International

By John Pickard

The drift in governance in the main countries of capitalism – notably Europe and the USA – is moving slowly but inexorably towards an authoritarian outlook, where the left is portrayed as ‘exteme’ or is banned. It is a measure of the complete lack of confidence in their own system, that the political representatives of capitalism are having to clamp down on dissent and stifle criticism.

In Britain, we recently had the ludicrous position where former leader Keir Starmer referred to the Green Party and Reform in the same breath, as ‘extremists’. The British government has disgracefully banned Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist’ group and, when there were protests by its supporters, arrested thousands as alleged ‘terrorist supporters’, including many, quite peaceable octogenarians.

Last month, draconian sentences were handed down to the Filton 4, with the judge basing his argument on terrorist law, after the jury had come to their verdict only on the basis of common law. There is clearly at attempt on the party of the Establishment – and there was no better reflection of the political Establishment than Keir Starmer – to clamp down on civil disobendience and protest. None of the anti-protest laws that were introduced by the Tories were repealed by Starmer.

But as bad as things are in the UK, in the United States it is much worse. A new report there from the Rubio’s State Department, links what it calls “Far Left Terrorism” – which it abbreviates as FLT, without really defining what it is – with narco-terrorism and jihadi-terrorism. (See Ken Klippenstein’s blog in this, here).

The 100-page report is ostensibly on an alleged campaign of subversion against the United States” by Cuban agents and representatives and it is entitled, Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism. Cuba has long been a stone in Rubio’s shoe and the report is undoubtedly a part of a political ‘softening up’ process to justify a US military intervention in Cuba.

Possible US intervention in Cuba

The USA has the military firepower to intervene there, but it is at present bogged down with Iran and whether an intervention is politically possible in the near future is a different question.

Many of those named in the report are indeed sympathetic to the plight of the Cuban people, suffering extreme economic deprivation as a result of a decades-old US embargo. Some have participated in support campaigns.

But what is noticeable is that much of the report is a long rant against all the groups on the US left that have been involved in any protests and campaigns in recent years and which are proving to be gaining in popularity. The State Department offers no proof – since when does the Trump administration deal in facts? – but suggests that “Cuban influence” is linked to “Many of the most significant upheavals in recent American political history — from the George Floyd riots to the rise of Antifa to the explosion of pro-terrorist activism on American college campuses…”

A whole section of the report is devoted to the Democratic Socialists of America, the most radical wing of the Democratic Party and one that is gaining considerable influence against the ‘old guard’ of the party. The idea of universal health care and fighting for ordinary working people – these are not outrageous policies, but they are finding an increasing political channel through that wing of the Democrats.

Again, without any proof or factual basis, the State Department report suggests that “The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) serves as a particularly potent illustration of the ideological victory of Cuba’s effort to position itself as the spiritual capital of Third Worldist Radicalism.” It is as if Rubio has become a parody of himself.

Ben and Jerry’s ice cream – ‘Ben the extremist’

Apart from the DSA, individual members are named in a long list at the end of the report, including sitting Congresswoman, Omar, Ilhan, mayors Zohran Mamdani (New York) and Karen Bass (Los Angeles). It includes media figures like Amy Goodman, an investigative reporter and Hasan Piker, a well-known critic of Israel, also banned from the UK last month.

Apart from the DSA, the report also includes Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fame) and other organisations like Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the Amazon Labor Union, as well as the latter’s well-known organiser, Christian Smalls. You can see the full list in Ken Klippenstein’s blog, here.

Interestingly, the report specifically mentions the “blacklists, McCarthy-era investigations and prosecutions” of the 1950s in a positive light, in the sense of  their effectiveness at dismembering the Communist Party USA. There is not a shadow of doubt that if it were politically possible, the Trump administration would unleash another McCarthyite witch-hunt against the left, just as much as he would tamper with the coming mid-term elections to engineer a win for Republican candidates.

Let us not forget, that often what happens in the United States, happens a bit later in the UK. It is already happening: a radical Green Party is dubbed ‘extremist”, participants in civil disobenience are arrested and incarcerate; the police have stronger powers than ever before to ban demonstrations. The labour movement has to respond to these threats and the first step is to be aware of them.

[Feature picture shows mayor of New York, Mamdani, when he was an assembly member. From Wikimedia Commons, here]