SWP: Back Puerto Ricans’ fight for self-determination

Vol. 82/No. 24 - June 18, 2018

Below is an excerpt from “Declaration of Principles,” printed in  The Founding of the Socialist Workers Party: Minutes and Resolutions, 1938-39. Copyright © 1982 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission. United States imperialism, exploiting the masses within its national boundaries, at…


Cuba mobilizes to care for all as tropical storm hits

Vol. 82/No. 24 - June 18, 2018

Just as they were ready when Hurricane Irma hit hard last fall, Cuba’s revolutionary government and people were ready when torrential rainfalls from subtropical storm Alberto hit the western and central regions of the island at the end of May.…


Workers in Puerto Rico respond to social disaster

Hurricane catastrophe is result of capitalist rule
Vol. 82/No. 24 - June 18, 2018
May 7 protest in Humacao, Puerto Rico, demanding government finally take action to restore electricity 8 months after Hurricane Maria. Protests have had an impact, “but most of Yabucoa is still without electrical service,” Lenis Rodríguez told the Militant there. “We’re still fighting.”

YABUCOA, Puerto Rico — “We were hit by two hurricanes. One was Maria. The other was the social hurricane. It’s much worse than the natural one, and it’s still with us.” This is what person after person told us during…


Truckers bring Brazil to a halt, force gov’t to cut tolls, prices

Vol. 82/No. 24 - June 18, 2018

After a 10-day strike brought much of Brazil to a standstill, independent truck drivers forced the government to cut fuel prices, lower freight tolls and promise more government contracts. The work stoppage started May 21 with more than 200,000 of…


2,000+ died from colonial disregard in Puerto Rico

Vol. 82/No. 24 - June 18, 2018

Harvard University researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine May 31 that the death toll in Puerto Rico in the first two months after Hurricane Maria was in the thousands, not the 64 government officials have insisted for…


New York protest demands truth about deaths, debt in Puerto Rico

Vol. 82/No. 24 - June 18, 2018
It was working people, not the government who cleared roads, fixed schools after hurricane, Rafael Feliciano, Federation of Puerto Rican Teachers, told June 2 protest in front of U.N.

NEW YORK — Nearly 200 people protested outside the United Nations here June 2 to demand a truthful accounting of the death toll in the wake of Hurricane Maria’s devastation in Puerto Rico, deaths caused by the indifference of the…


Workers confront consequences of rulers’ wars in the Middle East

Vol. 82/No. 24 - June 18, 2018
Airstrike of Mosul, Iraq, July 11, 2017, during U.S.-led coalition offensive. Pentagon admitted its forces caused at least 500 civilian deaths in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen that year.

Working people in the Middle East continue to suffer the deadly consequences of the combat and jockeying among Washington, Moscow, Tehran, Riyadh, Ankara and the other capitalist rulers in the region, all seeking to protect their economic and political interests.…


Ireland: Repeal of abortion ban shows shift on women’s rights

Vol. 82/No. 23 - June 11, 2018
Mass celebration in Dublin May 26, day after referendum victory ending ban on abortions.

Determined to end severe restrictions on abortion rights, a large majority in Ireland voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the country’s constitution May 25. The amendment “acknowledges the right to life of the unborn” and prevents women’s access to…


3,000 rail workers strike against Canadian Pacific

Bosses demand Ottawa force workers back
Vol. 82/No. 23 - June 11, 2018
During 2018 strike by 3,000 rail workers, unionists picketed Canadian Pacific in Montreal. Some 9,300 unionists at Canada’s two biggest rail companies are voting on strike action in May.

MONTREAL — Over 3,000 Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive engineers and conductors, members of the Teamsters union, set up picket lines at 10 p.m. on May 29, shutting down Canada’s second largest freight railway system. The strike halted much of the…


Puerto Rico: Workers confront capitalist disaster after storm

Vol. 82/No. 23 - June 11, 2018
Retired electrical worker Raúl Laboy, left, and Wilfredo Abreu, in Humacao, Puerto Rico, talk to Militant reporters. “Social hurricane” of capitalism is worse than natural one, Laboy said.

HUMACAO, Puerto Rico — “After Hurricane María hit the island, the government left us to fend for ourselves. But here we all joined together — to clear debris and reopen the roads and to help make sure people could survive,”…