International Viewpoint

The 30th anniversary of Britain's invasion of the Falklands to remove an occupation force sent by Argentinian military dictator General Galtieri, comes at a time of renewed controversy over the British presence in the region writes Alan Thornett . The islands are adjacent to Argentina but 8,000 miles from Britain. The new controversy has been triggered by the escalating rush for oil and gas drilling, which is now around the Falklands—or the Malvinas as they are known in Argentina, - IV448 - May 2012 / Britain, National question

First of all, a premise. The Malvinas (called the Falkland Islands by the British) are Argentine because they were occupied by force, populated by foreign settlers and maintained under British occupation from the beginning of the 19th century, in 1833. Since then, Argentine governments have regularly denounced this theft. However, the demand for the return of the Malvinas has only been at the forefront of national politics in two periods: in 1982 at the beginning of the death agony of the military dictatorship, when it was being unsettled by strikes, demonstrations and mass movements, and now, under the second presidential term of Cristina Fernandez Kirchner. In fact, she said and did nothing important about this subject during her first term, or when she was a Senator under the presidency of Menem. All the dictatorships from 1955 to 1976, like the governments of Perón and Peronism showed no concern with the Malvinas. - IV448 - May 2012 / Argentina, National question

This article, written obviously before the latest elections, give a picture of the effects of the austerity plans, against which the Greek people protested in their votes on May 6. - IV448 - May 2012 / Greece

In number of votes, the far right is growing. It is one of the dangers of the time. To counter it, moral pieties are not enough, when the concrete policy of the left in power is to put itself at the service of the power of money and capital. That is why we need an anti-capitalist party, and a workers' movement capable of opposing austerity wherever it comes from. - IV448 - May 2012 / France, Far Right

While protests in different cities of Pakistan is going on, we received a bad news from Hunza valley. Six activists of Labour Party led by comrade Nasir are arrested in Karim Abad, the main city of Hunza, while flyposting the posters for the release of Baba Jan. - News from around the world / Pakistan

Untimely and unexpected. That's what the emergence of this movement of collective outrage at the Spanish state was. If we had been told on M14 (May 14th, 2011) the next day thousands of people would start taking to the streets week by week and occupy squares, organized meetings, challenge the power with massive civil disobedience while staying in the streets... we would never have imagined it possible. But that's what happened. People, two and a half years after the outbreak of the "great crisis," said "Enough." - IV448 - May 2012 / Spanish state, Global Justice

The OWS movement took place after several years of absence of cohesive nationwide movements, and amidst an extreme fragmentation of struggles. The economic crisis and the evident iniquity of the austerity policies implemented by the government created the conditions for a new social explosion. The first great achievement of the OWS movement is that it provided a response to the risk of the rise of a racist and libertarian right. - IV448 - May 2012 / USA, Women, Global Justice, LGBT

The Supreme Court symbolic sentence to prime minister Gilani in the contempt court case is a win win situation for both sides. The Supreme Court wanted a decision that should not be easily explained by any one and the masses should be confused and divided on the issue. It gave a decision that gave time to PPP to react in an organised manner. - IV448 - May 2012 / Pakistan

Sarkozy has been beaten. This is an inspiring result and we rejoice. We should analyse the relationship of forces that it reflects and the situation that it opens. - IV448 - May 2012 / France, Far Right

Carl Finamore returned to Egypt for ten days in 2012, on the one-year anniversary of the 18-day revolt that began on January 25, 2011. This followed a reporting trip of ten days in 2011. On that occasion he arrived on February 11, 2011, the day President Hosni Mubarak was deposed. On both occasions, he travelled to Egypt with letters of introduction from his union and the San Francisco Labor Council. He is former president (retired), Air Transport Employees, Local Lodge 1781, IAMAW and current delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council. He can be reached at local1781@yahoo.com. - IV448 - May 2012

One of the striking events of the 2012 French presidential election was the campaign of the Front de Gauche and Jean-Luc Mélenchon: tens of thousands of participants at its meetings, a significant place in the political debate and 11.01% of the vote in the first round, a notable score. - IV448 - May 2012

This international appeal in defence of Argentina's right to recover its energy wealth was initiated by the MST (Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores) of Argentina. - IV448 - May 2012 / Fourth International, Argentina

An important petition has been launched in defence of Baba Jan and his comrades. It includes a very useful summary of the case. It was initiated by Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky, Quanader Bux Memon, Vijay Prashad, Farooq Tariq, atc. Have it signed and use it as a reference for other initiatives. - News from around the world / Pakistan

Syriza, the radical left-wing coalition comes first in all major cities and among people aged 18-35. Its campaign advocated suspending debt payment and cancelling austerity measures. - IV448 - May 2012 / Greece

Euskal Herria [1] experienced a day of total general strike, in the literal sense of the word: a strike with 100 per cent participation on March 29. The sector of workers who worked was residual and the 30 per cent of minimal services imposed by the governments did not make it possible to give the impression of normality that they sought. More than that, in the transport sector, the requisitioned workers circulated while announcing: “We are on strike — minimum service”. Only the banks showed some activity on the inside, but the establishments remained closed to the public. - IV448 - May 2012 / Spanish state, Euskadi, Trade unions

During the last week we have received particularly alarming information on the fate of five political prisoners in the territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, the Himalayan "Northern Territories" of Pakistan. - IV448 - May 2012 / Pakistan

The following three articles are reports which appeared in the Algerian press of a press conference held by the Socialist Workers' Party (PST, Algerian section of the Fourth International) during the campaign for the May 10 legislative elections - IV448 - May 2012 / Algeria

With the bastions of Mexican combative and democratic trade unionism present, a “Provisional Junta for a new Confederation of Workers” was set up on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the headquarters of the primary school teachers of the Federal District. - IV448 - May 2012 / Mexico, Trade unions

You can follow International Viewpoint on Facebook to via the Fourth International page to receive updates as soon as new articles are published. - News from around the world

Few revolutionaries, past or present, have devoted their entire adult lives to the socialist cause as full-timers. Gerry Foley was one of them. He died unexpectedly on April 21 in San Cristóbal de las Casas, in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico's poorest state. - Features / USA, Obituary, Fourth International, Features