75 Years Since the Victory over Fascism - The Decisive Blow to Colonialism

By Tyson Riel Strandlund

When asked to reflect on the defeat of fascism, the images that come to mind for most are set in Europe, either on the bloody battlefields of World War II, or behind the barbed wire of the concentration camps. For liberal and otherwise revisionist historians, the Holocaust and other atrocities by the Nazis are depicted either as the result of Hitler’s personality or “insanity”, or worse, as an inevitable response to Soviet “totalitarianism”. As historical materialists, we understand that “great man” history or psycho-history of this kind which ignores the material and social forces at play in any historical setting is idealism, and reflects a disdain for the working class on whose shoulders history is truly carried. Indeed, there is some truth in the assertion that German fascism grew from a response to the Soviet Union, but not, as is falsely claimed, a response to Soviet aggression or attacks on personal liberties. For the 75th anniversary of the heroic victory over fascism, for which the Soviet people sacrificed as many as 30 million lives, it’s my hope to help make the case – which at one time was well known – that this victory, for the vast majority of people in the world, was a victory over the forces of colonialism and imperialism.

From RCMP Raids to NATO Wars: Capitalist Crisis and Oil

By Ryan Abbott

This article was originally published in People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. 

Despite having some of the largest energy reserves in the world, despite an almost universal support for pipeline projects among its major political parties, and despite a bloated lobby of energy executives who dictate its domestic energy policy, the petro-state of Canada is in a deep crisis.

Three pipeline proposals have already been shot down. Two others remain deeply unpopular and face a long list of challenges. The Trans-Mountain Pipeline extension (TMX) would allow the Alberta tar-sands operations to increase by up to 600%. Despite this, Kinder Morgan ultimately pulled out of the project, citing low investor confidence in the face of strong opposition from Indigenous groups as well as enormous legal and environmental challenges. Tar-sands bitumen is notoriously hard to produce, requiring massive amounts of energy to process, and comes at enormous environmental costs. Most damning is the fact that bitumen produced from tar-sands cannot compete in the global oil market; it only barely squeaks out a profit due to heavy government subsidies and handouts.

Cyprus: a country still divided by Imperialism

Special to RY

This piece was originally published in People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. 

A small island in the eastern Mediterranean, at the crossroads of the Middle East and Europe, Cyprus is victim to imperialist antagonisms in the region. It is a situation that has led to 37% of its territory being occupied by Turkey since 1974.

This division contributes to making Cyprus an “unsinkable aircraft carrier,” as shown by the occupation of 4% of the territory by more than 4000 British forces which are stationed there. To add to the complexity of the case, oil deposits have been discovered recently off the coasts of Lebanon and Israel and Cyprus, which reinforces the geostrategic interest of the island.

Anti-Imperialist Youth of the World hold a successful Meeting in Cyprus

Iakovos Tofari, outgoing President of WFDY addresses the Assembly

Adrien Welsh 

This article was originally published in People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. 

From December 3-6, anti-imperialist youth from around the world gathered in Cyprus for the 20th General Assembly of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY). More than 100 young people participated, representing about 95 organizations from all over the world, including Cuba, Venezuela, Palestine, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Western Sahara. The Young Communist League of Canada (YCL-LJC) was also present.

This assembly was the largest in the last 30 years, proving the vitality and the relevance of the fight against imperialism, particularly among youth, since the counter-revolution in Eastern Europe.

“All Power to the People” : Meeting with Ajamu Baraka

Report by Igor Sadikov

On November 15, national organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace, former U.S. Green Party vice-presidential candidate and longtime peace activist Ajamu Baraka addressed a full room gathered at the Greek Workers Association hall in Montreal, as part of a tour of Eastern Canada organized by the Canadian Peace Congress and the Mouvement québécois pour la paix. Baraka provided an analysis of imperialism as the material basis for war and spoke of a “global de-colonial imperative” – the need for an international anti-imperialist front in order to directly confront white supremacy and neoliberal ideology.

Two Degrees between Me and Fidel

By Abram Lutes 

History is not made by individuals, but sometimes history places individuals at the heart of momentous events. The leadership and moral character of these individuals can thus, sometimes, change the world.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is one such individual, also known simply as “Castro”, or affectionately just “Fidel” in much of Latin America. Having spent some time in Latin America, I too think of him as Fidel.

University of Victoria's Student Society prevents a celebration of the International Day of Students

November 17, 1939 antifascist rally in Prague

By Tyson Riel Strandlund

November 17th marks the International Day of Students, a day which commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi storming of the University of Prague after demonstrations against the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, following which student leaders were executed and over 1200 students sent to concentration camps. This day is marked and celebrated by students around the world, and it was with this day in mind that students at the University of Victoria had intended to come together to raise their voices in unison demanding the right to free, universal, democratic post-secondary education on November 14th. It would cost approximately $10 billion to eliminate tuition fees in Canada. Meanwhile, Canada’s 6 banks reported $42 billion in profit for 2017. With the $4.5 billion used to purchase the Trans-Mountain Pipeline, we could’ve eliminated student debt for over 150,000 people. Additionally, our commitment to NATO means our already bloated military budget of over $20 billion will be increasing by 73% over the course of the decade. There is simply no excuse for the prioritisation of corporate profits over education.

“Against looting, socialism!” Say the Çanakkale people (Turkey) against Canadian Mining Corporation Alamos

Thousands protest against Alamos Gold Mining in Çanakkale

By Adrien Welsh 

It was with this rallying cry that activists from the Çanakkale branch of the Turkish Communist Party joined the thousands of demonstrators who stormed the site of the Kirazli gold mine project operated by the Canadian mining company Alamos. Despite a few altercations with security personnel, a human tide of thousands of protesters were determined to voice their opposition to the company caused deforestation and defeated the company's security agents. Once on the site, the event went off without a hitch, the protesters came among others to make an eminently symbolic gesture: planting trees.

Canadian Network on Cuba’s campaign to reopen IRCC office in Havana well underway

Special to RY

Coming out of its last biennial Convention held this past June in Toronto, the Canadian Network on Cuba resolved to continue a major campaign to reopen Canada’s Visa office in Havana.

For this purpose, activists in solidarity with Cuba have begun gathering signatures for a petition addressed to the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed D. Hussen, and Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign affairs. It states that “on May 8th, 2019, the Government of Canada made the abrupt decision to shut down the section of its Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship (IRCC) Office in Havana.”

Anti-imperialist youth of the world says, “imperialists, hands off Venezuela!”

Special to RY

To mark the anniversary of Cuban-Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, the anti-imperialist youth of the world launches a solidarity campaign with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Is there any better way to celebrate Che than by showing that young people are determined to fulfill their objective of seeing a free and sovereign Latin America?

The decision to initiate this campaign on June 14 was made by the General Council of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, which met last April in Caracas during a solidarity mission with Bolivarian Venezuela. Around thirty organizations from all over the world have unanimously endorsed this call for mobilization, a timely one considering the growing aggressiveness of Western imperialism against Venezuela and Latin America.

The people of Venezuela reiterated, "Guaido is not our President"

Brief note by Adrien Welsh 

Let's salute the courage, determination and reactivity of the Venezuelan people, its youth, its institutions and organizations that represent them for their mobilisation in the face of the new destabilizing action of criminal, usurper and fascist Juan Guaidó and convicted Leopoldo López.

Thanks to people’s mobilization, Venezuelans have prevented this manoeuvre from ending in a coup perpetrated by the proxies of imperialism in Venezuela who have eyes only for the oil and natural resources of this country and wish for larger profits for western shareholders.

95th Anniversary of the YCL-LJC celebrated by the World Federation of Democratic Youth

Special to RY

This article was published in the Bulletin of the Commission of Europe and North America of the World Federation of Democratic youth. The bulletin can be found here. In addition to this article on the 95th Anniversary of the YCL-LJC Canada, you can read articles about the 100th Anniversary of the November Revolution in Germany, the rise of repression against popular movements in Spain, a well-informed picture of the situation of the youth in Russia and many other topics related to the youth struggles written by anti-imperialist and communist youth organizations of Europe and North America. 

This year, as we celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Young Communist League, it is important to outline the relevance of this organization. The YCL-LJC is a unique organization that aims to convince the young generation of the urgent need to fight for a better world, a socialist world. Today, we can say that it is the first time since 1945 that youth face a more precarious future than their parents, and all this is to say why we need to organize youth as an entity of its own. Lenin said “frequently the middle aged and the aged do not know how to approach youth in the proper way. Youth must come to socialism in different ways by other paths, in other forms under other circumstances than their parents.”