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Global Left Midweek – February 5, 2025

https://portside.org/2025-02-05/global-left-midweek-february-5-2025
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  1. Reconstructing Antifascism
  2. March in Manila: Impeach VP Duterte
  3. Gaza’s Unbreakable Resistance
  4. LGBTQ-Led Mass Mobe Tears into Milei Insanity
  5. Nigeria Left Update
  6. Cuba Takes on Gender Violence
  7. Samsung Workers Win Big in Tamil Nadu
  8. How Latin American Youth Resist Migration
  9. Syria Reports from Links
  10. Euro Analysis from transform!
  11. Socialist Register 2025

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Reconstructing Antifascism

Thomas Goes / Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Berlin)

Under capitalist conditions, a republic is only ever half-way democratic, because the bourgeois form of property inevitably leads to inequality and the concentration of economic power. Yet we must defend existing achievements and make use of the constitutional rights that make both a democratic path to socialism and an effective struggle against fascists possible.

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March in Manila: Impeach VP Duterte

Gerard Carreon and Jason Gutierrez / Eurasia Review (Oregon OH)

Thousands of Filipinos supported by members of the influential Catholic Church marched in northern Manila to call for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, who has been accused of large-scale corruption. The protesters also called for the prosecution of Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, for his bloody drug war that killed thousands during his administration.

[Portside note: Duterte was impeached by the Philippines House of Representatives on February 5. Read more here.]

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Gaza’s Unbreakable Resistance

Ramzy Baroud / Z (Woods Hole MA)

The long legacy of resistance against injustice has shaped the collective mindset of the Palestinian population in Gaza over the years. How else can we explain how a small, isolated, and impoverished population, living in such a tiny piece of land, managed to withstand firepower equivalent to many nuclear bombs?

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LGBTQ-Led Mass Mobe Tears into Milei Insanity

Valen Iricibar / Buenos Aires Herald

Argentines hit the streets on Saturday afternoon for the Federal Anti-Racist and Anti-Fascist Pride March. The protest was spearheaded by the LGBTQIA+ community, but it was explicitly intersectional, encompassing marginalized groups from all walks of life. Rivers of demonstrators flowed through the streets of more than 100 towns and cities countrywide and major cities across the world.

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Nigeria Left Update

Ayoola Babalola / Progressive International

Although leftist organizing in the #EndBadGovernance protests attempted to address lingering questions from the #EndSARS era and pave the way for future political activism grounded in ideological clarity, the potential for these leftist groups to transform Nigeria’s political landscape remains a question. 

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Cuba Takes on Gender Violence

CiberCuba (Valencia)

The Cuban government announced the implementation of a telephone hotline in 40 municipalities across the country aimed at providing immediate assistance to victims of gender-based violence, collecting data, and generating statistics on the issue, as well as training professionals in the field. 

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Samsung Workers Win Big in Tamil Nadu

Siddarth Muralidharan / Frontline (Mumbai)

After 38 days of protest and 212 days of legal battle, the Tamil Nadu Labour Department registered the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)-backed Samsung India Workers’ Union (SIWU) on January 27. 1,500 workers of Samsung India Electronics in Sunguvarchatram, Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, demanded and won registration and recognition of their union.

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How Latin American Youth Resist Migration

Santi Carneri Tamaryn / Equal Times (Brussels)

Despite the significant challenges faced by Latin American youth, their resilience and creativity are undeniable. From the bustling aisles of Mercado 4 to the rural communities of Brazil, young people are continually finding ways to resist, reinvent themselves and build a better future.

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Syria Reports from Links

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Euro Analysis from transform!

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Socialist Register 2025

Greg Albo and Stephen Maher / Socialist Register (Toronto)

Reckoning with the failures and limitations of past experiments is essential for uncovering whatever possibilities may exist within the present. This is the essence of what Leo Panitch called ‘the optimism of the intellect’: a commitment to rigorous, unflinching analysis grounded in the determination to create a better future for humanity.

Source URL: https://portside.org/2025-02-05/global-left-midweek-february-5-2025