Lázaro Cárdenas Michoacán, June 17— Thousands of workers, members of the National Miners’ Union of Mexico (Los Mineros), went on strike at the ArcelorMittal steel plant. The union had previously agreed to a “profit-sharing” agreement, but the company reported declining profits despite maintaining production and price levels. All profits come from exploitation: the difference between the value workers produce and the value they receive in wages. No “profit-sharing” agreement can change the fact that workers and capitalists have opposing interests. Only in communism – with the abolition of wages, commodity production, profits, and money – will the working masses reap the full fruits of our labor.
Judiciary Reform: A Bosses’ Fight The Working Class Must Build Our Own Communist Justice System
MEXICO, September 9— The proposed reform of the Judiciary, promoted by the government of President Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), has caused great debate and confrontations in the country and internationally.
It proposes that judges, magistrates, and even members of the Supreme Court be elected by popular vote and not be appointed by the president, political parties, or the magistrates.
The current judicial apparatus has been tied to the bourgeoisie represented by political parties such as the PRI, the PAN, and their US imperialist allies. The latter are angrily complaining about the “undemocratic” nature of this process.
The capitalists and the military power behind AMLO are looking to align judges with the 4th Amendment (AMLO’s program), as the legislative branch is now. Their supporters repeat that the proposed reform was endorsed by the results of the elections and is for “the benefit of the people.” AMLO’s employers’ group and the army want and need this control to carry out their general plans of exploitation of workers and control of Mexico’s wealth.
The reform reflects a sharp struggle among the Mexican bourgeoisie. It’s also a struggle between the Mexican rulers and the US oligarchy. These governments have confronted each other’s armed forces, as when the US arrested Gen. Cienfuegos in 2020. Also when drug cartel leader “Mayo” Zambada was arrested by the US government without the knowledge of the Mexican government.
But the working class does not need to strengthen the judiciary or the other branches of capitalist governments. Nor should students allow themselves to be manipulated by one or the other oppressive side.
We must build our communist organization (ICWP) outside and independent of them. A new model of “justice” for the working class.
Capitalism and Class Struggle
The capitalists and their governments have managed to fool the working class to a high degree. They’ve made us believe that workers and capitalists are not antagonistic classes, but that both are part of the “democratic process.” The traditional left has collaborated in such deception.
All countries today are capitalist. In all countries, workers are encouraged to seek the protection of the State against the individual boss to make mainly economic demands. If, through struggles, they achieved some demands, however small and temporary, these would not appear as being torn from the government against its will but as generous concessions.
In the struggle for the surplus value extracted from workers’ labor power, the ruling class in Mexico (like all capitalist ruling classes) takes advantage in an unequal manner. A few get richer, presenting themselves as the “saviors” who fight corruption.
AMLO has “put on pause” Ken Salazar, US Ambassador to Mexico, who criticized the judicial reform, but not the entire US government. The US government replied by praising AMLO as a “champion in the T-MEC/USMC (Trade Agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada). It added that, despite judicial reform, integration will continue between Mexico and the US. In contrast, Kenneth Smith of Canada warned that approval of the reform would unleash controversies in T-MEC before its revision in 2026.
For now, the strength of the working class seems minimal and incapable of liberating itself from the capitalists and their governments. But that appearance only masks the essence: the potential of workers, rank and file soldiers, and other oppressed and exploited people to change the world. They urgently need to join ICWP.
Justice will not come to the working class by the reform route. Even in countries with popular juries, justice is not assured. The Executive power keeps thousands in prison for years (sometimes more than ten) without sentencing, guilty or innocent. The lack of justice is not only the fault of the judiciary but of the three branches of capitalist government.
The real power of the working class is when it is united and fights for its liberation through a communist revolution. And real justice will be when we end capitalism and build our own communist society.
We invite party collectives and friends to discuss and write more about different aspects of what we envision as the form of communist justice.