Those who read international news are already accustomed to reports from
the poorest continent of the planet about how zealots of "fair"elections, opponents of the re-election of incumbent presidents, orsupporters of opposition candidates for top official positions, for whomordinary people are ready to give their lives, take to the streets .However, the hopelessness of politicians succeeding each other at thehelm against the background of a rapidly deteriorating socio-economicsituation brings a new stream to events. People are finally starting tofight for their true interests - socio-economic. They rebel against wildneo-liberal capitalism and the anti-social policies of those in power.In July of this year, we already reported on the mass protests of thepeople of Kenya against the increase in taxes and fuel prices againstthe backdrop of a sharp increase in the cost of living(https://aitrus.info/node/6133). The demonstrations and riots continuedeven after the said message was published. On July 19, police shot andkilled 6 more demonstrators, bringing the total number of protesterskilled by police to 27 since the beginning of the year. The Doctors'Union said hundreds of demonstrators have been treated by doctors in thepast months and dozens have died. The Interior Ministry reported thearrest of 300 people accused of vandalizing shops and establishments,destroying property and assaulting police. President Ruto vociferouslypromised to end "criminals, bandits and anarchists," and the opposition,which initially called for protests, diligently denied those who "causedchaos." "Violence against the poor" was called the wave of repression inKenya by the German left-wing newspaper "Junge Welt" ().In an interview with radio station K24, one of the leaders of the Kenyancommunists, Booker Omole, explained: "The issue of protest is not aboutthe opposition, it's about class war: "Poor people who cannot gaindignity under this government attack the rich."Frightened that the protests were out of their control, the oppositionhastened to collude with the government. On July 29, it was announcedthat they were setting up a joint committee in order to "friendlyresolve our differences for the benefit of all our people." The partiesagreed to refer the issue of tax law to the court's decision. Meanwhile,an appeals court overturned a July judgment to suspend the law. It hasbeen put into effect. But the court will still consider the issue ().And so the opposition cowardly capitulated in the face of the risingclass war. But the government was also seriously frightened - andeventually made some concessions. After months of violent protests, onAugust 15, the Kenyan authorities announced that they were temporarily(at least for a month) restoring subsidies to stabilize retail fuelprices. They were canceled by the President of the country last September ()The trade union bosses in Nigeria, Africa's largest country, have takena capitulating stance, where newly minted President Tinubu announced inJune, with the approval of the global financial gendarmerie representedby the IMF, the abolition of subsidies that kept fuel prices down. Theargument of the people's chosen one was typical: it is unpopular, hard,but necessary, because there is no money - but you hold on! As a resultof this measure, the price of gasoline jumped from 185 to 500 Nigeriannaira per liter, and in July the authorities raised the price to 617naira ()In 2012, a powerful indefinite strike called by the unions forced thethen government to refuse to remove subsidies. The working class thenthreatened nothing less than a revolution. But since then, theauthorities and the bourgeoisie have only become more insolent, and thetrade union leaders have finally degraded. Now their behavior isdominated only by cowardice and law-abiding servility. At first, the topof the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) rashly threatened to strike (), butafter the government put through the court a decision to ban the plannedperformance, they immediately backed down and canceled the strike ().After many hours of meeting with the government, the head of the NLCannounced that the protests must be abandoned in order to open space fornegotiations.Negotiations began and, as expected, stalled. The government haspromised to set up a special presidential committee to discuss how tomitigate the effects of the removal of subsidies on the population. Thetoady union bosses didn't even press for the reintroduction ofsubsidies: they just demanded the lifting of some of the latestanti-social measures, including higher supergas prices, VAT and schoolfees, as well as a wage unfreeze and an increase in the minimum wage.But the authorities rejected all these proposals. Reluctantly, the tradeunion leaders announced a general strike on August 2, which theyintended to continue for 7 days () But this time too, the music did notplay for long!On the very first day, against the backdrop of a strike and mass protestmarches, Tinubu held a meeting with trade union bosses (). After that,the strike was immediately terminated ().As further negotiations failed, union leaders once again threatenedthose in power to renew their protests if the price of fuel continued torise above 900+ naira(https://tribuneonlineng.com/nationwide-strike-will-commence-without-noti...). The government declared these plans illegal, denied any intentionto further raise prices, and at the same time launched arrests. OnAugust 14, the NLC finally scheduled the start of a general indefinitestrike ... but ... immediately canceled it again ().All these maneuvers of the overfed trade union bureaucrats cannot becalled anything other than pure and naked betrayal! I wonder how muchpatience the working class of the largest country on the continent willhave?Meanwhile, restless and in the extreme south of Africa. On August 3, aweek-long strike of minibus drivers began in the Cape Province of SouthAfrica, which escalated into desperate barricade battles and battleswith the police. At least 5 people died during the crackdown onprotests. The reason for the strike was the dissatisfaction of taxidrivers with the new municipal law, which gave the authorities the rightto confiscate cars for driving without licenses and registration. Aspolice proceeded with the confiscations, clashes erupted in variousparts of Cape Town, with outraged protesters setting fire to buses andcars and throwing stones at police officers. On the first day, about 120people were captured by the guards of the capitalist (dis) order.The strike took a heavy toll on the life of the city, making itdifficult to get to work, and at times creating huge queues. The cityauthorities said they would not tolerate violence as a negotiatingtactic, and called for a "peaceful return to the negotiating table" ()https://aitrus.info/node/6147_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten