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VENEZUELA: Building socialism - an interview with Marta Harnecker

The last time I spoke with long-time influential writer on Latin American politics Marta Harnecker was at the 2003 World Social Forum, where we talked of the "most important anti-neoliberal struggle in the world" unfolding

Egypt: Sudanese refugees stage protest

Since September 29, up to 1200 Sudanese refugees have been holding a sit-in near the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) regional office in Cairo, demanding protection from forced repatriation and protesting poor conditions and human-rights

COLOMBIA: Uribe to seek re-election

On October 19, amid accusations of bribery, Colombia's Constitutional Court gave right-wing President Alvaro Uribe the green light to seek a second term in office. Previously, it was impossible for a president to stand for re-election. Uribe is a key

SIEV-X commemorated

FREMANTLE — On October 16, 20 refugee-rights activists commemorated the fourth anniversary of the SIEV X disaster, in which 353 people drowned inside Australia's Operation Relex aerial surveillance zone. Since then, the government has actively

VENEZUELA: Significant decrease in poverty

Stuart Munckton Venezuela's poverty rate is expected to drop from 47% in 2004 to 35% by the end of 2005, according to figures from Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics (INE). The figure was calculated to be at 38.5% half-way through this

ALP forum on public health

SYDNEY — Anthony Albanese, the Labor MP for the federal electorate of Grayndler, opened a forum on public health care at Marrickville Town Hall on October 18. Attended by 260 people, the forum was also addressed by shadow health minister Julia

PALESTINE: Israel continues its war of occupation

Kim Bullimore In the month since Israel's unilateral "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military has killed 24 Palestinians, including three children, arrested at least 700 Palestinians and continued to use airborne missile strikes to

Anti-terrorism laws a threat to Aboriginal community

We wish to register our support for all efforts to raise concern about the extent of the new laws, notionally to combat terrorism. As activists in Aboriginal affairs, we have first-hand experience of just what these laws could do to prominent and

Jane Fonda and the role of the accident in history

BY MAX WATTS Georgi Plekhanov, a Russian who translated Karl Marx's writings and introduced them to Lenin, wrote a lot about the role of the individual, or the accident, in history. He thought that at certain times when the "masses" moved,

Women learn about union laws

Bronwyn Jennings, Geelong Fifty women unionists and community activists attended training sessions at Geelong Trades Hall on October 17, the last in a series organised by the GTH Women's Committee to educate women about the Howard government's

Coffin - for you who dream the nightmare

There is a coffin on my shoulder,Where is the graveyard?Show me the way to the graveyard,I have to carry this coffin,I have to bury this coffin,I must dig deeply in the soil with the fingertips of sentiment,I must reach this depth with all my

Tax workers demand union agreement

MELBOURNE — As of October 18, 11,475 employees of the Australian Taxation Office, 53% of all ATO staff, have signed a petition calling on management to negotiate a new agency agreement with the Community and Public Sector Union when the current