Category: News

It’s time to imagine, construct and mobilize around left alternatives!

Wame Handa

By Amali Wedagedara The apologists to the SLPP government took offense when the budget 2021 was called ‘neoliberal’. However, TINA is not in their control. Starting from the budget, government’s ideologue’s take on how to create wealth to the government’s policy on developing the East Container Terminal of the Colombo harbour, all cry out “There Is No Alternative to the market”. Private agri-business companies are the solution to backward agriculture. Venture capitalists and equity market and tax concessions to the big capital can drive the Sri Lankan economy. The government…

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First as tragedy, then as farce? AUR and the long shadow of fascism in Romania

Wame Handa

Friday 15 January 2021, by Raul Carstocea In the current political climate, witnessing an ascendance of far-right parties across Europe, and a more general shift to the right in mainstream politics globally, Romania was often pointed out as an exception in this respect, certainly when it came to the area of Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe. Since 2008, when the Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare, PRM) failed to meet the 5% electoral threshold for entering Parliament, there had been no far- or radical-right parties in the Romanian Parliament. As…

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Sri Lanka joins the struggle against the Adani Group

Wame Handa

Sri Lankans join hands with the Indian farmers against Adani Group. While Modi government trying to hand over the agriculture sector to Adani, Sri Lankan Government is attempting to lease the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) of Colombo port to Adani Group of India. 23 Trade Unions attached to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) joined together to carry out a struggle against this attempt of Rajapakshe government. Their demand is to handover the operations of ECT only to SLPA.  Harbour Trade Unions launched several struggles including strikes to defeat the…

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Chomsky and Prashad: Three major threats to life on Earth that we must address in 2021

Wame Handa

Posted Jan 06, 2021 by Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad This article was produced by Globetrotter. Large parts of the world—outside of China and a few other countries—face a runaway virus, which has not been stopped because of criminal incompetence by governments. That these governments in wealthy countries cynically set aside the basic scientific protocols released by the World Health Organization and by scientific organizations reveals their malicious practice. Anything less than focused attention to managing the virus by testing, contact tracing, and isolation—and if this does not suffice, then…

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Don’t Be Fooled: The Most Diverse Cabinet in History Is Pure Demagogy

Wame Handa

Post on: January 8, 2021 Jimena VergaraOlivia Wood Biden boasts that his new cabinet “looks like America.” However, whether the cabinet “looks like” the working class has nothing to do with their interests and politics. Make no mistake: these politicians will always put the capitalists above the workers. Liberals are celebrating what is shaping up to be the most diverse cabinet ever. The new president wants to use the “diversity card” to hide the fact that his cabinet will govern for the super-rich, by applying the neoliberal recipe in times…

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Statement by “Comunistas” on recent events in Cuba

Wame Handa

On 1 January 2021, the reform of the Cuban monetary system came into effect. It marks the end of the dual currency system and is part of a process of liberalization of the economy that began ten years ago, with the opening up of several sectors to private capital. These measures were inevitably accompanied by the rebirth of a bourgeoisie in Cuba, with, in addition to the deepening of inequalities, a cultural and ideological impact. We reproduce below a statement published at the end of November on the blog Comunistas…

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Cremation? Burial? Do not allow another religious conflict!

Wame Handa

Press Release Left voiceNo 17,Barrack Lane,Colombo 02. 2020.12.31 Cremation? Burial? Do not allow another religious conflict! Controversy has erupted across the country over the forcible cremation of the bodies of Muslims who died of the Corona pandemic. Since cremation is against Muslim religious and cultural beliefs, Muslims have started protests demanding that their bodies be allowed to be properly buried. On the contrary, Sinhala monks are also protesting against the demand, urging the government to cremate all the bodies. They are holding protests. The government has once again appointed an…

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“Put a Crimp in the Belt and the Whole Belt Freezes”: The Anniversary of the Flint Sit-Down Strike

Wame Handa

Post on: December 30, 2020  William Lewis Today, 84 years ago, the Flint sit-down strike began. By sitting down, autoworkers stood up for the entire working class and set into motion a movement that built a mighty labor movement. As the pandemic and economic downturn continues to wreak havoc, it is important to remember what solidarity and grit can accomplish. When people picture the labor movement of the 1930s, one image that comes to mind is stern men sitting on car seat cushions reading the newspaper. They’re picturing the Flint sit-down strike.…

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Argentina abortion: Senate approves legalisation in historic decision

Wame Handa

Argentina’s Congress has legalised abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy, a ground-breaking move for a region that has some of the world’s most restrictive termination laws. Senators voted in favour of the bill after a marathon session with 38 in favour, 29 against and one abstention. Until now, abortions were only permitted in cases of rape or when the mother’s health was at risk. The bill had been approved by the Chamber of Deputies earlier this month. The Catholic Church, which remains highly influential in Latin America, had…

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60 journalists were murdered in 2020

Wame Handa

30 December 2020 In 2020, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s leading organization of the profession, recorded 60 killings of journalists and media personnel in targeted attacks, bomb blasts and crossfire in 16 countries around the world, 11 more than in 2019. Since 1990, the IFJ has recorded 2,676 deaths worldwide. The year 2020 will go down in history as that of an unprecedented global pandemic crisis, but also as that of the resurgence of assassinations of journalists and media personnel around the world. With 60 murders in…

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