REFORM VS REVOLUTION

TAMARA PEARSON—Biden called on the Cuban government to “refrain from violence” – a hypocritical stance given the police murders and repression in his own country. “We are assessing how we can be helpful to the people of Cuba,” said White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, using the savior discourse, but not considering repealing the sanctions.

Legendary billboard with Fidel’s encoraging words: “Onward. We’re doing fine!”

Meanwhile, US vice-president Kamala Harris has been making a show of helping Central America and Mexico by ostensibly addressing corruption and the “root causes” of migration in the region. Seven months into the year and no actual help has arrived, but she did tell migrants fleeing for their lives not to come to the US, and the US has kept its border closed – in stark violation of human rights and its own asylum seeker laws.

DOUG BOLTON—n a trip to South America where he declared that the world should move to a more just ecological system where riches are shared by all, the Pope has received a crucifix mounted on a wooden hammer and sickle, from Bolivian President Evo Morales. He received the Communist crucifix while visiting La Paz in Bolivia, during his ongoing tour of South America. When he met the President, he was handed a wooden hammer and sickle, the symbol of Communism since the Russian Revolution.  Morales explained to Pope Francis that the cross was created by Jesuit Father Luis Espinal, who was assassinated in 1980 by paramilitaries during the short-lived dictatorship of Luis Garcia Meza. A Vatican spokesman confirmed that it is unlikely the Communist crucifix will be displayed in a church.

RAMIN MAZAHERI—The Yellow Vests are like the Vietcong: it’s not that they are so innately tough, it’s that they have nowhere else to go. Ask a protesting Yellow Vester and they’ll tell you: they have no money to pay their bills, much less do anything fun on the weekends… so why not go protest and enjoy what you can’t buy – camaraderie?

Distinguished educator and author Professor Grover Furr discusses his research into the Stalin-era and the challenge that recent scholarship poses to the Cold-War and anti-communist interpretations of Soviet History.

The Bolshevik revolution in a quick collage of images and early cinema. Lenin leads the way, smashing reactionaries and liberals. That’s the sort of leader the world needs today.