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VENEZUELA: Chavez: 'The US is like a venomous snake'

Jim McIlroy & Coral Wynter, Caracas The capitalist system headed by the US is like a "venomous snake", Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told an audience in the east of the country on May 20. "Capitalism is the science of the devil." "The

Solidarity with the Timorese people

Max Lane On May 24, East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and the speaker of East Timor's parliament Lu'olo sent a letter to the governments of Australia, Portugal, Malaysia and New Zealand as well as to the United

Saying 'no' to racism

Tony Iltis, Melbourne One hundred and twenty people rallied in the Footscray Mall around the slogans "Stand up for multicultural communities!" and "Howard's racism will not divide us: say no to attacks on Muslims!". The May 20 rally, organised by

RMIT refugee project under threat

Andrea Mears, Melbourne RMIT appears to be looking to end a project that provides tuition-free scholarships for a small number of refugees. Currently, 61 refugees are enrolled at RMIT through the project, which provides scholarships to temporary

24 times more wiretaps

A recently published Attorney-General's department report shows that Australians are 24 times more likely to have their phones tapped than people living in the United States. The report on the use of the Telecommunications (Interception) Act 1979

The Howard Anthem*

POEM BY JOHN TOMLINSON Battlers all, come rally roundkeep your noses to the ground.Doff your caps to interest ratefeed off loathing, fear and hate.Praise the Leader one and allat 5 foot 2 he's standing tall.He's deaf and mean, he is obscene.Small

Write On: Letters to the Editor

Rail system After the recent track work in Sydney on May 13 and 14. I feel we should debate out the proposed three weeks' straight of track work, that was cancelled, which would have resulted in Blue Mountains trains terminating at Penrith and an

CHINA: Pro-socialist forces denounce right-wing gathering

Eva Cheng A secret March gathering in Beijing of high profile pro-capitalist economists, legal experts and government advisers — most of whom are members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) — have alarmed China's waning pro-socialist forces.

SOUTH AFRICA: General strike reveals growing anger

Leo Zeilig, Johannesburg On May 18, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) led a general strike to protest against low pay, job losses and casualisation. There is growing working-class anger at the levels of poverty and unemployment in

New refugee policy introduces 'era of cruelty'

Tony Iltis, Melbourne "The optimism that many Australians felt following significant reforms to asylum and refugee policy in 2005 has been cruelly dashed by the government's wretched response to Indonesia's displeasure at the granting of protection

Young people show a lead

On June 1, students and young workers around Australia will be leading by example — showing why young people have always been at the forefront of progressive struggles. The June 1 student strike initiated by the Resistance socialist youth

A striking example

Emma Clancy The June 1 student strike against the federal government's anti-union "Work Choices" legislation has struck a real chord around the country, with students responding enthusiastically to the call to strike and organising for the action