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Thoughts on the Venezuelan Communist Party's position on the Guyana situation?

I find it amazing that in 30 countries of europe only one politican managed to arrive in their office with a human brain. The rest has empathy of chatbots

🚨 Mujahideen Brigades:

Our Anti-Air Defense Unit, at 12:50 PM, targeted a Zionist helicopter with a SAM-7 missile and hit it directly, and the operation was documented.

twitter | nitter

Cyprus Communist Initiative launched, aims "to rebuild the workers’ and people’s movement"

With the sickle and hammer as its symbol, the Cyprus Communist Initiative has been formalised into an official body, was announced on Saturday.

Under the full name "Cyprus Communist Initiative, for the rebuilding of the workers’ and people’s movement", the new group “aspires to fill the political vacuum that has existed for years in Cypriot society, and to become a rallying force for the struggles of the working class and the broader popular strata.”

Concerning the long-standing Cyprus issue, the founding statement of the Initiative points out: "For the Cyprus issue, special importance is given as an international problem of invasion and occupation by Turkey and foreign NATO imperialist interventions. These interventions instrumentalized and strengthened nationalism-chauvinism, culminating in the twin crime of the treacherous fascist coup and the Turkish invasion. This action led to the violent division of the country and the people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

The group was founded on December 2 and its board was appointed on Friday. The statute provides for a horizontal structure.

It is made up of executive secretary Christos Kourtellaris, organising secretary Leandros Savvidis, secretary general Marios Ioannou, treasurer Andri Louka and the members (alphabetically) Alexis Antoniou, Chrysanthi Epifaniou, Nicolas Nicolas, Yannis Sokratous and Maria Sokratous.

the acursed house of Saud is bombing Yemen.

EDIT: MISSINFORMATION ! Sorry

5m ago (08:00 GMT)

Israeli army says Jabaliya camp in Gaza surrounded

The Israeli army says it has surrounded the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza after destroying what it called “terrorist infrastructure”.

Jabaliya camp, the largest in Gaza, has already been the target of Israeli air attacks multiple times since October 7, resulting in the killing of hundreds of people and destruction of infrastructure.

- Al Jazeera

The Country of the Week is Laos!

As mentioned in the preamble, feel free to post or recommend any material related to Laos, whether from a thousand years ago or yesterday. You can post it anywhere in the thread, but you can also reply to this comment if you wish.

If you're feeling particularly ambitious and want homework, you could take on any or all of these questions (no reward, but I'll be very proud of you):

• Who are the main political actors? Are they compradors, nationalists, international socialists, something else?
• What are the most salient domestic political issues; those issues that repeatedly shape elections over the last 10, 20 years. Every country has its quirks that complicate analysis - for example, Brexit in the UK.
• What is the country's history? You don't have to go back a thousand years if that's not relevant, and I'm counting "history" as basically anything that has happened over a year ago.
• What factions exist, historically and currently? If there is an electoral system, what are the major parties and their demographic bases? Are there any minor parties with large amounts of influence? Independence movements? Religious groups?
• How socially progressive or conservative are they? Is there equality for different ethnic groups, or are some persecuted? Do they have LGBTQIA+ rights? Have they improved over time, or gotten worse?
• What role do foreign powers play in the country’s politics and economy? Is there a particular country nearby or far away that is nearly inseparable from them, for good or bad reasons? Is their trade dominated by exports/imports to one place? Are they exploited, exploiters, or something in between?
• If applicable, what is the influence of former colonial relationships on the modern economy and politics?
• Is the country generally stable? Do you think there will be a coup at some point in the future, and if so, what faction might replace them?

The previous country was Burkina Faso.

This is our Geopolitics Reading List so far! Please chime in with suggestions!

General Theory:

• Super Imperialism, by Michael Hudson.
• Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism’s Final Crisis, by John Smith.
• Superexploitation and the Imperialist Drive of Capitalism: How Marini's 'Dialectics of Dependency' Goes beyond Marx's 'Capital', by Andy Higginbottom.
• Capital Volume 3 Lecture Series, 32 videos, 10-15 minutes each, by Andy Higginbottom.
• World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction, by Immanuel Wallerstein.
• Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire, by Radhika Desai.
• Capitalism, Coronavirus and War: A Geopolitical Economy, by Radhika Desai.

Canada:

• Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination, by Tyler Shipley.

Chile:

• 1000 Days of Revolution: Chilean Communists on the Lessons of Popular Unity (I cannot personally find an online version).
• Santiago Boys Podcast, analyzing Allende's government and Cybersyn.

Lebanon:

• A History of Modern Lebanon, by Fawwaz Traboulsi.

United States:

• Drug Cartels Do Not Exist: Narcotrafficking in US and Mexican Culture, by Oswaldo Zavala.

Venezuela:

• Objective Conditions in Venezuela: Maduro’s Defensive Strategy and Contradictions Among the People, a longform article by Steve Ellner.

Israel is attacking yet another hospital.

Director-General of the WHO...

Reports of minimally functioning Al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza being besieged are extremely concerning. There are still patients and health personnel inside the facility, who must be protected. We call for an immediate ceasefire. #NotATarget

Nitter

Helicopter crash in Esequibo: 5 Guyanese soldiers died and 2 have survived. (Spanish Only)

Five Guyanese military personnel were killed and two survived in an accident while on their way by helicopter to visit troops near the de facto border with Venezuela, the Guyana Defense Force reported Thursday.

The Bell 412 helicopter disappeared on Wednesday, some 48 kilometers from the Venezuelan border, and the search for it was hampered both the day before and today by bad weather.

The deceased are Lieutenant Colonel Michael Charles, who was piloting the aircraft; Colonel Michael Shahoud, commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion; Lieutenant Colonel Sean Welcome; retired Brigadier General Gary Beaton and Sergeant Jason Khan.

According to authorities, the helicopter departed Ayanganna Base in western Guyana at 9:23 local time (14:23 GMT) yesterday with three crew members and four passengers. However, at 11:20 local time (15:20 GMT), the ship sent out an emergency alert in the Arau area of western Guyana.

Chief of Defence Force Staff Omar Khan explained at a press conference last night at the Ayanganna Base that the helicopter landed at Olive Creek to refuel, but after take-off, communication was lost.

The officer indicated that presumably the emergency alert indicated that the helicopter crashed, fell hard or may have been manually tampered with by a crew member. Following this, military forces activated a search and rescue operation, which included a plane loaded with special forces officers and another helicopter.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips says authorities are still trying to determine what caused the helicopter to crash. Officials say there has been no indication to suggest any hostile fire.

Guyana/Venezuela Conflict:

Brazil:

Defense Minister José Múcio says that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro already knows Brazil's position. The country will not support Venezuelan action in Guyana to seize the territory of Essequiba. Former Foreign Minister Celso Amorim to the country said: "The message is that the Brazilian government won't accept a solution that isn't peaceful."

In order to avoid a conflict in the region, President Lula consulted Itamaraty about a possible meeting, mediated by Brazil, between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali. The tension on Brazil's northern border is a challenge to the foreign policy of Lula, who is an ally of President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Lula has already stated that he hopes "common sense prevails" in the territorial dispute

It seems that, for the time being, the Brazilian government is not expecting a conflict. The situation is not yet serious, nor is it worthy of panic. Brazil, as the main power in the region, is simply playing its part by monitoring the situation closely.

Presidential inauguration of Javier Milei

Only 8 heads of government/state attended Javier Milei's inauguration. No G20, G7 or BRICS leaders attended the inauguration of Argentina's new president.

The presidential baton received by Javier Milei contains the faces of his 5 carved dogs.

Volodymyr Zelensky becomes an attraction at Javier Milei's inauguration. The Ukrainian president posed for photos with attendees at the swearing-in ceremony inside the Argentine Congress.

Swedish court denies Tesla motion over postal dispute as strike spreads across Nordics

A Swedish court denied a motion by Tesla to temporarily force a mail carrier to deliver licence plates, despite joining strike action against the electric carmaker.

Since October 27th, some 130 mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven Swedish cities have been striking to protest against the carmaker's refusal to sign a collective agreement with the metalworkers union IF Metall.

The strike has since grown into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden's labour model, including postal workers.

As licence plates for new cars are only delivered by mail in Sweden, the blockade could stop new Teslas hitting the road there, something Tesla CEO Elon Musk branded "insane".

...

Tesla originally saw some success with its lawsuits as a separate district court issued a provisional ruling last week that the transport agency should allow Tesla to pick up licence plates directly from the manufacturer.

The ruling was however appealed, with the appellate court on Tuesday suspending the district court's decision.

My flight for Taiwan leaves tomorrow early as fuck. I'll be there for a while. Kind of nice to get away from Guatemala and the political bullshit going on while temporarily staying in a country where I can actually go outside without being worried about getting mugged. Need to brush up on my rusty Mandarin.

Actual unironic Ukraine ad...

So fucking stupid. Who is the target audience?

I think there's nothing new here, but another short, well-written article about how Israel is (sorry, some "influential people" in Israel are) willing to use nuclear and biological warfare to carry out their genocide.

People's World: Right-wing Israeli leaders advocate using disease and nuclear bombs against Palestinians

They're from Sweden, Switzerland, Brooklyn, California, but they "only have one country" - I just don't think they realise how this sounds to other people.

twitter | nitter

Presidents of Venezuela and Guyana will meet on December 14 due to tension due to territorial dispute (Spanish Only)

Maduro invites Guyana and the oil company ExxonMobil to talk about Essequibo.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was also invited to the meeting.

The presidents of Venezuela and Guyana will meet next week in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the midst of high tensions due to a territorial dispute between both countries over the Essequibo, which has reached the United Nations Security Council.

The Prime Minister of the host country, Ralph Gonsalves, informed in a letter addressed to the Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, and his Guyanese counterpart, Irfaan Ali, that the meeting will be held on December 14 at 10:00 am (14:00 GMT) in that Caribbean island.

"Given the events and circumstances regarding the territorial dispute (...) we have assessed, in the interest of all (...), the urgent need to defuse the conflict and institute a proper dialogue, face to face, between the presidents of Guyana and Venezuela," the text said. "Both (presidents) have shown themselves in favor of this position in the search for a peaceful coexistence."

The meeting is being promoted by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), of which Gonsalves is president pro-tempore, and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Earlier, in a communiqué, Caracas reported recent conversations of President Nicolás Maduro with Lula da Silva, as well as with the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves (who holds the Presidency of CELAC), and the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres.

Venezuela and Guyana have been disputing the Essequibo territory for more than a century, but tensions have soared since the National Government held a referendum last Sunday in which 95% of voters supported declaring Venezuela as the legitimate owner of the region, according to official results.

South American countries, as well as Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States called these days for a détente and a peaceful solution.

Venezuela maintains that the Essequibo is part of its territory, as it was in 1777, when it was a colony of Spain. It appeals to the Geneva agreement, signed in 1966, before Guyana's independence from the United Kingdom, which laid the foundations for a negotiated solution and annulled an award of 1899.

The dispute was reignited when in 2015 U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil discovered huge crude oil reserves in the area. Guyana, with 800,000 inhabitants, was left with estimated reserves of 11 billion barrels of crude, the highest per capita in the world.

With this potential, Venezuela began to insist on its demand and since last Sunday's referendum, President Maduro ordered the state oil company PDVSA to issue licenses to authorize the extraction of crude oil in the region.

Similarly, Maduro decreed that Tumeremo, a town in the state of Bolivar (southeast), bordering the disputed area, be the capital of the eventual state of Guayana Esequiba, and opened an office of the identification agency (Saime) so that the inhabitants of that region can claim their nationality and identity card.

Lol if is saying truth (big fucking if):

Lloyd Austin informed members that if they don’t appropriate more money for Zelensky, “we’ll send your uncles, cousins and sons to fight Russia.”

Think moral calculus for ukraine tilts towards not giving money, unlimited on the senate

I believe Saudi 🇸🇦 Arabia air force trashed an f-15, supposidly the second F-15 trashed in a one-year period by the Saudi Air Force.

Edit: even funnier, according to hindustan times the dude that crashed was a Saudi prince

Kaysone Phomvihane became a dominant figure in 1875 Midwestern politics

19th century American names were so crazy man it's unbelievable

UN official warns half of Gazans are starving

A senior UN aid official has given an updated indication as to how bad the food and aid issues are in Gaza. Deputy director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Carl Skau warns that nine out of 10 people in the Palestinian territory can’t eat every day - and that half the population is starving. In an interview with Reuters, he says nothing had prepared him for the fear, chaos and despair he encountered on visiting Gaza.

As intense fighting continues across the territory, Skau insists only a fraction of the food supplies needed are coming in. He adds that conditions on the ground are making deliveries almost impossible.

- BBC

The GOP’s abandonment of Ukraine makes me ashamed to be an American

IDF Field Goon Cave

On the fence about Guyana. Maduro has more credibility than our presidents do with Belize, but it still looks like he's potentially walking into a trap.

Seized from twitter

SOUTHCOM to Conduct Flight Over Guyana - US Embassy in Guyana

In collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) will conduct flight operations within Guyana on December 7. This exercise builds upon routine engagement and operations to enhance security partnership between the United States and Guyana, and to strengthen regional cooperation.

In addition to this exercise, USSOUTHCOM will continue its collaboration with the GDF in the areas of disaster preparedness, aerial and maritime security, and countering transnational criminal organizations.

The U.S. will continue its commitment as Guyana’s trusted security partner and promoting regional cooperation and interoperability.

News outlet condemns 'humiliating' treatment of journalist it says Israel has detained

The news outlet Al-Araby al-Jadeed has condemned what it describes as the "humiliating" detention of its Gaza correspondent Diaa Kahlout by Israeli forces earlier today. In a statement, it said Kahlout's brothers, relatives and a large number of civilians were also detained by the Israeli forces in Beit Lahia, a city in the north of Gaza.

It adds soldiers forced them "to disrobe, and subjected them to invasive searches and humiliating treatment upon their arrest, prior to transporting them to undisclosed locations". The outlet "urges the international community, journalists’ rights defenders and watchdogs, and human rights bodies to denounce this ongoing assault" by Israel on journalists in the territory.

The BBC has asked the Israeli military about Kahlout's reported detention.

- BBC

Your Wednesday Briefing

The UK and Rwanda have signed an agreement to relaunch the UK asylum seeker policy, stating that this new one would address the issues raised by the UK Supreme Court last month when it struck it down.

Albanian opposition MPs - that is, those in the anti-socialist party - could be sentenced to five years in prison if they keep starting fires in parliament. Previously, conservative MPs have set off flares and set fire to piles of paper, and almost set fire to a stack of chairs piled in the center of the room.

The largest amount of snowfall in 145 years dropped in Moscow on December 3rd, with 10.7 mm in 12 hours - one third of the usual monthly precipitation in 24 hours. Also, a draft law has been submitted in Russia to ban the ability of parents to give names of the opposite sex to their babies.

The world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant has gone into operation in east China's Shandong Province, with a 200 MW capacity and 93% of its equipment being sourced from within China. On a related note, the IAEA predicts that about a dozen new countries are expected to start producing electricity from nuclear power within the next few years - including Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Namibia, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. And John Kerry has announced a nuclear fusion engagement plan with 35 nations, focussing on supply chains and regulation.

New Mexico is investing $500 million into purchasing water from treated oilfield wastewater, and brackish saltwater from aquifers, as desperation for water in the region increases.

Canada is preparing to give $15.3 billion in new subsidies to fossil fuel corporations in the form of tax credits for carbon capture and storage, of which the captured carbon is mainly used to pressurize oil fields to produce even more oil.

Ex-President of Peru, 85-year-old Fujimori, is being released from prison on health grounds. He was in prison for human rights violations, forced sterilizations of hundreds of thousands of people, and several massacres against left-wing forces like the Shining Path.

Maduro has announced that he is granting oil-drilling licenses in the Esequibo despite not actually controlling it, as well as assigning mining, forestry, and electric projects.

The horror compared.

Gazan: "Seven people in my family have been killed and a niece lost both her legs. Since the war started we moved five times to try to find a safe place. My children are hungry all time. My youngest has had a fever but there's very little we can do about that. We have no medicine and healthcare doesn't exist. We are living here right in this tent. But we'll have to move again soon because there aren't any bathrooms or running water. But I don't know where we will go or what we will do."

Israeli: "I went to the bakery and they were out of gluten-free muffins."

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Ninja edit: Those aren't real quotes. I made them up.

Lula will not attend Milei's inauguration

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party), will not attend the inauguration of Javier Milei as President of Argentina on December 10, as confirmed to the portal G1 by the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil. Vice-President Geraldo José Alckmin (Socialist Party of Brazil) will not attend either.

The official sources quoted by the portal also added that Brazil will be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira.

Kissinger ass goodbye.

I numbered the following Guardian summary to be easier to comment on. What a horror show.

The summary has lots of links if you're interested.

---

tl;dr

2. The cumulative total is 17,177 deaths and 46,000 injured

3. Nowhere is safe.

5. Israel is attacking a hospital. I put this in a comment already.

7. In the West Bank - Israel is shooting people in the head and torso instead of the legs.

8. Unbearable, unsustainable, no safe place

9. Netanyahu warned Hezbollah.

10. Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said that Israel’s attacks on the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip is "genocide".

11. No progress on a new humanitarian pause.

12. Biden's going to use the US's veto at the UN when they call for ceasefire.

13. The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, has said Israel should "behave differently".

14. On October 13th Israel killed a Reuters journalist

16. Four arms factories in UK closed due to protesters. Other activity happening in France, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Summary of the day so far | The Guardian

It’s 10pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

1. Israel’s military has continued its heavy bombardment amid intense fighting in Gaza as its war with Hamas hit the two-month mark. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had struck about 250 targets in Gaza over a 24-hour period, ending on Thursday morning. At the northern end of the Gaza Strip, there was heavy fighting in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
    
2. At least 350 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the course of 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said in its latest update on Thursday. The cumulative total is 17,177 deaths and 46,000 injured since the war began on 7 October, according to the ministry’s tally. About 20 people were killed in airstrikes that hit two homes in the residential part of Rafah in southern Gaza, according to witnesses. Rafah, a town on the southern border with Egypt, is where the IDF has told people to relocate to avoid areas likely to be bombed.
    
3. Israeli forces have given contradictory recommendations to Gaza civilians on where to seek refuge and humanitarian relief. Those who have fled to an IDF-declared “humanitarian zone” at al-Mawasi in the south-west corner of the Gaza Strip have depicted a desperate scene with no shelter and barely any food. The IDF, meanwhile, has not ruled out bombing the area.
    
4. The UN aid chief has said there are “promising signs” that the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel could soon be opened to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. “It would be the first miracle we’ve seen for some weeks, but would also be a huge boost to the logistical process and logistical base of a humanitarian operation,” Martin Griffiths told reporters on Thursday. His comments came after a senior Israeli official said that Israel will open the crossing for the inspection of humanitarian aid trucks for the first time since the outbreak of the war.
    
5. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has described reports of Al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza being besieged as “extremely concerning”. On Wednesday, a hospital spokesperson said the facility was “besieged” by Israeli forces, adding that 95 employees and 38 patients were still inside the hospital.
    
6. The IDF said it killed two senior officials in Hamas’s intelligence division in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip this week. In a statement, the IDF said Abed al-Aziz Rantisi and Ahmed Ayush were killed in a strike on a Hamas intelligence command room “a few days ago”. Separately, the IDF said the son of Israeli cabinet minister Gadi Eizenkot was killed in fighting in northern Gaza.
    
7. The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said there had been a “clear shift” in the injuries of Palestinian gunshot victims in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. MSF staff in West Bank hospitals have noted that victims are now being shot more often in the head and torso rather than the limbs, according to the organisation’s international president, Christos Christou. Meanwhile, Belgium will deny entry to Israeli settlers from the occupied West Bank involved in violence against Palestinians, the country’s deputy prime minister, Petra De Sutter, has said.
    
8. MSF head Christos Christou has also warned that Gaza faces a catastrophe extending far beyond a humanitarian crisis, describing the situation in the densely populated enclave as chaotic. “My teams on the ground keep saying to me that it is unbearable. It is unsustainable...There is no safe place,” he said.
    
9. Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Hezbollah against escalating the fighting after an Israeli man was killed by a guided-missile attack fired from Lebanon on Thursday, according to Israeli reports. “If Hezbollah chooses to start an all-out war then it will by its own hand turn Beirut and southern Lebanon, not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Younis,” the Israeli prime minister said.
    
10. The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said that Israel’s attacks on the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip amounted to “genocide”, and urged the bombing be stopped as soon as possible. His comments came as he spoke to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in a meeting on Thursday at a meeting in the Kremlin, in which Putin said it was vital to discuss the issue of Palestine.
     
11. The White House has said Israel and Hamas are not close to another deal on a new humanitarian pause. Discussions are happening “literally every day” on a possible new agreement, the White House’s national security council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Thursday. The Pentagon said the US military has resumed its flights of surveillance drones over Gaza to aid the search for hostages taken by Hamas.
     
12. The Biden administration geared up for a showdown at the UN security council in the next 48 hours at which it may feel impelled to use its veto to protect Israel by rejecting calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The United Arab Emirates, the only Arab country on the 15-strong security council, said it would table a resolution on Thursday for debate on Friday after the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and most Islamic states called for the ceasefire.
     
13. The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, has said Israel should “behave differently” in southern Gaza than it has in the north. Cameron, in an interview with CNN, said he agreed with comments by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, that Israel “cannot have a repeat of what happened in the north in the south in terms of harm being done to civilians”.
     
14. Israeli tank shells fired in quick succession killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six others as they filmed in Lebanon on 13 October, investigations by their employers have found. Human rights groups have called for a war crimes investigation into the attacks.
     
15. The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, has described a decision by António Guterres to invoke article 99 of the UN charter as “the right thing to do”. The UN chief infuriated Israel on Thursday by invoking the article to notify the security council that the crisis in Gaza represented a threat to world peace. It was the first time he had invoked the article since he became secretary general in 2017.
     
16. Four arms factories in the UK producing parts for Israeli fighter jets have been forced to close by protesters operating under the banner Workers for a Free Palestine. The blockades have been organised in coordination with workers in France, Denmark and the Netherlands, who are also blockading arms factories.

The ultra-patriotic dance of Maduro's government, the right and the business community

Article by the newspaper of the Communist Party of Venezuela