Hundreds showed up at the Federal Building in downtown San Diego on May 1 for the International Workers’ Day opening rally. The rally was followed by a three-mile march to Chicano Park, the heart of Barrio Logan in Logan Heights.

The May Day Organizing Committee, a coalition of grassroots organizations, unions, and workers, comes together annually to plan and organize the event. This year the committee, led by Unión Del Barrio, began organizing early in February. The committee united on the theme: “Trump and Biden, NO SOLUTION! Working Class for REVOLUTION,” recognizing neither Biden nor Trump prioritizes the struggles of the working class.

Chants emphasized the points of unity and demands: union jobs at a livable wage; free universal health care, housing, and education; end police terror; abolish all colonial borders and the U.S. war machine; end U.S. funding to Israel; and lift the siege on Gaza. 

Chants along the march included: “Not another nickel, not another dime! No more money for Israel’s crimes!”, “Abolish the war machine”; “Cancel RIMPAC”; and “Hands off Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Palestine, Africa, and the Philippines!”

Armed with banners and signs alerting the public about issues that have a direct impact on workers, the crowd swelled as marchers began the three-mile march from the Federal Building through Logan Heights to historic and artistic Chicano Park. There the Danza Azteca Dancers and Drummers performed while organizers prepared for the closing rally.

May Day is a day of international workers’ solidarity recognized in countries worldwide. Workers march – voicing our demands, showing we are determined to continue to fight until respect, dignity, and justice is won. Together we will end capitalism, colonialism, and U.S. imperialism.

We must believe we can change the world. The solution for the working class in the United States and around the world is revolution – a socialist revolution.

Endorsing organizations included: Unión Del Barrio, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), United Auto Workers, Socialist Unity Party, Association of Raza Educators, Party for Socialism and Liberation, International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement (INPDUM), Anakbayan S.D., Malaya, The Panther Party, Palestinian Youth Movement, Free Them All!, Friends of Friendship Park, and Armadillos Search & Rescue.

On April 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Washington’s proxies in Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Included in the package were provisions for imposing sanctions on China, Russia, and Iran, and a requirement that TikTok’s Chinese parent company sell its stake within one year or be banned in the U.S. 

One third of U.S. adults use TikTok, including a majority of those under 30. A majority of teens use the platform. The potential ban would certainly curtail people’s ability to freely access information and communicate. Importantly, it would limit people’s ability to access global perspectives. 

The so-called “liberal” media is even portraying far-right House Speaker Mike Johnson as a sensible “adult in the room” for working to get the bill passed. They also said that Trump had become more “presidential” after he greenlit the assassination of popular Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020. 

Some House Republicans had held up the bill by attaching it to demands for intensifying repression of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and other reactionary policies. Some of the Republicans do have misgivings about Ukraine funding, but only because the ruling class is divided on where exactly to focus its attacks. These Republicans are not anti-war. They have never flinched when it comes to arming Israel throughout this genocide. 

Both parties are totally united on the goal of continuing U.S. imperialist supremacy at any cost. There are no peace-loving doves leading these parties of war-mongers. 

Following the House, the Senate quickly passed the bill on April 23 with a 79-18 vote. Biden signed the bill the very next day. He stated: “In the next few hours — literally, a few hours — we’re going to begin sending in equipment to Ukraine,” and that “it’s going to make the world safer.” 

Given that Washington has repeatedly blocked United Nations ceasefire resolutions to end the genocide in Gaza, all the while pumping money and weapons into Israel (the administration found ways to keep the flow steady while the funding bills were tied up), there is no indication that Biden is interested in making the world safer. Quite the opposite.  

As for Ukraine, it is Washington that set the stage for the current war, orchestrating the fascist Maidan coup in 2014 on behalf of U.S. capitalists and International Monetary Fund creditors who demanded extreme austerity. It is Washington that funded the coup regime for eight years as it cracked down on domestic dissent (namely the left and trade unions), while attacking and killing some 14,000 people in the Donbass region. 

After Biden signed this funding bill on April 24, the Pentagon jumped to send the first $1 billion delivery to Ukraine. The weapons include shoulder-fired Stinger surface-to-air missiles, cluster munitions, Javelin anti-tank guided missiles, and more. 

According to Forbes, in late 2022, the U.S. had already sent 8,500 Javelins. Citing the army’s 2023 missile procurement budget, they said that these missiles cost $197,884 each. Eight thousand five hundred times that unit price would come to $1.7 billion. That’s just the cost of one class of weapon by the end of 2022. This is undoubtedly good for the shareholders of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, the companies that together manufacture the Javelin.

Biden chides student protesters 

With the majority of Washington behind him – especially the Pentagon – Biden is stoking war on all fronts. The blood of the 32,000+ dead in Gaza is on his hands just as much as it is on Netanyahu’s. And yet, when he finally decided to comment on the student protestors who are acting as the conscience of the country (the same young people he wants to come out and vote for him in November), he scolded them! 

“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation — none of this is a peaceful protest,” he said. 

First of all, in every location, it has been the police who have violently attacked the student protesters. The students have been brutalized by the police, and there is no doubt that approval is coming from the top.

We have all spent months watching horrific videos of dead, mutilated children being pulled from rubble, killed by weapons Biden has paid for with our tax money. We could be forgiven for being more outraged by that than by a proverbial broken window. Biden’s audacity in talking about peace is astonishing. 

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said this 57 years ago in his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, at a time when U.S. imperialism was murdering millions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

We can imagine what King would say today if he were alive to witness the absurdity of this military spending compared with the increasing immiseration of the population in the United States, the richest country in the world. 

Right now, the same Supreme Court that took away women’s and other people’s right to reproductive autonomy – the same unelected Supreme Court being exposed for their lavish, free resort stays and wine tastings – is hearing a case about how easy it should be to throw homeless people in jail. The case started because the city of Grants Pass, Oregon wants free rein to fine and jail the homeless. But municipalities across the country are attempting to do the same thing. Instead of the government addressing the housing crisis this is what we get. 

In January 2023, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development counted 653,104 homeless people in their annual Point-In-Time Homeless Assessment Report. That is about 1 out of every 500 people experiencing homelessness, up 22% from the year before. People are suffering from soaring food, housing, medical, and other costs. 

The federal government spent $700 billion in 2008 to bail out the “too big to fail” for-profit banks. It is spending many billions to wage wars on behalf of shareholders. But it will not bail out the working class. It is obvious where the government’s priorities lie, and it is not helping the people.

The VIII International Seminar for Peace and the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases began this Saturday in the easternmost province of Cuba, an event that from the Mariana Grajales Square denounces the imperialist military presence around the world as a restriction to peace among nations.

Accompanied by the Government, the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) and institutions of the province of Guantánamo, the International Seminar was chaired on the first day by Yoel Pérez García, First Secretary of the PCC of Guantánamo; Fernando González Llort, Hero of the Republic of Cuba and President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP); Víctor Fidel Gaute López, Vice President of ICAP, Iraklis Tsavdaridis, Executive Secretary of the World Peace Council (WPC) and Alis Azaharez Torreblanca, Governor of the province.

With the participation of 82 delegates (73 foreigners and 9 Cubans) from 26 countries, the anti-imperialist meeting echoes the international rejection of the genocide perpetrated by the Zionist army of “Israel” on the Palestinian people; and the unanimous demand for the return of the Cuban territory usurped by the United States with the installation of the Naval Base in Guantanamo; first Military Base of that country in the world, as well as the repudiation of the wars organized by NATO under the direction and auspices of the US.

In this context, Fernando Gonzalez Llort, stressed that “the Seminar takes place in a complex world scenario for just causes”, especially for Palestine, Western Sahara, Europe and the Middle East.

“There will be no peace in the world as long as there are weapons pointed against the peoples”, stressed the Cuban top leader.

The Cuban Hero reaffirmed that his nation vindicates Peace and the Sovereignty of the Peoples and “will not cease in its struggle for the return of the territory illegally occupied by the US Naval Base in Guantanamo. It will also not cease to demand the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on our country more than 60 years ago”, and will maintain the struggle “for the elimination of Cuba from the arbitrary list of alleged countries sponsoring terrorism”.

Fernando González Llort considered it imperative to put an end to the expansionism of NATO and its allies, to aim at the dissolution of that aggressive military bloc, mainly responsible for the rise of the arms race in the world.

“We Guantanameros are very proud that our province is an international meeting place to defend peace”, expressed Yoel Pérez García, First Secretary of the PCC of Guantánamo.

Pérez Garcia thanked the presence of anti-imperialist fighters and leaders who debate and expose strategies to counteract the threat of extermination suffered by humanity, “the better world we dream of is possible and together we can achieve it,” he said.

“Let us strengthen the anti-imperialist struggle and solidarity, for a world of Peace and Social Justice”, urged the president of ICAP.

On the consequences of the imperialist military presence of the US, NATO and their allies around the world, -Iraklis Tsavdaridis, Executive Secretary of the World Peace Council (WPC) – stressed that they are not only the source of the war between Russia and Ukraine; they are also the support and prop of the Zionist army of “Israel” to perpetrate genocide against the Palestinian people.

“Not since the Cold War crisis in 1962 has the world been so threatened as it is today by the use of weapons of mass extermination”, warned Lt.Cr. Manuel Carbonell Vidal, vice-rector of the Higher Institute of International Relations of Cuba (ISRI). Therefore, it constitutes a threat to all life and human beings.

Gabriel Aguirre, representative of World Beyond War, pointed out that according to public information, “there are 6 or more military bases with nuclear weapons in Italy, Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Germany, Turkey and it is very likely that there are others whose information is not in the public domain”.

The Venezuelan researcher denounced that “there are more than 900 U.S. military bases in 90 countries which of course turn this imperialist force into the main promoter of wars all over the world”.

There are -according to the references exposed by the delegates of the VIII International Seminar for Peace and the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases- around 1.3 million men and women in U.S. military installations, the country with the greatest presence of military bases outside its national territory.

The United States, the United Kingdom and France are the countries with the most military bases worldwide.

The US Naval Base in Guantanamo-Cuba, with 122 years of existence, is the oldest military base in the world and the first anti-imperialist trench in Latin America.

The origin of the base officially dates back to 1902, but the occupation is much earlier, dating back to the brief period when Cuba was invaded by the British Empire, at a time when the United States had not yet gained independence from the British crown.

During the period of interventions, 7 invasions of Latin American countries were carried out from the Naval Base.

U.S. specialists point out that the Naval Base was the second port in the world with military movement during the Second World War.

“The period from 1939 to 1945 was the only historical period in which the Naval Base played a least bit positive role in history in the fight against Nazi Germany”, said the historian of the city of Guantánamo, José Sánchez Guerra.

From the Guantanamo Naval Base, terrorist actions have historically been orchestrated in sister countries of the region; it is a center for the organization and execution of terrorist activities.

Its presence significantly affects the economy of the province of Guantanamo and causes damage to the environment.

However, Guantanamo, as an anti-imperialist trench, is a meeting point of International Solidarity where the U.S. military presence in Cuban territory is condemned, and strengthens the world movements for Peace in defense of injustices.

International support for solidarity in Guantanamo is also embraced by the Palestinian cause.

Murid Abukhater, a medical student in Cuba, born in Gaza, – expressed on behalf of his people – “the deepest gratitude and thanks to all the free and honest people of the world, who today stand in solidarity with our people and their just cause, in the face of imperialist-Zionist crimes”.

“We appreciate the solidarity of Cuba with our just cause, which considers it as its own and calls and defends Palestinian rights for the liberation, self-determination and full recognition of the Palestinian State in the United Nations.”

“Also for us, defending Cuba is our cause, we condemn the criminal and illegal US blockade and the infamous and arbitrary inclusion of Cuba in the list of alleged sponsors of “terrorism”, together with all the friends of Cuba we demand the end and the elimination of the blockade and to remove Cuba from this infamous list, as well as, we demand the closure of the US Base in Guantanamo and the return of this territory to the Homeland of Cuba and its national sovereignty.”

The Palestinian student, sent from this international event  a special greeting to the students of the American universities, who are protesting against the crimes of the occupation and the support of the Biden administration to the genocide and demand the end of the aggression against the Palestinian people.

The VIII International Seminar for Peace and the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases will conclude tomorrow with the reading of the final declaration of its participants. The town of Caimanera will welcome the delegates this Sunday to thank them for their support in the struggle they are facing from the first trench against imperialism.

Source: Resumen English

Palestinian sources revealed to Al Mayadeen Tuesday the outcomes of the meeting held between the two Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, in the Chinese capital Beijing.

The sources confirmed that the two factions agreed on the importance of unifying the Palestinian position regarding the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, emphasizing the importance of a ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Strip.

In this context, the factions further agreed on “coordinating joint national efforts to deliver urgent aid and relief to the sector and to arrange with the relevant parties in Gaza,” and forming a joint bilateral committee in Cairo for coordination and follow-up.

According to the sources, the meeting emphasized coordinating positions and efforts in the West Bank and al-Quds to confront settler attacks on villages and towns, as well as Israeli occupation assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The outcomes of the meeting also stressed the priority of the detainees’ issue and the necessity to preserve their rights and support them during this difficult phase, where they are subjected to the worst forms of abuse and harm inside Israeli occupation prisons.

A unified Palestinian front was on the agenda

On another note, the sources reported from the meeting that Hamas and Fatah affirmed the necessity of unity and ending the division, “within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization by joining all Palestinian forces and factions within it and its institutions, based on previous agreements in this regard.”

The parties also highlighted the importance of forming a non-factional national unity government during or after the genocidal war, tasked with its technical and administrative duties in relief efforts, alleviating the effects of aggression, and rebuilding Gaza.

This government will also work on unifying Palestinian institutions and preparing for general elections, “to strip Israel and America of the pretext of division.”

The sources confirmed that the meeting included an agreement to strengthen Palestinian unity with the assistance of China, which “will contribute to ending the occupation and establishing the Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and al-Quds according to international resolutions.”

The sources informed Al Mayadeen that the outcomes of the meeting constitute the agenda for the next meeting in Beijing on June 14, 2024.

On their part, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that both sides “expressed political willingness to achieve reconciliation through dialogue,” adding that they reached an agreement on ideas for future dialogue, and “they will continue the dialogue to achieve Palestinian unity as soon as possible.”

The Ministry affirmed that Hamas and Fatah expressed their great appreciation for China’s support for the Palestinian people.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Beijing hosted talks between Hamas and Fatah at its invitation to conduct “deep and frank dialogue to enhance Palestinian reconciliation.” Furthermore, the Ministry affirmed that Hamas and Fatah expressed deep appreciation for China’s support for the Palestinian people.

It also announced that Beijing hosted talks between Hamas and Fatah at its invitation to conduct a “deep and candid dialogue to enhance Palestinian reconciliation.”

Source: Al Mayadeen 

Situation

Fully aware of the increasingly violent crackdowns on students and teachers protesting his enabling of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, Biden greenlit an even harsher police response this week. On Tuesday, Biden smeared the campus protests as antisemitic, violent, and unlawful. For university administrators on the fence about escalating the use of force against their own students and faculty, Biden’s comments could have only nudged them one way.

The number and intensity of police crackdowns appears to have escalated dramatically after Biden’s comments. Later on Tuesday, riot police stormed dozens of schools across the country, including at Columbia University. Here’s Adam Tooze:

There was no riot last night at Columbia any more than there has been at any other point. The violence came from the police side and it came at the invitation and request of the University administration.

Police aren’t there to ensure public safety. Look at the video footage from Dartmouth, for example. Or consider what happened at UCLA: On Tuesday, university officials declared the student protests as unlawful. Tuesday night, police officers in riot gear stood by for at least an hour as a mob attacked the antiwar protesters, injuring more than 100 of them. This morning, riot police stormed the protesters’ encampment and arrested over 200 people.

Yesterday, Trump praised the police crackdowns at a campaign rally. Today, Biden again slandered the protests as violent and unlawful. Bipartisanship is back.

Greenlighting violence through budgets

Biden had already given police the greenlight to behave violently through his budgets. The 2020 protests against police brutality were met with rampant police brutality, but after entering office in 2021, Biden dramatically scaled up federal subsidies to police through regular appropriations legislation (for fiscal years 2022 through 2024), and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The chart below visualizes this surge in federal subsidies to police.

Biden supported all these bills and signed them into law, but some people will still tell me that the chart title should attribute blame to Congress and not Biden, and that I should Learn How Government Works. Please know that I’m fully aware that Biden didn’t enact federal subsidies for police unilaterally. If he had, the numbers would be much higher.

Congress constantly reins Biden in when it comes to funding the police. It’s apparent when you compare the amount requested versus enacted for Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) police grants.

For example, Biden requested $601 million for the State Homeland Security Grant Program for FY2024, but Congress enacted $468 million, shaving $133 million off Biden’s proposal. For the Urban Area Security Initiative, Congress shaved $158 million off Biden’s $711 million request.

These two DHS programs have a record of contributing to militarized police responses to protests, expanding surveillance and targeting of protesters, and being totally useless at preventing terrorist attacks.1 They incentivize police to treat protests as an inherent danger; a hotbed for domestic extremism that involves “driving lawful protests to incite violence.”2 They fund “fusion centers” which are joint federal and state/local police operations invented after 9/11 for counterterrorism purposes, but in reality, they focus disproportionately on protests and domestic movements.3 Ultimately, these grants reinforce the practice of police violently cracking down on protests under the (often unfounded) suspicion that they may turn violent or damage public property.

Twenty thousand workers and students took to New York City’s streets on May Day to denounce the genocide in Gaza and police attacks on college encampments.

People came to Foley Square in lower Manhattan to rally, surrounded by courthouses run by the capitalist deep state. These included the federal courthouse where Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were framed and sentenced to the electric chair.

Delegations of city workers, health workers and other union members came along with students. Plenty of older folks attended too. They carried hundreds of colorful signs and banners.

The rally at Foley Square was co-chaired by Manolo De Los Santos, executive director of The People’s Forum, and Lameess Mehanna of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

Speakers from Health Care Workers for Palestine and City Workers for Palestine denounced Genocide Joe Biden’s support for the killing of 14,000 Palestinian children. Also speaking were representatives from the United Auto Workers; the Palestinian Youth Movement; PAL Al-Awda: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Tech Workers Against Apartheid; and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

People marched to Washington Square near where New York University students had their encampment attacked by police with many students arrested. One section of the demonstration continued to march and rallied at a NYU building complex. Other groups marched to the New School and Fordham University.

Police have arrested hundreds at the NYU, City College and Columbia University campuses in New York City. As of the morning of May 2, there were still 50 people in jail from the roughly  300 arrested at City College and Columbia. Some students are facing felony charges.

None of the police attacks in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans or elsewhere are stopping the momentum of the movement to stop the genocide in Gaza. Free Palestine!

This May Day, Cuba did not hold its traditional parade in the capital’s Revolution Square for the second consecutive year. The lack of fuel made it impossible to provide the necessary transportation for thousands of Cubans in the surrounding neighborhoods and provinces to travel to the iconic Paseo Avenue in Havana. This event every year attracted all generations of Cubans parading with Cuban flags in hand, and with the typical excitement and pride that characterizes us. The blockade’s impact is real and today is like a punctuation mark on what we face on a day to day basis.

Nevertheless, despite the obstacles, over 260,000 Cubans and international supporters today filled the squares of the country. This date could never go by unnoticed on the Caribbean island because Cuba as a country is solidly on the side of working people and not the rich and privileged and has been that way since the revolution in 1959.

It should be remembered that International Workers Day began in the US in 1886 when police in Chicago attacked workers fighting for the 8 hour work day. The government would like to forget that but it won’t go away. For example the Port of Oakland today, one of the busiest in the US, was shut down by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in honor of the holiday. Retired leader of the ILWU, Clarence Thomas, who participated in the rally in Havana said that, “there is an effort going on in the Teamsters Union to include May Day as a holiday in future contracts.”

The  José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune, located next to the U.S. embassy,  was the main event on the island. The feeling there was strong, enthusiastic and united despite the difficult economic situation the country is going through, aggravated by the blockade imposed on Cuba for more than 60 years.

A major theme that underscored the air of resistance at the Tribune was the pervasive support of the heroic Palestinian people that was evident amongst Cubans and the solidarity activists attending from around the world. Palestinian flags, buttons, t-shirts and keffiyehs could be seen throughout.

The U.S. policy of maximum suffocation of the Cuban people and our internal insufficiencies mark this new anniversary of proletarian struggle. The problems derived from the blockade constantly affect Cuban workers in their own lives and the fulfillment of their work in fields such as production, education, health, science, and agriculture.

In this context, Cubans once again demand an end to the U.S. economic blockade and the exclusion of the island from the illegal list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism. The great majority of people on the island continue to stand behind Cuba’s socialist project.

The First Secretary of the Central Workers’ Union of Cuba (CTC), Ulises Guilarte, addressed the event, which was attended by Army General Raul Castro Ruz, President Miguel Diaz-Canel, and other senior leaders of the Revolution. He referred to the current complex and adverse socio-economic context of the country by explaining, “The hostilities of the U.S. government negatively impact the quality of life of the people, who suffer daily food and medicine shortages, as well as the devaluation of salaries and pensions. It limits access to inputs and raw materials destined for our industrial plants and puts pressure on banking institutions and companies around the world interested in commercial exchange and foreign investment in Cuba.

“There is not a single sector of the country free from these effects. Faced with these challenging circumstances, we dedicate this celebration of the world proletariat to the heroism of the Cuban working people, who concentrate their efforts on the country’s economic recovery as their fundamental cause.

“There are good examples in all the territories of the country that show that it is possible to achieve productive efficiency beyond the limitations of material and financial resources. And at the center of these good experiences are men and women who show us that human capital is the most secure and solid resource we have today, and we are not allowed to waste it,” Guilarte concluded.

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English

April 30, New Orleans – Students at adjacent Tulane and Loyola universities formed a joint encampment for Palestine in front of the universities on busy St. Charles Ave. This evening, as the encampment prepares for its second night, many supporters joined the students to rally. 

Yesterday, New Orleans Police on horseback joined campus police in repressing activists at the start of the encampment, arresting six. City and campus police attempted to confiscate tent materials but were forced to stand down as the united crowd encircled them. 

As of tonight, the full space of the encampment – called The Liberated Zone by the students – has been reclaimed and is being fortified with pallets and other materials. The students are not backing down. 

UPDATE: In the early hours of the morning on May 1, state, city, and campus police violently attacked the encampment. Students held firm in their resistance, even as they were rounded up and forced onto the St. Charles Avenue median. Fourteen activists were arrested. 

Currently, the front lawn of the university — where the encampment stood — has been fenced in, with cops posted up as guards. 

At noon on May 1, students joined by supporters gave a press conference in front of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Department Central Lockup building, denouncing the police violence.

May 2 marks the 10th anniversary of one of the biggest crimes of 21st century fascism – the massacre of nearly 50 activists at the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine. Despite extensive video and photographic evidence, the Ukrainian government has never prosecuted any of those responsible. This attack on the anti-fascist resistance paved the way for today’s U.S. proxy war against Russia and the Donbass republics.

The following interview with massacre survivor Alexey Albu was conducted by Struggle-La Lucha co-editor Melinda Butterfield in Simferopol, Crimea, in September 2014, and was originally published in October of that year.

Odessa Regional Council Deputy Alexey Albu, a member of the Ukrainian Marxist organization Borotba (Struggle), was a leader of the city’s Anti-Maidan movement against the U.S.-backed coup of February 2014. Albu survived the May 2, 2014, massacre, when at least 48 people were killed by neo-Nazi gangs at the House of Trade Unions. Albu and his family were forced to flee to Crimea, where he continues his work as co-founder of the Committee for the Liberation of Odessa and leads an independent investigation of May 2. I spoke with Albu about his experiences.

Melinda Butterfield: How did you become active in the anti-fascist movement?

Alexey Albu: I first joined Komsomol, the youth organization of the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU). Later, I became a member of the KPU and organized its youth wing. I also took part in several local elections in Odessa. So I was always involved in political life as a communist.

The leaders of the KPU were afraid of openly demonstrating anti-fascist views. They didn’t want to take responsibility for an open confrontation with the neo-Nazis or the actions of young people who were strongly against fascism. They took an opportunistic position.

In 2011, I accompanied friends who were members of Borotba to a couple of anti-fascist rallies. When the KPU leaders learned of my attendance at these protests, they planned to expel me.

I left the KPU and became a member of Borotba. I didn’t plan to take people with me. Nevertheless, several comrades left the KPU and joined Borotba. One of them was Vlad Wojciechowski, who is now a political prisoner. Another was Andrey Brazhevsky, who was killed by the Nazis on May 2.

Borotba’s role in Odessa

MB: What kind of work did Borotba carry out in Odessa?

AA: I was an elected deputy of the regional council, so I had the opportunity to speak for Borotba in the local government. We also had the opportunity to create an organizational headquarters in Odessa. Many people came to our organization. Odessa residents got to know us and our symbols, and a lot of journalists covered our activities.

We organized solidarity actions with Ukrainian sailors in England and supported the struggle of dockworkers in the Odessa region. We organized anti-fascist meetings and demonstrations. We held a lot of protest rallies against the local government. We also helped organize immigration and education centers.

All of our protests were directed against the government of President Victor Yanukovych. But when the Euromaidan movement started, we understood that the people who wanted to use it to get power were even worse. Bourgeois democratic law was preferable to direct rule of Nazis and oligarchs. We were against them from the very beginning.

[Euromaidan was the pro-imperialist movement which took its name from Maidan, the central square of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, where it held protests in late 2013 and early 2014. The backbone of this movement, which received extensive funding and political support from the U.S. government, were neo-Nazi gangs and political parties. Euromaidan culminated in the overthrow of President Victor Yanukovych in February. – MB]

When Euromaidan activists tried to occupy the Odessa Regional State Administration, our comrades protected the building. During the defense of the RSA, I became good friends with Regional Council Deputy Vyacheslav Markin, who was later killed at the House of Trade Unions.

Markin and I were the only deputies who openly said we were against the Nazis, the Euromaidan, the junta and all the crimes this movement brought to Ukraine.

Protest encampment

MB: How did the Anti-Maidan movement and the protest encampment develop?

AA: After Yanukovych was overthrown in February, the Anti-Maidan movement grew and became quite broad. It was based among common people who were not connected with any party. It was organized from below, from the people. The coordinators of this movement included members of many organizations, including Borotba. Borotba was not the most powerful organization; it was just one of those that influenced the Odessa Anti-Maidan.

The biggest parties of Ukraine, the Communist Party and the Party of Regions, didn’t participate in Anti-Maidan, although many of their members did.

The tent camp at Kulikovo Field [similar to the 2011 Occupy Wall Street encampments or the current student Gaza Solidarity Encampments in the U.S.] was the creation of all the groups that took part in the Anti-Maidan movement. For example, one group set up the area where people held speakouts. Others brought tents and supplies.

MB: How did you use your position as a regional deputy to help the movement?

AA: There was a lot of publicity when I introduced a draft law in the Regional State Administration, with help from Deputy Markin, calling for autonomy for the Odessa Region within Ukraine. This made Borotba very popular in Odessa. But unfortunately, most of the delegates didn’t vote for the law.

By ignoring this draft law, the regional deputies forced people to protest. On March 3, they came to the RSA building and started clashing with police. I tried to bring the people into the building to give them the opportunity to speak with the deputies. I was injured trying to get people inside.

Afterward, I had problems with the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU, political police whose role is similar to the FBI in the U.S.]. They searched my apartment and tried to interrogate me. The growing repression had a great impact in Odessa society. By the end of April, the Anti-Maidan protests had become smaller. Fewer people came to Kulikovo.

People were also disappointed because they came to Kulikovo every day, or every weekend, and saw that the leaders of the organizations couldn’t agree with each other. Instead, one by one, these groups started to make deals with the government.

The local government wanted to remove the camp, using the annual May 9 Victory Day parade as an excuse. Some organizations agreed to remove their tents, but others decided to stay.

Target: Odessa

MB: Why do you think the Kiev junta and the fascists targeted Odessa on May 2?

AA: First of all, I should explain that the Odessa region is very important for the Ukrainian economy. [The administrative subdivision of] Odessa has seven seaports and 70% of the country’s imports come through there.

Supporters of the junta in the local government wanted to stop the Anti-Maidan movement. They brought in neo-Nazis from Kiev in the middle of the night. They organized checkpoints inside the city, with 10 or 15 people at each checkpoint. They operated in around-the-clock shifts. They were fed by the government, and they earned money.

On April 29-30, Andriy Parubiy, head of the Defense and National Security Council, even presented the people at the checkpoints with bulletproof vests.

On one hand, they wanted the people from Kiev to radicalize the local Euromaidan movement, to ensure that they would enforce the new government’s orders. On the other hand, they wanted to remove the activists from Kulikovo Field, to make sure there would be no organized opposition.

I don’t think the government necessarily planned to kill people and cause so many casualties. But they organized everything and set the events in motion.

MB: Before the massacre on May 2, you planned to run for mayor of Odessa.

AA: What happened was that we held a strong anti-fascist demonstration on May Day, which worried the local government. That day, a lot of people from the Odessa Anti-Maidan movement agreed to back my campaign for mayor as the candidate of Kulikovo Field.

The following day, May 2, the tragedy began.

Deputy Markin was my campaign manager. He was killed by the Nazis. Afterward, anyone who tried to agitate for the candidate of Kulikovo Field was attacked by the fascists. So I decided to stop the campaign. I couldn’t take part in such elections.

Anyway, I was soon forced to leave Odessa. The local government spread lies, saying that I was responsible for the deaths at the House of Trade Unions. They claimed I took people into the building and subsequently the building burned, so I was guilty. They planned to arrest me.

Actually, I was one of the last people to enter the building. Never mind the fascists who threw Molotov cocktails, shot people and beat to death those who leapt from the burning building!

Kiev suppresses evidence

MB: Along with other Odessa political exiles, you have been conducting an independent investigation of the May 2 tragedy. Can you describe your work?

AA: The main problem for us is that a lot of information was lost the day after the tragedy. Many people went there. The House of Trade Unions was cleaned out before facts and evidence could be gathered.

Also, all the material recorded by the police and Security Service of Ukraine was never published and is classified top secret. So we have to look for information from open sources or solicit people who witnessed the massacre to share information. And of course many have been coerced by the new regime to remain silent or change their stories.

Our committee is sure that there were more than 48 victims on May 2. For one thing, the mother of an activist told us that when she went to the morgue to identify her child, the police showed her more than 60 bodies.

Officials of the government, the Security Service and the police do not provide any information, not even to the official investigation committee set up by the Ukrainian parliament. The leaders of the ultranationalist Ukrainian militia do not comment or make any statements. They are trying to avoid all questions about this tragedy.

But under the law they have to answer all the questions and turn over all the evidence and facts they have to the investigation committee.

MB: Do you have any parting message for workers and youth in the U.S.?

AA: The government in Kiev is doing everything in order to hide the real causes of this terrible tragedy and the real culprits of the massacre. We declare that we will pursue the investigation anyhow, and everyone guilty will answer for it and will be punished.

We are grateful to all the comrades who support the struggle of the Ukrainian people against the oligarchy and the Nazis. We are grateful to everyone who is helping us, and we call for solidarity because only together, by joint efforts, can we defeat the world capitalist system.

¡No pasarán!

Svetlana Licht and Marina Nova provided translation assistance.

April 30, Los Angeles – Student encampments in solidarity with Palestine have spread rapidly over the last two days in California. The news media is particularly alarmed as a student struggle at Cal Poly Humboldt – a small campus nestled among the Redwoods of northern California — has intensified. 

The New York Times referred to today’s events there as the “Nation’s Most Entrenched Protest.” Students barricaded themselves inside two campus buildings and the administration shut down the entire campus for the rest of the semester. 

Huge numbers of cops have moved in and issued orders to end the occupation and leave the campus, but students are staying put. The standoff is ongoing.

At the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), where an encampment is ongoing, Palestinians and their supporters were blocked by campus security from joining the main rally on April 28. Not to be dissuaded, they marched to the periphery of a section of the Zionist counterprotest and held their ground, chanting and clapping. 

The main rally at the center of the campus was supported by numerous community organizations, including Unión del Barrio, Palestinian Youth Movement, Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice, ANSWER Coalition, and others.

Across town at the University of Southern California (USC), students rebuilt their week-old encampment after nearly 100 arrests on April 25. The administration began issuing suspensions today after students ignored a second deadline to clear out, issued by the Los Angeles Police Department. 

Organizers of a planned May Day rally, including Unión del Barrio, Harriet Tubman Center, and a long list of other community organizations, announced a new march route that will end at USC and finish with an International Workers’ Day rally in support of the students – even though the administration is blocking non-students from the campus until further notice.

Several other California campuses joined the student uprising in support of Palestine today, with University of California Riverside, Cal State Sacramento, University of California Irvine, and Occidental College all setting up encampments.