CPC UofT | COVID and International Solidarity
Anti-imperialism is an immense challenge in the best of times, and things have only become more difficult as COVID-19 continues to spread, aided by denialist elites and tepid compromises with capital. The pandemic has made questions of solidarity likewise difficult to answer. How can we share in global struggles in the midst of lockdowns? How is the coronavirus affecting countries sanctioned by Canada, like Venezuela, Iran, the DPRK, and so many others? What does the pandemic mean for a wave of protests crashing across the world that demands a reality where Black Lives Matter? Communists and all those who love peace are facing these questions.
The Communist Party of Canada, including our own club, has organized and recorded online events to try to clarify struggles, opportunities, and what we can do in Canada to come alongside those fighting for justice here and around the world. In particular, with the help of the Toronto Association for Peace and Solidarity and the Student Christian Movement, we hosted a public conversation with Nino Pagliccia and Jim Hodgson on solidarity with Venezuela. And recently, for National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21st, the Communist Party of Canada, the Young Communist League, and the Canadian Peace Congress hosted an incredible dialogue called “From Canada to Bolivia” with Evo Morales, Hayden King, Kanahus Manuel, Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, and Gina Mowatt. See the links below.
In this newsletter, you'll find events and statements related to the struggle for justice around the world. Want to join our club? Check out the events below, and apply to join the party today!
From Canada to Bolivia with President Evo Morales
Listen as Indigenous activists talk together about the imperialist links between Canada and Bolivia, how Canadian financial and state interests are continuing the history of colonialism and threatening Indigenous people, and how to build solidarity. It’s an incredible conversation, clarifying problems, making connections, and talking about solutions. Presenters also help us see the continuities between today’s pandemic and colonialism’s legacy of brutality and disease. As Morales says in the conversation: “They said that we were animals, savages, and that they were bringing civilization...but instead they brought syphilization.” Read an excerpt of Morales’s remarks at People’s Voice.
Venezuela and Canadian Imperialism: Building Solidarity During the Pandemic
In its foreign policy messaging, the Trudeau government has promoted what former Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland calls "rules-based international order." Yet when it comes to Venezuela, a country besieged by crushing sanctions, Canada has been selective with which rules it wants to promote. Forming the Lima Group, Canada has organized local opposition forces and international leaders in an attempt to remove president Nicolás Maduro from power. As the current pandemic has created an even tougher strain on the country, Canada continues to maintain sanctions, against the explicit advice of the United Nations. And when a recent mercenary incursion in early May was thwarted by Venezuelan fishermen, Canada had nothing to say. What is Canada's role in Venezuela, and how can Canadians express solidarity with the Venezuelan people? In this online event, Nino Pagliccia and Jim Hodgson offer their analysis and advice. Drawing on decades of experience in the region, they will help us understand the nature of the crisis, the effects of Canadian policy, and what meaningful actions Canadians can do to affirm the right to self-determination in Venezuela. Want more? Read an article about how the United Church of Canada is accompanying the Bolivarian Revolution, featuring comments from Hodgson in People’s Voice!
Left Wing Movie Night: Do Not Resist (2016)
Join us for a film showing and discussion over Zoom on Monday, June 29, at 7:30. Filmed over two years in 11 states, Do Not Resist serves as an account of the increased militarization of police forces across the United States during the post-Ferguson era. Please sign up to receive an invitation here: https://forms.gle/D1YhG9YE61YUAtjF6
We are living through an immense moment of popular uprisings protesting police violence and the murder of Black people in the United States, Canada, and many other parts of the world. In a statement on June 2, the Communist Party of Canada called “for unity and solidarity with the uprising against racist murders by police.” The statement goes on to say:
The current movement against racist policing has already united hundreds of thousands of working people from different communities across the continent. The CPC stands united with racialized and Indigenous peoples fighting racist police violence and calls on the labour and democratic movements across Canada to build the struggle against racism and for equality and justice.
The Communist Party of Canada is a revolutionary party committed to the liberation of working and marginalized people. Apply to join today! Follow our club on Facebook, and find the Party on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
