Global Left Midweek - November 24, 2021
- The Chile Election
- India: Farmers Force Modi to Retreat on Agriculture Laws
- France: Women in the Forefront
- Jayati Ghosh’s COP26 Post-Mortem
- Wet’suwet’en - RCMP Showdown
- Red Copenhagen
- Reports from Sudan
- Sri Lanka: Turning Points and Dead Ends
- Video: Beloved María Elena Moyano
- Speaking of China
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The Chile Election
Paula Bustamante / Buenos Aires Times
In Chile’s first-round presidential elections, former student leader for the leftist Apruebo Dignidad coalition Gabriel Boric has obtained over 25% of the vote, whereas far-right lawyer for the Partido Republicano Jose Antonio Kast has won 28% of the vote, meaning the two will face off in a tense runoff in just over three weeks.
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India: Farmers Force Modi to Retreat on Agriculture Laws
Power in United Mass Action Hannah Ellis-Petersen / The Guardian (London)
Video: Union and Party Leaders Speak Peoples Dispatch (New Delhi)
A New Tradition Established Vinod Mubayi / International South Asia Forum (St. John’s, Canada)
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France: Women in the Forefront
#NousToutes and Yellow Vests / Yeni Şafak (Istanbul)
#MeTooPolitique Alison Hird / Radio France Internationale (Paris)
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Jayati Ghosh’s COP26 Post-Mortem
Jayati Ghosh / Project Syndicate (Kings Park NY)
Many of the statements by developed-country leaders at the COP26 summit in Glasgow are at odds with their actual climate policies, and with what they say in other settings. Their short-sighted strategy ultimately benefits no one – including the powerful corporate interests whose immediate financial interests it serves.
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Wet’suwet’en - RCMP Showdown
Jessica McDiarmod / Canada’s National Observer (Vancouver)
The RCMP conducted “military-style” police raids on members of the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and supporters who were blocking construction of a multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline.
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Red Copenhagen
Reinout Bosch / Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Brussels)
The Red-Green Alliance picked up a quarter of the vote in Copenhagen. The municipal elections elsewhere in Denmark showed small gains for the left, while the ruling Social Democrats took heavy losses in the four biggest cities.
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Reports from Sudan
Mass Resistance Continues / Dabanga (Amsterdam)
‘Now We Are Driven By Anger’ Jennifer Holleis / Deutsche Welle (Berlin)
PM’s Capitulation Rejected / Al-Monitor (Washington DC)
Revolution’s Second Act Sara Abbas / Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Berlin)
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Sri Lanka: Turning Points and Dead Ends
Uditha Devapriya / The Island (Colombo)
At a time of deep political and social crisis, mass movements can only bring to the streets a sweeping tide of discontent. It is up to the Opposition parties to seize the momentum. Whether or not it will depends on how far it can revisit and challenge old ideas, adapt to the new normal, and engage with groups hit hardest by the pandemic.
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Video: Beloved María Elena Moyano
MAYTA / YouTube
[Moderator’s note: November 23 is the birthday of Moyano, a women’s leader, a revolutionary, an organizer in the town of Villa El Salvador, Perú. She opposed the coercion by the guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso over the efforts of working class women to secure rights and basic livelihood. Senderistas murdered her in public, in front of her children, in 1992.
Shortly before her assassination, she wrote:
“Finally, neighbors, the revolution is an affirmation of life and of individual and collective dignity. It is our ethic. Revolution is not death, nor imposition, nor submission, nor fanaticism. Revolution is new life – the belief in and struggle for a just and dignified society – in support of the organizations which the people have created, respecting their internal democracy, sowing new seeds of power in a new Perú. I will continue to stand with my people, with the women, youth, and children; I will continue to fight for peace with social justice. Viva la vida”
The Dallas band MAYTA honors Moyano’s story with their song, “Mujer Villa.” The band is named after the Incan emperor Mayta Cápac and is anchored by Renato Rimach and his brothers Victor and Ivan.]
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Speaking of China
The Eye of the Beholder Fabio Lanza / Made in China (Canberra)
Xi Lays It Out Xi Jinping / Xinhua (Beijing)