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Global Left Midweek - Focus on East Asia

A Hong Kong union organizer speaks, shaky times for Nepal Communists, the political plot thickens in India, and more reports from Asia and hot spots worldwide

Young leftists ran in municipal elections in Bihar, India, with surprising success. Credit,National Herald (New Delhi)
  1. The Struggle Unites the Mideast and the World
  2. A Letter to Hong Kong Unions
  3. India Politics: Left vs Modi
  4. Permanent Protests in Okinawa
  5. South Korean Labor Rallies Amid COVID Restrictions
  6. Nepal Communists: Split Ahead? 
  7. Polisario Defends Western Sahara
  8. Presidential Crisis in Peru
  9. Czech Communists Shake It Up
  10. Guilherme Boulos and PSOL Rock São Paulo Vote

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The Struggle Unites the Mideast and the World

Jade Saab / Middle East Eye (London)

From the Arab Spring to Black Lives Matter protests, the suffering of a people in one corner of the earth is the suffering of all.

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A Letter to Hong Kong Unions

Leo Tang / Lausan (Hong Kong)

Revolutionizing the labor movement is not about how many articles you can write and post on social media, or a question of whether there are a good 20 or so militant activists in your contact list. It is about a total transformation, from political analysis and understanding the current conjuncture all the way to developing new practices.

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India Politics: Left vs Modi

Left Advances in Bihar Sanya Dhingra / The Print (New Delhi)

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CPI(M)-Congress Alliance in West Bengal Himadri Ghosh / The Wire (New Delhi)

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Permanent Protests in Okinawa

C. Douglas Lummis / The Nation (New York)

Every day, protesters on the island head to three locations in the north, where the Japanese government is trying to build a super airbase for the US Marines.

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South Korean Labor Rallies Amid COVID Restrictions

Yonhap News Agency (Seoul)

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and about 20 affiliated union groups took to streets across the country to stage scores of small-scale demonstrations in commemoration of the 50th year since Chun Tae-il self-immolated on Nov. 13, 1970, for the cause of workers' rights.

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Nepal Communists: Split Ahead? 

Pradip Adhikari / The Diplomat (Washington)

Nepal’s two most prominent communist parties merged into the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) after winning the general election in 2017 as a coalition with almost a two-thirds majority. But internal conflict within the NCP is at a peak and it might collapse under the weight of its own success. 

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Polisario Defends Western Sahara

Jacob Mundy interviewed by Amy Goodman / Democracy Now! (New York)

Over the weekend, fighting broke out in several areas between the Moroccan military and the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi liberation movement seeking independence. Morocco has intensified its repression in occupied Western Sahara, raiding the homes of independence activists, cracking down on protests.  

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Presidential Crisis in Peru

Zoe PC / Peoples Dispatch (New Delhi)

After five short days as interim president of Peru, Merino of the Popular Action party was forced to quit due to outrage over police repression on protesters. The protests in Peru had begun following the impeachment and removal of former president Martín Vizcarra on November 9. 

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Czech Communists Shake It Up

Jiří Dolejš interviewed by Jindra Kolar / transform! (Vienna)

The crisis currently facing the Czech left was not triggered by recent elections; it has been brewing for several years, and both parties – the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) and the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) – are themselves to blame. 

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Brazil Elections: Guilherme Boulos and PSOL Bust Out in São Paulo

Daniel Giovanaz and Igor Carvalho / Brasil de Fato (São Paulo)

The 2020 municipal elections will be marked by the strengthening of left-wing parties among the 100 largest cities in the country and the failure of most candidates identified with the ultra-right or supported by President Jair Bolsonaro (without a party).