Filipinos Will Confront Incoming Aquino Regime with Pressing Demands
Communist Party of the Phillipines
May 13, 2010
With the reactionary elections coming to a close, it now appears that the Philippine neocolonial state will be headed next by Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
Once Aquino assumes power on June 30, the Filipino people are intent on immediately confronting his presidency with the most pressing issues arising from the basic political and socio-economic problems they have been suffering under the prevailing rotten semi-colonial and semifeudal system.
The Number One immediate demand of the Filipino people is the prosecution and punishment of Gloria Arroyo and her ilk for all the crimes they have committed while in power.
They demand justice for numerous crimes of plunder including the ZTE national broadband network deal, the IMPSA deal, the Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard scam, the Fertilizer Fund scam, the Swine Fund scam, and several other cases of gross plunder. Read more »
Nepal: Analysis of the UCPNM’s “Indefinite” General Strike
1. Kathmandu was over flooded with red flags on May Day. The procession was one of the largest processions that Nepal ever had seen. The busses, trucks, vans, etc ferried people from neighboring districts. The number of people coming from outside valley was estimated around 150,000. The lowest estimate of the number of participants in the mass meeting, as usual, was that of the Valley Police and the highest was that of the organizers, the Unified Maoists. The police estimated their number around 200,000 and the Unified Maoists said their number was more than 600,000. Anyway, their number was quite large.
The crowd was jubilant. They were adding energy by singing and dancing. Among the participants, the Young Communist League (YCL) volunteers were the most visible lot. The participants included a large number of women and teenagers. In brief, the participants of the procession were joyous, enthusiastic and energetic and the procession was colorful and exciting. The same scenes were replicated in several urban centers all over Nepal.
The Unified Maoist leaders made politico-sentimental speeches that enhanced jubilation, inserted heroism and replanted ‘do or die’ attitude. In the same venue, they declared nationwide indefinite general strike from 2nd May. The key demands included overthrowing the incumbent coalition government and establishing a new national consensus government so as to ensure stable peace and constitution writing. The party quite frankly said, “You must come to Kathmandu with shroud cloth wrapped around your heads and flour in your bags. It will be our last battle. If we succeed, we survive; else it will be the end of our party.” (General Secretary Badal in www.southasiarev.wordpress.com.) Thus, a “third people’s movement” was unfolded. Read more »
Ahmad Sa’adat: End Occupation in All of Historic Palestine
Comrade Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, denounced any negotiations with the occupation, saying that “the solution to the critical historical conflict in the Middle East will only be the establishment of one state on the entire Palestinian national soil, from river to sea, with full equality for all.”
In an interview with Reuters released on May 5, 2010, conducted in written responses obtained through his lawyer, Comrade Sa’adat emphasized that any negotiations will not achieve the objectives of the Palestinian people and will only deepen internal divisions. Comrade Sa’adat said that the establishment of a Palestinian state on 1967 borders and the right of return are considered a step towards the resolution of the historic conflict. However, he stressed that the indirect negotiations being pushed by the United States are only a cover for the “continuation of an Israeli policy built on the continuation of occupation.”
Comrade Sa’adat condemned any Palestinian participation in these indirect negotiations, asserting that they frustrate any attempt to restore national unity. Said Sa’adat, “The talks proposed by the United States to revive the ‘peace process’ that has been going on for the past 20 years only make clear the failure of Barack Obama, U.S. President, to fulfill any commitment he made to the Islamic world of a ‘new beginning.’”
Comrade Sa’adat that accepting such negotiations means utter abandonment of the Palestinian leadership’s demands, including the complete cessation of settlement construction. He said that the dominant forces in the PLO should at least be expected to adhere to their own conditions.
For more information, visit <www.pflp.ps>. See, also, “PLO Offers Israeli Enemy Another Chance, Approves New Talks!” (Al-Manar, 8 May 2010).
Phoenix Suns Win in More Ways Than One
by Dave Zirin, Sports correspondent for the Nation Magazine
Los Suns Also Rise: Phoenix Suns Win in More Ways Than One
Anyone who believes that sports can’t be an effective platform for social justice, needed only to watch last night’s game between Los Suns of Phoenix and the San Antonio Spurs. The unprecedented decision by the entire Suns organization – from owner Robert Sarver to star players Amar’e Stoudemire and Steve Nash – to wear uniforms blaring Los Suns and come out against Arizona’s anti-immigrant Senate Bill 1070, created a sports broadcast like no other in my lifetime.
The game on TNT began with sideline reporter Marty Snider outside the arena covering a mushrooming 3,000 person civil rights march, led by Al Sharpton and Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon (both wearing Los Suns Jerseys.) Then the scene switched to the pre-game studio with host Ernie Johnson and former players Kenny “the Jet” Smith, Chris Webber, and Charles Barkley. The viewing audience then got an unexpected and bracing lesson in dissent.
Kenny Smith, like any good point guard, set up the others by saying, “I think it’s great that the team understands, the management understands and now the people of Phoenix are all rallying together at the same time.”
Barkley, a long time Arizona resident and a man who once said that he was a Republican until “the Republicans lost their damn minds” chimed in saying, “The only people screwing it up are the politicians. The Governor – the interim governor I might add – J.D. Hayworth and John McCain. They’re the ones screwing this thing up. I really take my hat off to Robert Sarver and the Suns for taking a stand. You know, living in Arizona for a long time, the Hispanic community, they’re like the fabric of the cloth. They’re part of our community and any time you try to do any type of racial profiling or racial discrimination……. President Obama you’ve got to do something because these lightweight politicians in Arizona have no idea what they are doing.” Read more »
