SOUTH AFRICA

Community health workers blockade Gauteng Department of Health

Gauteng community health care workers blocked entrances to the Department of Health building in Tshwane to demand permanent employment. groundup.org.za/

Xolobeni community being coerced into giving up land rights

Mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe wants to ask unemployed people from surrounding villages whether mining should go ahead. businesslive.co.za/

SA voters will go to 2019 elections none the wiser about who funds political parties

Laws in South Africa take a long time to make and sometimes even longer to implement. It twill be at least three years before the Political Party Funding Act compels parties to be transparent about their funding. dailymaverick.co.za/

South African industry falsely blames job losses on sugar tax

There are calls for a moratorium on the sugar tax because it is claimed, in its first year of implementation, it has been directly responsible for the loss of anything from 1,000 and up to 10,000 jobs. In reality, there is no firm evidence to support that claim – and the industry faces much greater challenges. dailymaverick.co.za/

South Africa’s journey to the right to know

Information Commissioners will gather in Johannesburg before key sessions at the UN General Assembly, where global leaders will assess progress on the right to information within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. South Africa will be reporting on the long way it has come from apartheid-era secrecy to constitutional democracy rooted in transparent government and the right to know. dailymaverick.co.za/

The political economy of corruption: elite-formation, factions and violence

Corruption didn’t start and end with Zuma. Karl von Holdt in this SWOP paper argues that competing factions of black capitalists depend on it to drive the formation of their class. wwmp.org.za [pdf 579KB]

INTERNATIONAL

Why Has Haiti Risen up Once Again?

It began with demonstrations last summer in July and August, re-emerged in November and December, and exploded again in the first two weeks of February when hundreds of thousands marched in all the major cities of the country, from the capital of Port-au-Prince to the northern city of Cap-Haïtien. counterpunch.org/

Workers from 20 states march in Delhi for better working conditions

An Indian umbrella organisation of workers’ unions rallied in New Delhi on Sunday demanding better working conditions and social security for the unorganised sector. newindianexpress.com/

Ruskin at 120: has the workers’ college lost its way?

Ruskin Hall, as it was then called, was founded by two American postgraduate students who wanted, through education, to turn the increasingly vocal working class radicals from “windbags” into “sandbags.” For its 120th anniversary, Ruskin has delved into its history to find 120 stories of its alumni, many of whom went on to be prominent figures in politics or trade unions, or leaders for social change. theguardian.com/

VENEZUELA

Remember the Maine? CIA Intervention in Venezuela

The Trump administration appears to be plotting the overthrow of the Maduro government. One can well assume that the CIA, along with other agencies of the U.S. military-industrial complex, have been recruited to destabilize Venezuela, if not worse. counterpunch.org/

The CIA’s View of Venezuela: What We Learn From the Archives

With the current crisis in Venezuela intensifying, thanks in no small part to the U.S. intelligence apparatus, it is worth examining the CIA’s declassified and partly-declassified Venezuela archives. counterpunch.org/

The Anatomy of Imperialist Intervention

What is happening in Venezuela today provides an object lesson on the nature of imperialist intervention in third world countries in the era of neoliberalism. Imperialism has of late intervened along similar lines in other Latin American countries, notably Brazil; but Venezuela, precisely because of the strong resistance it has put up, shows the techniques of imperialism in sharper relief. peoplesdemocracy.in/

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

The dishonest smearing of Ilhan Omar

A member of the U.S. Congress, Ilhan Omar, has been the subject of a smear campaign driven by her own party, accusing her of anti-semitism for criticising the Israeli lobby in the U.S. She has been forced to apologise for things she didn’t actually say, and ideas she didn’t actually express. washingtonpost.com/

2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates Defend Ilhan Omar

Ilhan Omar Is a Threat to US Empire

Progressive politicians like Ilhan Omar aren’t being attacked because they’re antisemitic. They’re being attacked because they threaten the bipartisan consensus on Israel and US empire. jacobinmag.com/

UN: Israel should face justice for crimes against humanity in Gaza

Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in killing 189 Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 at weekly protests in Gaza last year, United Nations investigators said last week. israelpalestinenews.org/