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VENEZUELA: Socialism preferred

On July 14, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez revealed the results of a new survey, in which 47.9% of people polled favoured a socialist government; 25.7% supported capitalism and 24.6% did not answer. The poll was conducted between May 26 and June 9

Write on: Letters to the editor

Afghan asylum seekers Today, July 11, nine Afghan asylum seekers held on Nauru were threatened with forced deportation unless they go home "voluntarily". They have until 5pm to sign. A "deadline", they think. One detainee writes: "No-one would sign

Stealing Colombia's resources through brute force

The Profits of Extermination: How US Corporate Power is Destroying ColombiaBy Francisco Ramierez CuellarIntroduction and translation by Aviva ChomskyCommon Courage Press141 pages, $20Order via <info@commoncouragepress.com> REVIEW BY BARRY

Locked-out Boeing workers demand collective agreement

Ruth Ratcliffe, Newcastle The federal Coalition government's Defence White Paper in 2000 described the FA-18 fleet as the single most important component of Australia's defence infrastructure. Yet the workers who maintain the jets at Williamtown

An insight into Castro's youth

Fidel: My Early YearsBy Fidel CastroOcean Press, 2005198 pages, $16.95 (pb) REVIEW BY OWEN RICHARDS Cuba supporters everywhere were heartened by the immense success of the Walter Salles film adaptation of Che Guevara's The Motorcycle Diaries,

SHOCKFACTS: Individual contracts

One of the federal Coalition government's proposed industrial relations changes will allow bosses to force workers onto individual contracts that cut pay and reduce conditions to just five minimum standards. Workers who refuse to sign individual

Waging war in Afghanistan won't stop terrorism

Doug Lorimer On July 13, Prime Minister John Howard announced that the federal Coalition government had decided to send Australian troops back to Afghanistan to help prop up the regime of US puppet President Hamid Karzai, in the face of a

Police attack Camp Platypus

Jim McIlroy, Brisbane At dawn on July 12, 130 police officers invaded the site of Camp Platypus on the banks of the Obi Obi Creek, in the small Sunshine Coast hinterland town of Maleny, to evict 60 protesters who had occupied the area of a

Hostages of the 'war on terror'

Raul Bassi, Sydney At a press conference on July 9, Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hick's father Terry and former detainee and torture victim Mamdouh Habib met for the first time. Following this emotional meeting, 150 people attended a public forum

Palmer Report: safety valve, or stimulus for change?

Sarah Stephen After five months and numerous delays, the Palmer Report investigating the wrongful detention of mentally ill Australian resident Cornelia Rau finally became public on July 14. No doubt breathing a joint sigh of relief, immigration

CUBA: Hurricane Dennis causes severe damage

Marce Cameron Cuba was hit hard by Hurricane Dennis, the most ferocious storm to lash the Caribbean island nation in four decades. It caused the deaths of 16 Cubans and left a swathe of wreckage in its wake. The death toll would have been far

Howard's lies on industrial relations 'reforms'

Sue Bolton When Prime Minister John Howard returned early from holidays on July 7 to combat public opposition to his government's proposed anti-worker/anti-union laws, he repeatedly refused to guarantee that no worker would be worse off under the