Liberals’ harassment crusade is threat to rights workers need!

Vol. 82/No. 25 - July 9, 2018

One year ago the Militant  wrote, “The unrelenting, monthslong crusade by liberals in the Democratic Party, the middle-class left and the media to invalidate or reverse the outcome of the 2016 election had spawned an attempt to assassinate Republican members…


Rising interest rates tighten debt squeeze on US farmers

Vol. 82/No. 25 - July 9, 2018
Tractorcade by thousands of farmers from across country arrives in Washington, Feb. 5, 1979. Organized by American Agricultural Movement, farmers occupied National Mall for weeks demanding parity - guaranteed prices for their crops at least equal to costs of production.

Rising interest rates are piling further burdens on working farmers, whose debts are reaching record levels this year. At the same time, sharpening competition and increased production have forced net farm income down by half since 2013 — to an…


Auckland protest demands protection of Maori land

Vol. 82/No. 25 - July 9, 2018

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Over 300 people demonstrated here May 26 protesting moves by Fletcher Building, the country’s largest construction company, to begin building 480 houses for sale on historic Maori land at Ihumatao. “They are trying to steal our…


London march marks 1 year since Grenfell Tower fire

Vol. 82/No. 25 - July 9, 2018
London march marks 1 year since Grenfell Tower fire

LONDON — Thousands of working people joined a silent march through North Kensington June 14 marking one year since a massive fire destroyed the Grenfell Tower block, killing 72 people and leaving hundreds homeless. While the big-business media repeated police…


UK hospital workers wage second strike, call further action

Vol. 82/No. 25 - July 9, 2018
Hospital workers march in Wigan, England, June 9 during 48-hour strike over jobs transfer, new two-tier pay.

WIGAN, England — “New starters would be getting less money,” striking hospital worker Sharon Pemberton told a June 9 union rally here. Hospital bosses “want to divide us into two tiers, but we are on strike together, united and determined.”…


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…