The Summit of the Americas is typically a window-dressing exercise where political leaders from the continent meet on a regular basis to issue a joint statement of good intentions. Not this time. The one Biden convened in Los Angeles on 6-10 June was an unmitigated disaster, which showed the decreasing ability of the US to dominate its own backyard. 

With 50.48 percent of the vote, Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez have won the electoral contest in the Colombian presidential election against right-wing demagogue Rodolfo Hernandez. The historic significance of the victory of Petro, Marquez and the Pacto Histórico cannot be underestimated. Gustavo Petro has become the first leftist president in the history of Colombia. His presidency represents a turning point in the class struggle of a country in which the capitalist oligarchy has typically played the role of executioner with impunity.

On June 13, a new national strike began in Ecuador, announced by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE), demanding better economic conditions. Demands include the freezing of the price of gasoline, price controls on basic foodstuffs, and opposition to the privatisation plan. These demands challenge the impositions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) head on.

On April 16, a flash flood in Burkina Faso trapped eight miners underground. Six of them were killed, with two of the bodies only being found over a month later, on May 27. Six of the eight miners were from Burkina Faso, one from Zambia, and another from Tanzania. The company responsible is Canadian-based Trevali Mining Corp., which has mines in Burkina Faso, Namibia, as well as New Brunswick. The company is currently valued at 369 million dollars, making it the largest mining company in Burkina Faso.

Gas prices have shot up to around $2 a litre in most of Canada. This marks an increase of 50 per cent since the beginning of the year, and is a huge burden on working class families. Some academics believe that these costs are discretionary, but the reality is that most workers have no choice but to pay these high prices. Canadians are shelling out more and more to simply get to and from work. Workers need a socialist solution to the high cost of gas.

On 21 and 22 May, 2022, the congress of the Socialist Left (the Mexican section of the IMT) was held in Mexico City, with about 85 attending both in person and online. The event saw lively and enthusiastic discussions about the national and world political situation, and the tasks ahead for building the forces of Marxism in Mexico and across Latin America!

Just as all of the polls predicted over the last three months, Gustavo Petro led the first round of voting for the Colombian presidential election with an astonishing 8.5 million votes (40 percent). Sadly, despite Petro’s own prediction, he did not manage to win the election outright in the first round by gaining a majority of 50 percent or more. And despite the predictions of many, Rodolfo Hernández, the right-wing demagogue who has used social networks as his main means of campaigning, managed to surpass

On the weekend of May 21, 2022, the Canadian Marxists who are organized in Fightback/La Riposte socialiste held their largest congress ever. Over 280 people came to Toronto from dozens of cities showing the impressive expansion of the organization over the past couple of years. While the Canadian left is despondent, the mood of this congress contrasted sharply, dominated by enthusiasm and optimism. The Marxists are advancing!

With the presidential elections in Colombia less than a week away, the ruling class has conducted an aggressive campaign of slander and threats with one objective: to prevent the election of Gustavo Petro, the centre-left candidate who leads the polls with a 38.8% voting intention. His nearest rival, the right-wing candidate Federico “Fico” Gutierrez has 24.6%. It is encouraging to note that the INVAMER poll in particular, found that Petro

The Supreme Court’s position on Roe v. Wade would ban abortion access for millions of people in the US. In this podcast episode, Laura Brown (editor of Socialist Revolution) and Joel Bergman (editor of Fightback) discuss the reasons and impact of a repeal of Roe v. Wade, and provide a Marxist perspective to fight back against this egregious attack on abortion rights.

The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) has fired labor’s opening shots against the retail giant. Their organizing campaign at Staten Island warehouse JFK8 led to an electrifying victory in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) vote. Workers at the smaller LDJ5 warehouse held a similar vote shortly after that, but the ALU lost with 380 votes in favor and 618 votes against, with over a third of the workers not voting. One obstacle the union faced was the higher percentage of part-time employees at the smaller facility. Nonetheless, the ALU has a .500 batting average so far, which is impressive since it is trying to unionize through the NLRB, whose rules overwhelmingly favor management.

Sunday morning in Buffalo, NY saw scenes of horror as a white supremacist terrorist opened fire at a supermarket, murdering ten people and injuring three more. Almost all of those killed were Black, as the shooter had intentionally targeted a grocery store with a majority-Black clientele. This is an utter tragedy and an attack on the entire working class.

Over the past few weeks, a shortage of baby formula has grown into a nationwide crisis, leaving millions of families scrambling for safe food for their infants. With an out-of-stock rate of over40%, many parents are driving for miles and waiting weeks for backlogged deliveries—if they can find the right formula for their babies in the first place. A function of the irrational nature of the capitalist market, formula first started disappearing from store

During the first months of Pedro Castillo's government, his constant concessions to the oligarchic right have become ever clearer. The more Castillo yields, the more the attacks against him intensify.

On 12 May, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) reported that inflation in April was 6%, pushing annualised inflation up to 58%, its highest level in thirty years. On the same day, hundreds of thousands of protesters arrived in Buenos Aires from all over the country, filling the Plaza de Mayo to participate in the Federal March organised by the unemployed workers’ organisation, Unidad Piquetera. The protest denounced hunger and poverty, and demanded work and wages.