ACTIVISTS & HEROES

YOEL BITRAN—In 1989, a combination of mass protests and rising international condemnation forced the dictatorship to call for elections. But the Chilean oligarchy—which consists of the traditional land-owning aristocracy and newer generations of capitalist families—knew that though the dictator would fall, their constitution would stay intact. This meant, as Guzman predicted, that any significant changes would be rendered impossible. Thirty years later, Chile continued to have an extremely high level of economic inequality, with the highest income gap in the OECD countries.

We have just been informed that our brother Glen Ford, founding editor of Black Agenda Report, has passed. As one who profoundly admired Glen for his extraordinary lucidity and revolutionary integrity, I can only say that I am simply devastated by this terrible news. I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, but the knowledge he was there, with his equally formidable colleagues at BAR, fighting the good fight with exemplary dedication, served as a constant source of inspiration. Despite being one of America’s leading public intellectuals, he was not a household name, an injustice, no doubt, but his work will surely be remembered and utilised by future generations of true revolutionists for many years to come. Hasta la victoria siempre, Glen! 

Nov. 7, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the seizure of power by workers and peasants in the Russian Revolution, regarded as the most world-altering event in the history of civilization. To understand the context of this first socialist experiment, how it happened and what caused the many problems it faced, Abby Martin sits down with Brian Becker, long-time socialist organizer and co-author of the new book “Storming the Gates: How the Russian Revolution Changed the World.”

At 81, the great Harpal Brar, Indian-born but long a resident of Britain, communist party founder, and revolutionary theorist, is without a doubt one of the few remaining great Marxist-Leninist thinkers of the old school. In his political career, he has fought not just the capitalist enemy, but all forms of fake and theoretically erroneous leftism, from anarchism to social democracy and Trotskyism, along with communist revisionism (which undermined and eventually contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union from within). This chat with Harpal is simply to be prized. Brar’s work deserves attention and our gratitude. We are glad Caleb Maupin arranged to make this interview widely available to activists everywhere. 

Dennis Etler, an American academic committed to peace and anti-imperialist struggles, worked tirelessly to push back against the barrage of disinformation the West has hurled and continues to hurl at China. Dennis understood well that in the US playbook. character assassination usually precedes all-out attacks and even full kinetic wars. This is why the Big Lie, on which the Western elites and particularly the US rely so heavily, is also so eminently dangerous. Dennis saw early that President Xi was a superior type of politician, and an extraordinary human being, and that under his direction China would probably accomplish great things. He therefore founded a page on Facebook (!) simply entitled Xi Jinping – China’s Exceptional President.