On Saturday 25 February, thousands took to the streets of Lisbon to protest against rising living costs. New demonstrations have been announced for the coming weeks. At the same time, the country is being shaken by a wave of industrial action, spearheaded by school teachers. Indeed, living standards are deteriorating dramatically amidst an unprecedented housing crisis. António Costa’s Social Democratic government, with an absolute majority in parliament since January 2021, is applying pro-capitalist policies, and bears full political responsibility for the crisis.

This week’s episode of International Marxist Radio (IMR) welcomes back Jorge Martin – this time to speak about the continuing war in Ukraine, which recently passed the one-year anniversary mark.

The situation exploded in Suriname on Friday 17 February. Protests against Surinamese President Chan Santokhi's policies in Paramaribo led to a storming of the National Assembly, followed by riots and looting of shops. After a one-day curfew and over 100 arrests, calm has now seemingly been restored. What is going on?

For several months now, we have been bombarded with images about a supposedly imminent military escalation between Kosovo and Serbia. With the war in Ukraine as a backdrop, there is talk about old wounds potentially being reopened. However, in order to accurately assess the probability of such new conflicts in Southeast Europe, it is necessary to start with an analysis of the economic situation, and the interests of the ruling classes in the region, as well as the interests of imperialism. Note: this article was originally written in January 2023.

The first anniversary of the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine is now upon us. The Putin regime’s adventure, which was conceived as a quick operation that would lead to a big political prize at the end, turned into a protracted, exhausting war that could end up calling into question the continued existence of the regime.

We publish here a video message by Alan Woods, along with a statement by the Venezuelan section of the IMT, in solidarity with the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV), which is faced with an attack by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), aimed at taking away the electoral registration from the PCV’s democratically elected leadership.

As the crisis of British capitalism deepens, drama at the top is playing out alongside a rising strike wave from below. North and south of the border, the political establishment is being shaken to its core. Revolutionary explosions impend.

Exactly 12 months ago today, Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine. The anniversary of that event has not gone unnoticed. Indeed, it has occupied many hours of time on television and as many columns in the pages of the press.

“It’s bananas,” exclaimed Dr Erica Nelson, co-author of a paper on a collection of fuzzy, red smudges of light from distant galaxies picked up by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): “These galaxies should not have had time to form.” And yet, there they are! Massive, mature, insolent galaxies, shining brightly, in complete disregard of the fact that the Big Bang theory says they cannot exist.

Promoted by some activists as a means of combating oppression, identity politics is increasingly being used by the establishment to attack the left and the labour movement. Workers and youth must fight back with revolutionary class struggle.

To mark 10,000 streams, this week’s special episode of International Marxist Radio (IMR) features a gem from the archives: a rare recording of a 1974 speech by Ted Grant – celebrated Marxist theoretician and founder of what was to become the International Marxist Tendency.

Rising living costs have caused a wave of strikes in Finland, ranging from the technology, chemical and plastics industries to retail workers and dockers. While unions have been quick to end the strikes, negotiating completely insufficient deals, it’s clear that the class struggle is sharpening in Finland on a wide front.

The return of the Montreal Marxist Winter School in person after a three-year absence did not disappoint. Four-hundred and sixty people gathered for a weekend of Marxist education in an electric atmosphere. Held under the theme “The Revolutionary Party”, we came away more confident than ever that we will succeed in building the revolutionary organization needed to overthrow capitalism!

Today is the 175th anniversary of the publication of that founding document of the Marxist movement, the Communist Manifesto. Written in 1847 by Marx and Engels, and published the following year, the Manifesto retains an astonishing vitality today. Indeed, it is more relevant now than when it was written. We publish below an article by Trotsky written in 1937 on the occasion of the Manifesto's 90th anniversary.