‘Big capital rules through its two parties. It supports both.’

Vol. 83/No. 43 - November 25, 2019

Letters from Prison by James P. Cannon, the founding leader of the Socialist Workers Party, is one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for November. In 1944, Cannon and 17 other leaders of the SWP and the Minneapolis Teamsters union…


Nigeria conference: ‘Cuba has always stood by Africa’

Vol. 83/No. 43 - November 25, 2019
Delegates, at African Continental Conference of Solidarity with Cuba, Sept. 23. Inset, Fernando González, president of Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, speaks at the gathering.

ABUJA, Nigeria — Some 300 participants attended the 6th African Continental Conference of Solidarity with Cuba Sept. 23-25 at the International Conference Center here in the capital. Twenty-six African nations were represented, along with delegations from Venezuela, Cuba and the…


As competition heats up, retail bosses tell workers, ‘Speed up’

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
Worker at Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island, New York, hits button to indicate order robotically transported to her workstation is done. Bosses’ speedup has led to increase in on-the-job injuries. Inset, company tests drone making deliveries.

Amazon, like its giant retail competitor Walmart, seeks to maximize its profits off workers’ backs. Both companies are stepping up use of robots to press their relentless speedup and intensify the exploitation of workers.  A study by the New York…


Iraqi protests grow, demand halt to Tehran’s interference

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
Demonstrators in Iraq block Joumhouriya bridge in Baghdad Nov. 3. Protesters demand end to government’s refusal to provide jobs, electricity, and an end to Tehran’s ongoing intervention.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in Baghdad Nov. 1 in the largest anti-government demonstrations since the U.S. invasion in 2003. The actions — fueled by deteriorating living conditions, demands for political rights and widespread anger about the Iranian government’s…


DC meeting: ‘US hands off Cuba and Venezuela’

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
“We fought revolutionary struggles to overthrow slavery in Cuba and here in the U.S.,” José Ramón Cabañas, inset, Cuba’s ambassador to the U.S., told event in soldiarity with Cuba and Venezuela in Washington, D.C., Oct. 19. “Our solidarity has strong historic roots.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 100 participants gathered at the African American Civil War Museum for a “U.S. Imperialist Hands Off Cuba and Venezuela” forum here Oct. 19. The museum is an important institution in D.C. Its mission “is to…



UK election: ‘Workers need our own political party’

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019

MANCHESTER, England — “I can’t decide how to vote. I don’t understand why they don’t do Brexit,” rail worker Danny Boyle told this reporter as we talked during a break at Manchester Piccadilly station, where we both work. Similar conversations…



Fight continues to keep last abortion clinic in Missouri

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
Fight continues to keep last abortion clinic in Missouri

Planned Parenthood is continuing to fight against a concerted political campaign by Missouri’s governor, the state’s director of health services and anti-abortion forces to close the only clinic in the state that provides abortion services. Protesters carrying a large banner…


Israel protest: ‘Don’t deport Filipino classmates’

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
United Children of Israel

About 1,000 students, parents and teachers protested outside Givon Prison near Tel Aviv Oct. 31, demanding the release of two Israeli-born Filipino students and their mothers who were slated for deportation. The students, some wearing scout uniforms, chanted “Don’t expel…