Showing posts with label Coronavirus Pandemic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coronavirus Pandemic. Show all posts

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Cuba exposes capitalism's inherent inequality at the UN General Assembly

Mainstream media will not refer to the speech given by the Cuban Foreign Minister at the 77th UN General Assembly...

Addressing world leaders gathered for the first fully in-person high-level debate of the UN General Assembly in three years, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the true essence of the unjust and unsustainable prevailing international order.

Thursday, September 15, 2022

This is Capitalism: UN says 50 million people stuck in ‘modern slavery’

Protest against child slavery in India.
The intensification of exploitation in monopoly capitalism continues to produce modern ways of slavery, which was particularly escalated during the two years of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020-2022. 

Fifty million people around the world are trapped in forced labor or forced marriage, the UN said Monday, warning that their ranks had swelled dramatically in recent years.

The study by the UN's agencies for labor and migration along with the Walk Free Foundation found that at the end of last year, 28 million people were in forced labor and 22 million living in a marriage they had been forced into. That means nearly one out of every 150 people in the world are caught up in modern forms of slavery, the report said. The Covid pandemic, which worsened conditions and swelled debt levels for many workers, has heightened the risk, the survey found.

Saturday, June 18, 2022

The pandemic revealed the bankruptcy of capitalism

On 15/6, the Health–Welfare Section of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) presented its new publication under the title “COVID-19 pandemic: Capitalism in its twilight”. Workers in the Health–Welfare and other sectors, young people, and students flooded the park next to the largest hospital in the country, “Evangelismos”, where the book presentation took place. Among them were many vanguard trade unionists who work in public hospitals and who, for the past two years, under the extremely difficult conditions of the pandemic, have been at the forefront of the struggle to defend people’s health. 

Thursday, February 17, 2022

European Communist Initiative: "Capitalism is responsible for Covid pandemic casualties"

In a statement, the Secretariat of the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties (European Communist Initiative) stresses out:

The Covid-19, which was first detected in late 2019 and declared as a worldwide pandemic in March 2020, has been going on for almost two years. During this period, 271 million people were infected, and more than 5 million people died due to Covid-19. The vast majority of deaths have been in the United States, which has the most market-oriented healthcare system in the world; however, “developed” European countries with big economies also lead the ranking of deaths.

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Brazilian Communist Party: "The crisis generated by the pandemic evidenced the superiority of Socialism"

The text below is the contribution of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) to the Extraordinary Teleconference of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties (IMCWP) which was held on 10-11 December 2021:

"Dear Comrades: Receive the fraternal and revolutionary greetings of the Brazilian Communist Party, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. We recently successfully held our XVI Congress. The PCB is organized throughout the country and it’s present in the struggles of the workers and the youth.

Friday, December 10, 2021

Greece: KKE slams Mitsotakis government's criminal handing of the pandemic

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) has sharply criticised the policy of New Democracy government over Covid-19 pandemic, including the low vaccination rate and the dramatic situation in the public Health System.

In a comment issued on Thursday, the Press Bureau of the CC of the KKE points out:

“Instead of pointing their finger, the government and the Minister of Health should answer the critical questions:  

Monday, November 22, 2021

Austria: Communists slam government's policy on pandemic

In a statement titled "Lockdown for the unvaccinated: diversionary tactics and government failure", the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA) condemns the federal government's policy on the management of the pandemic situation.

The statement reads:

On the 15th of November 2021, the federal government imposed an Austria-wide "lockdown for the unvaccinated". The Party of Labour of Austria cannot agree to this measure and wants to state the following points in this regard:

Sunday, April 25, 2021

India: Communist Party leader Sitaram Yechury urges PM Modi to take urgent action as Covid crisis deepens

India's healthcare system is buckling as a record surge in Covid-19 cases puts pressure on hospital beds and drains oxygen supplies. According to international reports, families are left pleading for their relatives who are desperately ill, with some patients left untreated for hours.

Crematoriums are organising mass funeral pyres. On Friday 24 April India reported 332,730 new cases of coronavirus, setting a world record for a second day running. Deaths were numbered at 2,263 in 24 hours. 

Thursday, February 18, 2021

A YEAR OF CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC — JOINT STATEMENT BY COMMUNIST AND WORKERS' PARTIES

A year after the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Communist and Workers' Parties from all over the world issued a statement assessing the current situation and pledge to continue the struggle for public, free and universal healthcare services, as well as for protection of the workers-people's democratic rights. 
 
The statement, among others, underline the fact that the pandemic has highlighted the necessity of Socialism which can put the contemporary scientific and technological potential at the service of the people's needs. 

The full statement is as follows:

Monday, February 1, 2021

Communist Party of Turkey: The Coronavirus pandemic is yet another evidence of the historical collapse of capitalism

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) has released a political report focusing on COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Turkey's working class, examining the policies of Tayyip Erdogan's government.

"The coronavirus pandemic, which has affected the whole world since the first months of last year, not only showed once again how devastating capitalism is as a social system but also showed the extent of its desperation. From this point of view, the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus cannot be seen as a health problem alone,” the report said. 

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Capitalism is the virus, Socialism is the vaccine!

By Nikos Mottas.

The 2008 global capitalist economic crisis, the effects of which are still visible today, was a tremendous opportunity for the big capitalists to increase their wealth. During a period of ten years, from 2008 to 2018, the number of billionaires was doubled, like their profits. It has been proved that the crisis generates more capitalists.

The Coronavirus pandemic, which has plagued the world since the beginning of 2020, comes to confirm that capitalist barbarity “feeds” from the people's death, poverty, impoverishment and exploitation. The recent report by Forbes is revealing: 

Friday, December 11, 2020

Who will pay for the crisis? Lufthansa receives $10 billion state bailout and cuts 30,000 jobs

On November 14th we were writing that at least 90,000 people will lose their job by the end of December as a result of mass layoffs by major U.S. airline companies. Aviation giants, such as United Airlines and American Airlines laid off 32,000 workers last October in an attempt to blackmail the U.S. government for higher subsidies.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a serious impact on the aviation industry due to travel restrictions and a significant slump in demand among travellers. No travellers means less profits for the big airliners. In order to reduce losses, the monopolies of aviation proceed to a series of anti-labor measures, including pay cuts, furloughs and, of course, layoffs. 

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Solidarity with the workers and staff in U.S. airlines — No to layoffs, pay cuts and anti-labor measures!

Employment will drop by 90,000 full-time employees by December, according to Airlines for America trade group, which represents major U.S. airlines.

The 90,000 job losses will bring U.S. airlines employment to its lowest level since the mid-1980s by year's end as a result of more than 30,000 furloughs at airlines such as United and American and thousands of other workers from Southwest, Delta Airlines and other carriers accepting buyouts, CNBC reported.

Bureau of Transportation Statistics data that the trade group compiled show the drop from pre-COVID peak in March of 460,000 full-time jobs to 370,000 full-time jobs by year's end.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Lockdown capitalist policies! KKE slams Greek government's handling of the pandemic

Since November 7th Greece has entered a second nationwide lockdown, following a decision by the conservative New Democracy (ND) government. The lockdown is accompanied by tough penalties for violations of the quarantine and non-observance of social distancing. 

Alongside the lockdown, as the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) mentions, the government has committed crimes against the people's health and safety in order to serve the interests of the capital in a number of industry branches. 

Sunday, October 25, 2020

European Communist Initiative: The pandemic reveals the criminal inadequacy of health systems in all capitalist states

Statement by the European Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties on the new outbreak of the pandemic:

The new outbreak of the pandemic throughout Europe is a reality that did not come out of thin air. The claims of the bourgeois governments that they “took measures” and “shielded the public health systems” after the first wave of the pandemic, as well as that “in the course of the pandemic the EU wised up and stands in solidarity with the peoples”, are myths.

Following the new wave of the pandemic, all these claims are day by day revealed and bankrupt. The increase in deaths, cases, and intubated patients reveals the responsibility of the EU and the government directions over time, which left the public health systems destitute of staff, infrastructure, ICUs, reagents, and tests.

Friday, October 16, 2020

New Communist Party of the Netherlands: The consequences of the pandemic for the people and government's response

In a declaration the New Communist Party of the Netherlands (NCPN) and its youth wing, the Communist Youth Movement (CJB), refer to the rapid increase of Covid-19 cases in the country, the consequences of the new economic crisis and the response of the Dutch government which takes measures in order to safeguard the capital's interests.

The declaration reads:

The number of hospital admissions and deaths caused by the coronavirus is rising rapidly. Meanwhile, increasingly more people are feeling the consequences of the new economic crisis. Among workers, students, and pupils, there is a lot of uncertainty about the second wave and the economic crisis, as well as what this will mean for their job or education. The government, however, refuses to offer solutions and leaves everything to ‘individual responsibility’. Only big capital can count on the government for generous support.

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Communist Party of Greece: Statement of the CC on national and international developments

Statement by the Central Committee of the KKE on national and international developments

1. The Central Committee of the KKE met on Monday, September 7, 2020, and examined the tasks and actions of the Party and the KNE under these complex and difficult conditions for the people, formed by the course of international and national developments. These developments are defined by:

The further escalation of the intra-imperialist competitions in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which include the contradictions of the bourgeois classes of Greece and Turkey and the escalation of Turkish aggression.

The course and outbreak of the pandemic in our country and internationally, the tragic situation in public health systems, the consequences of the pandemic on the life and the rights of the working class and the popular strata, as a result of anti-popular policies and measures.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

KKE: The joint action and coordination of the Communist Parties under pandemic conditions

The following article was published in "Rizospastis", the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), on 23 May 2020.

By Elisaios Vagenas*.

The recent successful tele-conference held by the Communist and Workers’ Parties that cooperate within the framework of the European Communist Initiative, in which 24 parties from many European countries participate, constituted a new form of exchanging opinions and coordination of their efforts.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

How the Indian communist-run state of Kerala successfully fought Coronavirus outbreak

The Indian state of Kerala has been a role model in the fight against Coronavirus pandemic. With a population of 34 million people, Kerala is governed by the ruling coalition of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The state’s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, is a member of the Communist Party’s Political Bureau. 

The communist party-run state has managed to contain COVID-19 spread better than most other Indian states. Kerala has reported only 4 deaths (COVID-19 related) with 600 cases after more than 3 months since the first outbreak of the virus in January. 

Monday, May 18, 2020

The "American Dream" in times of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed, in the most tragic way, the actual essence of the so-called “American Dream”. 

The images from the mass graves in Hart Island, the overloaded morgues, the utter failure of the U.S. health system to protect the people from the pandemic are characteristics of capitalism’s advanced decay.