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Since the emergence of the Gazte Koordinadora Sozialista (GKS), [click here to read more about the emergence of the communist youth movement, GKS] the official leadership of the Nationalist left (EH Bildu) in the Basque Country has treated them as a nuisance; maintaining an official appearance of ignoring them. Last year, Arkaitz Rodrguez, the general secretary of Sortu (the largest party in the EH Bildu coalition) described the group as reactionary. But in the next breath, he claimed that GKS is a mere fly in the ointment, and that the leadership had not dedicated even half a minute to their developments.

While this boastful claim seems rather unlikely, it is now clear that the Nationalist left are paying full attention. In February, Sortu sent a circular to their members in which they aimed to politically clarify their position regarding GKS. This amounted to peddling the lies that the Basque media have propagated (depicting GKS militants as thuggish and violent); and most strikingly, using identity politics to tar the communist youth.

Sortus clarification was a thinly veiled attack; a conscious acknowledgement that their approach so far has failed. Though claiming that GKS weaken transformative projects, the timing of Sortu publicly breaking its silence is rather telling.

Indeed, the circular followed another magnificent mobilisation of 7,000 people organised by GKS in Bilbao and Irua on 28 January. The demonstration rang with militancy with slogans including lets face the bourgeois offensive and the workers revenge: socialist revolution. Though the size was the same as last year, it was clear that the bold, communist messaging is garnering support from swathes of the Basque youth.

The circular states that behind GKSs revolutionary and radical rhetoric we find an inability to influence society and change things. But far from a flash in the pan, GKS and the wider Socialist Movement is a force the Nationalist left must reckon with.

They counterpose the reformism and paltry offerings of the Nationalist left with revolutionary agitation and propaganda. It is no surprise that they have become a reference point in the Basque country and beyond.

As we have explained before, GKS emerged from a debate within the Nationalist left, with the explicit aim of exposing the historic failure of the strategy used to bring about Basque independence, as well as criticising their subordinate role to the government in Madrid. This is something Sortu cannot tolerate, especially with their pitiful record in parliament.

Far from a flash in the pan, GKS and the wider Socialist Movement is a force the Nationalist left must reckon with / Image: Gazte Koordinadora Sozialista, Twitter

EH Bildu is part of the government majority whose vote is necessary for the PSOE-UP coalition to stay in power in Madrid. There have been many written agreements between Bildu and PSOE. And so the track record of this government one which has defended the interests of the ruling class on all decisive questions reflects back onto themselves.

For example, there have been a handful of instances of backtracking on election promises since the shaky coalition came to power. There was a written agreement between PSOE and Bildu about the repeal of the right-wing Popular Partys labour counter-reform. When it came to putting this agreement in practice, the PSOE refused to implement it, passing only a partial reform of the PP legislation, whilst leaving intact the most reactionary elements. Bildu protested, presenting its own alternative proposal but in the end, stayed as a loyal partner to the PSOE-UP government.

The same was the case with the reactionary Ley Mordaza (Gag Law), also introduced by the PP government in order to limit democratic rights. The PSOE-UP government had promised to repeal it. Then they settled for amending it slightly. Bildu protested, refused to vote for it but continued its support for the government.

Moreover, it would be wrong to think that EH Bildu simply protests against the government, and then falls silent. They have voted in favour of the reform of the penal code (Codigo Penal), which increases the repression on those who struggle against injustice.

Just to give another example of the kind of government the Nationalist left is supporting in Madrid: recently, an officer involved in the torture and extra-judicial killing of Mikel Zabalza in 1985, a Basque bus driver, has been promoted in the Spanish state to the leadership of the Civil Guard. This is the reality of playing second fiddle to the regime in Madrid.

With elections approaching, they are falling over themselves to promise the world in order to secure their seats. But just like the rest of their resistance, this amounts to nothing more than words, words, words.

Though EH Bildu feigns a mixture of shock and disappointment at the government, it continues to give crucial support to that very same government. Moreover, their constitutional path to independence is a mirage. National liberation in the Basque country is not one centimetre closer since EH Bildu ingratiated themselves with PSOE in Madrid and in the Navarre parliament.

The facts speak clearly, the PSOE-UP government in Madrid, despite its pretence of being the most progressive government in history, is firmly committed to managing the crisis of capitalism in the interest of the bosses. They are loyally servile to US imperialism when it comes to foreign policy, including support for NATO in its war with Russia in Ukraine.

EH Bildus support shows the Basque youth where their allegiances lie. They are a completely pacified and politically bankrupt force. In truth, these petty-bourgeois nationalists were only ever concerned with having a seat at the table.

Socialist Movement stands against capitalism and for socialism, while the leaders of Sortu stand firmly for a reformist strategy / Image: Gazte Koordinadora Sozialista, Twitter

Their record at home is no better. In the Basque country, they engage in the Stalinist tactics of smear campaigns, chiming in with the attacks mounting daily in the bourgeois press against the Socialist Movement. They have attempted financial strangulation of GKS; expelling the communists from the txosnas, which is an instrumental way of raising money for their projects. We might ask: with comrades like these, who needs enemies?

In their circular, Sortu lambasts the reactionary GKS for the most harmful practices that have been seen on the left. Irony is perhaps lost on them. The leadership of the Nationalist left should hold up a mirror to themselves.

With nothing to offer the workers and youth but more of the status quo, Sortu has dressed itself up in the language of identity politics. As they write:

On the road to a unified, independent, socialist, feminist and Basque-speaking Basque Country, GKS does not contribute anything. On the contrary. In addition, there is no possibility of collaboration, because we have different projects and strategies, because they reject that possibility and, above all, because they act in an exclusive and aggressive way.

One part of that paragraph is actually true: there can be no collaboration between the opposing projects and strategies, but that is precisely because the Socialist Movement stands against capitalism and for socialism, while the leaders of Sortu stand firmly for a reformist strategy of managing the crisis of the system within the narrow limits of capitalism.

The circular continues by arguing that GKS feels uncomfortable with struggles of the LGBT community, feminism, etc. For example, they slander Itaia, the womens coordinating group of GKS. In a customarily patronising manner, they claim this group corrupts the minds of young women militants. With these broad strokes, Sortu aims to paint GKS as a single-minded group that is against social justice; completely aloof from anything other than communism.

The leaders of Sortu claim that the GKS women's coordinating group corrupts the minds of young women militants / Image Itaia, Twitter

This is a red herring. The struggle of genuine communists aims to connect all the various struggles. Revolutionaries must seek to unite the oppressed and exploited strata in society and channel the collective energies into building a revolutionary party capable of overthrowing capitalism. Paying close attention to all the injustices of capitalism and agitating against them is a prerequisite to building. And only on this basis, can we uproot all discrimination and prejudice that plagues society.

After all, it is the system that Sortu defends through their reformism that relies on these divisions to rule. And so it is little surprise that they fall back on the arguments of identity politics.

Identity politics claims that the main division in society is one of subjective identity. It separates the struggle for womens liberation from the struggle against the capitalist system, pandering to trendy ideas that serve to confuse and disorientate the youth. It is no surprise that this emaciated reformist party speaks in such language; being the torchbearer of social justice in mere words is the cheapest of all reforms!

These attacks are cynical and self-serving. Once again, we see the genuine oppression faced by women weaponised by a party that has no serious interest in fighting against it in the first place. GKS have rebuffed this nonsense.

Sortu stands in a long line of reformist parties that fall back on radical-sounding language to keep up appearances. We see this in Scotland also, where the SNP has profited from being more progressive than the rabid Tory party in Britain, while still standing firmly within the limits of the capitalist system.

In all cases, if you scratch the surface, you will find reformist politics that offer no route forward for the masses.

In truth, the focus on identity, nationality, etc. and the relegation of the importance of class independence and methods has spelled disastrous consequences. Lenin once commented that the national question is at root a question of bread. That is absolutely correct. In a period characterised by cuts and counter-reforms, the problems of housing, security, jobs will continue to fester. There is no way of solving the national question on the basis of capitalism.

We note that it is from a position of weakness, not strength, that Sortu has attacked GKS militants. This will serve a dual purpose. With elections later this year, Sortu is aiming to deflect attention away from its failures. They will also be aiming to firm up their youth group, Ernai, who have been left behind in the wake of this explosion of militancy.

For all of the bombast of GKS being against Basque national liberation in their circular, it has not dawned on the leadership that the youth are pushing beyond the limits of nationalism with resounding success. This is occurring not just in the Basque country. There are other such promising developments in Catalonia with the formation of Socialist Horizon (Horitz Socialista).

The youth are pushing beyond the limits of nationalism. This is occurring not just in the Basque country. There are other such promising developments in Catalonia with the formation of Socialist Horizon / Image Horitz Socialista, Twitter

Across the world we see a layer of working-class youth, radicalised by the experience of capitalist crisis, the threat to the climate, war and destruction, turning towards the ideas of radical change, rejecting this rotten system and turning towards the ideas of communism. GKS is undoubtedly the most advanced example of this to date. But the potential for developments like this exist all across the globe. Internationalism must be the lifeblood of the communist movement in order for us to succeed in the tasks we set ourselves.

GKS have shown the way forward for the youth disillusioned with reformism and nationalism. The path forward is class struggle and communism. We commend the efforts of GKS in the example they have set. And we stand in full solidarity with them against the attacks and slanders which they continue to face.

The sterile politics and strategies of the reformist parties have been put to the test. They have been found wanting. The role of communists is to expose the weaknesses of these woolly, institutional politics, and to educate ourselves in the ideas of scientific socialism. Marxism is our sharpest weapon in understanding the world in order to transform it. With further crises impending, we havent a minute to waste.

Excerpt from:
Basque country: nationalist left bare their teeth as communist youth ... - In Defence of Marxism

The relationship between the U.S. and Cuba since the victory of the revolution in 1959 has been like that of a bully who breaks his victims legs and then mocks them for being unable to sprint.

America has tried and failed to destroy Cuba in countless ways, from the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961 to the over-600 unsuccessful assassination attempts against former Cuban leader Fidel Castro (one of these included the C.I.A. hiring Castros former mistress to poison him his charms got the better of her though, and the two ended up sleeping together instead).

The most enduring of these destructive policies against Cuba, however, is the trade embargo against the island nation which has endured since 1962. It is the longest sanctions regime in modern history.

According to declassified documents, U.S. policy toward Cuba has been crafted with the specific intention of producing hunger, desperation and the overthrow of government.

The trade embargo is supposed to be the means for bringing about such an upheaval, and though the overthrow of the Cuban government has not happened, its not for a lack of trying. The embargo has certainly made life more of a burden for ordinary Cubans.

[Related: OPINION: The United States of hypocrisy]

Because of the embargo, it is difficult for Cuba to obtain essential medical technologies and equipment; third countries can be punished by the U.S. for doing business with Cuba. It has blocked the country from communication services like Zoom and Microsoft Teams and it has cost Cuba more than $130 billion over six decades, according to the United Nations.

The U.N. General Assembly has condemned the American embargo of Cuba 30 years in a row the most recent condemnation passed with 185 votes to two, with the U.S. and Israel voting against the resolution. The entire world continues to look with disgust at our treatment of the Cuban people.

Under the Obama administration, relations between the U.S. and Cuba improved and the sanctions were somewhat softened.

But the Trump administration reversed this progress and then some, issuing over 240 new sanctions against Cuba which included travel and financial restrictions. The Biden administration, though it has reversed some Trump-era sanctions, is still deeply reactionary toward Cuba. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that there were no plans to remove Cuba from the U.S.s ridiculous list of state sponsors of terrorism, for example.

The bourgeois theoreticians have always said that socialism could not and does not work socialism is an impossibility.

But these theoreticians have never been trusted by governments. The truth of this claim is evident by the policies of the liberal democracies of the world toward socialist countries. If the bourgeois theories about socialism are correct, then socialism should fail all on its own what need is there for intervention?

The U.S. government wants the Cuban government to fail, so why not allow it to fail on its own? There has not been a single socialist country that has been allowed to succeed or fail free of outside meddling from capitalist countries. One can only conclude that the capitalists fear a socialist success story.

And these fears are not unfounded. Though Cuba lies beneath the belly of a hostile beast, they have made incredible strides in several areas. For example, Cubans have a higher life expectancy than Americans, largely due to Cubas impressive healthcare system. Isolated from global trade, Cuba developed its own highly effective coronavirus vaccines.

Socially, Cuba has made inspiring progress as well, passing one of the most progressive family codes in the world in 2022, massively expanding the rights of the LGBTQ community. America, on this front, is clearly regressing.

[Related: OPINION: The western press should stop lying about North Korea]

The resilience of the Cuban people is inspiring, but such resilience should not be required of them, or any other people. The American government, if it was worth anything, would do the right thing and lift the embargo which has brought so much misery to Cuba.

And why not, one might wonder. After all, the world has called on us to do so, and the purpose of the embargo regime change has clearly failed. But the Democrats probably wont lift the embargo, and that has a lot to do with Americas worst state: Florida.

Florida has a high population of Cuban Americans, and polling indicates that the majority hate the Cuban government and overwhelmingly support Republicans. Democrats are still living under the delusion that Florida is a swing state,and Biden will likely do nothing about Cubas current predicament until at least his second term.

The Democrats need to give up on Florida. Its an electoral lost cause. If Florida sank into the sea tomorrow, Democrats would probably rejoice.

Democrats should stop trying to cater to the reactionary members of the Cuban diaspora and do the right thing instead. If Cuban socialism will fail, let it fail but at least remove the knife from Cubas back.

Jared Quigg (he/him) is a junior studying journalism and political science.

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OPINION: The Cuban embargo must be lifted - Indiana Daily Student

By WILLIAM ENYART

Returning veterans were easy to spot on college campuses in the early 70s. Shoulder-length hair, beards, OD green field jackets with no rank insignia, no service label, but sometimes a name tag still sewn over the right breast pocket. We left the name tags on to prove we werent posers. (OD green for you civilians means olive drab green in color.)

Military-issue field jackets and blue jeans were the de rigueur uniform and why not. They were comfortable. They had lots of pockets. They were durable and could take a beating, whether you were in class or under your old beater car changing the oil. Because the military had issued it to you they were cheapunless you count the value of the time youd spent on active duty.

Long hair showed the world you didnt have to cut your hair anymore. Long hair had started becoming popular in the mid 1960s with the Beatles and other rock and roll bands furnishing the fashion. As teenage enlistees or draftees we all hated the short-cropped hair requirements enforced by lifer NCOs. Lifer was the ubiquitous term all junior enlisted used for anyone who had re-enlisted.

THEN THE BEARDSFor most guys leaving active duty during the Viet Nam years, the beard began sprouting the minute we walked out the main gate with discharge papers in hand. Like the long hair, it symbolized that we werent in the military anymore and didnt have to obey the stupid regulations. It only took me about four years to get over that little phase of my life.

The beard came off the summer after my first year of law school when I realized the 60-something-year-old judge in the country courthouse where I interned probably wouldnt appreciate my buffalo hunter look. Not to mention Id gotten tired of grooming bits of lunch out of it. Oh yeah, and the John Lennon, rose-tinted wire-rim glasses got swapped out for dark horn-rimmed studious looking nerd glasses.

Although the beard came off and the hair got cut, I kept on wearing that basic training issue field jacket with its liner. It was the only thing that kept me warm during the winter, driving the 10-year-old Volkswagen with its plastic bag and duct tape for a rear window to law school classes. Even with the two part-time jobs, it was the coat I could afford.

Much like the vets in law school, the vets in undergraduate school didnt join fraternities. Nor did they bother to paint the rock in front of the student center. And we sure as hell didnt join ROTC. We did drink beer. Lots of beer. We hung out in a corner of the student union. Some of us were just there to use up our GI bill educational benefits to avoid going to work.

Others of us were there to get that union card, a college degree, as soon as possible, so we could escape the working-class existence most of us grew up in and continued in through that first military hitch.

GONE NOWThe ones using the GI education benefits to avoid working were in that special corner of the student union my first day in school and were still there a year and a half later when I graduated. Theyre gone now.

Gone back to the steel mills, gone back to the chemical plants along the Mississippi River and gone back to the coal mines of Southern Illinois. Gone back to the places their dads worked. Theyre gone from there now too. Gone from the shuttered steel mills. Gone from the coal mines now worked by machines that have replaced thousands of laid off union miners. Gone from the chemical plants bankrupted by executives who got their bonuses before heading to bankruptcy court.

WHATS OK?Some things dont change much.

The headlines for the last few weeks are all about failing banks getting rescued and executives selling their company stock and taking payout bonuses on their way to failure while the workers get laid off. How many times have we heard that story?

Let me get this straight. Its ok to bailout banks. Its ok for executives to take bonuses knowing their company is headed to a bankruptcy filing, but canceling student loans is socialism and God forbid we provide medical care for poor people. Federal and state governments closed mental institutions and fail to provide services for mentally ill people or drug addicts or alcoholics while our parks and downtowns fill up with them. Yet this countrys largest corporations and wealthiest billionaires pay no taxes.

God forbid we have socialism here, but its perfectly ok to have corporate socialism and coddle the wealthy while criminalizing the poor.

Where is Woody Guthrie when we need him?

(William Enyart is a former U.S. congressman for Illinois 12th District and after 35 years in the military, retired as two-star general in the U.S. Army. His final tour was serving as Adjutant General of Illinois commanding both the Illinois Army and Air National Guard. He started his working life as a member of UAW Local 145, Montgomery, Ill, where he and his father both worked for Caterpillar Tractor Co. The Enyarts live in Belleville, Ill. You can listen to his blog posts at billenyart.com; Email him at bill@billenyart.com )

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OPINION: Where is Woody Guthrie when you need him? - The Labor Tribune

Retired Navy SEAL Thomas "Drago" Dzieran escaped socialism after fleeing Soviet-occupied Poland and coming to America, but he hasn't forgotten the struggles and political persecution that brought him here.

Now he's sounding the alarm for others who are becoming complacent with what he views is the wrong trajectory for the nation, warning that socialism has already begun to infiltrate the U.S. by citing attacks on traditional values and a consequential moral decay wreaking havoc on culture.

"People need to ask themselves, How can somebody bring the United States down? Definitely not by force," he told Fox News' Dan Bongino on Saturday. "There won't be Chinese soldiers landing on our beaches. It can only be done from within."

CHINESE PASTOR WHO FLED COMMUNNISM WARNS AMERICA IS DESCENDING INTO DARK REALITY WITH LEFTIST CENSORSHIP

A socialist stands beside a group of pamphlets. (Photo by: Joan Slatkin/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Dzieran said people should be "vigilant" regarding the effort to stifle faith and patriotism in America, noting that these transitions, along with denigration of the family, are warning signs of disastrous changes to come.

Another warning sign? A tactic known as "desensitization," a form of gaslighting that involves normalizing a failed economy to convince citizens that the country is still afloat.

"[It] is fairly new in America and poorly understood by our citizens who did not experience socialism. Let's hope they never will," he added.

VOTE TO CONDEMN THE HORRORS OF SOCIALISM SPLITS DEMS: 109 VOTE FOR IT, 86 VOTE AGAINST

London Communists hold a banner during the Enough Is Enough day of action to call for a real-terms pay increase, cuts to energy bills, an end to food poverty, decent homes for all and a wealth tax on the rich on 1 October 2022 in London, United Kingdom. ((Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images))

Venezuela's Maduro regime is, according to Dzieran, but one example of the desensitization at work.

"What is happening in Venezuela right now is it's a normal progression of socialism, a failed state. It happens that what Maduro is trying to do right now is normalize the failed economy. It is called desensitization, and it is a well-known term and technique to people who live in socialist state."

His comments follow Bonginio's report on the country's social and economic collapse, led by a string of promises to fix integral issues including inequality and hyperinflation.

Domestically, Dzieran highlighted empty shelves in grocery stores and some families' struggles to make ends meet, two emerging complaints from some American families in recent years.

NEVADA FAR-LEFT FUMES AFTER DEMOCRATIC REPS VOTE TO CONDEMN HORRORS OF SOCIALISM

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gives a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

"We are begging tyrants for oil. We have empty shelves in our grocery stores, and people are struggling to pay for food and gas at the same time," he said.

Dzieran's concerns that Marxist ideology has arrived in America echoes concerns from recent "Fox & Friends First" guest Bob Fu, a pastor who fled communist China and is now warning that inklings of the philosophy are working their way into the U.S., Canada and European nations particularly through COVID-19 lockdown policies.

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Polish immigrant who survived socialism warns ideology is infiltrating US: 'It can only be done from within' - Fox News

The news that Ford Motor will lose $3 billion on its electric vehicles (EVs) business underscores the astonishing foolishness of the Biden Administrations relentless push to undermine traditional free enterprise in America and replace it with a government-dominated economy.

This segment of Whats Ahead lays out how whats happening with autos is a prime example of modern socialism, whereby socialists obtain their goals not by nationalization of companies but through regulation. In this case, auto manufacturers must go all-out for EVs, even though theres no credible evidence that getting rid of fossil fuels will save the planet.

Moreover, most buyers dont want EVs. Modern socialists, nonetheless, are ready to force this unwanted, expensive transformation on them.

Automakers are not alone in this lethal coupling of commerce and big government, as chipmakers, banks and others are discovering.

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"Welcome To The Unsustainable Folly Of Modern Socialism": Steve Forbes Torches Biden's EV Push - Forbes