Bolivia: Global trade unions call for anti-capitalist struggle

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Founded in 1945 as a post-war international labour group, parallel to the United Nations, during the Cold War years the WFTU became a federation mainly of unions led by members of pro-Moscow Communist parties.

Although it declined precipitously after the fall of the Soviet bloc, in recent years the WFTU has experienced a certain revival, and now claims a membership of 86 million in 120 countries. The Cochabamba conference marked the integration of Bolivia’s COB in the federation.

At its closing plenary session, the conference adopted an “anti-imperialist political thesis”. It outlined an “anti-imperialist, anti-colonial and anti-capitalist” strategy aimed at pointing the way towards a socialist world.

It is a strong statement of solidarity with anti-imperialist liberation movements and the “process of change” in Bolivia and other Latin American countries.

The thesis began by stating: “The peoples of the world, and especially the popular sectors, are suffering the consequences of a crisis of capitalism. This is a crisis unlike any we have seen before, a crisis that is both global and structural.”

It said: “The consequence of this is that there are a billion people who go hungry, according to the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations], and since the crisis began the number of poor people has increased by some 100 million.

“But while poverty and hunger are the most visible effects of the crisis of capitalism, all of this is linked to the peoples’ loss of social rights, especially labor rights. Capital will attempt to ride out the crisis on the backs of the workers.”

It noted: “Nevertheless, neoliberal recipes cannot resolve even the problems of the countries at the centre of the world capitalist system.”

As a result, the thesis said: “The crisis of the capitalist world system and the geopolitical struggle for control of natural resources is leading the peoples and workers of the world towards a scenario in which it is necessary to choose between one of two projects in contention ― socialist emancipation or neoliberal restoration.”

From: https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/56962

The thesis can be found here: http://lifeonleft.blogspot.ca/2014/07/from-bolivia-trade-union-appeal-for.html

[randys1]

1. Very interesting...Common sense dictates that a form of democratic socialism is the ONLY

way America will survive, that is an absolute.

Same medicine is necessary for others it seems ...

makes sense to me

[TBF]

2. "Capital will attempt to ride out the crisis on the backs of the workers" -

ain't that the truth. We need to push back harder.