“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” — Mexican proverb
Mass political strikes and protests in Argentina, Brazil, Honduras and elsewhere are proving that the capitalist rulers’ repression can’t stop the class struggle.
But class struggle for reforms can’t stop capitalism’s increasingly vicious attacks on the working class. Only communist revolution can do that.
Argentina: A general strike on May 29stopped planes, buses and trains and shut down the main grain ports. It closed banks, courts, schools, and non-emergency hospital services. Unions were protesting mass firings and cuts to subsidies that jacked up the cost of transportation and utilities. President Macri’s pro-capitalist policies have shrunk workers’ pocketbooks with sky-high inflation.
Brazil: Thousands of favela residents and supporters rallied in Rio de Janeiro on May 26 to demand “Parem de nos matar” – stop killing us! They are defying President Bolsonaro and the racist police he unleashed to shoot up favelas(mostly-black neighborhoods). They also defied mass fascist rallies of Bolsonaro supporters. Ten days earlier, students and teachers from hundreds of universities and high schools went on a nationwide strike against major government budget cuts.
Honduras: Tens of thousands have marched against the privatization of education and public health services. On April 30 the Honduran police attacked striking teachers, doctors and students in the streets of Tegucigalpa. Strikers were threatened with mass dismissals. But the protests continued and grew.
On June 4, President Juan Orlando Hernandez revoked the privatization decrees. And still the protests continue.
Capitalism worldwide is in a crisis created by its very nature. It is driven by a need to maximize profits to attract capital investment. That means driving down labor costs by mechanization and repression. But mechanization decreases the rate of profit. Poverty and repression – sooner or later– spur the masses into revolt.
Rio de Janeiro: “Stop Killing Us”
They try to bury us. But we are seeds. We need to be seeds of communist revolution. Communism will liberate us from the tyranny of wage-slavery. No longer will we have to sell ourselves by the hour in order to buy bare subsistence housing, food and other necessities.
Communism will liberate us from the violent capitalist dictatorship. No more racist police and fascist militaries to terrorize our most oppressed and militant class sisters and brothers. Communism will end the division between “mental” and “manual” labor that arose with class society, and the schools and universities that perpetuate it.
Communism will bring direct mass participation in making the decisions that affect our common lives. No more elections that (at best) allow us to choose which capitalists will rule over us. Masses around the world are in a fight for our lives. Many are bravely giving their all to the struggle. Let this be the fight of our lives: the fight for the communist world we need.
