This past weekend, Nicolás Maduro, the candidate of the Bolivarian revolution, secured a narrow victory over the right-wing candidate, Henrique Capriles, in the Venezuelan presidential elections. Capriles and the right-wing are alleging fraud and yesterday, attempted to foment a coup to overthrow the Venezuelan government. This shows that now, more than ever, the gains of the revolution must be defended and that the oligarchy needs to be expropriated.

The media is full of the sycophantic outpourings of right-wing commentators and politicians about the sudden death of Margaret Thatcher. The news is full of tributes, portraying Thatcher as some kind of champion of freedom and liberty. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Her death is now being used to “rehabilitate” her, to paint her as a heroine. She was a champion — a champion of capitalism, the ruling class, and all it represents. For us, Thatcher represented and epitomized privilege, wealth and the inequality of class society.

Margaret Thatcher, the former British Conservative prime minister and one of the most hated figures in the history of the labour movement, died today at the age of 87. Thatcher, more than anyone, personified the brutal attacks on the working class during the 1980s — attacks that the Tory-led Coalition in Britain are continuing today. We publish here a short piece on Thatcher's death, with more in depth analysis of her legacy to follow soon.

It is a week now since the death of Hugo Chávez and there are still kilometre-long queues of people coming from all over the country to pay their last respects. Presidential elections have been called for April 14 and the mood is turning angry at the provocations of the oligarchy. The deep feeling of pride and dignity, which ordinary working people have gotten from participating directly in the revolution and defending it against the repeated assaults of the oligarchy and imperialism, created a very powerful bond with the president.

Hugo Chavez is no more. The cause of freedom, socialism, and humanity has lost a courageous champion. The human body is a fragile thing. It is easy to destroy with a bullet or a disease. All humans are born to die. But there is no force on earth that can destroy an idea whose time has come. Hugo Chavez the man is no longer with us, but he lives on. We pledge ourselves to do everything in our power to step up the fight for socialism in Venezuela and throughout the world. That is the only way forward; the only way to honour the memory of Hugo Chavez. Carry out the legacy of Hugo Chavez, not in words but in deeds!

On the morning of 6th February, the prominent left-wing leader Chokri Belaïd was assassinated in front of his house in Tunis. Thousands have taken to the streets, attacked offices of the ruling Ennahda party, which they consider responsible for the assassination, and a general strike has been called for 8th February. This could be the incident that sparks a much needed second revolution, two years after the overthrow the hated Ben Alí regime.

Less than a year ago, “King Bibi”, as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had become known, had an almost absolute majority in the polls and all other parties, one after another, were entering into crisis. The recent elections show a very different picture: polarization to the right and the left.

François Hollande has decided to flex his muscles. Based on the "threat of Islamic terrorism", the French president has deployed 1,700 soldiers in Mali, and another 800 are expected to arrive within a few days. The "international community" has unanimously approved of the intervention. Of course, the French president has said that his country "does not have interests in Mali" and that the action is "exclusively for the purpose of peace." But this is a very small fig leaf covering what is in reality an imperialist intervention to defend the interests of the old colonial power.

Taking advantage of Chavez’s ill health, the Venezuelan oligarchy and imperialism have renewed their campaign of destabilisation against the Bolivarian Revolution. Since the beginning of the year, and even before, the Venezuelan right wing opposition has unleashed a vicious and disgusting campaign of rumours and lies about President Chavez’s real condition with the aim of removing him from office. The aim of this campaign is to achieve what the oligarchy could not get through the ballot box (nor through previous coups, conspiracies, lockouts, etc): the end of Chavez’s presidency which would deal a serious blow to the Bolivarian revolution. They risk unleashing the wrath of the workers and the poor.

On Saturday, December 8, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez announced that he would have to undergo another surgical intervention in Cuba. Adding that “there are always risks in processes like this,” he explained that “if anything happens to me that hinders me [from performing as president]”, vice president Nicolás Maduro is his preference to replace him.