International Viewpoint
In this issue France: The anti-capitalist hope .....................................2
IV409
February 2009
New Anti-Capitalist Party founded
Once Upon a Time, the LCR ............................................3
France: The anti-capitalist hope
For international solidarity between workers................6
Pierre-François Grond
International anti-capitalist left at Belém Conference...7 NLF leader charged for participating in media protest ..8 We won’t pay for the crisis. The rich have to pay for it! 8 The sirens of protectionism..........................................10 Vote ’Yes’ to defend the Bolivarian process.................15 WOZA march for Valentines Day - 10 arrested ............16 Central America in the 21st Century ............................17
The Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (NPA - New Anti-capitalist Party) was founded on February 6, 2009, adopting a program, provisional statutes, a name, policy guidelines, and electing a new leadership. The conclusion of a process and a dynamic of gathering of anti-capitalist and revolutionary forces which started eighteen months ago. A process which implied that the LCR give way to this new party. Right now, the NPA is a new political reality, which we have been able to forge together but, beyond satisfaction, it was very much a feeling of responsibility and recognition of the gravity of the situation which dominated our debates.
Keynes reloaded? .........................................................25 Historic change in the political landscape ....................28 A hugely important victory for the people...................29
International Viewpoint
IV is the English-language review of news and analysis published under the auspices of the Executive Bureau of the Fourth International. appears in a monthly .pdf document and online at: www.internationalviewpoint.org We reply on readers’ donations.-- By bank transfer to Barclays Bank, 876-878, Stockport Road, Manchester M19 3BP, Britain; Account number 40259691; Sort code 20-26-20 From outside Britain, Our IBAN code is: IBAN GB30 BARC 2026 2040 2596 91. Our bank’s SWIFTBIC code is: BARCGB22. By post to IV, PO Box 1109, London, N4 2UU, Britain. The Fourth International also publishes reviews in French, Spanish and German. You can visit them online at these locations:Inprecor, French language journal http://www.inprecor.org/ Punto de Vista Internacional, Spanish-language journal http://puntodevistainternacional.org/ Inprekorr, German-language monthly magazine http://www.inprekorr.de/
Indeed, the creation of the NPA is not an event external to political realities. The foundation of the NPA takes place in, and undoubtedly is also explained by, a context of total crisis. Capitalism has entered a major, historic, crisis, which is not denied any more by the majority of the leaders of the planet. It cannot be reduced to a financial crisis, or the failure of the neoliberal regulation of the capitalist system, but rather represents the failure of a system of generalization of the market in order to satisfy the thirst for profits of the bosses. The masses as a whole and the world of labour are likely to pay a crisis for which the central actors of the system (the banks, financial powers, and capitalist institutions) are primarily responsible. Massive dismissals, a higher cost of living, the methodical destruction of the public services are the first demonstrations of it and have caused the first mobilizations. At the same time, an ecological and food crisis affects the very essence of people’s living conditions. In relation to this crisis of capitalist civilization, we want to build a force which defends the revolutionary transformation of society, the rebuilding of a deeply democratic socialist perspective calling into question private economic ownership. The first mobilizations have broken out. Guadeloupe and Martinique have risen against the high cost of living, injustice
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