Journal of People was in recess for the last few weeks. During these weeks Journal missed important stories.  Journal regrets its failure to present the stories to its readers. — Editors     

Massive “Not Him” demonstrations in Brazil a week before elections

by Emile Schepers

People’s World | October 02, 2018

People protest against Jair Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sept. 29, 2018. | Silvia Izquierdo/AP

Hundreds of thousands of women filled the streets of cities and towns throughout Brazil last Saturday, in massive demonstrations against a possible victory of the extreme right in the upcoming Oct. 7 national elections.  The slogan of the demonstrations was “Ele nao,” Portuguese for “not him.” There will be another huge mobilization on Sunday, Oct. 6, the day before the first round of the elections. The street mobilizations have been coordinated with a massive outreach via Twitter and other social media.

India: New Delhi: A Day After Farmer’s Rally Turns Violent, Cabinet Approves MSP Hike

The Wire | October 03, 2018

A labourer sifts wheat crop in a field. Credit: Reuters

New Delhi: A day after thousands of protesting farmers clashed with the police on the borders of Delhi, the Union cabinet on Wednesday raised the minimum support prices for the upcoming rabi season 2018-19. Prices for wheat have gone up by Rs 105 per quintal, masur by Rs 225 per quintal, gram by Rs 220 per quintal, barley by Rs 30 per quintal, rapeseed and mustard by Rs 200 per quintal and safflower by Rs 845 per quintal.

India: Mahendra Singh Tikait’s Kisan Union Rattles Delhi Again After 30 Years

by Kabir Agarwal

The Wire | October 02, 2018

The farmer rally passes through a street in Ghaziabad towards Delhi. Credit: PTI

New Delhi: Thirty years after lakhs of farmers led by Mahendra Singh Tikait occupied the lawns of the Boat Club for several days, farmers led by his sons have rattled New Delhi once again. But this time around, the farmers have not been allowed to enter the capital.

India: New Delhi: In Photos | A Grim Gandhi Jayanti as Kisan Rally Is Brought to a Grinding Halt

The Wire | October 02, 2018

Farmers raise slogans during the Kisan Kranti Padyatra on the Delhi-UP border on October 2, 2018. Credit: PTI/Arun Sharma

New Delhi: It was a sorry sight to see thousands of protesting farmers hit with water cannons and tear gas as they attempted to enter the capital to make their protest against the government heard on October 2. But the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and its message of peaceful protest was lost on the government as policemen placed barricades to stop the rally, and proceeded to push the farmers back by employing methods of mob dispersal.

“The blockade of Cuba must end.”

Paul Laverty, author of the screenplay for the prizewinning film on the life of dancer Carlos Acosta, describes the U.S. blockade as a disgrace

by Michel Hernández

Granma | October 02, 2018

Photo: From the film Yuli 

The British scriptwriter Paul Laverty, who won the screenplay award at the San Sebastian Film Festival, in Spain, for the film Yuli, inspired in the life of Cuban dancer and choreographer Carlos Acosta, described the blockade as “a disgrace that must end.” 

Fidel and Cuba in the heart of Vietnam

by Daina Caballero Trujillo

Granma | October 02, 2018

Nguyen Trung Thanh, Vietnam’s ambassador in Cuba. Photo: Endrys Correa Vaillant

It was September of 1973, in the province of Quang Tri, Vietnam. The “land of steel” smelled of gun powder; you could still feel the war’s cruelty. The Vietnamese people continued to struggle for independence and freedom, but Quang Tri was liberated territory and Fidel, in the name of Cuba, was there to be at their side.

Fidel was the first and only head of state to visit Vietnam in wartime. He expressed his admiration for the Vietnamese people’s capacity to struggle, to defeat the French colonialists and later the U.S. invasion.

India: AdhikarJatra Reverberates Peoples’ Demands

People’s Democracy | Vol. XLII No. 39, September 30, 2018

TENS of thousands of people have participated in the AdhikarJatra throughout West Bengal, raising peoples’ demands. The jatra, a statewidejatha, organised by Bengal Platform of Mass Organisations evoked enthusiastic response from all sections of toiling people. The main jathas are preceded, and in many cases, followed up by local and district level jathas, making the entire state reverberating demands of livelihood, democracy and unity of the people. 

Liberia: The “dictatorship of the multinational corporations”

by Moses Uneh Yahmia

Pambazuka News | October 03, 2018

Liberia has been taken over by multinational corporations that are exploiting its resources at the expense of Liberians, especially the country’s working class that serves as cheap labour to these foreign companies. 

Unlike other countries in the sub-Saharan region, Liberia was never formally colonised by European imperialism. Therefore, the West African nation was neither militarily nor politically occupied by any of the colonising states to give rise to the unhindered and unquestioned penetration of foreign capital for the colossal exploitation and exportation of raw material from the soil and sub-soil of Liberia after the partition of Africa took place in Berlin, Germany in 1884-1885.

August Assault: “Arresting Consciousness”

by Manoranjan Mohanty

Frontier | Vol. 51, No.12, Sep 23 – 29, 2018

The arrest of five human rights activists on August 28 and the strong condemnation this has invited from a wide spectrum of people all over India may become a landmark in the history of Indian democracy, especially given the judicial proceedings which have been triggered. Some implications of this development have already become clear and more will crystalise—as the case unfolds.