COLOMBIA, April 30—As everywhere else in the world, workers are sufferings amidst the pandemic. Those of us who still have a job do not get any guarantees from the government or the boss, no minimal safety measures or protective equipment. The bosses fire, suspend or lower our wages. Making our already slaving working conditions more precarious.
Crushing unemployment
Workers are facing unemployment. If we don’t have a job, we can’t feed our families, we become isolated from our coworkers. We cannot unite against the bosses’ attacks. Along with these harsh conditions, we are exposed to infection, to sexist and racist attacks and the bosses’ arrogance. The sharpening economic crisis created by the bosses push for war. This has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic (see page 2). These conditions are the reality for millions of workers around the world. Unemployment and hunger have increase worldwide. While small businesses fire their workforce, big businesses are doing it too, even with their millions in profits. In the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Haiti, and worldwide, millions of workers have been laid off, many are confined to their homes, some are dying without healthcare or money for food.
Long-brewing crisis
Since 1970 we have seen the sharpening of the bosses’ attacks and working conditions. Since then, we have seen the politicians, judges, and bosses’ treachery and theft, under the umbrella of their fascist laws that deny social services, wage raises and pensions. Laws that give us sanctions, fines, firings, and the reduction of salaries, as if the salary we get was enough to cover our basic necessities.
To sum up, the contradictions arising from the pandemic deepens the crisis of the capitalist system, not only the savage capitalism, as the liberals and opportunist want us to believe.  Throughout history, capitalism has never been able to give the working-class stability; it has only given us disasters, death, hunger, unemployment, and misery.  There can be no good capitalism, nor good bosses, they take our labor, because it is the only thing we have to sell.
The victories from past struggles are taken away. Every time capitalism is in crisis, like today, it is the workers who pay the price. That is why PLP is saying that our class can’t keep trying to reform this murderous system of profit. Only a communist revolution can destroy it once and for all.
Danger and opportunity
In Colombia, some cities, towns, groups of women, men, and children of the working class, students, farm workers, indigenous workers, construction workers, health and transportation workers are in a constant struggle, sometimes still isolated and dispersed. They protest, strike, block, and ransack cars and supermarkets. In the face of uncertainty, hunger, and the assassination of social leaders, they are angry, justifiably so.  They see the corruption, the decay of all these ruling-class institutions.
Yet in these hard conditions of the period are opportunities to organize and end the dark night of capitalism. PLP is calling for unity of the international working class, our newspaper CHALLENGE, and to all communists, friend, readers, and members, to keep on fighting, do not get demoralized by the brutal attacks of the bosses or the apparent depoliticization of the masses. Our job is to create a revolutionary communist movement.
The working class produces everything of value that exists in our society, we have to organize as a revolutionary party to enjoy the fruits of our labor, no more misery or crumbs from the bosses.  We must end the dictatorship of the bosses, which will continue to oppress us until an organized working class with our revolutionary Party violently destroy the capitalists and their racist wage slavery. We will build a new society where we will share everything we produce, collectively, to satisfy our own needs.