Uruguay:  Left Broad Front adopts strategic plan

The Broad Front (Frente Amplio) of Uruguayan left wing and left-center political parties held its Sixth Congress on Saturday May 6.  The parties included in the Broad Front include the Asamblea Uruguay, the Communist Party of Uruguay, the Socialist Party of Uruguay and nine others.  It has electoral successes, including the election of the current president of the country, Tabaré Vazquez, and his predecessor José “Pepe” Mujica.

The Congress approved statements of principles and a strategic plan.  It also recognized that while under recent governments the living standards of ordinary Uruguayans have been improved, it is necessary to carry out an ideological fight against consumerism.  The Congress denounced plans of the United States to break the United Front of Latin American countries so as to isolate socialist-led Venezuela in Latin America, as well as U.S. interventions in other regions of the world.

Kazakhstan:  Socialists oppose repression of unionists

The Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan is denouncing repression of labor unions by the government of that country.  Repression has been directed against the members of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KNPRK) who work at an oil company in the Western part of the country.  The activities of the union have been banned by Kazakh authorities, and workers who have engaged in a hunger strike have been fired and prosecuted.

The Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan denounces the fact that the deputy chair of the union federation has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison and an $80,000 fine, while other prosecutions are continuing.

The Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan has asked for statements of solidarity from the workers’ movement worldwide.

Austria:  Communists hails climate march

The Austrian Communist Party (Kommunistische Partei Österreichs) hailed the People’s Climate March, which took place worldwide including in Vienna and other Austrian towns and cities on April 29.  In particular, the Austrian communists pointed to criticisms of the “footprint” of the worldwide meat industry, which, according to communist writer Alexandra Benedik, has expanded fourfold in the last fifty years.

Iran:  Tudeh denounces mining disaster

The Tudeh Party of Iran has laid the blame for the mining explosion which cost the lives of at least 35 people in Golestan Province on May 3, on the greed of the private mining industry and on the privatization policies of the current Iranian government.  The disaster occurred at the North Western Zemestan Yurt Coal Mine.

The Tudeh’s statement reads in part “the wholesale privatization of the majority of mines in [Iran] and lack of any proper monitoring and enforcement of basic health and safety standards and working conditions have [given] the greedy mine owners carte blanche to ride roughshod over the welfare and lives of their workers in pursuit of bigger and quicker profit[s].”  The statement appeals for workers and workers’ organizations to unite to oppose the clerical regime’s right wing economic and social policies.

Czech Republic: Communists call for early elections

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, which is the communist party in the Czech Republic, is calling for early elections in the wake of the sudden announcement by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Social Democratic Party) on May 2 that the whole government was resigning.  Sobotka had said tht he was resigning because he could not continue to work with his finance minister, Andrejs Babis of the ANO 2011 political party, who is under a cloud because of accusations of corruption and tax evasion.  However, Czech Republic President Milos Zeman, of the Party of Civil Rights, would accept only Sobotka’s resignation, which Sobotka then decided to take back.  The result has been a major crisis, with elections scheduled for October.  The Czech Republic is currently governed by a coalition of the Social Democrats, ANO 2011 and the Christian Democrats.

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia considers that, especially given the controversies and conflicts within the governing coalition is now not able to do anything that is beneficial for the people. The Communist Party expresses itself ready to negotiate with labor unions, people’s movements and civic initiatives to find a democratic solution, which would require that the lower house of the Czech Parliament to be dissolved so that new elections can be held.

Image: Creative Commons 3.0

Comments