MEXICO CITY, August 23 — In Mexico City the majority of workers live in miserable neighborhoods that surround the city. The PLP’s Summer Project was based in two of these neighborhoods, and included the participation of teachers and comrades from several countries. We distributed flyers, but mostly focused on visiting CHALLENGE readers and their families. Building a base in the working class is essential for a communist revolution.

During the first week we concentrated our efforts in a neighborhood close to the most important industrial zone in the center of the country. We visited some twenty people at work and at home. We had meetings with about half of them.

These conversations made it clear that industrial workers are the key to the revolution. They have the power to stop all production and the knowledge to run the factories for the working class. In time of crisis, fascism crushes their lives and that of their families. But with PLP there to lead them, frustration and anger will become a revolutionary force. We were told that a worker has to try to make it on 600 pesos (about $48) a week, has to put up with abusive bosses, insults and often even physical abuse. Work-related injuries are common and the bosses leave workers unprotected.

One of our friends described the injury of a worker who had his ankle crushed at a bridge construction site. It was difficult for the injured worker to make ends meet on 400 pesos ($32) a week, which is the amount the boss registered for him at the social security office. His co-workers, our PLP friend included, offered their solidarity. A comrade also explained the limits of not fighting back: “what are we going to do when there is another accident? This doesn’t solve anything; we have to get organized.”

Another worker, with a simple question, underscored the challenge we face: “Do you believe the Party is ready now to lead a new society?” We are confident our political line is right and our Party is strong, and as our ties to workers strengthen and we gain more organizing experience, we will lead a communist revolution.

During the second week we visited a community to the west of the city. PLP has been organizing the neighbors to fight against government negligence related to the imminent danger of flooding of the whole community, and against the high cost of utilities, such as electric services to the homes. We visited 10 people, distributed 1,200 CHALLENGE pamphlets, and 2,000 flyers calling for a neighborhood meeting.

Close to 100 people came, including a group of the Mexican Electricians Union (SME) who advised the neighbors on the best ways to deal with the unreasonably high electric bills. We also discussed the ways governments at all levels ignore workers’ problems.

In one of our meetings, a comrade criticized us for the lack of articles about Mexico in CHALLENGE and offered to help increase their production. This Project helped us to increase the struggle against our own weaknesses, such as the low distribution of our newspaper and to understand its importance in the lives of the workers.

In addition to the work in those two neighborhoods, we held a meeting for a couple of CHALLENGE readers, and on another occasion visited two comrades who live to the east of the city, where we support a reforestation campaign.

Every person we visited received a copy of  the PLP document “Road to Revolution IV,” an invitation to join a communist school, and was asked to support or join PLP The majority indicated interest in attending meetings and distributing the paper.

We organized two communist schools for around 60 people; 10 of them were participating for the first time. We discussed political economy, fascism, and the need for a communist party.

Comrades’ skills and participants’ generosity allowed us to meet our goals. We thank our comrades for their criticisms and patience.

All the participants in the Project developed a strong sense of comradeship, and at the closing we were moved by the singing of the Internationale. The international unity that our Party promotes is key to the success of communism. Death to capitalism! Long Live Communism!

NEW YORK CITY, September 3 — Outside a popular tourist boathouse restaurant at Manhattan’s Central Park, 150 workers have been picketing and beating their drums for three weeks against their racist and sexist working conditions. They are urging all passer-bys to boycott the restaurant.

Dean Poll, the restaurant owner, won a lucrative city contract to operate the restaurant in 2000. He is under federal, state and local investigations for fraud and illegal practices. Fifteen workers were fired for trying to organize a union, while others were spied on, threatened and harassed. Thirty-two workers sued the management in 2008 for stealing their tips. Seven women workers filed sexual harassment complaints in June. For most restaurant workers, these abuses are “part of the job.” Last January, the workers filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB), but all union supporters were then fired.

Restaurant workers are among the most exploited, as they are neglected under the already-deficient labor regulations. Mostly immigrants and female, young workers are coerced into these low-wage, long-hours jobs without benefits. These conditions are inherently racist and sexist, for they disproportionally attack immigrant and female workers. In an economic crisis, bosses further harass these workers into passivity in order to squeeze out more profits. This is not an isolated situation, but the standard under capitalism.

   Three weeks ago, the workers had had enough and walked out. All of them were fired. About 30 were afraid to join the struggle and have remained inside, but others have remained strong. The workers are supported by Local 6, the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union. They are leafleting around the park and passing out pro-strike tee shirts. The workers are steadily beating drums and keeping up loud chants to promote their successful boycott.

While the union’s victory lies in bringing racist sexist Dean Poll to negotiate the workers’ scraps, PLP aims to destroy the capitalist system that exploits these workers in the first place. Two PL’ers brought CHALLENGE and some reprinted articles about the Stella D’oro strike.

Some workers knew about Stella D’oro and all were eager to learn about it. Many of the strikers are young workers from Mexico who were glad to see CHALLENGE articles about Mexico and the Verizon strike. We talked about the need to transform the whole system. Workers deserve more than just a compromise with their exploiters. The unions cannot be counted on to carry the struggle to the finish, let alone challenge capitalism.

This was demonstrated by the Verizon strike, where the union bade the militant workers to return to work before any concessions had been won. The government investigations — which steer workers’ fight-backs into compliance with the bosses’ laws — will not bring justice for workers. This is the same state that bails out banks and cuts education and healthcare. Capitalism, which breeds division among workers, cannot meet the needs of the working class.

We have made contacts, and must return to this militant picket line and discuss PLP’s anti-racist, anti-sexist, and international politics with these workers.

AL-WALAJA, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE, August 10 — The racist Israeli rulers showed how much they hate and fear Arab-Jewish unity when they launched a pogrom (a fascist attack) and ordered soldiers to violently attack demonstrators attempting to protest the racist apartheid directed towards villagers in Palestine.

We arrived at the village of al-Walesa, located at the southern entrance to Jerusalem (between the Malha mall, Beit Jallah and the settlement of Har Giloh which are included in the municipal jurisdiction of Jerusalem). The village’s status is “present absentee”; its land belongs to Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction while its residents are classified as residents of the West Bank and have no civil rights (they have orange ID cards).

When we arrived we suspected something bad was about to happen. When we took the main road to the village, the IDF (Israeli “Defense” Force) soldiers at the checkpoint stopped us to check our IDs and possibly photograph them. These soldiers gave us the feeling of “what do these Jews have to look for in this Arab area.” This just emphasized the racism of these soldiers. We then continued uninterrupted.

Approximately 20 villagers and 15 activists participated in the demonstration. We walked to where the apartheid wall was being built through the steep mountain terraces. The land was very curved and descended into shallow creeks. In the background we could hear the bulldozer.

When we reached about 200 meters (600 feet) from the construction zone, we encountered several dozen soldiers and three Border Guard officers. The soldiers — members of the Dukhifat battalion — aggressively blocked our access to the site. One officer announced this was a “closed military zone” and gave us five minutes to leave. This was ridiculous since the rough terrain would take much more time to traverse.

Very soon they started arresting protestors, launching tear gas and shock grenades. Since there were far more soldiers than demonstrators, we quickly retreated and tried to take shelter in the village’s houses. The soldiers violently drove us away from the construction site, surrounding us and shooting at us with tear gas grenades. The military arrested up to 12 activists, beating them as they were enraged to see Arab and Jewish workers united and standing up against apartheid.

Other demonstrators began driving away, and, being outnumbered, we joined them. The soldiers began raiding the village’s houses and arresting villagers, mostly children, entering houses with full body armor and guns at the ready.

When one grandmother tried to shelter her grandson and prevent his arrest, soldiers pushed her, and when she refused to give up, one soldier threw a shock grenade at her. This also happened to other villagers, especially parents who crowded around the soldiers in order to defend their children.

Our attack on this Israeli rulers’ apartheid is another example of PLP’s determination to fight racism whenever and wherever it rears its head. The fascistic treatment of these workers is a threat and an attack on the international working class.

CHINA, August 28 — A report released by the U.S. Defense Department warned that China’s current military build-up is “potentially destabilizing” in the Pacific (NYT, 8/24). The report points to China’s growing naval capabilities as a potential challenge to U.S. dominance in the region. For the last decade U.S. plans to contain Chinese growth and influence have relied on unchallenged access to the vital waterways that serve as China’s link to Middle Eastern oil reserves. In 1999 the Hart-Rudman Report stated that should a conflict arise between the U.S. and China that “the parade of supertankers streaming to Chinese ports would be vulnerable to interdiction” (Phase I, p 73).

China has apparently heeded Washington’s threats and is now making moves to secure these vital waterways. In 2010 China announced its Far Sea Defense strategy causing the New York Times to write in a panic, “The Chinese military is seeking to project naval power well beyond the Chinese coast, from the oil ports of the Middle East to the shipping lanes of the Pacific, where the U.S. has long reigned as the dominant force” (NYT, 4/23/10).

China’s naval build-up is moving forward with astonishing speed. In 2009 China revealed to international observers its new nuclear submarines (NYT, 4/21/09). In January 2011 China held the first test flight of its brand new stealth jet fighter during a visit to Beijing by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates (Reuters, 8/18). The building of a stealth fighter is particularly interesting because it is not only useless against anybody other than other imperialists like the U.S., but it was also apparently designed with the help of Russian engineers.

In July, China held the first open-seas trial of a refitted Soviet-era aircraft carrier purchased from the Ukraine. It is the first of three Chinese aircraft carriers currently under development (Reuters, 7/28). Now the Pentagon is claiming that China is developing an anti-ship ballistic missile that is capable of striking American aircraft carriers (NYT, 8/24).

The growing inter-imperialist rivalry between the U.S. and China almost led to a proxy war on the Venezuela-Colombia border in 2008, leading the U.S. to deploy more troops to Colombia (NYT, 7/23/09). Chinese plans to build the Gwadar Deep Sea Port in Pakistan have led to sharpening tensions in the area and coincide with increased U.S. air strikes into Pakistan. The recent uprising in Libya has implications for this growing inter-imperialist rivalry as well. Recently, the spokesman for the rebel Libyan oil company Agoco announced that while they had no problem with European and American companies they do “have some political issues with Russia, China, and Brazil” (NYT, 8/22). Under Qaddafi China imported 3% of its oil from Libya — it would seem that this may change.

Some liberals have commented that the Pentagon’s concern over China is just a cover to secure more funding. They argue that the U.S. still spends six times more money on its military than China does (CommonDreams, 8/26). This is an important point, but it misses the essence of the situation. The competition between imperialists inexorably moves toward broader, eventually global war. Furthermore, while the U.S. military budget is enormous, the force and the U.S. economy is overextended and vulnerable, being engaged in three simultaneous wars while maintaining 702 bases in 130 different countries. The Pentagon and the Rockeffeller-led main wing of the U.S. ruling class are deeply concerned about the increasing weakness of their imperialist machine.  

Workers, whether from China, the U.S., or anywhere, have no stake in this battle. As with all capitalist rivalries, no matter who wins the imperialist shoot-out, we lose. We will be the ones killing and dying. We will be the ones suffering under a war budget. We will be the ones suffering the devastating effects of what will likely be a war fought with nuclear weapons. Capitalists of all stripes will gladly sacrifice millions of workers, even their “own,” to secure their profits, so why should we be willing to die for them?

The only path that steers us away from this imperialist nightmare is to turn their wars for profit into communist revolution. The Russians did it during World War I, the Chinese did it during World War II. PLP is building a party that can turn the next imperialist bloodbath into a communist revolution that will free the workers of the world.