NATO at Crossroads after 70th Anniversary Summit
By Mike Talavera
Today, French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Élysée Palace to discuss the imperialist proxy war in Eastern Ukraine. The absence of the US and other anti-Russian members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at these talks, happening less than a week after NATO’s lackluster 70th anniversary, is another sign of the growing uncertainty in the future of the US-dominated alliance.
Leading up to this meeting, Macron expressed optimism in working with Putin. “If we want to move forward in fostering stability in Europe, we need to move forward with that dialogue,” he said.
France’s attitude towards Russia appears to subvert the official foreign policy of US imperialism, which has aggressively contested Russia’s influence over Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe since the fall of the revisionist Soviet Union. Heads of state at the NATO 70th anniversary summit also seemed to show disrespect towards US leadership, as captured in the leaked video of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mocking US President Donald Trump.
Despite these small acts of disregard, the outcome of the NATO summit demonstrates the enduring US dominance of Europe, and it is in line with the Trump administration’s policy of shifting towards imposing US interests directly on individual European countries rather than coordinating with NATO allies as a whole.
Read the full story @ incendiarynews.com
AUSTIN: Revolutionaries Hold Vigil for Veneranda Martinez, Working Single Mother Killed in Murder-Suicide
Photo: Former customers of Veneranda Martinez-Gutierrez kneel in front of a memorial constructed at the site of her death.
By David Martinez
On Sunday night in East Austin, women revolutionaries and community members held a vigil for Veneranda Martinez-Gutierrez, a single mother of three who was shot by her estranged husband, Florencio Barron, at a gas station in the East Riverside neighborhood. After he shot Veneranda, Barron turned the gun on himself and was found dead at the scene. While physically unharmed, their now orphaned children witnessed the entire event, and Veneranda heroically died trying to shield her daughter from gunfire.
The tragic murder-suicide occurred around 5:30 AM on December 6, at a Valero gas station in the working class neighborhood of East Riverside in Central Austin. Veneranda was a constant fixture in the early mornings at the gas station as a well-known vendor of tamales to the local community. For the vigil, activists gathered near the spot of her death with a banner that read “Honra a Veneranda (Honor Veneranda)” and set up a small memorial with her photo surrounded by candles and flowers.
The details of the incident have devastated and enraged the masses, not only for the loss of such a beloved community member, but also due to the course of events leading up to her death. Veneranda’s killer, Barron, had been stalking her for months, and she had called the police multiple times seeking protection that was never provided. Under capitalism, the police’s job is not to protect the working class woman or man, but to serve the ruling class and protect property.
At the vigil, the organizers, Popular Women’s Movement – Movimiento Femenino Popular (PWM-MFP), emphasized this, telling attendees how Austin Police Department (APD) employs abusers who beat their girlfriends and molest their own children, and should not be expected to help women.
Read the full story @ incendiarynews.com
#Austin #Riverside
LOS ANGELES: Anti-Gentrification Activists March in Highland Park Christmas Parade
By Audrey Hellenbrecht
On December 1, activists and supporters of Northeast Los Angeles United (NELA United) and revolutionary organization Defend Boyle Heights (DBH) marched in the 75th Annual Highland Park Christmas Parade, bringing an openly anti-gentrification political message to the city-sponsored event.
NELA Riders, a local community group with a focus on restoring and showcasing classic cars, offered a leading spot as part of their contingent in the parade for masked anti-gentrification activists to march ahead of them. The activists carried a banner reading “Our Community is Not For Sale, Join Us,” along with a phone number for community members to join the struggle. The activists were given a platform thanks to the solidarity of the oppressed masses of Highland Park.
The Highland Park Christmas Parade is an annual event that takes place on the first Sunday of December, and usually includes various community groups, schools, and local businesses amongst others. The event is hosted by the Highland Park Chamber of Commerce and the City of Los Angeles.
Highland Park is part of District 14, which is represented by Councilman Jose Huizar, who is currently under investigation by the FBI for corruption. Huizar has played an active role in pushing gentrifying development projects in the area and been the target of anti-gentrification activists across the city.
Read the full story @ incendiarynews.com
#la #nela #losangeles #gentrification #antigentrification #highlandpark
FLORIDA: State Attorney’s Office Covers for Rapist Cop
By Ben Robinson
New details have emerged in the case of Hialeah Police Department (HPD) Sergeant Jesus “Jesse” Menocal Jr., suggesting that the State Attorney’s Office may have aided in covering up allegations of assault and rape four years ago in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
The prosecutor responsible for charging Menocal, Assistant State Attorney Johnette Hardiman, failed to interview three of his victims. Since its closure, a trove of documents and evidence related to the case have been lost.
The original internal investigation was initiated in June 2015 after Menocal tried to coerce a 17-year-old girl to have sex with him in a camera-less room at the Hialeah police station. This prompted investigators to seek out three other victims who corroborated the allegations that Menocal was a sexual predator, including a 14-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and told that she would “disappear” if she ever told anyone. At least eight other women and girls had also been taken to the police station by Menocal without a report ever being filed.
One of the victims died in 2015, five months after reporting Menocal’s abuse to investigators, a suspicious incident in which she fell out of a moving car. This particular woman reported that Menocal told her, “if you ever say anything, I will find you and I will kill you.” The internal investigation was closed with no action against Menocal. He was back on patrol before the investigation was even completed, moved back to the SWAT team as a coordinator, and received a raise from Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velázquez.
Since then, a lawsuit against the city of Hialeah and a FBI probe have been opened into the accusations, with Chief Velázquez citing “new information” that has come to light. While it is not clear what this “new information” entails, it has been revealed that Hardiman only interviewed one of the four victims when deciding if Menocal should be charged with sexual battery.
It has also been revealed that the State Attorney’s Office has since lost several important pieces of evidence against Menocal.
Read the full story @ incendiarynews.com
#Florida
Graffiti in Europe Calls to Defend Chairman Gonzalo’s Life
By Sherman Cox
Earlier this week, graffiti actions were carried out in Germany and Denmark under the slogan “Defend the Life of Chairman Gonzalo!” These efforts, carried out on the 85th anniversary of Gonzalo’s birth, help publicize the worldwide campaign to defend the Chairman from the threat of assassination posed by the Peruvian state.
A statement posted on the Danish site Socialistik Revolution reads: “Chairman Gonzalo is the great leader of the international proletariat, the Peruvian Communist Party, and the Peruvian Revolution. He has been in solitary confinement since September 1992, imprisoned by the reactionary Peruvian State who wait only for the chance to assassinate the great Communist.
The International Communist Movement recognizes Chairman Gonzalo as the greatest living Marxist-Leninist-Maoist on the face of the Earth and believes that the campaign in defense of his life is inextricably linked to the struggle to impose Maoism as the commanding and guiding ideology of the Proletarian World Revolution.” Read more @ incendiarynews.com
#germany #denmark #chairmangonzalo #gonzalo #maoism
FRANCE: Historic Mobilization Against Pension Reforms, 1.5 million demonstrators!
The following is an unofficial translation of the article “Mobilisation historique contre la réforme des retraites : 1,5 millions de manifestants!” originally published December 5 from revolutionary French newspaper La Cause du Peuple. Bracketed text are our own clarifications.
Translation by Kate LaBelle
This Thursday, December 5, was marked in the heart of the French state by the first big day of strikes and demonstrations against the infamous project of pension reform, which the Macron government wishes to put into action.
The strike had been planned since more than two months by the RATP [a state owned public transportation operations company], but what actually occurred was a beautiful interprofessional strike: the Paris metro network was paralyzed, train traffic as well, seven refineries were on strike, ports and docks were at a standstill, taxi drivers organized road blocking operations, more than half of teachers were on strike and a number of schools were closed, the garbage collectors were on strike in Marseille and Montpellier, the electricians and gas workers of the EDF [electric utility company, largely state-owned] and Engie [French multinational utility company] were on strike, and in many other sectors, demonstrations took place.
Read the full story @ incendiarynews.com
#France #grèvegénérale
