Brazil is currently experiencing the largest demonstrations seen in the country in over 20 years. The protests were sparked by an increase in the cost of public transport, but under the conditions of police brutality and the ever increasing cost of staging major sporting events, that spark was enough to set alight the contradictions that have been building up in the form of poor healthcare, poor education, and rampant corruption. With the tentacles of capitalist crisis beginning to reach Brazil, many of the workers and youth in the country are frustrated with the current system and have taken to the streets to demand change.

The magnificent movement of the workers and youth of Turkey is an inspiration to the whole world. What began as a peaceful protest against the cutting down of trees in a park to pave the way for the construction of a shopping mall has turned into a tidal wave of mass protests against the vicious and reactionary Erdogan regime, which has acquired insurrectionary dimensions. The courage and determination shown by ordinary people in Turkey has proved yet again that there is a power in society that is far stronger than any state, army, government or police force. That is the power of the masses; once they are mobilized to fight for a change in society, no force on earth can resist them.

What started as a small scale protest against the destruction of Gezi Park that stands next to Taksim Square in Istanbul has now developed into a nationwide movement demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Erdogan, of the AK Party. What is the background to this movement? How is it possible that an apparently small issue (a “few trees” as Erdogan put it) has sparked such a huge movement? If there were a revolutionary leadership with roots in the working class, we would be on the eve of a revolutionary overthrow of capitalism in Turkey.

This past weekend, Nicolás Maduro, the candidate of the Bolivarian revolution, secured a narrow victory over the right-wing candidate, Henrique Capriles, in the Venezuelan presidential elections. Capriles and the right-wing are alleging fraud and yesterday, attempted to foment a coup to overthrow the Venezuelan government. This shows that now, more than ever, the gains of the revolution must be defended and that the oligarchy needs to be expropriated.

The media is full of the sycophantic outpourings of right-wing commentators and politicians about the sudden death of Margaret Thatcher. The news is full of tributes, portraying Thatcher as some kind of champion of freedom and liberty. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Her death is now being used to “rehabilitate” her, to paint her as a heroine. She was a champion — a champion of capitalism, the ruling class, and all it represents. For us, Thatcher represented and epitomized privilege, wealth and the inequality of class society.

Margaret Thatcher, the former British Conservative prime minister and one of the most hated figures in the history of the labour movement, died today at the age of 87. Thatcher, more than anyone, personified the brutal attacks on the working class during the 1980s — attacks that the Tory-led Coalition in Britain are continuing today. We publish here a short piece on Thatcher's death, with more in depth analysis of her legacy to follow soon.

It is a week now since the death of Hugo Chávez and there are still kilometre-long queues of people coming from all over the country to pay their last respects. Presidential elections have been called for April 14 and the mood is turning angry at the provocations of the oligarchy. The deep feeling of pride and dignity, which ordinary working people have gotten from participating directly in the revolution and defending it against the repeated assaults of the oligarchy and imperialism, created a very powerful bond with the president.

Hugo Chavez is no more. The cause of freedom, socialism, and humanity has lost a courageous champion. The human body is a fragile thing. It is easy to destroy with a bullet or a disease. All humans are born to die. But there is no force on earth that can destroy an idea whose time has come. Hugo Chavez the man is no longer with us, but he lives on. We pledge ourselves to do everything in our power to step up the fight for socialism in Venezuela and throughout the world. That is the only way forward; the only way to honour the memory of Hugo Chavez. Carry out the legacy of Hugo Chavez, not in words but in deeds!

On the morning of 6th February, the prominent left-wing leader Chokri Belaïd was assassinated in front of his house in Tunis. Thousands have taken to the streets, attacked offices of the ruling Ennahda party, which they consider responsible for the assassination, and a general strike has been called for 8th February. This could be the incident that sparks a much needed second revolution, two years after the overthrow the hated Ben Alí regime.

Less than a year ago, “King Bibi”, as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had become known, had an almost absolute majority in the polls and all other parties, one after another, were entering into crisis. The recent elections show a very different picture: polarization to the right and the left.