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Workers of the world:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This May Day, it is time to reclaim the essence of the workers\u2019 independent struggle. This day was born out of a mass workers\u2019 mobilization, and that is how it must remain. In 1886, in the United States, hundreds of thousands of workers went on strike and held demonstrations demanding the eight-hour workday. Repression by employers and the police led to arrests, persecution, and executions of labor activists who became international symbols of resistance. In 1889, the Second International proclaimed May 1 as a day of global struggle for the eight-hour workday and for the rights of the working class. Thus, this date is not a celebration of \u201cwork\u201d alongside the ruling classes: it is the living memory of the struggle against capital and its governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Much is at stake at this moment as U.S. imperialism seeks to impose, through war and repression, the global hegemony it feels threatened. To this end, Trump openly resorts to imperialist colonial methods, as in the war against Iran, linked to Netanyahu\u2019s genocidal Zionism. He invaded Venezuela, kidnapped its president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, and seized Venezuelan oil. He threatens to invade Cuba and has already imposed a blockade on its oil supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Trump attacks democratic freedoms within the United States, expressing an authoritarian outlook that is followed by far-right governments around the world. ICE\u2019s attacks on immigrants and workers as a whole are part of maneuvers to avoid a possible electoral defeat in the year-end elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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There is no such thing as \u201cgood\u201d imperialism. Russian imperialism invaded Ukraine four years ago and is attempting to impose its rule at the cost of hundreds of thousands of deaths. Furthermore, it has maintained Putin\u2019s dictatorship for 27 years now. Chinese imperialism tries to present itself as an alternative to Trump, but in reality it is only interested in its profits, just like any other imperialism. It relies on brutal repression against Chinese workers to impose low wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The European imperialist governments, in full decline, despite their rhetoric (such as that of S\u00e1nchez), are not breaking with either NATO or Israel, while imposing arms buildup plans and neoliberal attacks on the workers of their own countries. These governments also criminalize workers\u2019 struggles and harshly repress movements in support of the Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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We, the workers, in each of our countries, face the misery of our wages and the precariousness of our jobs. Young people have no prospects for education or decent jobs. Barbarism is growing before everyone\u2019s eyes in the outskirts of major cities around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barbarism is also expressed in the degradation of the environment caused by capitalism\u2019s unbridled accumulation. The last three years have been the hottest in the entire industrial era. Several points of no return in nature are already looming, as an expression of capitalist barbarism in the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Signs of barbarism are also growing in the violence against immigrants, in the repression of Black youth in poor neighborhoods, in the rise of femicide, and in LGBTQphobia. The far right actively seeks to divide workers, and all bourgeois governments are complicit in this oppression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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But it is possible to defeat imperialism. Despite the brutal attacks on Iran, Trump can be defeated by the combination of Iran\u2019s heroic military resistance and the mobilizations in the United States. The mobilization in Minneapolis is joined by the recent No Kings protests (with over eight million in the streets), and this must continue on May 1. The economic and political crisis caused by the war in Iran is accelerating Trump\u2019s decline and deepening divisions within the U.S. ruling classes. The current truce in the war could go either way, but there are growing signs of imperialism\u2019s defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Sumud flotilla in solidarity with Gaza, which is once again crossing the ocean, highlights the importance of solidarity with Palestine, at a time when Trump\u2019s \u201cPeace Plan\u201d farce relies on the continuation of Zionist-imperialist genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Expectations for Trump are beginning to wane in Venezuela. The Venezuelan masses, driven by their hatred of Maduro\u2019s bourgeois dictatorship, had pinned their hopes on imperialist intervention. But Trump brought neither improvements in the people\u2019s lives nor greater freedoms. The Chavista regime, now under Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, has become a puppet government of Trump, ensuring imperialism\u2019s colonial control over oil. But now workers\u2019 mobilizations are beginning to take place, as seen in the one-day national strike at universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is possible to defeat Putin through the combination of heroic military resistance in Ukraine\u2014despite Zelensky\u2019s corrupt bourgeois government\u2014along with political support from the masses of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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All over the world, workers face a polarization between different bourgeois camps: between far-right parties aligned with U.S. imperialism (or other imperialisms) and \u201cdemocratic\u201d and reformist bourgeois alternatives. None of these bourgeois options will solve our problems. Only our own independent struggle can change our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The \u201cprogressive international\u201d with S\u00e1nchez, Lula, Petro, Scheinbaun, and others is not an alternative to Trump. It is an alliance of bourgeois governments that impose neoliberal plans in their countries against the workers and seek to gain electoral advantage from Trump\u2019s decline. But by keeping bourgeois power intact\u2014the decay of the capitalist system, with attacks on workers\u2014their governments guarantee the conditions that allow the far right to grow. It was Biden\u2019s disasters with the Democratic Party in the U.S. that paved the way for Trump\u2019s election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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We, the workers, must advance our direct struggles with political independence, against all imperialisms and all bourgeois governments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to fight in unity of action against imperialist wars, as well as against all attacks on democratic freedoms. But while it is necessary to strike together, it is necessary to march separately, independently of the bourgeoisie. Workers must organize and mobilize independently of the capitalists and so-called governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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It is also of vital importance to stand with workers in their struggles against all \u201cright-wing\u201d and \u201cleft-wing\u201d bourgeois governments. Politically supporting these so-called \u201cprogressive\u201d bourgeois governments does not even help in confronting the far right and imperialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us not be deceived by \u201calliances with the progressive bourgeoisie,\u201d which tie workers to the interests of the bourgeoisie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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All our support for the Iranian struggle against imperialist-Zionist aggression. For the victory of Iran and the defeat of Trump-Netanyahu!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Free Palestine, from the river to the sea! For a single, free, and secular Palestine! For the military defeat of Zionist genocide!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump out of Iran, Palestine, Cuba, and Latin America!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n No to government plans for austerity, plunder, and repression!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n All our support for the Gaza Solidarity Flotilla!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the defeat of Putin\u2019s imperialist invasion of Ukraine! Full support for the Ukrainian workers\u2019 and popular resistance! We reject the Zelensky government\u2019s pursuit of alliances with Trump and the hypocrisy of the European imperialist powers!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the political independence of workers against all imperialisms and all bourgeois governments! All our support for the struggles of Cuban workers against the D\u00edaz-Canel dictatorship! All our support for the struggles of the Iranian people against the dictatorship of the ayatollahs!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Against all forms of oppression against immigrants, women, Black people, and the LGBTQ community!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the unity of the struggles of workers and oppressed peoples around the world!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n For a workers\u2019, socialist, and internationalist May Day!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This May Day, it is time to reclaim the essence of the workers\u2019 independent struggle. This day was born out of a mass workers\u2019 mobilization, and that is how it must remain. In 1886, in the United States, hundreds of thousands of workers went on strike and held demonstrations demanding the eight-hour workday. Repression by employers and the police led to arrests, persecution, and executions of labor activists who became international symbols of resistance. In 1889, the Second International proclaimed May 1 as a day of global struggle for the eight-hour workday and for the rights of the working class. Thus, this date is not a celebration of \u201cwork\u201d alongside the ruling classes: it is the living memory of the struggle against capital and its governments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":75962,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"litci_post_political_author":"International Workers' League \u2013 Fourth international","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3585,2],"tags":[6671,4038,6368,3832,4688],"class_list":["post-75961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-statement-iwlfi","category-featured","tag-1-may","tag-may-day","tag-mobilization","tag-protests","tag-statement"],"yoast_head":"\n