An Undeserved Prize

By J. Cruz Guerrero

After one year at the head of the government of the U.S., President Barack Obama has dispelled all the expectations of liberalism that he created in U.S. and world public opinion, revealing himself as a ruler in the service of the dark interests of the U.S. oligarchy, providing continuity to the war policy of the Bush administration, from which it is distinguished only by his rhetoric.
These statements are not exaggerated if we look at the actions of the Obama government in various areas of the world, primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean:
The establishment of seven U.S. military bases in Colombia, which is a kind of annexation of Colombia to the United States, has turned that country into the spearhead at the service of the hegemonic U.S. interests in the region and threaten the national security of the countries of the continent that have decided to break the chain of humiliation linking them to the power of the North, particularly Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.
The events in Honduras, where the legitimate government of President Zelaya was overthrown, have shown the leading role of Obama in this nefarious act. To this one must add the shameless diplomatic steps of this government to legalize the coup through elections that have the Secretary General of the Organization of American States and the President of Costa Rica filled with disgrace by their complicity with the U.S. Government in carrying out such an evil deed.
The continuing of the embargo against the Republic Cuba and the protection of the Cuban-American terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, wanted for extradition by the government of Venezuela, for his acknowledged responsibility for shooting down a Cubana de Aviación airplane in which the 76 people aboard died; the maintenance of a U.S. naval base and clandestine prison on the Cuban territory of Guantánamo; the continuation of the unjust imprisonment of the five Cuban heroes confined in United States prisons; these are facts that show that Obama's policy are a continuation of those of Bush, with the difference that the former is an African American.
The transfer of the war operations in Iraq to Afghan territory, with the aim of perpetuating U.S. rule in these Islamic republics, should not surprise anyone, because this was a promise of President Obama's election campaign.
This aggressive criminal record of the Barack Obama administration, a continuation of the war-like and interfering policy of Washington, are more than sufficient proof to conclude that the recently awarded Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama is undeserved and unjustifiable.

Lucha, newspaper of the Communist Party of Labor of the Dominican Republic

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USA: The Obama election

November 2008

The clear-cut election victory of Obama signifies the imperialism’s obvious “choice” that aims to cushion the blow amidst the most severe crisis of capitalism since 1929. The all time record of participation, 75%, in the American elections was broken by all the Afro-Americans who were never registered in the electoral roll and went “persistently” to vote in opposition to the, always present, racist reflexes of the fascist American state apparatus.  
They indeed struggled for aspirations bound to be disappointed soon, since their “brother” is Microsoft’s and Citygroup’s man, the one destined to handle the crisis to the benefit of the system.
These are, however, the heart of the US proletariat, that came down to the streets, hoped and “celebrated” even for one night in the historic Chicago in the name of the tortured, the millions of dead. On the opposite side, the communists not only do not look down on them but they know they have huge responsibility. Because these people from Africa’s womb are not “Barcklay’s left”; they are the heart of the American proletariat. Even if their dreams prove false, that should not amount to the halt of their momentum but, on the contrary, to its joining with the consciousness that always comes from outside, with the revolutionary theory of the working class so that their current, initial, union will lead to the rebirth of their own party standing by their class brothers of every color, tongue or culture.

Movement for the Reorganisation of the Communist Party of Greece 1918-55

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Historic election result in the USA

The clear election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the USA is a great victory over racism and discrimination. A new page has opened in the decades-long struggle, with its cortege of assassinated leaders, imprisoned activists, violently repressed demonstrations and where racial discrimination goes together with social discrimination.
We share the immense joy of the blacks, Latinos and many minorities that make up this country, of the progressive men and women, the factory workers, the office workers, of all sectors of the working class who mobilized to beat the candidate of the party for the pursuit of the war in Iraq, the lowering of taxes for the rich, and his running mate, the muse of the most reactionary sectors of the anti-abortion right, the partisan of the “shock of civilizations.”
The rejection of the Bush team’s policy, which has made the USA the most denounced imperialist power, the most scorned in the world, was one of the springs of Obama’s victory.
In the eyes of the peoples of the world, US imperialism is war, the policy of destabilizing entire regions from the moment that they present a geo-strategic and economic interest for the US monopolies and the Pentagon. It is the torture centers. It is an economic system that pushes unbridled consumption financed by the rest of the planet, generating enormous waste and a pollution whose consequences are borne by all of the peoples. It is also this image that the people who voted for Obama want to change. The financial crisis which has been transformed into a world economic crisis has already deprived thousands of workers of their jobs in a country where unemployment benefits do no
last for more than 26 weeks. The neo-liberal policy conducted continuously since the Reagan  years and which McCain proposed to pursue in its general lines, has caused the running-down
of the health system and of public education. The consequences of the privatizations and the withdrawal of the state from all social sectors is measured by the degree of abandonment in
which the tens of thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina live to this day. On the other hand, the rich have never been so rich, never has the gap of social inequalities been so great.
A large part of the oligarchy also “voted for Obama.” His financial and media support grew as the crisis grew and as billions were injected into the financial system. The oligarchy judges
that Obama is best placed to get the whole system out of this crisis, while taking measures of a nature to guarantee social peace. The oligarchy also expects him to get the US out of its
international isolation by practicing a policy of cooperation with the other imperialist powers and groups of powers.
Sarkozy and practically all the right wing leaders also want to surf on the “Obama wave” while pursuing the realization of the reactionary policy of “selected immigration” and its European pendant, the “shameful directive.” Sarkozy hopes that with this change at the head of the US government, he will manage to get people to accept the sending of French troops to Afghanistan and the French rejoining the NATO military command.
The North-American people have big expectations. But without a mobilization, without the pressure of the popular and labor movement, with a relationship of force, the man who has just been elected and the team that he will choose will realize a policy in the service of the oligarchy alone. The workers, the activists against the imperialist war, all those men and women who fight to refuse to pay for the crisis can be assured of one thing: the workers and the peoples of the world will be in solidarity with their struggles.

Paris, 6 November 2008
Parti Communiste des Ouvriers de France
pcof@pcof.net

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