Asking nothing in return

 by Yenia Silva Correa

Granma | October 06, 2017

Photo: Korda, Alberto

Che’s Bolivian Diary contains entries from only the first week of October – the final days of the enduring life of the heroic guerilla. In his summary of the month of September, he wrote, “The army is now showing its effectiveness in action and the bulk of campesinos won’t help us at all, and are becoming informers.”

The proximity of army forces in the area in which Che’s guerillas were moving was a constant theme in his notes, be it a result of chance sightings or news heard on the radio, which as is often the case in such situations, could well contain misinformation purposefully disseminated to put pressure on the revolutionaries.

Our Che: 50 years after his execution

by Ike Nahem

MR Online | October 09, 2017

This is an updated, re-edited version of my 2007 essay written for a Celebration of Ernesto Che Guevara’s life held in New York City in commemoration of the 40^th anniversary of his execution, attended by 300 people. —Ike Nahem

Che Lives!

Che died defending no other interest, no other cause than the cause of the exploited and the oppressed of this continent. Che died defending no other cause than the cause of the poor and the humble of this earth.

—Fidel Castro, October 18, 1967

This week in history: A half-century since the death of Che Guevara

People’s World | October 06, 2017

Che Guevara’s corpse on display in Vallegrande, Bolivia. Image taken by covert CIA operative on October 10, 1967.

On October 9, 1967, socialist revolutionary and guerrilla leader Che Guevara, age 39, was killed by the Bolivian army. The U.S. military-backed Bolivian forces captured Guevara on October 8th while battling his band of guerrillas and assassinated him the following day. His hands were cut off as proof of death and his body was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1997, Guevara’s remains were found and sent back to Cuba, where they were reburied in a ceremony attended by President Fidel Castro and thousands of Cubans.

Canadian Communists, labor, and social justice groups oppose “new NAFTA”

PEOPLE’S VOICE | October 06, 2017

Opponents of the “new NAFTA” protest outside negotiations in Ottawa, Sept. 21. | People’s Voice

OTTAWA, Canada—As NAFTA negotiators from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico gathered in Ottawa for a third round of talks, the Communist Party of Canada (CPC) held a press conference at the National Press Gallery on Parliament Hill on Sept. 21, and participated in the tri-lateral “Civil Society Summit” on Sept. 23.

The Crisis In Catalonia

The following article is an editorial which appeared in the Oct. 10 edition of Morning Star.

A woman holds a Spanish Republic flag. The Communist Party of Spain has called for a federal republic which recognizes the right of national self-determination. | Alvaro Barrientos / AP

FIRST Minister Carles Puigdemont plans to address Catalonia’s parliament today and it is suspected he might declare that country’s independence.

His intention to make such an announcement yesterday was blocked by an order from Spain’s constitutional court suspending the Catalan parliament.

Puigdemont holds that the 92 per cent vote for independence in October 1’s referendum – a vote scarred by a savage bid by the Spanish state to suppress it which injured hundreds – would legitimise any such declaration, but this continues a provocative approach which shows as little regard for Catalan public opinion as it does for the kingdom’s constitutional niceties. Only 43 per cent of eligible voters participated and for many this was because they disputed the legitimacy of the process.

Timeline of the Great October Revolution

A Journal of People compilation

September 1

A wave of support floods the Soviet Central Executive Committee from the Urals, the Donbas, the Central Industrial region, the Ukraine, Belorussia, Central Asia, etc. 126 local Soviets demand the Petrograd Soviet take power. The Petrograd Soviet adopts a resolution to support the Bolshevik party. The Mensheviks and SRs try to filibuster, but the resulting vote is still devastating: 279 to 115. This brings Bolshevik support to four major cities: Petrograd, Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Kronstadt, and Krasnoyarsk. The number of land seizures by the peasants increases to 958 incidents. Kerensky openly declares Russia a “Republic”, and arrests General Kornilov.

Scotland Can Still Offer Choice on Independence From UK

by ELISABETH O’LEARY

The Wire | October 11, 2017

Scotland’s First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) Leader, Nicola Sturgeon, speaks on the final day of the SNP conference in Glasgow, Scotland, October 10, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Glasgow, Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon told her Scottish National Party on Tuesday that Britain’s impending exit from the European Union strengthened the case for Scottish independence from the UK and that her party still has a mandate to offer a choice.

“With the UK government so engulfed in chaos and taking the country down a path of self-imposed decline, the need to (make the case for independence) has never been greater,” she told the party faithful gathered in Scotland‘s biggest city, adding that it was not clear when a new vote would be held.

Pentagon Human Rights Auxiliary pushes ICC to indict Burundi

by Ann Garrison

Pambazuka News | September 28, 2017

Agence France-Presse

A UN commission is urging the ICC to indict officials of the Burundian government for crimes against humanity as soon as possible, but Russia, China, and the African Union so oppose an indictment that it could cost the court what little political legitimacy it has left.

 

In October 2016, the tiny East African nation of Burundi made history by raising an independent head against US empire. Its legislature voted to withdraw from membership in the International Criminal Court, a tool that the US and its Western allies use to discipline unruly African leaders—especially those who sign resource extraction contracts with Russia or China, and/or those who try to do anything for their own people. The Burundian government fits both descriptions.