[Africa and neocolonialism, division in Die Linke, focus on
Myanmars fight for democracy, and more]
[[link removed]]

GLOBAL LEFT MIDWEEK – SEPTEMBER 21, 2022  
[[link removed]]


 

September 21, 2022
xxxxxx
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Africa and neocolonialism, division in Die Linke, focus on
Myanmar's fight for democracy, and more _

Myanmar demonstrators defy the junta. Credit, Unsplash/Pyae Sone Htun


 

* Africa and Neocolonialism
* Germany
* Myanmar
* Italy
* Cuba
* South Africa
* Ireland
* Iran
* Russia
* Brazil

__________
AFRICA STRUGGLES WITH NEOCOLONIALISM
[[link removed]]

_Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram_ / Inter Press Service (New
York)

Neglected by the US after the first Cold War until its 21st century
African initiatives, including Africom, African nations have
increasingly welcomed alternatives to the West, albeit somewhat
warily. Together, the world can help Africa progress. But if support
for the continent remains hostage to new Cold War considerations,
non-alignment becomes the pan-African choice.

__________
DIE LINKE ON THE BRINK OF A SPLIT

_Max Zeising_ / Neues Deutschland (Berlin)

(Note: The following was translated by xxxxxx. Read the original
_HERE
[[link removed]]_.)

For Die Linke, as a party that fights for social balance and is widely
known for it, increased prices due to the Ukraine war create a
situation in which it should actually benefit. The party calls for a
gas price cap and an over-profit tax—measures that could make an
effective contribution to the financial relief of many people. And it
also takes to the streets with these demands: In Leipzig it
demonstrated with nationally-known celebrities, and in Erfurt it took
part in a demonstration of the “Nicht mit uns” alliance, in which
Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow also participated. And
indeed, a slight upward trend can be seen in current surveys: all
relevant research institutes currently see the party coming back by at
least five percent.

And yet, these survey results don’t come close to old successes. In
the 2009 Bundestag election, Die Linke reached almost twelve percent.
The public image of the party remains very negative. One reason is
repeatedly pointed to: that instead of leading with programmatic
common ground, bombast and controversy have dominated. But that’s
only half the story.

In the debate about Sahra Wagenknecht’s [August 8] speech
[[link removed]] in
the Bundestag, it is very easy to see how parts of the left have long
since been separated, and even alienated, from the party. The former
faction leader had barely sat down on her chair before all cannons
were firing: by talking about an “economic war” of the West
against Russia, Wagenknecht violated party congress resolutions by
relativizing Russia's responsibility, which was resented above all by
reformers who do not directly belong to the circle of co-faction
leader Dietmar Bartsch, and by parts of left movements. Many argued
that she does not speak for Die Linke, and that it was time for her to
leave. Wagenknecht's own people—Sevim Dağdelen, Klaus Ernst and
others—counterattacked, arguing that Wagenknecht was right and the
others simply did not understand the party congress resolutions
correctly. A reasonable dispute between these camps hardly seems
possible anymore.

If the left now takes to the streets, it is as a party that stands for
a certain program that also includes foreign policy. If Wagenknecht
uses the sanctions of the West as the main reason for the social
upheavals, then this is a clear contradiction to the position that
Putin, whose violation of international law made a reaction necessary
in the first place, is primarily responsible for this. It is not
possible to appear as a united force for social justice until an
overall package has been agreed on.

Instead, there are rumors about a secession of the Wagenknecht camp.
And it seems as if her supporters want to let off a little steam
before they jump or, as some say, throw around some dirt: “A party
chairman who confuses the parallel universe of his Twitter bubble with
the mood among the population is miscast,” Wagenknecht scolded the
co-party leader Schirdewan after he warned that the the debates about
her are drowning out all efforts for a “hot autumn.”

Dietmar Bartsch
[[link removed]] stands
with the reformers loyal to him, between the two fronts, who in turn
are aligned with Wagenknecht supporters in the parliamentary group,
but who largely stay out of debates about Wagenknecht's position.
Bartsch wants one thing above all else: “do everything” to prevent
a split. He clings to the power he still has, because he knows that if
Wagenknecht and co. leave, his time at the top could also be over. At
the same time, the pressure on him and Amira Mohamed Ali at the top of
the parliamentary group is increasing massively, and an open letter
calls for their resignation. But it could also be that Bartsch has to
be involved in order to get rid of Wagenknecht.

Beyond the ideological trench warfare, however, there is a second
level that all sides of the conflict should consider. Ulrich Schneider
and Fabio de Masi, two well-respected politicians from different
wings, have left the party. Whatever a left-wing party will look like
in the future, if such people leave, it will not do it any good.

__________
MYANMAR PEOPLES’ FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY

*
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE
[[link removed]]
  _Tin Htet Paing_ / Myanmar NOW (Yangon)

* THE JUNTA AND PUTIN
[[link removed]]
  _Aung Zaw_ / The Irrawaddy (Yangon)
 
* THE TASK BEFORE THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[[link removed]]
  _Chris Gunness and Damian Lilly_ / PassBlue (Brooklyn)
 
* THE ROHINGYA TRAGEDY
[[link removed]]
  _Rodion Ebbighausen_ / New Age (Dhaka)

__________
ITALY: ELECTION TEA LEAVES
[[link removed]]

_Guido Liguori_ / Jacobin (New York)

Polls for Italy’s September 25 general election suggest the far
right is coasting to victory. Its center-left opposition is weak and
divided — showing what happens to a Left that grows apart from its
working-class base.

__________
CUBA’S LEFT [[link removed]]

_Rafael Hernández_ / OnCuba (Havana)

In addition to philosophers and economists, there are sociologists and
communicators, historians, jurists, psychologists, anthropologists,
and many also research, and are part of groups that do activism. They
take up feminism, anti-racism, the fight against homophobia, and other
issues related to social justice and citizen participation.

__________
ANC AT THE POINT OF NO RETURN?
[[link removed]]

_Raymond Suttner_ / Polity (Johannesburg)

If democracy is to be salvaged, and people are to be rescued from
hunger, continued violence and a range of other ills that compromise
their basic needs, we must look beyond ANC-led governments that
caused these problems in the first place.

__________
LEARNING FROM IRELAND

* SUCCESS OF SINN FÉIN
[[link removed]]
  _Kevin Callahan_ / rabble (Toronto)
 
* ABORTION RIGHTS WON AND PROTECTED
[[link removed]]
  _Rebecca Kelliher_ / Slate (Brooklyn)

__________
Iran: Women Rage in the Streets
[[link removed]]

Middle East Eye (London)

Dozens of protests that have broken out across Iran
[[link removed]] over the past four
days, sparked by the death in custody of a young woman who was
arrested by Iran’s so-called “morality police”, who were
enforcing the country’s strict regulations on women wearing the
hijab.

__________
RUSSIA: 
[[link removed]]DISSENT
IN THE MILITARY
[[link removed]]

_Alec Dubro_ / Foreign Policy in Focus (Washington DC)

Critics within Putin’s military are using a variety of
tactics—from online campaigns to desertion—to make their voices
heard. And although Russia has tried very hard to hush up refuseniks
in the army, news has leaked out.

__________
BRAZIL: LANDLESS LEADER
[[link removed]]’S ELECTION
TAKE
[[link removed]]

_Arturo Hartmann, Igor Carvalho and José Eduardo Bernardes_ / Brasil
de Fato (São Paulo)

João Paulo Rodrigues, a national leader of the Landless Workers’
Movement (MST), talks about the coming election, the effects of
international scenarios on Brazil, the role Lula could play in Latin
America and the challenges that Bolsonaro imposed on the popular
camp. 

* Africa
[[link removed]]
* neocolonialism
[[link removed]]
* Germany
[[link removed]]
* Die Linke
[[link removed]]
* Ukraine
[[link removed]]
* Sahra Wagenknecht
[[link removed]]
* Myanmar
[[link removed]]
* National Unity Government of Myanmar
[[link removed]]
* Putin
[[link removed]]
* democracy
[[link removed]]
* Italy
[[link removed]]
* Cuba
[[link removed]]
* South Africa
[[link removed]]
* African National Congress
[[link removed]]
* ireland
[[link removed]]
* Sinn Fein
[[link removed]]
* abortion rights
[[link removed]]
* Nigeria
[[link removed]]
* Nigerian Labour Party
[[link removed]]
* Russia
[[link removed]]
* anti-war
[[link removed]]
* Brazil
[[link removed]]
* MST (Landless Workers Movement)
[[link removed]]
* João Paulo Rodrigues
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]