Progressive Labor Party (PLP) in Haiti organized a cadre school in September for 26 participants, members and friends, workers, and teachers, but mostly students from working class backgrounds. Study is an important aspect of understanding how the capitalist system works and why it cannot be reformed and must be replaced by a revolutionary communist egalitarian society.

Our goal is that study will be incorporated into class struggle on campus and beyond, and our Party will grow into a force to be reckoned with in Haiti and beyond.

In Haitian Creole, we say "Tout moun se moun" meaning that workers need a system where they will be treated as human beings--the human race. That phrase is often included in the following excerpted letters (see all letters at www.plp.org)
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In the cadre school, we studied several texts over the course of three days: The Principles of Communism by Marx and Engels, Jailbreak and Build a Base in the Working Class by Progressive Labor Party, among others. We learned about what communism is and what capitalism is. We also learned how each system is organized, and about the position of each person in that system. We learned about how to build solidarity among our class.

The capitalist system is concerned primarily with making and keeping profit—making money. It doesn’t concern itself at all with seeing working class people as human beings—as long as workers can reproduce themselves in order to go to work another day to make more profits for the bosses, then the capitalists are satisfied.

Communism is a system where we see that production is organized for the good of the working class, so that workers can live like human beings. Each member of our class will have the right to an education that serves our class, and will have the right to free and decent health care that meets our needs.

This is the kind of world that I would like to live in, for myself, my family, my town and my class. In order to achieve the goal of communism, we need to build an organization capable of leading the fight, which unites all members of the working class, from Haiti to everywhere else in the world.
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I was happy to participate in the cadre school where we learned a lot of thing. I learned about how the capitalist system wants me to think only about myself—that success in life means becoming part of the capitalist machine, rather than what’s good for the vast majority of society.

We looked at the world situation, for example, the war going on in Ukraine, and discussed how that war is part of the rivalry of the big capitalist countries to gain a bigger control of the world and its profits. I think we have to destroy that kind of a system, and that we need a communist revolution to do that, and a communist party to lead us. Then we can establish a communist society…to share in building that society and reaping its benefits equally, according to need. A world without racist discrimination.

But in order to arrive at that goal, we have to do the work in a way that builds the collective consciousness of workers and students, rather than the individualist consciousness that capitalism fosters. I believe that this cadre school helps us move forward in the correct direction….We here can be an example to show how to do this…
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Ayibobo—greetings comrades. The cadre school helped us understand more about the functioning of the capitalist system.

The capitalist system is one in which we are forced to live under [unfavorable] conditions…exploitation in the factories and the fields; unemployment; racism; inferior houses, education and healthcare.

And now there are gangs that control Haiti and make daily life even more miserable for us. We shouldn’t have to live in such misery and fear every day! It’s a good thing that workers living in some neighborhoods controlled by the gangs have been fighting back. We need more of that!

But we also need to understand that the gangs are only a symptom of a decaying capitalist system and the way to get rid of the gangs is to get rid of the capitalist bosses who profit from them, once and for all.
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What I learned from the cadre school is that everyone should be able to live like a member of the human race—decently, without racism, poverty, and the misery this system creates. In a different—communist—society we won’t look at and put a value on people based on their appearance. If we understand the importance of building solidarity within our class—both here in Haiti and elsewhere around the world, that will help us in the fight against the capitalist system.

In the capitalist system, the bourgeoisie appropriates all wealth from the labor of the working class; this is basically unfair, because if you create something, why should someone who did nothing profit from it?

As refugees from Central America, Africa, and the Caribbean swell in number at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Joe Biden agreed to grant 472,000 work permits exclusively for those coming from Venezuela.  Seen as a kind gesture by some, the U.S. bosses are creating a racist divide as they fumble to address a disaster they themselves created. Workers without permits will be deported, and those who stay will be super-exploited, just as the Black working class has been for centuries.

Denver and San Diego and other cities run by liberals have “welcomed more than they can handle” and are reducing the length of stay for asylum-seekers to 14 days (CBS News Colorado, 10/2).  These “progressives” have joined the open racists from Texas and Florida in busing migrants to Chicago and New York. Migrants trek to the United States for an opportunity to work and live stable lives, yet the reality is something harshly different. Most are met with racist insults from fellow workers and fascist crackdowns from the capitalist bosses. To discourage new arrivals, New York City Mayor Eric Adams began evicting migrants from shelters amid widespread flooding (Politico, 9/22). Fake leftist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has offered nothing but lip service for the refugees’ plight.

The imperialist rulers, set on preparing for world war, will not provide decent lives for the international working class.  Work permits and tent cities won’t fix this appalling situation. Only a communist revolution led by Progressive Labor Party can give workers the world they deserve. The global migrant crisis is a symptom of a deeply racist system that must perpetuate inequality, nationalism, and exploitation to exist. We must combat the rise of fascism and fight to destroy capitalist borders that serve only the bosses.

Venezuela: a crisis made by capitalism
For two decades or more, the working class of Venezuela has been stuck in the crosshairs of inter-imperialist competition. President Nicholos Maduro has stayed in power largely with the help of China and Russia, which are paying the bills to keep his regime from collapsing. In recent months they have also deepened military ties with Venezuela, much to the dismay of the U.S., the longtime bully of the Americas (Dialogo Americas, 1/21/22)

In response, to force Maduro’s fake-left leadership into submission, the U.S. and a number of European countries have battered Venezuela with economic sanctions on products entering the country.  Because of the resistance of the bosses behind Maduro (and behind Hugo Chavez before him) to diversify the economy, Venezuela relies heavily on oil exports. As oil prices dropped in recent years, the country’s economy collapsed.
Suffering from one of the highest rates of hyperinflation in the world, workers in Venezuela cannot afford basic necessities. There are shortages of food and medicine and even electricity and clean water. In 2019, as the country teetered on the brink of civil war, the economic crisis was heightened by civil unrest and violence.

Worldwide, as they flee war and extreme poverty, workers and their families are traveling through jungles, deserts, large bodies of water, and territories infested by ruthless militias and gangs. But there are no safe havens for workers in a capitalist world, least of all in a racist stronghold like the U.S.  The current U.S.-Mexico border crisis reflects the desperate conditions for the working class throughout the hemisphere and beyond.
For the imperialist bosses fighting over Latin America’s resources, workers' lives are cheap.

We cannot fall for the divide-and-conquer game of these exploiters, whether they are Trump MAGA racists or liberals who defend the racist Democratic Party. In the current period, with fascism on the rise, the work of communists is especially critical. Where the bosses energize the gutter racists, communists inspire multiracial unity and help organize internationalist workers to be bold and fight back.  

Workers on the move met with fascism
The last decade has seen a mass upheaval in the lives of workers across the globe. At present, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, an estimated 117 million people are forcibly displaced by violent civil unrest, political repression, and economic instability (UNHCR.org, 2023). Climate change, another product of capitalism, has led to disastrous forest fires, droughts, hurricanes, floods, and rising sea levels. In the Global South, livelihoods for millions have grown unsustainable. Hundreds of thousands of workers fleeing Africa are  stranded on the Italian island of Lampedusa, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. They are being held there indefinitely in wretched conditions under the guns of Italian soldiers (NPR, 9/23).

The capitalist-controlled media propagates racist narratives about migrants, provoking fear and division within the working class. Workers get manipulated into perceiving undocumented and asylum-seeking migrant workers as threats to their livelihoods. This strategy serves the bosses’ interests by diverting attention from the true cause of this crisis–capitalism! Disgruntled workers in U.S. cities have organized small but heavily publicized anti-immigrant rallies to stoke fear and nationalism. In Chicago, migrating workers were physically attacked and  police officers were accused of raping and impregnating underage migrants in holding cells (Chicago Tribune, 7/23). Super-liberal Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed a multimillion-dollar tent city–essentially a city-run refugee camp–to house migrants (NBC Chicago, 9/23).

Communism will smash all borders
Borders are simply made-up lines created to signify where one boss's profits begin and another’s end. Never have they served the interests of the working class. Borders reinforce racist ideas that “other” workers are dangerous, untrustworthy, and out to steal jobs. Forcing workers to sleep in shelters, police stations, and tent cities is a racist travesty. We must fight back for migrating workers, and for the liberation of our entire class exploited and oppressed by the profit system.

Under communism, there would be no profits to fight over. The means of production would be controlled collectively. The factors that now drive workers to become refugees would cease to exist. Internationalism demands solidarity among workers worldwide. It calls for the dismantling of the structures that perpetuate inequality, beginning with borders.

The struggle for a better world must be a unified one, where workers from Chicago to Latin America to every corner of the globe stand together against the exploitative forces of capitalism. Only by breaking down the barriers that divide us can we hope to build a society where all workers are afforded dignity, freedom, and the opportunity to lead fulfilling lives. Join Progressive Labor Party as we organize to make this world a reality!

U.S. agents struggle to keep Colombia in the fold of their decaying empire
Foreign Affairs, 9/13–For many observers of Colombia, it is hard to imagine that a former member of M-19, the guerrilla group that waged war against the state for nearly two decades, could attain the presidency. Yet in 2022...Gustavo Petro, a former M-19 organizer…ascended to the country’s highest office. Despite Petro’s populist and at times anti-U.S. rhetoric, the Biden administration has since made overtures to the new president…the United States may be hoping to prevent Colombia from falling into China’s orbit. But as Petro begins his second year in office, Washington’s charm offensive is yielding diminishing returns. For one thing, Plan Colombia, a security and antidrug cooperation package that has been the linchpin of the U.S.-Colombian relationship for nearly a quarter century, looks increasingly obsolete. Signed in 2000, the joint initiative helped quell Colombia’s guerrilla war and arguably prevented the country from becoming a failed state, and it has been backed by more than $12 billion in funding…But Petro has opposed Plan Colombia since its inception…

Haiti-D.R. diplomacy rises to level of guns and tanks
Al Jazeera, 9/14–The Dominican Republic will close its entire border with neighbouring Haiti later this week, President Luis Abinader has announced, as a conflict over the construction of a canal from a shared river worsens. “Unfortunately, they left us no alternative but to take drastic measures,” Abinader told reporters…He added that even if the Haitian government…could not control the construction of the canal, his country could. “We have been prepared for weeks, not only for this situation but also for a possible peace force in Haiti,” Abinader said.

Officials in the Dominican Republic say the project will divert water from the Massacre River, which runs in both countries, and violate the 1929 Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Arbitration…Haiti’s government had said on Wednesday that it met with Dominican officials in the Dominican Republic that day to try to resolve the canal dispute…On Thursday, the Dominican Republic said the looming border closure was set to include all land, sea and air routes. It also said it deployed a further 20 armoured vehicles to a military camp on the border.

U.S. and Chinese bosses continue fight over who gets Pakistan
The Intercept, 8/9–The U.S. State Department encouraged the Pakistani government in a March 7, 2022, meeting to remove Imran Khan as prime minister over his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a classified Pakistani government document obtained by The Intercept. The meeting, between the Pakistani ambassador to the United States and two State Department officials, has been the subject of intense scrutiny, controversy, and speculation in Pakistan over the past year and a half, as supporters of Khan and his military and civilian opponents jockeyed for power. The political struggle escalated on August 5 when Khan was sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges and taken into custody for the second time since his ouster…The sentence also blocks Khan, Pakistan’s most popular politician, from contesting elections expected in Pakistan later this year.

French bosses back down slightly on mission “Occupy Niger”
France24, 9/14–"France welcomes the liberation of Stephane Jullien," said a spokeswoman for the [French foreign] ministry. Jullien, a businessman long based in Niger, had a role representing the interests of French expatriates at the French embassy. He was arrested on September 8 amid deteriorating ties that followed a coup in the former French colony in West Africa. France had announced his detention on Tuesday and called for his "immediate release". Relations between Niger and France went swiftly downhill after the July 26 putsch, which ousted French ally president Mohamed Bazoum. Paris, which has about 1,500 troops deployed in Niger…has stood by Bazoum and declared the post-coup authorities illegitimate. There has been speculation that France will be forced into a full military pullout from Niger, with a French defence ministry source saying last week that the French army was holding talks with Niger's military over withdrawing "elements" of its presence.

NEW YORK CITY, September 17—“Hey bosses, get off it: You pollute the world for profit! End climate change, end the bosses’ reign: We need communism to stop it!” This chants along with other chants resounded through the streets of New York City as upwards of 75,000 marched to protest the climate crisis. Worldwide, over a million people participated in more than 500 actions in 54 countries, the largest climate protest since before the pandemic. Progressive Labor Party’s (PLP) bold, decisive, and fearless message cut through the distracting reformist clutter: “The only solution is communist revolution!”

PLP was out in force. We mobilized a militant, multiracial contingent of anti-racist and communist fighters, and many of our members marched inside, and gave leadership to the contingents of other mass organizations. We came prepared with new chants highlighting the systemic/capitalist origins of the climate crisis. All told, we distributed between 700-800 CHALLENGE  newspapers and 500 flyers.

Climate reform is another bosses’ big lie
At a demonstration with hundreds of sponsors and many ruling-class-funded NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations)—and co-sponsored by the arch-imperialist United Nations—the machinery of the capitalist state, specifically the liberal, Democratic Party wing of the ruling class, was on full display. It is through these many organizations and their media that this Big Fascist (See glossary, page 6) section of the ruling class can shape public opinion and control working class anger. As CHALLENGEhas pointed out repeatedly (see editorial, 9/7), their deceitful and pathetic promises of climate reform are like all their promises: LIES.

As they wrap themselves in the environmental flag, U.S. bosses led by Biden and the Big Fascists continue to approve record numbers of fossil fuel leases, in large part to fund the largest military in the world (over 800 military bases in 85 countries) to defend their empire from rising rival imperialists led by China. Their latest military expenditures bill includes another $24 billion for their proxy war in Ukraine against Russian rivals, which has already cost the U.S. working class $135 billion (not to mention its untold destruction of human life and the environment).

Workers and youth attracted to open communist chants
As has become frequent in these large demonstrations, our PLP contingent attracted outsized attention. Our booming chants were rhythmic and relentless, with multiple comrades, led by women, taking turns at the mic. We took the initiative at various points in the march to lead large numbers of people in antiracist, anti-capitalist, and openly pro-communist chants. Many gave us thumbs up and nods of agreement, and quite a few followed us or joined our contingent. At one point, we led a marathon antiracist/anti-capitalist SHUT IT DOWN! chant for a full 15 minutes, involving many hundreds of people.

As capitalism sinks further into crisis, multiple indicators show a recent uptick in class consciousness in the U.S.
As CHALLENGE has highlighted (see 7/23), strikes are on the rise. Support for unions—even with their leader’s corrupt reformist politics—is growing. Confidence in big business is at an all-time low of 15 percent. In the march itself, it was more common to hear talk of workers and the working class than in the past. Young people seem much more comfortable staking out an anti-capitalist stance. (Even march organizers admitted they had only expected 15,000 people.) And climate marches are becoming decidedly more multiracial as the racist effects  of the climate crisis become more obvious by the day.

Let’s be clear though: 1) increased class consciousness is due to the unflagging efforts of communists and working class leaders over decades of class struggle (not phony liberal misleaders), and 2) it will go nowhere if we do not lead others to the next step: joining PLP and committing their lives to building communism.

Our task: Sharpen the struggle in mass organizations and build the Party!
We are active in many mass organizations. Now is the time to up our game. Virtually every mass organization now connects to the climate crisis: from schools to the factories, social services and the military, health care and immigration…. It is our job to make the connections and show that the climate crisis is yet another aspect of the capitalist crisis engulfing our world and threatening human life on this planet. The urgency of our communist movement has never been more clear. It is crucial that we keep our antiracist and openly communist line front and center in these struggles, and double down with our base and inside our organizations on both the dangers and opportunities to build our movement.

AOC’s smoke and mirrors: A front for Big Fascists
March organizers trotted out celebrity politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) to give the lead-off speech at the end of the march. For all her militant sounding talk, AOC fronts for the Big Fascists by disarming and pacifying the working class, channeling our righteous anger into tightly controlled demonstrations like this one, and electoral politics. As she attempts to reassure us that “we are not going from Oil Barons to Solar Barons,” that is exactly what is happening, with capitalists like phony environmentalist Al Gore becoming billionaires from their investments in renewable energy. She and her fellow “pro-Labor” Big Fascists are the same ones who voted to break the strike of railroad workers last December (see CHALLENGE 1/4). Her “incremental reformism” conceals and protects the Big Fascist bosses, who behind the scenes are carrying out their imperialist agendas, building up toward inevitable, imperialist war with rivals Russia and especially China. Falling for her fake revolutionary sloganeering leaves the working-class defenseless against this rising fascism. We cannot let this happen.