New Anti-Capitalist Party Calls for a French Revolution

By Asad Ismi Last February , the New Anti-Capitalist Party (Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste, NPA) was founded in Paris with 10,000 members represented by 650 delegates. Almost overnight, the NPA drew 6% of the French electoral vote and its leader, Olivier Besancenot, a 35-year-old postal worker, became the second most popular left-wing politician in France after […]

The Latin American Revolution (Part 2): El Salvador the Latest Latin American Country to Turn Left

Asad Ismi Joining the revolutionary wave sweeping Latin America, the people of El Salvador in March elected the first progressive government in the country’s 168-year history, by voting in the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a former left-wing guerrilla army. Mauricio Funes, the FMLN President-elect, told cheering supporters: “The time has come for the […]

The Latin American Revolution (Part One): Latin American Presidents Address World Social Forum

By Asad Ismi In a historic first, on January 29, five Latin American Presidents addressed the 2009 World Social Forum (WSF) held in Belem, Brazil: Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay. The WSF, the gathering of leftist social movements […]

The World Social Forum in Nairobi: African Activists Lead Resistance to Western Plundering and Imperialism

By Asad Ismi and Kristin Schwartz Held in Africa for the first time, the World Social Forum (WSF) brought 66,000 people to Nairobi, Kenya, from 110 countries and highlighted the continent’s many anti-imperialist struggles. In a united voice, Africans said no to U.S. neo-colonialism, World Bank/IMF economic control, and Western corporate plunder of their resources. […]