One year after the People’s Victory in El Salvador!

The following analysis is from the website of CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. See also the article FMLN Takes Power in El Salvador from a year ago:

On Sunday, March 14, the streets of San Salvador once again filled with red t-shirts, hats, bandanas and FMLN flags to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the victory of the FMLN’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sánchez Cerén (March 15, 2009). In a speech before the crowd of 25,000, historic leader of the FMLN and current Deputy to the Central American Parliament Nidia Díaz declared, “Today we reassert the effort and the heroism of thousands of compatriots that continue fighting and those that gave their lives, without which this victory would not have been possible.”

China publishes report on U.S. human rights

The U.S. uses torture to "defend human rights" in Iraq and around the world.

The following is from Xinhua. For the full report, go to Human Rights Record of the United States in 2009

 

China Friday retorted U.S. criticism by publishing its own report on the U.S. human rights record.

“As in previous years, the (U.S.) reports are full of accusations of the human rights situation in more than 190 countries and regions including China, but turn a blind eye to, or dodge and even cover up rampant human rights abuses on its own territory,” said the Information Office of the State Council in its report on the U.S. human rights record.

The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2009 was in retaliation to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2009 issued by the U.S. Department of State on March 11.

The report is “prepared to help people around the world understand the real situation of human rights in the United States,” said the report.

The report reviewed the human rights record of the United States in 2009 from six perspectives: life, property and personal security; civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; racial discrimination; rights of women and children; and the U.S.’ violation of human rights against other countries.

It criticized the United States for taking human rights as “a political instrument to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, defame other nations’ image and seek its own strategic interests.”

Colombian activist Liliany Obando’s trial postponed again

The following article by Angela Denio is from Fight Back! News:

The jailing and repeated postponement of trials of Liliany “Lily” Obando tells the story of a powerful woman. She is dealing firsthand with the extreme repression facing many Colombians who oppose the government. In Colombia there are over 7000 political prisoners. Colombian trade unionist Liliany Obando was arrested in the summer of 2008. Her arrest came during a string of attacks by the Uribe government targeting leaders of Colombia’s growing struggles for social change.

Obando is a typical Colombian. She has taken up the challenge to fight for the rights of the people – the ones who don’t matter to the rich in charge in Colombia and their puppeteers here in the U.S. government. Through her work with FENSUAGRO, a Colombian union, Obando championed the rights and welfare of Colombian farmers and rural wage laborers. Her work was transparent and legal under Colombian law, but Liliany Obando now sits in prison.

Zimbabwe after 30 years of independence: Indigenization & gender equality on agenda

President Robert Mugabe

The following article by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan-African News Wire, is from Workers World:

Against all odds the southern African nation of Zimbabwe is celebrating its 30th year of independence from British settler-colonialism.

In February and early March of 1980, nationwide elections were held inside the former Rhodesia, named after racist colonialist Cecil Rhodes, in which the two leading national liberation movements, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union-Patriotic Front, won the overwhelming majority of votes leading to the recognition by the international community of an independent state on April 18 of that year.

The elections grew out of a 14-year armed struggle waged by the African majority against the Rhodesian state headed by Prime Minister Ian Smith. After tremendous gains were made in the national liberation war during the late 1970s, the U.S. and British imperialism pressured the Smith regime to negotiate an end to the war.

These talks held in December 1979 resulted in what became known as the Lancaster House Agreements. A ceasefire was declared, and 16,500 guerrillas from the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, which was the armed wing of ZANU-PF, and 5,500 fighters from the Zimbabwe African People’s Revolutionary Army, the military section of ZAPU-PF, returned to the country.

The survival of Zimbabwe as an independent country committed to the empowerment of the African majority as well as an anti-imperialist foreign policy is a testament to the unity and fortitude of the ZANU-PF party, which merged with ZAPU-PF in late 1987. Over the last decade, since the imposition of the Third Chimurenga — a radical land reform policy that seized control of half of the farm land previously controlled by white settlers even after national independence — the Western imperialist states have enacted sanctions against the country and its leadership.

Philippines: Candidates in reactionary elections must recognize revolutionary government

The following statement by the Communist Party of the Philippines is from the website of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines:

Reacting to statements by the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines – Eastern Visayas said today that there are already two governments in the country and the revolutionary movement does not simply accept bribes to let reactionary politicians win in the election.

“Perhaps Gov. Evardone is oblivious and disgruntled because he is deeply involved in the corrupt and rotten Arroyo government as well as the military,” said Fr. Santiago Salas, NDFP-EV spokesperson.

“But there are already two governments in the country, two different laws, two different systems of life. If the reactionaries want to campaign in the areas controlled by the revolutionary movement, they must recognize the revolutionary government. This is so because the revolutionary government is safeguarding the best interests of the people, ensuring law and order, and taking care that current programs and policies are not upset by the entrance of candidates in the reactionary election.

Philippines: Red Army ambush is stern warning against AFP-warlords clique this election

The following statement is from Philippine Revolution Web Central:

Recent Red Army ambush vs 25th IB-AFP, stern warning against AFP-warlords clique this election

Roel Agustin II
Conrado Heredia Command
Spokesman
Front 20 Operations Command
New People’s Army-Southern Mindanao
March 8, 2010

The fascist troops of 25th IB-AFP have yet again incurred fresh casualties following the successful ambuscade of the New People’s Army, March 5, in Monkayo town, Compostela Valley Province.

The ambush, which lasted an hour at dawn on Friday, left four dead and many severely wounded of the 70-strong Alpha Coy of the 25th IB-AFP under 1Lt. Inocencio. Red fighters of Conrado Heredia Command-Front 20 Operations Command-NPA engaged the enemy at Purok 7, Brgy. Salvacion.

The ambushed troops were part of the Brigade-operation spread around the adjacent barangays of gold-rich Diwalwal: the Alpha and Bravo companies in Brgy. Katipanan to Brgy. Pasian and the Charlie Coy in Brgy. Diwalwal. Special Operations Team (SOTs), armed troops that capitalize on civilian population for cover, also forcibly conducted anti-revolutionary consultations and meetings among residents. Two days after the ambush, March 7, at around 2PM, elements of Bravo Coy under 2Lt. Dacayo held at gunpoint and harassed nine civilians in Km. 56, Brgy. Pasian. Farmers’ food supplies were also confiscated as food blockade were mounted in communities.

Iraq: Elections under the barrel of the occupier’s gun

The following analysis by Kosta Harlan is from Fight Back! News:

Parliamentary elections took place in occupied Iraq on March 8 as rockets and mortars slammed into the Green Zone and U.S. military bases across the country. The U.S. government and its allies in occupied Iraq have hailed the election as a victory for democracy (Newsweek went so far as to write “Victory at last” across the cover of their latest issue), but the reality is anything but. The elections are nothing but a continuation of the same illegal, unjust occupation political process that began when the U.S. invaded and overthrew the anti-imperialist Iraqi government in 2003. The latest election only serves to consolidate the existence of a puppet regime loyal to the U.S. occupation.

FRSO: March 4 Education Protests Rock the Nation!

Occupation of an administration building at UCLA on March 4th. (Fight Back! News)

The following statement by Freedom Road Socialist Organization is from Fight Back! News:

The March 4 national day of action for education was a huge success! Over 100,000 people marched, rallied and took action at over 100 schools and colleges. The biggest protests were in California, both on college campuses and in city streets. College students and union members joined parents with their children, as well as high school students, to demand education funding from the state government. Across the country, students, union workers and faculty marched across campuses and rallied outside administration buildings, while administrators hid or snuck out the back door. In some cases university chancellors and presidents locked themselves inside their offices surrounded by police while students tried to deliver petitions.

National Democratic Front of the Philippines condemns Arroyo government for targeting children of CPP-NPA cadres

The following is from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines:

NDFP demands immediate release of Michelle Adelantar from Arroyo government custody

By Fr. SANTIAGO “Sanny” SALAS
Spokesperson, NDFP-Eastern Visayas

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines – Eastern Visayas today demanded the immediate release from the Arroyo government’s custody of Michelle Adelantar, a daughter of a cadre of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army.

“In violation of international humanitarian law, Michelle, 17, was abducted and detained last 3 February in San Jose de Buan, Western Samar, by operating troops from the 34th Infantry Battalion merely because she was the child of a CPP-NPA cadre,” said Fr. Santiago Salas, NDF-EV spokesperson.

Tuscaloosa Bus Drivers Win!

Students picket with striking Crimson Ride bus drivers at Univ. of Alabama (Fight Back! News/Staff)

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Network to Fight for Economic Justice on the important victory by bus drivers in Alabama.

Alabama Bus Drivers Win Union Contract!

Statement from the Network to Fight for Economic Justice (NFEJ)

 Union bus drivers at the University of Alabama are celebrating today! They voted to accept their first union contract late last night, March 8, 2010. All the members and supporters of the Network to Fight for Economic Justice are rejoicing with them!

Organizing a union and winning a first contract are difficult enough. To organize in the South where racism and intimidation are strong factors, is spectacular! The union workers and leaders of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1208 are to be congratulated for their grit and determination. They stood up and sent a message across the country, “We’re NOT going to take it anymore!”

India: Spring Thunder and After…

The following article by Debdutta Ghosh, Mou Chakravarty and Drimi Chaudhuri is from the Hindustan Times:

Charu Majumdar is dead for about 40 years. Kanu Sanyal is 78, ill and infirm, staying at his native village in north Bengal. Asim Chatterjee has mellowed. But Naxals — in their new avatar — are coming back to Kolkata.

On June 28, 1967, Radio Peking (in China) called it ‘The Spring Thunder’. The occasion was the May 1967 rebellion in north Bengal’s Naxalbari by a small breakaway faction of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Later, on April 22, 1969 — Russian revolution leader V.I. Lenin’s birthday — the rebels formed the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). But the announcement was made earlier at a public rally in Calcutta (the old name of Kolkata) by Kanu Sanyal on May 1 that year. The thunder fizzled out by 1972.

After spending about 35 years in the wilderness, the Marxist-Leninists morphed into the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2005 — after dividing and reuniting several differing factions operating almost independently.

Celebrate the 100th International Women’s Day!

In honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, The Marxist-Leninist is posting a number of articles throughout the month of March on women’s liberation, particularly those that deal with the question from a revolutionary communist perspective. As Women’s History Month continues, more articles will be posted on this website and they will then be collected here. For more on women’s liberation, please see the section of the Marxist-Leninist Study Guide on Proletarian Feminism and Women’s Liberation as well as the other posts on women’s liberation.

• Claudia Jones, Communist
• Soong Ching Ling and Women’s Liberation in China
• Ka Mohan: photo essay
• Dolores Ibárruri (La Pasionaria): Women at the Front
• Freedom Road Celebrates International Women’s Day in Minneapolis
• FRSO: Celebrate International Women’s Day 2010

“Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole.” – Mao Zedong

Long Live International Women’s Day!

Comrade Shireen Abu-Oun of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Ka Joy of the New People's Army of the Philippines

Guerrilleras of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army (FARC-EP)

Women's Militia in Socialist Cuba

New People’s Army wipes out a platoon of the 23rd Division Reconnaissance Company in Mindoro

From the Communist Party of the Philippines:

AFP to suffer more losses after big defeat in Mindoro–CPP

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today lauded the New People’s Army in Mindoro for its successful tactical offensive Saturday morning that practically wiped out a platoon of fascist troops in Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro. The NPA ambushed a platoon of the 23rd Division Reconnaissance Company (DRC) resulting in the death of 11 soldiers and the wounding of eight troopers.

The number of soldiers wiped out in the Oriental Mindoro ambush was the biggest loss suffered so far by government forces this year. Since the start of this year, at least 40 AFP officers and soldiers have been killed and 43 wounded in action as the NPA stepped up its tactical offensives nationwide. The CPP has directed the NPA to launch more tactical offensives in an effort to implement its objective of reaching the strategic stalemate stage of its people’s war by mid-decade.