chinese politics, is striking given Ms. Wang's at times celebrated role as a rare female forensic expert to serve the chief prosecutor's office.
A 2010 profile in the state-run China Daily newspaper described her as "respected, elegant, [and] daring." The article described her autopsy work as crucial to tracking down and punishing criminals. Mr Heywood was found dead in a hotel room in November 2011.
Last month the wife of a prominent Chinese politician was found guilty of murdering him by poisoning.
However, the account given in court of how Gu Kailai killed Mr Heywood does not tally with cyanide poisoning, according to Ms Wang, who works for China's top prosecutor's office.
Cyanide poisoning would have caused lightning-fast asphyxia, spasms and a heart attack and turned his skin and blood bright red, which investigators would easily have spotted, she says.
A simple test for cyanide is also standard forensic practice in China, but none was presented in court, she adds. Ms Wang says she believes Gu did have a motive to kill Mr Heywood and suggests that Gu used another poison to try and kill him.
No post-mortem examination was carried out on Mr Heywood's body, which was cremated
Democracy and Class Struggle says this trial of Bo Zilai will not stabilise the current political succession in China but will expose more contradictions in the bureaucrat capitalists ranks and inter Princeling rivalry.
However it will provide a window for a genuine communist movement to emerge has the new revisionist leadership will accelerate political, economic and social crisis in China.
China needs to overthrow the "Left" Bo Zilai's as well as other Princelings to get back on the road to socialism..
For Democracy and Class Struggle's view on the Social character of China visit :
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/contemporary-china-what-is-its-social.html
See Also Maoist Communist Party of China here :
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/ten-declarations-of-maoist-communist.html
See Also Minqi Li on Bo Zilai before arrest and now announced trial
Friday, September 28, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Spanish Police Crack Down on Protesters Surrounding the Parliament
Anti-austerity rage intensified in Madrid, as protesters surrounded the parliament Tuesday night in a sign of mounting frustration towards the right-wing government.
Their demands included the resignation of top officials with new elections, the halt to austerity measures, and the rewriting of the Spanish Constitution.
The protesters charged the government with theft and criminal activity for implementing harsh austerity measures, hiking taxes, record unemployment and allowing mass evictions of unemployed families on a daily basis.
As thousands converged outside the gates of parliament, hundreds of police clashed with protesters, detaining and beating many.
Organizers of the action were harassed and intimidated by the police weeks before September 25th. Activists were detained, assembly meetings broken up and a cultural center was raided and shut down
The Spanish government, with help of the mainstream media, hyped the event as a possible coup d'etat
Nearly 2,000 police officers were deployed to prevent the protesters from reaching the parliament. Despite the main unions withdrawing their support, it's estimated close to 10,000 people attended.
The call to surround the congress brought out Spaniards from all walks of life despite police repression to prevent activists from mobilizing.
On numerous occasions, the police pushed and shoved us as we tried to film. Other journalists were beaten and injured by rubber bullets. Story produced by Jihan Hafiz and Jairo Vargas Martin.
Their demands included the resignation of top officials with new elections, the halt to austerity measures, and the rewriting of the Spanish Constitution.
The protesters charged the government with theft and criminal activity for implementing harsh austerity measures, hiking taxes, record unemployment and allowing mass evictions of unemployed families on a daily basis.
As thousands converged outside the gates of parliament, hundreds of police clashed with protesters, detaining and beating many.
Organizers of the action were harassed and intimidated by the police weeks before September 25th. Activists were detained, assembly meetings broken up and a cultural center was raided and shut down
The Spanish government, with help of the mainstream media, hyped the event as a possible coup d'etat
Nearly 2,000 police officers were deployed to prevent the protesters from reaching the parliament. Despite the main unions withdrawing their support, it's estimated close to 10,000 people attended.
The call to surround the congress brought out Spaniards from all walks of life despite police repression to prevent activists from mobilizing.
On numerous occasions, the police pushed and shoved us as we tried to film. Other journalists were beaten and injured by rubber bullets. Story produced by Jihan Hafiz and Jairo Vargas Martin.
Join the Picket at the South Afrikan Embassy - London , Thursday, 27th September 2012
Please join us there tomorrow, Thursday, 27th September: Picket from 4.00pm – 7.00pm Embassy of the South Afrikan Neocolony South Africa House Trafalgar Square London WC2N 5DP
The mine workers at Marikana / South Afrika and the bauxite workers at Linden /Guyana are relying upon your support.
Revolutionary regards
Cecil Gutzmore
Marikana Miners Solidarity Campaign (MMSC)
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
President Gonzalo's 20th Anniversary of his Speech from the Cage
Speech from the Cage
Comrades of the Communist Party of Peru! Combatants of the People's Guerrilla Army! Peruvian People!
We are living historic moments, each of us must be clear that this is the case, let us not fool ourselves. In these moments we should mobilize all forces to confront difficulties and continue accomplishing our tasks and conquering our goals, successes and victory! That is what we must do.
We are here as children of the people and we are struggling in these trenches, it is also about combat, and we do it because we are Communists, because here we defend the interests of the people, the principles of the party, the People's War. That is why we do it, we are doing it and will continue to do it!
We are here in these circumstances. Some think this is a great defeat. They are dreaming and we tell them to keep on dreaming! It is simply a bend, nothing more, a bend in the road. The road is long and we shall arrive. We shall triumph. You shall see it. You shall see it.
We should continue the tasks established by the III Plenum of the Central Committee. A glorious Plenum. You should know that these accords are already being implemented and that will continue. We shall continue applying the IV Plan of Strategic Development of the People's War to Conquer Power, we shall continue developing the VI Military Plan to Build the Conquest of Power, that will continue, that is our task. We shall carry it out because of what we are and because of the obligation we have with the proletariat and the people.
We clearly say that today the democratic road has begun to develop as a road of liberation, as a road of people's liberation, that is the circumstance in which we are developing. We should think with great historic sense, we must stop closing our eyes. Let us look at reality, let us look at the history of Peru. Let us look at the last three centuries of Peru. We should think about it. Look at the l8th century, look at the l9th century, look at the 20th century and understand them! Those who don't understand them are going to be blind and the blind don't serve the country, they don't serve Peru.
We believe that the l8th century was a very clear lesson. Think about this. There was a dominator. It was Spain and where did that bloodsucking domination bring us? To a very deep crisis, as a consequence of which Peru was divided. From there come the origins of today's Bolivia. It is not our question but facts.
Fine, the last century, English domination. Where did this take us in it's rivalry with France? To another big Crisis: 70 of the past century. The result? War with Chile. We must not forget it. And what happened? We lost territory. Our nation suffers defeat despite the blood shed by heroes and the people. We must learn from this!
The 20th century. How are we doing? In the 20th century we are dominated by imperialism, principally North American, this is real, everyone knows it. And where has it bought us? Without remembering the l920's, here and now, to the worst crisis of the entire history of the Peruvian people.
Learning the lesson of past centuries, what can we think? Once more the nation is at risk. It can easily be lost, and by interests. This is the situation, this is where they have brought us. But we have a fact, a Peruvian revolution, a people's war, and it is, and will continue to advance. Where have we gotten with this? To a strategic equilibrium. And we must understand this well. It is strategic equilibrium which solidifies itself in an essential situation.
What have 12 years served for? To plainly show before the world and principally before the Peruvian people, that the Peruvian state, the old Peruvian state, is a paper tiger that is rotten to the core. That has been proven!
Things being that way, let us think of the danger that the nation, that the country, can be divided, that the nation is at risk. They want to dismember it, they want to divide it. Who wants to do this? As always, the imperialists, those who exploit, those who rule. And what should we do? What is our task now? It is appropriate that we push forward the people's liberation movement and that we develop it through the people's war because the people, always the people, have been the ones who defend the country, who have defended the nation.
It is time to form a People's Liberation Front, it is time to form and develop a People's Liberation Army from the People's Guerrilla Army. That is what we must do and we shall do it! That is what we are doing and that is what we shall do. You gentlemen shall be witnesses.
Finally now, listen to this. As we see in the world, Maoism is marching unstoppably to lead the new wave of world proletarian revolution. Listen well and understand. Those who have ears, use them. Those who have understanding -- and we all have it -- use it! Enough of this nonsense. Enough of these obscurities. Let us understand this. What is unfolding in the world? What do we need? We need Maoism to be incarnated and it is being incarnated and that this generate communist parties to manage, to lead this new great wave of the world proletarian revolution that is coming
.
Everything they told us, the empty and silly chatter of the famous "new age of peace." Where is it now? What about Yugoslavia? What about other places? Everything became politicized, that is a lie. Today there is one reality, the same contenders of the First and Second World War are preparing a Third World War. We should know this and we, as the children of an oppressed nation, are part of the booty. We cannot consent to this! Enough imperialist exploitation! We must finish with them! We are of the third world and the third world is the base of the world proletarian revolution, with one condition, that the Communist parties brandish and lead! That is what we must do !
We believe the following. Next year will be the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Chairman Mao. We must celebrate these l00 years and we are organizing it with the Communist parties. We want a new manner, a celebration which will be the conscious comprehension of the importance of Chairman Mao in the world revolution and we shall begin the celebration this year and we shall finish it the next. It will be a grand process of celebration. I want to take advantage of this opportunity to salute the international proletariat, the oppressed nations of the world and the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement.
THIS IS WHAT I WANT.
TO COMPLETE THE TASK WELL!
LONG LIVE THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF PERU!
THE PEOPLE'S WAR WILL INEVITABLY WIN!
WE SALUTE FROM HERE THE FUTURE BIRTH OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF PERU!
WE SAY: GLORY TO MARXISM-LENINISM-MAOISM. AND FINALLY WE SAY: HONOR AND GLORY TO THE PERUVIAN PEOPLE.
Shining Trench of Combat, September, 1992.
President Gonzalo Leader of the Party and the revolution, continuer of Marx, Lenin and Chairman Mao Tse-tung.
Philippines : The persistence of military rule in the country by Ang Bayan
Military terrorism persists in the country. Military rule remains a reality 40 years after Ferdinand Marcos' formal declaration of martial law on September 21, 1972 and 26 years after his regime was overthrown in a people's uprising in February 1986.
Marcos used martial law to perpetuate himself in power and strengthen the rule of foreign big capitalists, big bourgeois compradors, landlords and bureaucrat capitalists
.
Despite the much-vaunted restoration of democracy, there is little to distinguish succeeding regimes from the despised Marcos fascist dictatorship. Even without a formal martial law declaration, state terrorism is able to prevail. The exploiters and oppressors backed up by martial law continue to lord it over
.
This has been made possible through the intensified militarization of the country since the time of Corazon Aquino's regime up to that of her son Benigno Aquino III. The current regime bears the notoriety of launching massive and incessant military operations and maintaining a heavy military presence in peasant and urban poor communities nationwide.
To preserve the rotten and bankrupt semicolonial and semifeudal system, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other armed minions of the reactionary state have been expanded and given major roles to play since 1972. The AFP's ascendance in many aspects of Philippine society is a manifestation of the continuously worsening crisis of the ruling system, which has made it necessary to strengthen the coercive forces of the state and suppress the people's growing resistance.
Marcos beefed up the AFP from 60,000 to 100,000 troops upon the declaration of martial law and further expanded it to 250,000 in mid-1975 after integrating the forces of the PC-INP. After martial law, the AFP's size further swelled to 200,000 and the PNP from 115,000 to its current size of 140,000. These figures do not include paramilitary forces like the CAFGU and other armed groups controlled by the military whose numbers have also grown severalfold.
The AFP not only serves as the strongest bastion of the reactionary ruling system. It is also US imperialism's most reliable instrument for ensuring its dominance over the country. The AFP is the US' most unflinching ally in the protection of its strategic interests in the Philippines and in stabilizing the reactionary political system, safeguarding foreign investments and suppressing the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces. Towards this end, US imperialism has taken tremendous efforts to strengthen the AFP's organization, supply it with weapons and train its personnel on current US doctrine.
The AFP and PNP, in fact, trace their origins to the first mercenary troops from Macabebe, Pampanga who were used by the American colonialists to pursue Filipino revolutionaries resisting US occupation troops from 1899-1903. These forces later evolved into the Philippine Scouts (which later became the Philippine Scout Rangers) and the Philippine Constabulary.
Key officers of the AFP are sent for training to US military institutions such as West Point Military Academy, Annapolis Naval Academy and Fort Benning and are recruited as agents of the imperialist Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The AFP is supplied with weapons through the US Foreign Defense Financing Program, and arms procurements from other countries under the AFP Modernization Program are supervised by US military advisers.
On the other hand, every counterrevolutionary campaign waged by the Philippine puppet government is patterned after US doctrine. The current Oplan Bayanihan is practically an exact copy of the US Counterinsurgency Guide of 2009.
The AFP was able to establish its politico-military power in all aspects of Philippine society during martial law's formal 14-year existence. The extent to which the Philippine social system has been militarized is boosted further as tens of thousands of former military officers occupy positions in the civilian bureaucracy. They are either appointed to various government agencies or elected to congress or local government posts. Militarizing the bureaucracy serves the purpose of accommodating retired ranking military officers who are cronies of reactionary politicians. In the same way, the AFP is able to use the civilian bureaucracy to advance its counterrevolutionary programs.
Using the military to deliver services that should be provided by civilian agencies of government has also become a widespread practice, and has become even more rampant under the US-Aquino regime's Oplan Bayanihan through the AFP's "peace and development organizing teams." Civil-military operations feature military troops conducting censuses and medical and dental missions, constructing and repairing schoolbuildings that are eventually used by them as barracks for as long as a year and even grotesque scenes of soldiers providing human rights education to schoolchildren.
This is an insidious effort to erase from the people's collective memory the evil role played by the reactionary military in sowing fascist terror and preserving the exploitative and oppressive ruling system. With the people's consciousness anesthesized into accepting the pervasiveness of the military and turning a blind eye to military abuses, their militant resistance to militarization wanes until they become tolerant of repression.
But all these efforts by the AFP, the Aquino regime and their US imperialist master are in vain. An institution that is puppet, repressive, corrupt and mercenary to the core can never be deodorized and will never evolve into a positive force in society.
With open fascist rule during the dark days of the Marcos dictatorship, the people became witness to militarization at its worst. Marcos' martial law has left a poisonous legacy of pervasive militarization and persistent military repression, perpetuated in the guise of "peace and development operations." This is the truth that must be brought to the fore with every commemoration of the martial law declaration.
There is no fitting response to relentless military repression other than for the people to tirelessly expose the truth and persevere in their resistance.
* Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines, issued by the party's Central Committee. It is published bimonthly on the 7th and 21st of each month in Filipino and translated into English, Cebuano, Ilokano, Waray and Hiligaynon.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Demonstrate at the Gambia High Commission on 25th September to protest executions on 23rd August 2012
Protest at The Gambia High Commission, 57 Kensington Court, Kensington London, W8 5DG
The protest will take place on Tuesday 25th September 2012 from 4pm to 7pm.
The Protest is called by the The Pan-Afrikan Voice and the Free Mumia Abu Jamal Campaign in the UK.
Nearest Tube Station: Kensington High Street
Friday, September 21, 2012
Report from Indian Media about Maoist Activity in Urban Areas
Democracy and Class Struggle publishes this article for comrades to see the media war against Indian Maoists or even supporters of democratic rights in India like the RDF.
The War on the People of India by the Indian State is as violent as ever, but this state violence goes unreported in the Media while any resistance to Indian State Land Grabs is labelled "Maoist" violence.
Look at this headline from Daily Mail India below from article by Abhishek Bhalla.
Trying to whip up hostility to Maoists and popular democratic organisations like the Revolutionary Democratic Front.
Ultra left blueprint for urban warfare: Intelligence Bureau blames Maoists for Maruti mayhem while front organisation in Delhi and NCR plans violent protests
By ABHISHEK BHALLA 20 September 2012
Left extremists have infiltrated workers' organisations in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) with plans for supporting violent protests, according to intelligence agencies. A note prepared by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) provides evidence of this dangerous design by Maoists to create unrest closer home in urban areas - and not merely in distant Gadchiroli, Dantewada and West Midnapore. The violence at the Maruti factory in Manesar on July 18 this year - in which Maruti Suzuki's general manager for human resources was killed - was supported by Left-wing extremist groups, according to a secret IB note prepared last month.
Maruti employees on a strike in July The violent upsurge had come on the back of earlier agitations at the Maruti factory that had stalled work thrice last year. 'What I had said earlier about the possibility of involvement of Left-wing extremists was based on my estimation of facts and it was a hypothesis. 'Whether they were involved or not needs to be investigated. Let's see what comes out of the investigation,' said R.C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India. Systematically collating the inputs to find proof of Maoist involvement in violence involving workers, intelligence agencies have been able to establish the identity of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), a front organisation of the CPI (Maoist).
According to the IB note, the front has 'exhorted the workers to continue the struggle.' The note also says that they have 'resolved to launch a militant campaign against caste violence'. Sources say the RDF has become the urban face of the Maoist movement and is attempting to expand its base in other metropolises. According to intelligence sources, its activities are not limited to Delhi and NCR even though it is most active here. The shocking revelations have only endorsed what had been suspected for long. 'This has been part of their strategy to gradually enter urban areas and quietly carry on with their activities. 'These are like sleeper cells. With recent arrests made from in and around Delhi, the interrogation of the suspects should reveal more. But sometimes the Maoist inroad theory in cities like Delhi can be a little exaggerated,' said A.S. Dulat, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). According to Prakash Singh, former director general of the Border Security Force (BSF), the Maoist ideology is attractive to a certain class of people in urban areas.
'It started with colleges in Delhi and other urban centres. But now it's more sinister. A case in point is the golden corridor, the route from Pune to Ahmedabad,' said Singh who is the author of 'The Naxalite movement in India'. A blueprint of the Ultra Left's base in urban areas was exposed three years back when top Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy, allegedly responsible for recruiting and setting up bases in the metros, was arrested in Delhi. Back in 2009, the intelligence agencies had realised that the Maoist base was expanding. Ghandy's arrest proved to be a setback for the Maoists but intelligence agencies believe that of late Left-wing extremism is gathering support in urban areas. Delhi and the national capital region is a fertile ground for new recruits and growth. This now a matter of record. Recently, responding to a Parliament question, minister of state for home Jitendra Singh said that 7 out of 11 districts in Delhi were witness to Left-wing extremism. Sources say that several Maoists are active in Gurgaon and Ghaziabad. Intelligence inputs indicate that using the RDF front, they are trying to find a toehold in workers' associations.
The evident purpose is to work from within and motivate the workers to carry out violent protests and destabilise the state. 'The emergence of Delhi or Mumbai is one of the reasons for this phenomenon. There is a city within a city and slum within a slum. The demography of these cities challenges India's security whether it is from jihadis or Maoists. 'Some of these areas become more vulnerable to Maoist influence presenting a big challenge in urban areas,' said security expert commodore (retd) Uday Bhaskar. The government response to this spreading network has been poor, according to analysts. 'The government's approach to the problem has also been very confused,' said Prakash Singh. While earlier reports suggested the presence of Left-wing extremists among workers, th e Haryana police, as part of their investigation had dismissed the theory. The police in their probe had ruled out Maoists' involvement in the Manesar incident.
This could be incorrect. 'It is suspected the some members of these groups instigated workers and are continuing to do so. They have support in Delhi and the adjoining areas,' said an intelligence source. After the violence at the Maruti factory more than 90 workers were arrested and booked for murder, attempt to murder, rioting with weapons, assault and trespass.
According to the IB note, the RDF at its executive meeting in Delhi on August 1-2, while referring to the Manesar violence as a 'militant movement of factory workers', had resolved to extend all support to the movement and demanded the release of the arrested workers and withdrawal of cases against them. Intelligence agencies have information that the RDF has given a call to its fraternal organisations to participate and lead the retaliation against 'violence by dominant classes'.
The information gathered by the intelligence agencies is being shared with the state police and other security forces. According to highly-placed sources, a detailed report is being prepared by intelligence agencies on the activities of the RDF.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Occudoc - The contradictions of the Occupy Movement
Filmmaker Dennis Trainor Jr. on his new film and the challenges facing the Occupy Movement
Read the Drapeau Rouge Editorial - Paper of French Maoist Comrades
Visit : http://drapeaurouge.over-blog.com/article-le-nouveau-drapeau-rouge-est-sorti-110341265.html
Editorial
After the complete liquidation of socialism in the USSR, in Eastern Europe and China after the introduction of reactionary cliques, and at their head, fierce dictators formed in the image of the capitalist countries by the colonizers in former colonies, after the social-democratization of former communist parties all without exception imperialism felt pressure to restructure its economy on a global scale at the expense of the proletariat, the masses, the peoples of the world .
This has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs, disruption of production relocation, destruction of swathes of the economy, increased looting of raw materials, the destruction of hundreds of millions of peasants by the appropriation of their land by multinationals, uncontrolled deforestation, pollution of the planet endangering hundreds of thousands of species, etc..
On the political level, there is the strengthening of the bourgeois state apparatus, the gradual establishment of a fascism that dare not speak its name, the modern fascism, because there are more great revolutionary parties to threaten the power of the bourgeoisie.
The spirit of conciliation within the capitalist system has become the rule of the Left parties, left-wing official, labor conciliator "together."
The crisis of imperialism has resulted in a reorganization of international imperialism, that is to say, a struggle for the redivision of wealth and power between different markets. The inter-imperialist contradictions grow.
The example of Syria is particularly revealing when the fight is mainly between the "old" imperialist (USA, Europe mainly) and new (Russia, China mainly). The object is clearly the struggle for oil through increased influence on the geographic area of the Middle East.
But "where there is oppression, there is resistance"!
The crisis of imperialism has also had a direct impact on the development of the struggle of the proletariat and the masses worldwide.
These struggles include several categories:
1. Popular Wars led by the Maoist Communist Parties
Their strategic goal of communism. In this sense, they are the highest form of anti-imperialist struggle.
2. The national liberation struggles
They aim to apply the principle of self-determination. They are opposed to imperialism, but when they are not led by the Communists, they lead to the coming to power of the national bourgeoisie who makes a deal with imperialism and revolution prevents building of socialism.
3. Uprisings in the Arab countries against watchdogs in Africa
In the absence of communist leadership, these uprisings lead to the ability of manipulation by imperialism and to retain or to conquer in their interests, in one form or another.
However, the masses learn in the fight because we have to revolt and realize the power they have. This creates the conditions for the development of communist parties to boost the anti-imperialist line involving the people against imperialism, comprador-bureaucratic class and the feudal classes.
4. Peaceful mass movements
Peaceful movements like the "outraged" and "# Occupy" refuse policy directions and fall into reformism. However, in some countries like Spain, it has resulted in the formation of neighborhood committees opposing evictions for example. These movements took different forms in different countries and had uneven development. Some aspects are fair and communists must rely on these aspects to advance the most advanced.
5. Labor strikes, various professions and students
Crisis that took effect as the mass closures of factories and companies in the imperialist countries, labor strikes and other professions have developed. On the other hand, the reduction of public spending states in the field of education, that is to say, the privatization of education has also resulted in the development of students' struggles.
The most recent example is the student strike in Quebec has grown due to government repression. This develops the objective conditions under which the communists can and must advance the construction and consolidation of the Party.
6. Struggles for housing, farmers struggle to survive
For renters, the weakening of job security and the rising cost of living has a direct impact on the ability to pay rent and / or find decent housing. On the other hand, depending homebuyers credit are facing the same difficulties.
Small farmers dependent on credit under pressure monopolies are also endangered by the crisis. Communists must take this reality to expand and consolidate the camp of allies of the proletariat.
7. Struggles for environmental protection, against fascism and repression against racism and for equality between women and men, for the freedom of the press, the right of prisoners to education for all and all for the right and access to health care, etc..
Reductions in public spending, democratic freedoms and maneuvers of the ruling classes and parties populist and fascist groups "divide and conquer" accentuate the struggle for the conquest and defense of democratic rights and the improvement of life. These struggles can just move the mass movement that communists must conquer direction.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Balchder Cymru response to article attempting to misrepresent and discredit them in Western Mail
Balchder Cymru's response to today's article in the Western Mail
Balchder Cymru are extremely disappointed by Martin Shiptons blatant attempt to discredit the movement by associating it with the leadership of Plaid Cymru.
Balchder Cymru is not affiliated with the party and was at the republic event by invitation. The leadership of Plaid themselves were indeed inviting all and sundry.
As chair of Balchder Cymru I question why Mr Shipton is bringing this up now when the event in question was in 2011?
The other point I want to make is BC is not or has ever been anti English but is anti British state.
It is sad that Plaid has chosen to fall into Mr Shiptons trap and rashly responded by jumping the gun and calling BC abhorrent when it's Plaids constant faffing on the sidelines and fiddling whilst Rome burns in relation to our mountains being swamped by giant windfarms and dodging the independence question at every turn is precisely why BC is not affiliated to any political party.
Mr Shipton obviously has an axe to grind or is responding to digs from other politicians, interesting to note ken Skates join the debate when I have personally seen mr Skates at more BC supported events than any Plaid representatives, I suppose that's what happens when you try to get your profile raised and just turn up at everything going.
BC is made up of cross party supporters and vehemently defends its record in standing on the side of the people against the state.
Fe godwn ni eto.
Adam Phillips BC chair 18/09/2012
Article Balchder Cymru responding to here :
The Great Unrest Group 2012 expresses its solidarity to Balchder Cymru as a defender of Welsh communities, it lives up to its name as the Pride of Wales unlike Plaid Cymru which is a collaborator in the Eco Colonialism and serves as party of English Neo Colonialism in Wales.