A trade union conference was violently attacked by fascist thugs on June 26 in Kiev. The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine was holding its congress and was due to elect the union leadership, when it was interrupted by a violent attack by “Right Sector” and “Social-National Assembly” neo-nazi thugs, as well as the Maidan self-defence militia.
The police force arrived after most of the
The Ukraine crisis is an attack by U.S. imperialism, along with local fascists, on the people of Ukraine. The European Union has been ally of the U.S. attack.
The former government of Viktor Yanukovich was driven out by neo-Nazis, in the Feb. 20-22 coup d’état. These include the U.S.-funded Svoboda Party and several thousand street hooligans of the Right Sector. There has been hidden intervention on the part of the European Union. A ‘government’ of neo-Nazis in key places was named and recognized by the U.S. on no legal basis whatever. It is really only a junta, a dictatorial lineup imposed from outside.
One of Washington’s main objectives is to bring Ukraine into NATO. That directly threatens Russia militarily. It also threatens Russia’s internal security. Despite the hysterical raving of Wall Street’s government and media mouthpieces, Russia has so far entered the picture only secondarily.
Svoboda and the Right Sector both give allegiance to an infamous man named Stepan Bandera. During WW II Bandera organized guerilla forces that fought Soviet partisans in alliance with the Nazis. They murdered tens of thousands of Poles and Jews before the Soviet partisans and Red Army made them pay for their crimes.
Because it is mostly made up of Nazis, the junta has not been recognized by the people it supposedly governs. 7 million people in the Ukraine were killed by the Nazis in World War II. Few will accept the return of Nazism. The US/Nazi attack has aroused a tremendous spirit not seen since revolutionary times.
A man interviewed in Kramatorsk on April 19 spoke for many. He is worth quoting at length. He said, “The Banderites who have now come here and want to impose their ideology on us have given us a precious gift because they have awakened for us in East Ukraine our patriotism, which had been dormant for many years.
“This happened because people had forgotten more or less who they used to be, who they had become. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a kind of depression. People saw this event, the collapse of the Soviet Union, as a kind of natural disaster. The Soviet Union fell apart, and the rain came. People didn’t understand what had happened – they were demoralized, they used to believe in their leaders.
“Now people understand that it is not necessary to believe in leaders. We don’t need to believe in any Yanukovich, we don’t need to believe in a Party of Regions. We need to organize ourselves by ourselves – and to remember our own history, remember our own culture. That is our foundation.
“So thank you to all the Banderites who have come into Kiev, and who have made people remember who they are, who they are in the world, and above all why they are here on this earth.”
The heroism of the people stands out time after time. Victory Day, May 9, commemorating the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany, is the biggest holiday of the year in all post-Soviet lands. On Victory Day this year a junta-appointed Nazi governor in the city of Kherson had the gall and the stupidity to praise Hitler as a “liberator” from the “tyrant Stalin.” His filthy insults of the people’s history met with an explosion of anger and inspiring resistance from the crowd.
Mass heroism stands out most clearly where the people’s resistance is strongest, in the eastern and southern parts of the country. Early in April municipal buildings in several cities were seized by the people, who proclaimed the People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Lugansk. No government has recognized them. That does not matter. The important thing is that people themselves recognize them. They refuse to be governed by the U.S./Nazi Kiev junta.
Referenda on the People’s Republics were set up for May 11. They were held on short notice, with minimal organization and little expenditure of money. The questions were, “Do you support the declaration of state independence of the Donetsk/Lukansk People’s Republic?” The Kiev junta sent military and terrorist forces to mount attacks against several towns to disrupt the voting. The referenda went on anyway because of the people’s will.
Huge crowds turned out to vote, sometimes waiting in line for hours. The participation rate in the Donetsk People’s Republic was 75%, of which 89% voted for independence. The participation rate in the Lugansk People’s Republic was 81%, out of which 90% voted independence.
Not much reliable information on the leaders of the People’s Republics is available at this time. The people face great challenges. Only those worthy of the people can lead. It is a practical question. The solution will take time.
The votes refuted claims in western countries that the separatist movements are the work of Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin called for postponement of the May 11 vote. A self-defense guard in Slovyansk was quoted in the UK Guardian as saying, “He is a coward. He will pay for this with a revolution in [Moscow’s] Red Square.”
Time after time the U.S./Nazi junta has mounted attacks on the people. Hundreds have died in dozens of attacks but the people are unshaken. They defeated Hitler’s armies during World War II. They will defeat the junta. They will defeat U.S. imperialism.
On the other hand the Kiev lineup is an unholy mess. The fascist groups Svoboda and the Right Sector are rivals for power. Another prop of U.S. regime change is a few oligarchs, i.e., gangster-boss capitalists who built their fortunes by stealing everything in sight. There are reports that the CIA is running the show from behind the scenes. The German press reports that 400 U.S. Blackwater mercenaries are in country as enforcers for the junta.
After having been stoned, mercilessly beaten and burned with Molotov cocktails in Maidan Square by the Right Sector, the police are unreliable. Like the police, the soldiers of the former state sometimes obey orders but often not. The junta sent tank columns into the cities of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk in mid-April to crush the uprising. Instead the crews got out of their vehicles and joined the uprising, saying they would not kill their own people. Things got so bad CIA director John Brennan had to visit Kiev in April in an attempt to straighten things out.
The junta’s main force against the people has been the street hooligans of the Right Sector, but they are undisciplined. At the crucial moment on Feb. 20 in Maidan Square in Kiev, hooligans were whipped to a murderous frenzy by sniper fire that killed as many as 100 people. The dead included both Right Sector protesters and the police forces of the Yanukovich government. It later came out that the shootings came from a single source and that the opposition rather than the government was behind the killings.
The same tactic was used during the May 2 massacre in Odessa that claimed the lives of anti-Kiev activists in the Trade Union Hall. The police, infiltrated by the Right Sector, failed to protect the anti-Kiev activists from attack by a Right Sector mob. The massacre was carefully planned.
EU foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton issued a statement on May 3, stating “The facts which led to this tragic loss of so many human lives must now be established in an independent investigation and those responsible for these criminal acts brought to justice.”
She said the EU urged everyone to exercise restraint and not to exploit events in Odessa “to fuel more hatred, division and senseless violence.” She also said, “All political forces must now assume their responsibility and engage in a peaceful and inclusive dialogue to find a joint way out of the crisis.”
It is a good statement on the face of it. It indicates serious divisions between some EU countries and the U.S. It also indicates Ashton had a good idea of what really went on. A thorough independent investigation should surely be carried out.
The main problem is the U.S. aggression. U.S. imperialism is now in a predicament. All of the difficulties were obvious. The ideology of Svoboda and the Right Sector would put them at odds with the people. The two are rivals for power. It is folly to rely on mob-boss oligarchs to govern. None of the junta factions have political program. The people will resist a foreign takeover of their country. Policymakers are paid to know these things. They went ahead and overthrew the Yanukovich government anyway.
The economic prospect of the west of the Ukraine is ruinous and sure to bring further unrest. The U.S. still shows no willingness to engage in any political process that could end the crisis. The American people want no part of any war in Ukraine. Sooner or later they will see through all the hypocrisy and lies that they have been fed. U.S. imperialism will meet a disastrous defeat.
On May 25 leaders of the two Republics signed a unity agreement to form a single state called Novorossiya (New Russia.) On the same day the oligarch Petr Poroshenko was anointed ‘president’ in a light-turnout travesty election in the eastern part of the country. The same western ‘let’s pretend’ media that scorned the genuine people’s referenda had no problem singing the praises of the Kiev regime farce. The first thing he did was launch a heavy weapons assault on the cities of Novorossiya, Donetsk, Slavyansk and others.
The people of the regions who have refused to submit to the junta are the bastion of world peace. So far they have responded only to defend themselves. However, the people’s self-defense forces are as yet small and not yet well-armed. The people are up to the challenge but much depends on the ability of the leaders.
Private property in the means of production itself is coming into question. Donetsk oligarch Rinat Akhmetov declared himself on the side of Kiev on May 20 when he called on workers at his industrial plants to demonstrate against the People’s Republic.
In response, People’s Republic of Donetsk leader Denis Pushilin warned him that all of his factories would be nationalized. “All these years we were stolen from, stolen from by local oligarchs,” said Pushilin.
“Any problem can be solved with a telephone call, especially for Akhmetov,” said a local newspaper editor. “But now you have 500 people with guns for whom telephone calls don’t exist, and all your billions mean nothing.”
Chicago, IL – In spite of the coup government in Kiev, an electoral referendum on autonomy saw huge voter turnout in Donetsk and Lugansk in the east of Ukraine. People lined the streets and waited patiently to cast their votes for self rule.
The successful vote shows mass opposition to the U.S.-backed seizure of power in Kiev by fascists and pro-NATO oligarchs. On voting day, the U.S.-backed coup-makers in Kiev sent soldiers to intimidate voters, firing on civilian crowds and blocking polling stations with armed personal carriers. People still voted in big numbers.
Joining the U.S. government in backing the fascists in Kiev are German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande. Together they declared the referendum on autonomy illegal, while supporting an unelected government in Kiev.
Voter turnout reached over 74% in both regions of Ukraine. The referendums addressed the status of the regions, asking voters if they supported the act of state self rule. The results show the popularity and strength of the protest movement. Leading up to the vote, people occupied government, public and media buildings and set up barricades in the city. Some were killed resisting the Kiev coup government’s military crackdown in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine. There are dramatic videos, one of unarmed civilians stopping a tank in the street at an intersection and the other of voters being shot at by soldiers outside a polling place. Last week in Odessa, fascists burned the trade union hall and murdered survivors of the fire.
The results of the referendums were announced on May 12: in Donetsk 89.07% voted in favor of state self-rule; in Lugansk 96.2% voted in favor. Clearly the people have spoken: they oppose the U.S.-backed, fascist forces that overthrew the elected government in Ukraine.
Still, U.S. corporate media tries to dismiss the results of these referendums as the work of a pro-Russian minority, despite Putin’s prior position that the referendums should be postponed. In reality, democratic and left forces such as the Borotba Union and the Communist Party of Ukraine promoted the referendum initiatives. The referendum is the work of brave people within Ukraine, not outside of it.
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) is issuing a call for “Emergency Antiwar Actions” through May 26 to protest U.S./NATO war moves and to oppose the role of U.S. and NATO in Ukraine. The U.S. already spent $5 billion backing the fascist-dominated coup government. It is also being reported in Ukraine that 400 mercenaries from the U.S. private security firm Academi (formerly Blackwater) are participating in the Ukraine military attacks that are attempting to suppress the democratic opposition. NATO is positioning warships in the Black Sea in an attempt to bully Russia. This proves once again that the U.S. is not interested in peace or democracy; it is only interested in financial gain and global domination.
Thugs of the neo-Nazi political party Right Sector assaulted and set ablaze the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine, May 2, murdering dozens and injuring over 200 anti-fascist, anti-coup protesters. The Right Sector is one of the fascist parties in the new, U.S.-backed coup government of Kiev. The vicious attack on the House of Trade Unions is only the most recent explosion of violence backed by the Kiev government.
In the wake of the secession of Crimea and its induction into the Russian Federation following a popular referendum in March, the crisis in Ukraine is intensifying. The fascist-dominated junta in Kiev, backed by the U.S. and NATO, is cracking down on ‘separatist elements’ in the east and now the south of the deteriorating country.
Within less than a month of Crimea’s secession, mass protests erupted in Eastern cities – Donetsk, Lugansk, Slavyansk and Kharkov and dozens of smaller towns. Occupying government, public and media buildings, the protesters declared their cities independent and issued a minimum demand: a referendum on the federalization of Ukraine in order to provide its heterogeneous population and ethnically varied regions choice in their official language and allegiance between Ukraine and Russia.
The uprisings in the east come on the heels of the U.S.-backed Maidan coup in February that ousted the Yanukovich government. The Yanukovich government turned down an EU deal on the grounds that EU integration would bankrupt and destabilize Ukraine.
The new coup government is comprised of several menacing parties that usurped power. The neo-Nazi Svoboda (Freedom) Party, which has promoted a campaign to “liquidate” the “Muscovites and Jewry” of Ukraine, holds key ministerial as well as judicial and military positions. The Right Sector party, whose leader has claimed that even Svoboda is “too liberal,” has claimed an equally significant number of military posts. The stubbornly right-wing Fatherland Party, led by the one of the most infamous, wealthiest and criminal oligarchs in Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, is the other newly ascended party in the regime. In tandem with the rise of these parties to power, the portrait of Stepan Bandera, the notorious Ukrainian Nazi-collaborator of World War II, is hanging in government buildings.
Virulently anti-Russian, the new government is hitting hard with its first political offensives that target a vast portion of the Ukrainian population. Such ‘reforms’ included the proposed ban on any official use of the Russian language, which was formerly respected as the second official language of 13 out of 27 regions.
The predominantly Russian east, frightened by the new coup government’s fascist ambitions, is being devastated by the austerity imposed by Kiev as a prerequisite measure to join the EU. Cut off from funding and suddenly faced with the menace of fascism, one city and region after another is rising in defiance of the right-wing government.
Protesters in the east surged out in mass numbers to demonstrate against the new government. After demonstrations changed little and an offensive on the part of Kiev was impending, occupiers soon declared autonomy, formed self-defense teams, and looked to Russia for aid. The most famous instances include the declaration of People’s Republics in Donetsk and Lugansk and requests by newly appointed governors for Putin to intervene on Russians’ behalf. The Ukrainian left, including the Borotba Union and the Communist Party of Ukraine, are organizing and leading protests.
In mid-April, the Kiev junta announced an ‘anti-terrorist’ and ‘anti-separatist’ military operation to clear protests in Eastern Ukraine by force. The Ukrainian military launched offensives against numerous eastern cities, deploying tanks, helicopters and heavily armed soldiers against protesters.
While peaceful protesters initially greeted tanks, intense fighting has since broken out as Kiev makes it clear that it is determined to suppress any resistance to its new order. Although defections, mutinies and executions of soldiers who refuse to fire on protesters plague the Ukrainian army, the Kiev coup government offensive continues and the number of civilian deaths is rapidly increasing.
With Ukraine facing civil war and the U.S. mobilizing and deploying troops throughout Eastern Europe, all progressive people should adamantly oppose U.S. intervention and declare: “Hands off Ukraine!”
Dickson, TN – On April 26 Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied outside of the Montgomery Bell Park Inn to confront a group of Nazis and white supremacists called American Renaissance or “AmRen.” Protesters held a banner, “Shut down AmRen,” and signs reading, “Hey Nazis, remember Stalingrad,” “Say no 2 racism,” and “All you fascists bound to lose.”
The protesters chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, AmRen has got to go!” and “Shut down AmRen! Shut down AmRen!” Across from the protest, a handful of Klansmen and Nazis dressed in suits huddled feebly around the entrance to the hotel. The suit and tie fascists took pictures of the anti-Nazi rally as speakers denounced fascism and white supremacy. The rally included speakers from the Dream Defenders, One People’s Project and local community leaders.
State and local police protected the AmRen white supremacists and hassled protesters. After following one carload of community organizers into Montgomery Bell Park, manager Pat Wright, himself a police officer, attempted to stop the anti-Nazi protesters from holding their rally outside the hotel. Protesters showed a permit signed by Pat Wright himself, agreeing to allow protesters to rally outside of the hotel. Officer Wright seemed unwilling to keep his word or follow his own rules. After reading the permit word for word and showing Officer Wright his own signature on the permit, Officer Wright demanded that protesters step back.
The protesters gathered to discuss how to respond to Officer Wright’s threats. They decided they were not afraid of Officer Pat Wright or the white supremacists and would rally as planned. Once Officer Wright saw protesters moving to begin the rally he asked to see the permit again and backed down.
Speakers at the rally pointed to the importance of organizing against the entire system of inequality that fosters the growth of hate groups such as AmRen. Fernando Figueroa said, “People traveled from different parts of the South to say no to Nazis, no to racism. Only a united front against the 1% can defeat bigotry and win a better future for our children.”
SDSer Ian Chambers challenged those who attempt to downplay the threat that hate groups such as American Renaissance pose to the community, “The Southern Poverty Law Center says that American Renaissance has not committed acts of violence. But, we know that their presence here is an act of violence. We know that their speech is an act of violence. They are organizing themselves towards an agenda of genocide and violent attacks on LGBTQ people and Black and Brown people and anyone who dares to fight back against fascism. We march forward to boldly confront white supremacy today in the footsteps of revolutionaries such as Huey Newton, Sylvia Rivera and John Brown and we will continue to march forward until victory.”
Protesters vowed to continue to organize the fight against white supremacy and for a better world. Michael Sampson of the Dream Defenders said, “I came here to stand with my brothers and sisters against racism, fascism and national oppression, but as well to let it be known that people all over the South are rising up to defeat the elite that oppress us daily.” SDSers say they plan to keep the heat on Governor Haslam and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (which runs Montgomery Bell Park) to demand they cease promoting hate groups such as American Renaissance.
Clarksville, TN – The Clarksville Chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) is gearing up to confront a neo-Nazi conference this weekend at the Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson County. SDSers are organizing a rally outside of the Montgomery Bell Park Inn and Convention Center at 4 p.m. on April 26. They plan to send a message that Nazi terror and white supremacy will not be tolerated in Dickson County. Speakers at the rally will include representatives from organizations such as the Dream Defenders and One People’s Project, as well as local community and religious leaders.
The white supremacist organization calls itself American Renaissance and its yearly conference draws fascists including the Klan, neo-Nazis, and other white supremacist hate groups to the park. Previous speakers at the American Renaissance conference included David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader and neo-Nazi who inspired and is greatly admired by Frazier Glenn Cross – the killer responsible for the recent brutal slayings in Kansas City. In fact, leaders from the White Patriot Party, which was a Ku Klux Klan faction founded by Frazier Glenn Cross, are among the previous attendees of American Renaissance conferences.
SDS member and native son of Dickson County Sean Collette said, “Nazis have murdered millions. The Klan has lynched and terrorized thousands. Recently, we were all horrified to hear that a white supremacist with ties to American Renaissance murdered several innocent people in Kansas City. It is very clear to us that these white supremacists are a threat to our lives and to the safety of our community. We want to send a message to these terrorists that their presence in Montgomery Bell will not be tolerated. And, we also want to send a message to the world that folks in Dickson County aren’t the type of people to stand idly by in the face of fascism. We are going to confront this issue head on and protect our community.”
Tampa, FL – Tampa Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anti-war activists from the community protested U.S. interference in Ukraine at Senator Marco Rubio’s office, April 16. Marco Rubio supports efforts in the U.S. Senate to increase U.S. intervention and spend billions of taxpayer dollars in Ukraine. Students made three demands at Rubio’s office on the University of South Florida campus: No more U.S. intervention in Ukraine or Crimea; Stop U.S. aid to the illegitimate Ukrainian regime; and Oppose U.S. sanctions against Russia.
Students gave fiery speeches denouncing Rubio’s support for U.S. intervention. Dani Leppo of Tampa SDS said, “For far too long, the imperialist aggression of the U.S. has caused bloodshed throughout the world. From Colombia to Venezuela, Iraq to Afghanistan, resources and lives are stolen in the name of spreading so-called ‘democracy.’ We must respect the people of Ukraine and Crimea.”
When they finished speaking, the protesters marched into Rubio’s office to present their demands. The office was closed off and locked however, so protesters left a letter to Rubio listing their demands.
SDS pointed out that the U.S. spent trillions on wars and foreign interventions while people suffered at home. Tampa SDS member Bridget White noted, “It’s ridiculous that the U.S. is backing real life fascists in the Ukraine. Can’t they be using this money to lower tuition instead?”
SDS vows to continue the struggle against imperialism, fascism and Nazism wherever it appears.
Chicago, IL – Under attack from aggressive Ukrainian fascists, 40 anti-war activists held a teach-in here on the unfolding Ukraine crisis and NATO expansion, April 12. An equal sized crowd of Ukrainian reactionaries, one carrying the battle flag of the fascist Ukrainian Insurgent Army and another man wearing a scarf bearing the insignia of the violent neo-Nazi Right Sector, attempted to push their way into the door of the union hall during the speakers’ presentations.
When they failed to get inside, one of them slipped a Right Sector leaflet through the door. It included language used in Hitler’s Mein Kampf, such as the need for “living space” for Ukrainians. The flyer defines Ukrainians as a “genetic community,” meaning that the Russians and Jews that live there aren’t part of their nation.
Delivering his remarks over the muffled chanting from outside, Rick Rozoff from the Stop NATO Network detailed the U.S.’s imperialist maneuvers in Ukraine, emphasizing the role of NATO as a vehicle for American foreign policy. Rozoff explained the State Department intervention in Ukraine and arms build up in Eastern Europe as part of a long-term strategy to besiege Russia.
Speakers from the Anti-War Committee-Chicago included Kait McIntyre, who is running as an anti-war candidate for Boeing’s Board of Directors. McIntyre’s campaign targets the world’s second largest weapons manufacturer, headquartered here in Chicago, which profits off the billions poured into drone warfare and NATO expansion by the U.S. defense budget.
Sara Flounders of the International Action Center in New York outlined the historical cooperation between the U.S. and fascist forces in Europe. The U.S. propelled these forces into power during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia, aided by the NATO bombardment. She stated that the U.S. actively maintains right-wing opposition movements around the world in order to eliminate governments that assert their national independence.
With the fascist Svoboda party now occupying prominent positions in the new Ukrainian regime, the anti-war movement must take a strong stand against U.S.-funding of the Kiev junta, whose rise to power, as Rozoff noted, echoed Mussolini’s March on Rome. Alfonso Casal of the American Party of Labor (APL) told attendees about the history of fascism in the Ukraine. The panel was organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Workers World Party (WWP) and APL, with Erich Struch of WWP as chair of the event.
Many young people attended and contributed to the engaging discussion.
The participants bravely defied right-wing intimidation to stage this important teach-in, refusing to allow the fascists to shut down the meeting.
What the U.S. is doing in the Ukraine is nothing short of criminal. The U.S. is backing outright fascists, in an effort to put the country under the domination of the West. The White House and Pentagon are acting as a threat to peace by imposing sanctions on Russia and sending warships and missiles into the region. All progressive people should oppose the ongoing U.S. intervention in the Ukraine.
In February, reactionary mobs with fascist gangs in the lead managed to bring down the democratically-elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych. This was the culmination of a process promoted by the U.S. and countries of the European Union to bring instability and turmoil to the Ukraine. The U.S. alone spent about $5 billion on the project. The result was there for all of us to see on TV: neo-Nazis trying to destroy monuments to the heroes of World War II and the socialist past and seizing government buildings.
To say that the movement that ousted President Yanukovych was something progressive or democratic is to confuse right and wrong. Certainly there were legitimate reasons to be dissatisfied with Yanukovych and his oligarch associates, but that does not change the reactionary nature of the anti-government turmoil.
It is a fact that the leading forces in this right-wing movement, such as Right Sector and Svoboda, have their roots in the most disgusting of Ukraine’s political currents. They see themselves as the political heirs of the Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, an anti-communist, anti-Semitic butcher who first did Hitler’s bidding and then went on to be a servant of the CIA. Look at the photos of the turmoil in Keiv and other Ukrainian cities; the portrait of Stepan Bandera shows up again and again. In the Ukraine, the White House and its EU allies are supporting ugly nationalists, who preach hatred against other nationalities, especially Russians, and who will carry out the most reactionary of agendas if they are successful in consolidating power.
Given this reality it is not surprising that the people of Crimea, who are mainly ethnic Russians, voted overwhelmingly to rejoin Russia. They did not want to live under the monsters who roam the halls of government in Kiev. They understand what these vicious chauvinists are all about. After all, one of the first measures passed by Ukraine’s new regime was abolishing the equality of languages.
It is also understandable and just that people in the eastern Ukraine are rising up and attempting to take things in their own hands. They are standing up to fascists and a U.S./EU power grab.
The Ukraine is an important prize for the Western imperialist powers, who covet its natural resources and industries and plan to make use of its strategic location. Their goal is the complete encirclement of Russia. Western powers have prepared a large loan from the International Monetary Fund, and in return, the Kiev authorities are preparing austerity measures that will further impoverish the people, starting with a 50% rise in the price of gasoline on May 1.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. has systematically expanded its aggressive military alliance, NATO, throughout Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. It has reached the point where Russia is close to being surrounded. Russia’s elite and their political representative Vladimir Putin want to expand their sphere of influence and control. As a result they find themselves being drawn into a conflict with the Western imperial powers.
The U.S. government has no right to complain about the actions of Russia. Its moral authority is less than zero. The U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan. Along with NATO, it destroyed Libya. It is trying to subjugate Syria and finances the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The list of current U.S. wars and interventions is much longer, but the point is clear enough: Washington DC is the capitol of an empire and those that speak for it are hypocrites and liars.
All progressive people should oppose sanctions on Russia. We have seen this before. Sanctions are a step towards war. Likewise, we need to be clear about how we assess events in the Ukraine. A victory for fascists and their Western backers would be a setback for people everywhere.
Here in the U.S. we are under attack by a system that takes away our jobs, exploits us when we work and thrives on inequality and oppression. Our enemy is right here at home.
End U.S./European Union Intervention in the Ukraine!
Stop U.S. Funding for Ukrainian Fascists!
No Sanctions on Russia!
Tucson, AZ – On the evening of March 14, despite rainy weather, nearly 40 Tucson activists gathered to protest Senator John McCain’s support for terrorism and fascism around the world, particularly in the Ukraine and Venezuela.
A coalition of groups – Coalicion de Derechos Humanos (Coalition for Human Rights), Alliance for Global Justice, International Action Center, Workers World, Occupy Tucson, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Tucson Students for a Democratic Society – organized the demonstration.
Besides firmly denouncing and demanding an end to U.S. meddling in Ukraine and Venezuela, the protesters called for people to recognize the destructive role of U.S. imperialism across the globe, which is at the expense of U.S. people’s livelihoods.
The crowd braved rain and wind to hold signs outside of City Hall during of Tucson’s rush hour traffic and were greeted with honks of solidarity.
Then, activists marched to John McCain’s office with chants of “Stop John McCain! Nazis leave Ukraine!” Upon arriving at the senator’s office, an indictment of John McCain for ‘material support for terrorism’ was read and posted on his office door.
After the indictment-posting, protesters spoke about the situations in Ukraine and Venezuela.