On what would have been the 76th birthday of Ka Fidel V. Agcaoili, Freedom Road Socialist Organization joins in paying tribute to this great revolutionary and fighter for the liberation of the Philippines. Every communist can learn from his example and from his many contributions to the international communist movement. His passing is a cause for sadness among all of us who are working to end exploitation and oppression.

On what would have been the 76th birthday of Ka Fidel V. Agcaoili, Freedom Road Socialist Organization joins in paying tribute to this great revolutionary and fighter for the liberation of the Philippines. Every communist can learn from his example and from his many contributions to the international communist movement. His passing is a cause for sadness among all of us who are working to end exploitation and oppression.

Stop the deployments of federal agents!

Protesters grabbed off the streets by federal agents who refuse to identify themselves, placed unmarked vehicles, and taken to undisclosed locations. These same agents nearly killed a young man holding part of a sound system at a demonstration. This is the outrageous reality in Portland today, were Trump has deployed a paramilitary police force to carry out a wave of repression. The good news is that the resistance in Portland has been nothing short of heroic, as thousands have taken to the streets in a powerful display of opposition.

The U.S.-backed government of Philippines and its President Duterte is putting in place the legal framework to carry out a wave of repression against activists in the popular movements who are fighting for social and national liberation. Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns the recently signed Republic Act 1147, also called Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, for what it is: an attempt to criminalize trade unionists, environmentalists, women’s groups, student organizations or anyone else who wants to challenge the cruel rule of Duterte.

The Israeli apartheid regime is poised to commit a new crime against Palestine: the annexation of up to 30% of the West Bank. As things stand Israel effectively controls Palestine, with the heroic people of Gaza confined to an open prison and the hapless Palestinian Authority serving as accomplices to the occupation.

If you have been out in the streets this past few weeks, the odds are good that you’ve been thinking about the difference between the kind of change this system has to offer, and the kind of change this country needs. Capitalism is failed system that thrives on exploitation, inequality and oppression. The reactionary and racist Trump administration has made the pandemic worse. The unfolding economic crisis we are experiencing is the worst since the 1930s. Monopoly capitalism is a dying system and we need to help finish it off. And that is exactly what Freedom Road Socialist Organization is working for.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Freedom Road Socialist Organization to Rebell, the youth league of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD).

45 years ago, on April 30, 1975, the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people came to a successful conclusion: a small and determined country defeated the imperialist goliath, the United States. Ho Chi Minh, an outstanding Marxist-Leninist and the architect of Vietnam’s struggle for national liberation, famously stated, “Nothing is more precious than freedom and independence.” On that spring day, Saigon, the capital of the south, was no more. Ho Chi Minh City was born.

El primer de mayo es Día Internacional de los Trabajadores. Es día para celebrar los logros de nuestra clase y para mirar hacia al futuro. Enfrentamos a verdaderos retos. La elite corporativa – los capitalistas monopolistas que gobiernan – no pueden hacer nada correctamente. Están hipnotizados por las ganancias y los beneficios a corto plazo. Es lo mismo para sus representantes en la Casa Blanca y en el Congreso. Decenas de miles de personas quienes podrían haber vivido han fallecido por la pandemia. El capitalismo se ha demostrado una vez más que es un sistema fallido. En 2020 durante el Primer de Mayo estamos comprometidos a poner fin a la hegemonía de este sistema criminal.

May 1 is International Workers Day. It is a day to celebrate the accomplishments of our class and to look to the future. We have real challenges in front of us. The corporate elite – the monopoly capitalists, who rule this country – can’t do anything right. They are mesmerized by profit and short-term gain. The same goes for their political representatives in the White House and Congress. Tens of thousands of people who could have lived have perished in the pandemic. Capitalism has once again shown itself to be a failed system, and on May Day 2020, we stand committed to ending the reign of this criminal system.