Resist Greek ‘austerity’

European leaders and the IMF demanded from the unelected and illegitimate Greek government a new austerity plan for the release of the EU “assistance”, not for social development, which is a vital need for Greece, but to guarantee the reimbursement of sovereign debts to banks.

After three years of austerity, during which economic recession has prevailed, the Troika is back and the country is put under supervision, for new attacks on pensions, the abolition of the minimum wage in the private sector, further cuts in the public sector. In other words, the same method, with always the same consequences.

This is the eighth austerity plan, which, as the previous seven, would solve the problem of the Greek debt crisis once and for all. All those plans have been aiming at the reduction of salaries by 50%, the privatization of public services, the closing of schools and hospitals and to the explosion of unemployment, job insecurity and poverty.

How could we not understand popular anger that is expressed right now in Athens and in many Greek cities? As the saying goes, “he who sows misery, harvests anger”.

The European Left Party supports Greek citizens who fight against these measures and the parliamentarians that expressed the voice of the people in the Greek Parliament yesterday, by voting against this text, which is dangerous for Greece and for Europe as a whole.

We call upon European citizens to organise gatherings outside the Greek embassies in the different EU countries and demonstrate their solidarity with the Greek people. We also call everybody who resists these catastrophic austerity plans all over Europe, to work together for the formation of a counter-offensive of the European peoples.

Pierre Laurent
President of the Party of the European Left

Lens on Labour: Taking on the EU.

Len Arthur

Misgivings about whose purpose is really served by the EU have been held widely within the labour movement. It was not until the early 1970’s that Labour in part supported membership and the 1980’s when the TUC started to warm toward the Social Chapter following the ravages of the Thatcher governments.

On the left, many both within and outside of the Labour Party do not support the EU either due to the loss of UK or Parliamentary control – I believe Tony Benn has this view – or because it is simply an organisation to support capitalism.

Others in Labour and on the left accept these concerns but suggest that UK history has never been independent of what happens in Europe. The two world wars of the 20^th Century demonstrated this and it is therefore better to be involved to try to influence events than think we can avoid the consequences of decision taken in the rest of Europe.

The EU Treaty is also a reflection of the post war social democratic and corporate settlement. Sovereignty was shared, the conflict between capital and labour reflected in reforms covering work and re-distribution of wealth geographically, and certain key industries such as agriculture were protected. At the same time, economic policy has been about opening up the internal market and improving international competitiveness through reducing the role of state, encouraging competition, standardisation, free labour movement and now with the Maastricht Treaty, restrictions on the use of government spending to encourage economic activity.

Tensions within the EU between the different assumptions that underpin these approaches have been restricted by the expansion to new states and the establishment of the Euro. It is now clear that not addressing these tensions has aided the crisis within the eurozone and they are being resolved by moving away from the social democratic settlement and democracy and toward an attack on the working class across the EU under the guise of ‘austerity’, making us pay for the bankers crisis.

Similarly tensions on the left have come to the surface. Some have argued, that we should leave the EU and it doesn’t matter if the eurozone or the EU falls apart. Others have suggested that the EU has always offered the opportunity for workers unity across Europe and now is the time to act together internationally, to resist the policies of austerity.

It should also be clear that the Tory government is no friend of the social democratic settlement, they are only interested in pulling back powers from the EU to remove the effects of the social chapter in the UK and cut back public spending even harder.

Whilst in Brussels a few weeks ago I drafted the following piece which could act as a motion for meetings; you can see where I come down on the debate – what do you think?

‘United front against the Treaty

People of Europe against austerity and the treaty: for an alternative social and democratic Europe

ETUC statement now seems radical. It is a measure of how far and how fast the EU has gone to the right. We are faced with a spectre the spectre of austerity. The workers of Europe are being expected to the pay the cost of the bankers’ crisis and not only are the representatives of the bankers’ being elected to use the state to solve their problems but in countries like Italy they have been handed the state without an election. In the UK a millionaires’ government intends to cut harder than across the EU and is primarily interested in representing the City of London.

Time is of the essence. We have until March. We can stop the Treaty if we mobilise across Europe: what is essential is a united front of workers organisations and parties to initiate solidarity action around the demand no to the Treaty; no to loss of democracy; yes to a social Europe based on equality; and yes to full democratic control of EU institutions.

We should call upon the TUC and the ETUC to launch an EU wide petition supporting these and more detailed demands looking for the widest possible support internationally. We should also call upon them to launch EU wide demonstration and industrial action culminating in time when the Treaty may be signed.

If they don’t take this action, we should do what we can to launch ourselves using social media.

The Spanish Elections: What price democracy?

After months of social upheaval and financial crisis, Spain goes to the polls on 20^th November. Daniel Adam reviews the background and prospects.

The Spanish Constitution was inspired and influenced by the Portuguese socialist revolution of 25th April 1974. Some parts, written by the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), such as the statement that private property has a “social function”, clearly attacked the fundamentals of a society where, for centuries, every time that someone tried to attack the establishment and create a fair system, he or she was murdered or had to flee.

The Communist Party paid a high price for such gains. They had to accept a monarchy basically appointed by Franco, and a voting system where some votes can be seven times more valuable than others. Votes for the conservatives, the Partido Popular (PP), or the labourists, the Partido Socialista (PSOE), will be unfavourably distorted against votes for Izquierda Unida, (IU, United Left), the broad left formation of the PCE

The king’s symbolic importance will have to be resolved in due course but the famous 1975-81 “Transición” to constitutional democracy was a mockery. The same old elites that ruled Spain under the brutal regime of Franco are still in power. The elite is mainly represented by the conservative party, the Partido Popular, which has not yet condemned the Franco regime in the European parliament. It was founded by the former Tourism and Information Minister from the fascist state, Fraga. His successor, the former prime minister of Spain, José María Aznar, wrote passionate articles against the Constitution, democracy and in defence of the fascist status quo.

Weak Social Democracy

Spanish people expected the PSOE to take the lead in the fight against this elite in the institutions. Considering the PCE too radical, they massively voted to make Felipe Gonzalez President of Spain, hoping that he would transform the country into a social democracy comparable with our European neighbours. The fact that Gonzalez now has a well paid post in one of the companies he himself helped to create by “restructuring” the gas sector, Gas Natural, and that he is never criticised by the media, gives you an idea of how wrong Spaniards were. Gonzalez left the country with a shaken economy, huge unemployment, integrated in NATO through lies (such as no intervention in wars) and integrated into the European Union, which itself deserves its own article.

The PSOE has been in power for twenty-two years in Spain, with an eight year break when Aznar became president. During this time, they built a country where, although the level of GDP per capita is similar to the average of the original 15 European states, social expenditure does not reach two-thirds of the average EU15 level. Educational standards, as well as salaries, are well below level; minimum wage is barely above €600 per month; there are five million unemployed; and corruption is blatant. Sure, the PP did their bit during their eight years, such as the “Ground Law” that started the massive construction speculation, but PSOE prime minister Zapatero had four years to change that before the crisis came, and he didn’t.

The reaction to the crisis by Zapatero is more than disappointing. It has been considered an act of treason by workers and the unemployed. The two main unions, being supporters of a Zapatero’s government and weakened in a country where people actually work in fear, have failed to react to the situation. It is impossible to understand that no strike was called until 2010. And that was unsuccessful, mainly because of the distrust that workers have in these two organizations, considered puppets in the hands of the government. People lost confidence in political parties, either because they are corrupt or because they have no chance to win the elections, and also in the main unions, the two institutions that are supposed to channel their voice. In a country where the two main parties and the two main unions are, at best, compromised, and where political consciousness is at a low ebb, people have lost their trust in “politics”.

Disaffection and Mass Action

But this ‘loss of trust in politics’ is a media version of the ‘post-politics’ anti-capitalism that is breaking out the world over. Spain is an extremely political country. Wherever you go, whatever the bar you enter, you hear people talking fervently about politics, in anger. The situation had to explode, and it did. On 15 May, this year, thousands of protesters gathered unexpectedly in demonstrations organized by new groupings who declare themselves unaffiliated to any political group, with no political agenda, and not related to the unions. The movement grew and, last 15 October, numbers of demonstrators reached the hundreds of thousands in Madrid and Barcelona, and several tens of thousands in Valencia, Sevilla, Malaga and other cities. No such demonstrations had taken place in Spain since the beginning of the Iraqi invasion.

Surprised by the amazing and unexpected turn-outs, experienced anti-capitalist fighters put aside their differences and joined the newcomers in a united movement, filled with vices and contradictions but massive, democratic (organized through assemblies) and craving for a new society, comparable with May ‘68. Or is it?

The movement set itself to be as broad as possible from the very beginning, trying to avoid well-known formulas or names. It rejects calling itself a “leftist movement”, or socialist movement, although it has clear leftist claims. It has also avoided linking itself to any political party or union.

On one hand, there is a very positive outcome. People are embracing ideas that have been typically on the left’s agenda, but without using the traditional terminology. On the other hand, an individualism in the minds of the protestors rejects all kinds of organizations whatsoever and, in doing so, loses previous experience that could be useful. It´s a naive movement and proud to be.

And the Elections?

The question is, ‘How will it affect the elections?’ – if, indeed, it does. The polls show no result except for an increase in abstention, which might be caused more by the disgust the PSOE evokes from voters, than the movement itself. The PP is likely to win the elections hands down, and neo-liberalism will continue its rampant pillage on Spain for several more years. It will be for the movement to give a significant jolt to the conservatives in government, which might happen, and force the same unions it despises into organizing strikes that succeed. Too many ‘if´s’!

Meanwhile social unrest keeps growing. The two main parties cast their circus towards the elections. Debates on television invite only those two to discuss their same economic agenda. The only hope left for the next elections is the rise of IU, which, due to the nature of the proportional voting system, needs 250.000 votes to get each seat in parliament while the PSOE and PP need just 60.000. With those numbers of votes, the United Left might be able to force a pact with the PSOE to create a more socially oriented programme. Given the nature of the constitution, this is highly improbable. So it will be back to the streets!

Daniel Adam is an economist and activist member of the UJCE (Unión de Juventudes Comunistas de España – Communist Youth), part of the Izquierda Unida.

Foreign Policy for Wales – 25 Years of Nicaragua Solidarity

Leading activists from the Wales-Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign had two clear messages at the recent 25th anniversary of the campaign’s support for the Sandinistas.

Writes Luke Nicholas.

The first was from the Welsh-Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano Hughes- “I don’t believe in charity, I believe in solidarity. Charity is vertical. Solidarity is horizontal”. The second quotation that rang loud and clear at the event in Cardiff has been doing the rounds in Scotland amidst the positive political changes that have been taking place there; Alasdair Gray’s “work as if you live in the early days of a better nation”.

Surely it is time now for Wales to have a foreign policy. Wales has developed extensive international links since devolution began, to the credit of First Ministers Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones. But although we are an internationalist country, Wales’ outward links under devolution have generally been based on charity, not solidarity. The charity aid projects that the Welsh Government has supported in Africa need to continue. But what we now need, in this changing world and to reflect Wales’ national development, is for the Government to put Wales in the international context. The politicised tone of the Nicaraguan event reminded us of the potential we have to engage with other nations, and it is surely time to do so on a political basis, rather than just a humanitarian level.

At the meeting, Plaid Cymru Assembly Member, Leanne Wood called for Wales to seek Observer status in the ALBA bloc of Latin American nations. There has been talk in the past of non-American nations having this status. The Palestinians and Syria have been mooted, because of their large diasporic communities in Latin America. Why not Wales? Our shared history of indigenous struggles and imperial exploitation would justify it. Our Welsh Ministers (from Labour and Plaid Cymru) have already incorporated aspects of Cuban literacy and agricultural policy into their own plans. It does not mean agreeing with every policy promoted by the ALBA bloc, but would give Wales a new avenue in which to contribute ideas on how we can create a better world.

Nicaragua’s Charge D’Affairs in the UK, Guisell Morales-Echaverry, reported the achievements of President Daniel Ortega’s Christian Socialist Solidarity project, which is the democratic socialist programme that is relevant to Nicaragua’s current conditions. Julie Morgan noted Nicaragua’s strong economic growth, and Leanne Wood reported the progress on reducing unemployment among women in rural Nicaragua, 60,000 of whom have been organised by the Sandinista government into independent co-operatives which are now producing wealth and goods. She also crucially expressed hope that the issue of women’s’ reproductive rights can be improved in Nicaragua and the rest of Latin America, reminding us that our solidarity allows us to also suggest where our friends are going wrong.

The goodwill from First Minister Carwyn Jones, and Julie Morgan AM (a longstanding friend of Nicaragua) was welcome, and Vaughan Gething AM’s chairing of the event was engaging and enjoyable. The challenge for the Welsh left, of all parties and none, is to build on this goodwill and develop a Welsh foreign policy of our own. It would require a leap of faith for Welsh Labour, but would not be going against their history of solidarity with a whole range of causes, particularly in promoting Somaliland, whose representatives were invited by Rhodri Morgan to the National Assembly in 2006. It would also fulfil Plaid Cymru’s international outlook, with potential for expanding relationships with stateless nations such as the Saharawis or the Mapuche people in Chile, both of whom have had delegations to Plaid Conferences in recent years.

The history of the Wales-Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign points the way to a better and fairer world. The video clips of representatives from Nicaragua’s diverse range of communities thanking the people of Wales, and making direct reference to Wales’ linguistic and social traditions, showed that the campaign has created a space for Wales in the psyche of the Nicaraguan people. If we believe that another world is possible, we owe it to the rest of the world to not hide behind British foreign policy but to forge our own path.