President-elect Donald Trump speaks at meeting of the House GOP conference, November 13, 2024, in Washington
DONALD TRUMP is forcing the labour movement around the world to take an attitude towards trade.
The bland assumptions of free trade which have been accepted as the norm for decades are going to be challenged by the new US administration.
This week Trump has announced that he will impose punitive tariffs “on day one” on China and on immediate neighbours Canada and Mexico.
These are in response to alleged failures in the three countries in controlling migration towards the United States and/or the illicit export of constitutive elements of fentanyl, part of the vast drug addiction problem that has developed in the US.
As such, these tariffs can be seen for what they are — attempts to bully countries into line with US policy, including into dealing with internal problems which Washington seems unable to fix on its own.
They are of a piece with the promiscuous use of sanctions by both Republican and Democratic administrations to coerce foreign states into supporting aggressive US policies around the world. Those should be opposed by anyone who values national independence and international law.
European movements call for an end to the US-imposed blockade on Cuba, condemning disinformation campaigns that hinder the progress of the socialist project on the Caribbean island
As Cuba continues to face the challenges of a US-imposed blockade and widespread disinformation campaigns, over 300 representatives of social movements, trade unions, and political organizations gathered in Paris during the weekend of November 22-24 for the 19th European Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba. The delegates focused on strengthening ties between the Caribbean island and European countries, addressing the economic consequences of the blockade and everyday realities of life under these pressures.
The meeting produced a declaration outlining guidelines for European networks to counter mainstream defamation of Cuba, such as a campaign to end the country’s classification as a state sponsor of terrorism. In direct contrast to the stance of European leaders who align with the US-imposed blockade, participants expressed “unconditional support for the Cuban Revolution and its right to build the socialist project chosen by the majority of the people,” the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples (Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos, ICAP) reported in a statement.
According to Rodrigo Suñe from the International Peoples’ Assembly, the declaration “reaffirms unconditional support for Cuba’s right to continue building its path to socialism in a sovereign manner.” This, Suñe explains, will be achieved by “gradually and collectively” strengthening political solidarity with Cuba’s struggle against attacks led by successive US administrations.
Among these attacks, Suñe highlights the US-imposed blockade, designed to strangle the Cuban economy, and a “permanent media war” aimed at spreading manipulation and misinformation. He emphasizes that those in solidarity with Cuba must actively denounce and counter these campaigns. To achieve this it is essential to raise awareness and exchange information about the everyday realities of life in Cuba under the blockade. Reflecting this priority, part of the meeting focused on analyzing the blockade’s impact on Cuba’s economy, trade, and financial systems.
“We left the meeting with a mission to strengthen material solidarity by financing and implementing new cooperation projects, as well as promoting and organizing campaigns to send priority donations,” says Suñe. “To achieve this, it will be crucial to involve young people and expand their participation in building solidarity.”
On the final day of the conference, participants staged a protest in central Paris, reaffirming their call for solidarity with Cuba and urging European countries to radically change their approach. Currently, European Union member states continue to follow US policy on Cuba, a stance that, according to ICAP, does not reflect the interest – or the will – of the peoples of Europe. As part of the meeting’s conclusions, an appeal was launched for the EU to break away from US interference and remove the obstacles hampering its relations with Cuba, Rodrigo Suñe told Peoples Dispatch.
This work is particularly important given the escalating crises at a global level. “We are facing a very complex situation, with the deepening of the capitalist crisis, wars, and the rise of the far-right and its neofascist ideals. This is why we need to improve the quality of our articulation of internationalist solidarity,” explains Suñe.
The commitment to strengthening solidarity between Europe and Cuba will remain a key focus for ICAP and other organizations as they prepare for the next meeting, scheduled to take place in Turkey in 2026. Leading up to that event, Suñe says, the movements involved will focus on building a unified strategy to strengthen both political and material solidarity with Cuba, addressing the challenges discussed during their meeting in Paris.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks during a rally on September 7, 2024 in São Paulo, Brazil. (Photo: Allison Sales/picture alliance via Getty Images)
“Well, look at this thing called ‘accountability,'” said one MSNBC host.
The Brazilian Federal Police on Thursday indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others for allegedly plotting the “violent overthrow of the democratic state” after the country’s current leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, defeated the right-wing leader in 2022.
“The final report has been sent to the Supreme Court with the request that 37 individuals be indicted for the crimes of the violent overthrow of the democratic state, coup d’ etat, and criminal organization,” police said in a statement about the conclusion of the two-year investigation.
As The New York Times explained: “Although the police in Brazil can make recommendations about criminal prosecutions, they do not have the power to formally charge Mr. Bolsonaro. The country’s top federal prosecutor, Paulo Gonet, must now… decide whether to pursue charges against Mr. Bolsonaro and compel him to stand trial before the nation’s Supreme Court.”
The recommendations for charges came after the arrest of four members of the military and a federal police officer earlier this week over an alleged plot to kill Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin before they were sworn in, as well as Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Police said that “a detailed operational plan called ‘Green and Yellow Dagger’ was identified, which would be executed on December 15, 2022, aimed at the murder of the elected candidates for president and vice president.”
According to CNN, “Police reportedly allege that Bolsonaro had ‘full knowledge’ of a plan to prevent Lula and his government from taking office after his election victory.”
Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, including with two other pending cases: In March he was indicted for allegedly falsifying his Covid-19 vaccination data and in July he was indicted for crimes including embezzlement related to alleged misappropriation of diamond jewelry and other state property. Those indictments came after Brazil’s highest election authority last year barred him from running for any public office for eight years over his lies about the 2022 contest.
In addition to Bolsonaro, the other three dozen people indicted on Thursday include “some of the most important members of his far-right administration,” The Guardian reported. As the newspaper detailed:
They included Bolsonaro’s former spy chief, the far-right Congressman Alexandre Ramagem; the former defense ministers, Gen. Walter Braga Netto and Gen. Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira; the former minister of justice and public security, Anderson Torres; the former minister of institutional security, Gen. Augusto Heleno; the former navy commander Adm. Almir Garnier Santos; the president of Bolsonaro’s political party, Valdemar Costa Neto; and Filipe Martins, one of Bolsonaro’s top foreign policy advisers.
Also named is the right-wing blogger grandson of Gen. João Baptista Figueiredo, one of the military rulers who governed Brazil during its 1964-85 dictatorship.
The list contains one non-Brazilian name: that of Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentinian digital marketing guru who was in charge of communications for Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, during that country’s 2023 presidential campaign. Buenos Aires-based Cerimedo is close to Bolsonaro and his politician sons.
Given that Bolsonaro previously traveled to the United States when faced with legal trouble shortly after his loss two years ago, in this case, “precautionary measures have been issued, including a ban on international travel, which led to the confiscation of Bolsonaro’s passport months ago,” EL País noted Thursday.
vBolsonaro was among the right-wing leaders around the world who celebrated U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory earlier this month. The Brazilian—who is sometimes called the “Trump of the Tropics” and like the American incited an insurrection after his last electoral loss—said that the impact of Trump’s win “will resonate across the globe… empowering the rise of the right and conservative movements in countless other nations.”
Trump’s return to office is expected to at least stall if not end his various legal issues, including for trying to overturn his 2020 loss.
People drive along a road littered with fallen power lines after the passing of Hurricane Rafael in San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba, November 7, 2024
AMAGNITUDE-6.8 earthquake shook eastern Cuba on Sunday, after the socialist island had already suffered weeks of hurricanes and power cuts.
The epicentre of the quake was about 25 miles south of Bartolome Maso, according to a report by the US Geological Survey.
The impact was felt across the east of the island, including in bigger cities such as Santiago de Cuba, as well as Holguin and Guantanamo.
…
On Wednesday, Hurricane Rafael, a Category 3 storm, ripped through western Cuba, with strong winds knocking out power across the island and destroying hundreds of homes.
In October, the island was hit by blackouts lasting for days, a product of Cuba’s energy crisis largely caused by the six-decade-old illegal US blockade, which prevents the import of vital parts for even minor repairs.
Shortly afterwards, a powerful hurricane struck the eastern part of the island, killing at least six people.
‘It is time our energy infrastructure was brought back into public ownership,’ Unite general secretary says
CAMPAIGNERS intensified their demands for energy infrastructure to be brought back into full public ownership today after the National Grid posted a 14 per cent increase in underlying profits.
The firm, which builds and runs power grids and cables across Britain, reported an underlying operating profit of £2.05 billion for the six months until September 30, surpassing £1.8bn in the same period last year.
The grid charges energy suppliers for network use. Costs are then passed on to consumers through their bills, which rose by another 10 per cent last month.
In 2023, National Grid shareholders received £1.6bn in dividends, while six million households remained trapped in fuel poverty amid skyrocketing costs.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said National Grid’s profits “lay bare” Britain’s broken energy system.
She said: “Energy profiteers like National Grid are extracting cash for overseas shareholders through ever more expensive bills.
“It is time our energy infrastructure was brought back into public ownership so that the British people and economy benefit rather than foreign wealth funds.”
