Candidates Pledge Allegiance to U.S. Imperialism

The United States military is the largest and deadliest in the world, with over 750 military bases in 153 countries and fleets of warships, drones and satellites. Its job is to protect the global investments of the dominant finance capital wing of U.S. imperialism: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, ExxonMobil. The U.S. president is commander-in-chief of the U.S. military; for the ruling class, the 2016 elections matter. The capitalists hope to find a winning candidate who can mislead and pacify millions of U.S. workers, as Barack Obama did in 2008 and 2012 to accept and fight for their imperialist wars. They especially need the support of Black, Latin and immigrant youth as soldiers in the global conflicts to come, the very same people their cops gun down in the streets.
For the working class, it will make no difference whether the next president is a Democrat or a Republican. No matter which party is in power, racist cops will terrorize Black and immigrant workers and youth. The capitalist court system will imprison them by the million. Women will suffer sexist degradation; thousands of migrant workers will die seeking a better life. Regardless of who wins the big electoral prize, the ruling class will pursue broader imperialist wars and slaughter millions of our working-class sisters and brothers worldwide.
We don’t need the bosses or their rotten capitalist version of democracy. PLP fights for communist revolution to put the working class in power. We say: Don’t vote, distribute CHALLENGE! Don’t vote, fight back against racist police terror and imperialist wars! Don’t vote, revolt and fight for communism!
Elections Settle Bosses’ Fights
The capitalists need presidential elections to sell the myth that voting can force the profit system to address workers’ needs. But that isn’t the only reason. The presidency holds enormous power. Different factions of U.S. bosses slug it out in presidential campaigns — spending billions of dollars along the way — to resolve internal disagreements over how best to handle rival imperialists like China and Russia. Having invested trillions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the finance capital wing wants to use U.S. military power more aggressively to protect ExxonMobil’s profitable oil-pumping. Obama represents this wing. Most current Democratic and Republican presidential candidates do as well.

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May Day 2015 — PLP in Pakistan Fights Back!

PAKISTAN, May 1 — “Workers of the world, unite!” was a slogan chanted with energy, enthusiasm, excitement and confidence all over Pakistan on May Day. The working class in Pakistan is still facing the same problems as the working class did in 1848. On this year’s May Day, comrades, friends and sympathizers of the international revolutionary communist Progressive Labor Party were very active bringing the working class into the streets all over Pakistan!
Nationwide, huge rallies, protest demonstrations and seminars were organized under different trade unions, student organizations, employees and women’s organizations which were attended by hundreds of thousands of workers all over Pakistan. Workers were demanding minimum wage increases to 40,000 rupees ($392 per month from the current $197), empowerment of labor courts, social security benefits to informal sector workers, an end to forced labor, the contractual system and privatization. Workers also demanded an end to poor living and working conditions, and mass unemployment.

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Ferguson Fightback and New Members Highlight May Day

CHICAGO

Chicago, April 25 — “After all this time of being around and not seeing things getting better, I finally understand the need for a party to end capitalism,” said a long-time supporter of PLP here who has now joined the Party at this year’s May Day celebration. The decision for her to join was a reflection of years of friendship, exposing her to class struggle, Party culture, and a class analysis of the successes and failures of our work in mass organizations. She, and another new comrade who joined after the dinner, represent rays of light climbing out of  the  capitalist oppression our class is in now.

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Haiti: Nothing to Lose But Our Chains

HAITI, May 1 — PLP organized several events around May Day here to build class-consciousness and PLP . Below is a report of one of the activities in a small town.
PLP members organized a gathering of rural and urban workers and students. They recalled the history of May 1 with a historical overview of slavery and the industrial revolution, up to the mobilizations of striking workers in Chicago in 1886. They described the current situation for the working class and debated how to destroy the misery, poverty and exploitation that capitalism creates. The participants responded with solidarity for PLP — organize our class, prepare the revolution, and march towards communism, the only answer to capitalism!

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May Day Marchers Blast Anti-Immigrant Detention Center

DILLEY, Texas — Over 500 anti-racists from all backgrounds, including PL’ers, marched to protest the horrendous conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center here which houses immigrant women and children fleeing the dangerous conditions of drug-related violence brought to Central America by U.S. imperialism. The government ruling Honduras in collaboration with wealthy landowners has been cracking down on small farmers, murdering and disappearing those struggling for land rights.
Miguel Facussé, a biofuel boss and cocaine importer known by the U.S. State Department, works closely with the Honduran police and military which receive generous funding from U.S. bosses under the pretext of the “war on drugs.”

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Colombia: Anti- Capitalist Rule, Pro-Communist Ideas!

Bogota, Colombia, May 1 — We celebrated one more International Workers’ Day on May Day. Early in the morning, close to 40,000 workers from the countryside and the city prepared their banners and got ready to march.
PLP distributed more than 150 Challenges and 3,000 revolutionary flyers that explained our communist line. We carried red flags symbolizing workers’ power and chanted slogans that generated curiosity amongst participants. Our chants included: “Against capitalists’ rule, advance communists’ ideas!” and “Peace between classes only serves criminal bosses!” Many others chants were vocalized by dozens and dozens of enthusiastic comrades, friends, and supporters.   

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Thousands Greet Released Power Loom Workers

FAISALABAD, Pakistan, May 6 — Today, thousands of workers were here to welcome home seven power loom workers who were released from the Central Jail after serving four-and-a-half years.  The workers led a mass march through the main streets and industrial sections of the city, from 10am to 8pm, ending in a mass rally with militant chants to welcome the freed workers home.

Six others remain in prison. In all, 14 workers were convicted by the Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) and sentenced to a total 490 years on various charges. Their only crime was organizing power loom workers to demand a government wage increase in all Faisalabad industries, especially for low-wage power loom workers. One young leader, Raja Arshad, went underground to escape arrest, and experienced many hardships. He died three months ago of a massive heart attack.

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Militant PLP Sharpens Oaxaca’s May Day

OAXACA, MEXICO, May 1 — Among the thousands of workers that participated in the May Day march in Oaxaca today, the presence of our Party, the communist Progressive Labor Party (PLP) stood out.  
This was because of our militancy and the messages of the communist slogans we chanted as a group and with great energy such as: “For a Communist and Proletariat May Day!” “We Must End Electoral Farce!” “We Struggle, We Win, Power to the Working Class!” “In Our Communist Struggle, Capitalist Criminal, You’re in Our Crossfire!” “The Crisis of the System Has No Solution, the Only Solution is Revolution!” “One Class, One Party, Workers of the World Unite!” and “Long Live Communism, Death to Capitalism!”

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May Day Marchers Hit Bosses On Homelessness, Low Wages, Racism

Newark, NJ, May 1 — Fifty people, chanting “Power to the working class, kick the bosses in the ass”, “Jobs yes, racism no, police brutality has got to go”, and “Baltimore means, we got to fight back” marched along Broad Street here in the second annual May Day march in this city. The chanting was loud and continuous. Several workers joined in as we passed by. Progressive Labor Party members distributed over 150 CHALLENGEs to the marchers and and passersby.

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Black Workers Rebel vs. Israeli Racism

TEL-AVIV-JAFFA, May 16 — Within days of workers and youth rebelling against racist cops in Baltimore, U.S., thousands of Ethiopian-Jewish workers protested in the streets of Tel-Aviv against apartheid. Like Ferguson and Baltimore, Black workers here lead the way in fighting racism.
They battled the cops and were not deterred by tear gas and stun grenades. While in the West Bank these weapons are used on a daily basis, this was the first time these “riot control” weapons were used in Tel-Aviv proper. Police cars were turned over. More than 23 cops were injured, and over 40 protesters were arrested.
Unlike the largely peaceful protests connected to the worldwide Occupy movement of 2011, this time workers fought with all their might against the racist cops. The protestors blocked the Ayalon Highway for three hours and resisted the cops’ attempts to remove them. Many other white Jewish and a few Palestinians workers united in fighting the violent cops. Thousands of Ethiopian workers and youth demonstrated in front of the Israeli Police Headquarters in Jerusalem.

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