“There are many Joses here, I’m not sure if its my turn or another Jose”, said Jose, a middle-aged man standing on the outer rim of a grupo de trabajo (work group) called at midnight on an adjacent street to Sol, the plaza known as point zero, in the heart of Madrid. The plaza has been occupied, as have dozens around Spain, since the huge protests on May 15 that brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets to demand “real democracy now!” and an end to austerity measures... That the protesters are mostly young is no surprise in a country where youth unemployment is about 40% and university graduates consider themselves lucky to secure a job at a fast food outlet. The overwhelming sentiment is that corrupt politicians must be banned from re-election and the electoral laws must be reformed so that they are more representative.
Spain
Basque trade unionists protest against the capitalist crisis.
By Jack Ferguson
September 8, 2010 -- Scottish Socialist Youth -- On September 5, 2010, the Basque armed group Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom, ETA), which has fought an armed struggle for Basque freedom for decades, released a video declaring that several months ago it had decided to stop armed actions, and announced a ceasefire.
In its statement, ETA said:
Claudio Katz.
Claudio Katz interviewed by Fernando Arellano Ortiz. Translated by John Mage for IIRE.
July 10, 2009 -- The exit from the systemic crisis of capitalism needs to be political and "a socialist project can mature in this turbulence". So says the Argentine economist, philosopher and sociologist Claudio Katz, who also warns that the "global economic situation is very serious and is going to have to hit bottom, and now we are but in the first moment of crisis".
Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Workers Party, Spanish state (POR)
February 19, 2008 -- The independence of Kosovo was necessary. This independence has come after 1989, when Milosevic suppressed the autonomy of the region, and after 1999, when Milosevic started a war of ethnic cleansing. When Serbia lost the last Balkans war, it was a fact that the people of Kosovo would fight to get ride of the Serbian boot.
Before all that, there was an idea of some sort of Democratic Republic of the Balkans, but this idea was wiped out by the reactionary, militarist pan-nationalism of Milosevic's Great Serbia, supported by Russia. Also, Germany and the NATO favoured the dismantling of the Yugoslavian Republic into Slovenia and Croatia. The European powers created this ``balkanisation'' to bring the Balkan peoples into conflict.
The legal and official side of this independence gets sealed now. But the POR welcomed that independence in 1999, and does it again. Long life to a free and independent Kosovo!