An Inspiring March here ♦ How Much Is a Worker’s Life Worth? here ♦ Cuba here ♦
Letter: An Inspiring March
In El Salvador, I believe that, just as it was worldwide, the May Day march was a success. Farmworker comrades got up very early to reach the meeting point in San Miguel. From there they were transported to San Salvador. On the road they were joined by families of comrades who are former civil war combatants. Year after year, despite their advanced age, they do not falter in the struggle. And this year they are more convinced than ever that we must continue the work toward the communist revolution.
An inspiring sight is the enthusiasm of the elderly comrade P, who, with nostalgia, motivates us to continue communist work. So do the comrade workers from various factories who already belong to the ICWP, holding the banners high, repeating the chants, and raising the flags, all ready to take part in the march, along with a good group of young people. Other people who are not yet part of the party joined the group, voluntarily integrating into the ranks with the comrades.
The impact on the people who came out to watch was interesting. Many read the banner and discussed the slogan with others, as if to say, “The ICWP exists internationally.” Additionally, the Red Flag newspaper was received warmly. Some were given copies without asking, while others asked for them and immediately began reading.
A total of 1,200 newspapers were distributed along the route. Two comrades went to distribute them at the location where the march was supposed to end, since it had been rerouted. However, this was not an obstacle. Rather, it worked in our favor, as it allowed us to provide coverage even at another event that had been planned to disrupt the activities of this May Day.
As one slogan put it: “Capitalism is on its way out because Communism is on its way in.” The many fascist actions no longer stop the working class from demonstrating, much less from organizing. The work being done is being accepted, especially because workers are gaining awareness of the exploitation to which we are subjected. Regardless of the industry in which we work, we are slaves to the capitalist system.
And the only thing guaranteed in this system is the deterioration of the individual in the effort to put food on the family table. Deterioration in health and personal dignity, as well as the deterioration of family relationships due to a lack of time to connect with one another, all while meeting the goals or demands of the system itself.
Waiting for a retirement that does not bring good news—on the contrary, it arrives amid economic hardships and family insecurity. It is therefore gratifying to have participated in a march where there were more positive comments, greater acceptance, and new integration of other participants into the march alongside all the comrades of the ICWP.
Long live the working class! Long live May Day! Long live ICWP!
—Comrade in El Salvador
Letter: How Much Is a Worker’s Life Worth?
While the wealthy receive care in luxury private hospitals, millions of workers wait hours, days, and even months to receive medical care. That is the true face of the capitalist healthcare system: a business built on human suffering.
“The working class produces all of society’s wealth, but when it gets sick, it is abandoned and cast aside,” said C. “Governments talk about the ‘right to health,’ but in practice, health comes at a price. If you have money, you live. If you’re poor, you wait. And often, you die. How much is a worker’s life worth?”
“In public hospitals, there are never any medicines. In single rooms, if there are even beds, we’re crammed together—if they don’t leave us in the hallways,” said D. “And there’s a shortage of doctors and equipment. Nurses work exhausting shifts for miserable wages.
“When we workers get sick, we have to keep working because we can’t afford to rest,” D continued. “And if it’s absolutely necessary to take sick leave, we starve and might lose our jobs. Capitalism turns even the human body into a commodity.”
The pandemic laid bare this brutal truth. While thousands of workers died without oxygen or medical care, big pharmaceutical companies raked in billions in profits. Vaccines, medicines, and treatments were treated as commodities rather than human necessities. For capitalists, health is not a right. It is a business opportunity.
“Every ignored workplace accident. Critical health conditions that workers often develop due to the very working conditions imposed by employers. How many patients abandoned in hallways. A family going into debt to pay for an operation. All this shows how much the working class’s life is worth to this system: less than a company’s profits,” said J.
Capitalism cannot offer truly humane healthcare because its priority is not life, but profit. A system based on exploitation will never put the needs of the people above money.
Only a communist society, organized to meet human needs rather than private profits, can guarantee decent healthcare for all. Hospitals at the service of the people. Free and preventive healthcare. Scientific research to save lives rather than enrich monopolies.
The struggle for healthcare is also a class struggle. It is not enough to demand reforms: we must organize and fight the system that turns human suffering into a business. We must put an end to this rotten system and fight directly for communism. Join and fight with our party, the ICWP!
Red Flag calls on the working class and the youth to unite and fight massively. Because our lives are worth more than their profits.
—Comrades in El Salvador
Letter: Cuba: US Imperialism Versus State Capitalism
“Thousands of activists in Latin America still sympathize with and support the ‘Cuban Revolution,’ the Castro brothers, and Che,” said a comrade.
In mid-May, the press reported that two-thirds of the island would be without electricity due to a fuel shortage. US imperialism is using various brutal attacks to force the Cuban government to “peacefully” hand over the island to US bosses.
In Mexico, a humanitarian aid campaign is demanding that the government send oil and not just food supplies. These have largely been donated by supporters and delivered from government to government.
Here, the newspaper La Jornada is leading a fundraising drive for “support for Cuba.” In reality, support for the exploitative revisionists in the Cuban government.
The Cuban working class is a class opposed to those who pocket the value created by them. That value goes far beyond their meager wages. They are our brothers and sisters and do not deserve to suffer.
The guilty parties are the capitalists. Those in the US and their governments, and secondarily, the Cuban rulers.
Political deals between the imperialists and capitalists will not liberate us. Only communism will.
Capitalism in Cuba has been exposed, albeit in a limited way, by various studies and activists. Particularly by the new communist movement now led by the ICWP.
State capitalism, even when labeled “socialist,” was and is what has existed in Cuba.
It is a priority to promote class consciousness and the education of the ICWP among the exploited and oppressed in Cuba. The best way we can help the working class in Cuba and around the world is to organize and fight for a communist society on an international scale.
That will put an end to this murderous, warmongering, and starvation-inducing capitalist system—from Gaza to Cuba.
—Comrade in Mexico
Please send your letters, responses, and suggestions to Contact@ICWPRedFlag.org