General strike in Portugal
A general strike was organised by the main trade unions in Portugal on 11 December last year in response to labour reforms proposed by the centre right Democratic Alliance Montenegro government. The administration, Portugal’s third in three years, was appointed by president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa after an indecisive election result. On 3 June, with the standoff between the unions and government unresolved, a further strike was called. In an article for Political.org, Elena Vasquez assesses the impact of the strike, its historical context, the main protagonists and where the dispute may go.
Far right gathering in Porto
On 30 May various individuals from the European far right gathered in Porto for the second annual Remigration Summit. Also in attendance, as speakers, were the UK’s Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain) and ex-US Border Control agent Gregory Bovino. The attendees all subscribe to the white nationalist ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy of race dilution and see ‘remigration’ as implemented by Trump (the theme of the second summit) as a public policy solution. An article by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism identifies the principal players at the summit and their aims.
Colombian elections
On 31 May Colombia held an election and the surprise front runner with 43.7% of the vote was the right-wing Trump admirer Abelardo de la Espriella, closely followed by the left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda on 40.9%. As neither candidate has attained the 50% necessary to be elected to power there will be a run-off between the two front runners on 21 June. In an article for the Guardian, South American correspondent Tiago Rogero looks at disputes about the votes cast and how Espriella is seeking to emulate the success of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador by standing on an ‘Iron Fist’ platform regarding Colombia’s growing internal security crisis.
El Salvador imprisoning children
Nayib Bukele was elected president of El Salvador in 2019 campaigning on a promise to fight corruption. His election broke the duopoly of the right-wing Republican Nationalist Alliance ARENA (Republican Nationalist Alliance) and the left-wing FMLN (Farabundo National Liberation Front). After taking office, Bukele implemented his Territorial Control Plan against the MS-13 and Barrio-18 gangs via both accommodation and law enforcement. The programme was remarkably successful leading to Bukele being re-elected with a 94% approval rating. Human rights groups have however expressed concern about the erosion of civil rights which has seen an estimated 90,000 people arrested and detained without due process. In an article for Open Democracy, Euan Wallace and Martina Mariano tell the story of how one woman and her family have suffered due to indiscriminate arrest and detention.
Global Justice Report
Thomas Picketty and colleagues at the World Equality Lab have released their new Global Justice Report. In this short Guardian article, they conclude what many have long suspected, namely that there is an alternative to the planet-destroying ‘constant growth’ model of late-stage capitalism. Their proposals, if implemented, would see people working less hours whilst incomes rose via progressive taxation policies and wealth distribution. This would of course be a win-win situation, but as the reaction to those who only seek a modest amelioration to their living standards in various countries shows, most politicians in thrall to neoliberal economics ‘don’t get it’ and the oligarch/Epstein class will tenaciously try to cling to their billions whilst accumulating more monetary wealth.
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