Colombia May Day

Bogota, Colombia —  A large group of workers, from different sectors, as well as students, farm workers, the unemployed, and right- and “left”-wing politicians,   participated in May Day, a celebration of the International Workers’ Day.
PLP’s contingent of workers and students joined the march from two different places, since the march had three different starting points, in addition to the neighborhood marches. Over time May Day has become a phony left electoral event, manipulated by trade unions, which have turned it into a carnival of whistles, nationalist street theater, and support for reformist “democratic left” candidates.
In contrast, PLP enthusiastically chanted, “The History of Working-Class Struggle is Not in the Voting Boxes!” and “Believing in Elections is Waiting to be Let Down!”
There was also lots of support for peace, undoubtedly because of the dialogue between the government and the insurgency in Havana. In the face of this, we chanted, “Peace is a tool of the state while they kill the workers!” and, “Peace between social classes at the service of the criminal bosses!” among others. We also talked to many workers who put their faith in democratic changes, explaining that the ever-changing capitalist puppets are only interested in enriching themselves from the labor of our class. That was the reason we chanted, “Against capitalist robbery, a communist Workers’ State!” and “No more reformism, long live communism!”
We marched waving our red flags and chanting our slogans that elicited curiosity and admiration for our political message such as, “Racism, Sexism, and Wage Slavery, Scourges of the International Working Class!”  We distributed a thousand flyers detailing the revolutionary politics of our Party and sold our newspaper CHALLENGE as we arrived at Bolivar Square singing the Internationale.  We made some contacts amongst participants, whom we plan to visit to advance our politics. We also realized that we must engage in more ideological debate with more workers and friends, calling for unity, and through our program turn these pacifist marches into militant struggles for communist ideas.