AMLO accuses US of meddling in Mexico

Andrea Lobo

Tensions rose last week between the US and Mexican governments as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) condemned US threats against his government and scaled back his cooperation with the US-led onslaught against migrants.

The Mexican president posted an open letter to US President Joe Biden and made a formal diplomatic protest over US financing of NGOs tied to Mexico’s political opposition. “How are they going to be funding an organization openly opposed to a legal, legitimate, and democratic government?” AMLO demanded during the announcement Wednesday. “This violates our sovereignty and constitutes interventionism.”

López Obrador and his cabinet meet with the US ambassador Ken Salazar, the US envoy on migration Elizabeth Sherwood Randall and other US officials, Mexico City, May 2, 2023. [Photo: @lopezobrador_]

Among similar statements, AMLO said on Thursday that Mexico is being “used as a piñata for politicking,” adding that US claims that fentanyl crossing the border is being produced in Mexico are “almost entirely lies.”

On Friday, however, AMLO endorsed a key element of Washington’s fentanyl claims: blaming China. While US intelligence agencies have insisted that only the main components of the drug are shipped from China, AMLO claimed on Friday that the Mexican Navy had found a container with 600 bags of finished fentanyl and methamphetamine that had arrived from China.

AMLO sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping demanding that he inform the Mexican authorities about future fentanyl shipments, effectively backing US propaganda that the Chinese government is knowingly flooding the US with the substance and is responsible for overdose deaths. This latest episode confirms that AMLO ultimately bows to the US war drive against China, which is the basis of near-shoring production from Asia to North America.

Regarding migration, AMLO agreed to and even praised the implementation of Biden’s new policy to send migrants at the border back to Mexico, denying them the right to apply for asylum. This policy is to replace Title 42, which hypocritically exploited the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to do the same and will expire on May 11.

On Thursday, however, the Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the country is not willing to accept the 100,000 Central American migrants the United States expects to send back. Moreover, on April 29, Mexican migration authorities reached a deal with about 3,000 migrants marching together in southern Mexico, promising to let them reach the US border unimpeded if they dissolved into smaller groups, to the dismay of Washington.

This decision followed the release of new footage of the March 27 fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez, which showed Mexican officials and soldiers refusing to let the migrants out for several minutes as the fire and smoke spread and killed 40.

The Biden administration has since ordered 1,500 additional US troops to the border as thousands of migrants are expected to try to cross after May 11. The US military buildup at the border also serves as a threat against AMLO, who has condemned the demands by leading Republicans to invade Mexico, supposedly to fight drug cartels.

AMLO’s recent statements are the latest in a long series of nationalist appeals ostensibly aimed against the predatory and imperialist character of US policy toward its historically oppressed neighbor and closest trade partner. In February, he denounced the Biden administration for “meddling” when it backed protests organized by the right-wing opposition against change to the National Electoral Institute. In March, he proposed in a call with Brazilian President Lula to establish new trade partnerships regionally that don’t require the dollar.

In mid-April he accused the Pentagon and DEA of spying upon and hacking the Mexican military and giving tips to Mexican media. “They want to rule here, to violate our sovereignty,” he said.

AMLO has repeatedly denounced the US and NATO for prolonging and partially causing the war in Ukraine, and called for a peaceful settlement, challenging the propaganda lies of an “unprovoked war” by Putin. He has also demanded the liberation of Julian Assange and offered him asylum.

The pseudo-left backers of AMLO are enthusiastically promoting his nationalist demagogy. Jacobin magazine recently insisted, “AMLO is not undermining Mexican democracy,” as his government “refuses total obedience to US hegemony” and takes up the “role of regional leadership in Latin America” against US domination. Last year, one article was even titled, “AMLO is trying to free Mexico and Latin America from the US’s Imperial Grip.”

AMLO’s nationalist bluster, however, serves only to cover his government’s subordination to US imperialism on all fundamental questions and, like all demagoguery, is aimed chiefly against the working class.

Under the slogan of a “Fourth Transformation,” AMLO vowed to radically depart from his predecessors, who sought to “surrender our national assets” and turn Mexico into “a real factory of poor people.” Instead, he promised to place the “poor first” and provide “a decent life” to all Mexicans.

But, as soon as he came to power, he created a free trade zone along the US-Mexico border with massive corporate tax cuts, prioritized interest payments to creditors over social spending and sacrificed the lives of over 600,000 people during the COVID-19 pandemic to guarantee the flow of profits.

His minimum wage increases have proven inadequate, with four out of ten formal workers still making less than the poverty level. And six out of ten workers belong to the informal sector, largely deprived of even the minimum wage, healthcare, and other benefits. Meanwhile, numerous economists have concluded that his welfare programs have been inadequate and not really aimed at the poor.

As summed up by a recent study: “The urban and rural population making less than the poverty line (and who don’t possess at least 2.5 hectares of land) [are] not eligible for social programs aimed at alleviating their plight.” (Martínez Espinoza, UNAM, 2023)

According to official figures, there are about 4 million more poor today than when AMLO took power in 2018, and analysts expect that rampant inflation will further increase poverty.

In sum, AMLO is doing the exact opposite of confronting US imperialism to defend workers’ interests. As he oversees the implementation of the new US, Mexico, Canada trade pact, he has maintained high poverty rates and massively under-financed social services as bludgeons to keep wages low, lowered tax rates and offered other incentives to prostitute Mexico’s workers and natural resources to US and Canadian corporations more than any other president since the Mexican Revolution. This is the real content of his “Fourth Transformation.”

In February, he personally reached an agreement with Elon Musk to build a massive Tesla factory in Monterrey, shortly after opposing the location because “there is no water” in the region. And there are ongoing talks to build advanced chips in Mexico under Biden’s “Chips Act” aimed at lowering US dependence on microprocessors produced in Asia.

By deepening the already fundamental role played by Mexico in the North American economic platform used by US and Canadian imperialism to confront China, Russia and Washington’s so-called allies in Europe, AMLO hopes to gain leverage to negotiate a greater slice of the profits for his sponsors in the Mexican oligarchy, including his supporters Carlos Slim and German Larrea, the two richest men in Mexico.

The support for “near-shoring” production away from China was the basis for the ties between AMLO and his “friend” Donald Trump. AMLO backed Trump’s attempted coup by legitimizing Trump’s bogus claims of electoral fraud, refusing to recognize Biden’s clear electoral victory for six weeks while Trump continued to push for overturning the results, and condemning Trump’s suspension on social media.

At the time, Trump was aiming to establish a dictatorship based on “America First” imperialism, which involved repeated threats to invade Mexico and the use of violent anti-Mexican chauvinism to mobilize fascist militias and layers within the state as his core constituency.

A section of the national bourgeoisie fears that AMLO’s confrontational statements could cost them US investments. These elements also seek to undermine AMLO’s efforts to gain a stronger grip over the state by cultivating a constituency among the military leadership.

AMLO’s anti-US rhetoric serves both to advance the trade and investment demands of the Mexican ruling elite and to protect his clique in the military and police from corruption allegations—in turn used by the US and the Mexican opposition as political capital.

Most fundamentally, however, beyond just electoral calculations, the promotion of popular illusions in AMLO have played a crucial role since the late 1990s in suppressing the class struggle and concealing the class character of the state. This is at the heart of the services he provides to the ruling class and the most important card in his hand. But the fear of awakening the giant industrial workforce south of the Rio Grande in joint struggle with American workers also explains why the Biden administration and the US corporate media limit the aggressiveness of their criticisms of AMLO.

Early start to wildfire season displaces 30,000 across Alberta

Niles Niemuth

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a provincial state of emergency Saturday after an early season outbreak of wildfires across the western Canadian province. As of Monday more than 30,000 people had evacuated their homes under the threat of flames and choking smoke from more than 100 active fires.

An early May heat wave primed the province for a fiery explosion. Record high temperatures were smashed in both Edmonton, the province’s capital, and Calgary, its largest city. In the former the mercury hit 28.9 Celsius (84 F) on May 1, while Calgary broke a 130-year record with a temperature of 25.8 C (78 F) recorded at the city’s airport. Heat records were also broken in Red Deer, Vegreville, Fort Chipewyan and Rocky Mountain House. Warnings were made days ahead of time by meteorologists that the fire danger was exceptionally high and burn bans were put in place for much of the province.

Wildfire near Edson, Alberta. [Photo: Alberta Wildfire/Government of Alberta]

“Much of Alberta has been experiencing a hot, dry spring and with so much kindling, all it takes is a few sparks to ignite some truly frightening wildfires,” Premier Smith said at a press conference Saturday. “These conditions have resulted in the unprecedented situation our province is facing today.”

Smith expressed shock at the number of people forced to flee their homes, stating, “I don’t know that I ever recall seeing multiple communities evacuated all at once in fire season.”

Alberta Wildfire spokesperson Christine Tucker told reporters Saturday that firefighters were confronting extremely difficult conditions, including high winds, which are fueling the flames. Tucker described the outbreak of wildfires across the province as “unusual” and “unprecedented.” 

The 7,300 residents of Drayton Valley, approximately 140 km southwest of Edmonton, were warned to continue to stay away Sunday as flames burned uncontrolled. Four homes have been destroyed by a fire which forced residents to flee Thursday night. Approximately three dozen residents took shelter at Edmonton’s Expo Centre over the weekend, while others are in hotels or with relatives.

“This fire remains out of control and so it is imperative that people stay out of this area. I can’t stress that enough,” Brazeau County and Drayton Valley Fire Chief Tom Thompson warned. “The risk to the public is still extremely high and it is not safe to enter the community at this time.”

Other areas under evacuation orders due to fires include: the town of Edson (population 8,000), northwest of Drayton Valley; Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation 154 (population 1,505) and Fox Lake Indian reserve (population 3,600), in remote northern Alberta; and Rainbow Lake (population 500), in the province’s northwest corner. 

More than 20 homes, a store, an RCMP detachment and the community’s water treatment plant have been destroyed in Fox Lake. Photos and video posted on social media show the small community surrounded by billowing smoke. A GoFundMe set up to aid residents with purchasing essentials has raised nearly $12,000. 

The fires have also triggered the widespread idling of oil extraction operations, resulting in 145,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day being “shut in.” Alberta is the center of petroleum extraction in Canada, and one of the largest oil-producing regions in the world, with approximately 120,000 workers employed in the process of oil drilling and surface mining of bitumen oil-tar sands. The oil and gas industry accounts for a quarter of the province’s annual economic output. 

The burning of oil and other fossil fuels, which emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, is the major factor in man-made climate change. Scientists have warned that climate change is the driving force behind the increasing intensity of wildfires and the expansion of the fire season beyond its historic range. 

“We’re almost moving to fire years instead of fire seasons,” Mike Flannigan, the research chair for Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science at Thompson Rivers University told Edmonton AM last week. “That’s the result because we’re getting warmer.”

Climate change has also facilitated the spread of the mountain pine beetle, which has killed over 20 million hectares of forest since the 1990s, leaving standing forests like candles waiting to be lit by a lightning strike. Declining spring rains and rapidly warming temperatures from the winter make grass and undergrowth perfect tinder.

Making matters worse, cuts to public funding for firefighting and prevention have hampered efforts to respond to the increasingly destructive impacts of climate change.

Former Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party (UCP) government cut the number of wildfire lookouts, firefighters, and forest service personnel while contracting out some services to private firms. The UCP also axed the province’s Wildland Firefighter Rappel Program, which trained firefighters on rappelling from helicopters to reach remote fires before they spread. 

In 2016 then-premier Rachel Notley and her New Democratic Party (NDP) government defended slashing $15 million from the base firefighting budget, reducing tanker operations from 123 to 93 days and reducing fire prevention operations. 

The latest eruption of fires recalls the 2016 inferno that consumed much of the city of Fort McMurray, forcing the disorganized evacuation of its 88,000 residents and destroying 3,244 buildings. Two people were killed in a traffic accident during the evacuation. And in 2021 the village of Lytton, British Columbia, was mostly destroyed by fire amid an extreme heat wave, killing two people. The British Columbia Coroners Service estimates that 619 people died from extreme heat between June 25 and July 1, 2021.

The latest fire outbreak and state of emergency come amid campaigning for the May 29 Alberta provincial election. The principal party leaders, UCP Premier Smith, a climate-change denier who boasts of her close ties to the “Freedom” Convoy, the anti-vaxx movement and other far-right and outright fascist forces, and NDP leader Notley have cynically postured as sympathetic to the wildfire refugees and concerned about helping Albertans confront the dangers posed by wildfires. 

“I want Albertans to be assured that there is a stable, functioning government that is here to support them throughout this unprecedented crisis,” Smith said Sunday. 

For her part, Notley, a seasoned hand in controlling popular anger over government mismanagement, offered her assistance to Smith.  “We are quite sincere in our offer to participate in the emergency planning committee,” said Notley. “I think that we have experience and advice that we can offer and I think it helps depoliticize what should be a laser focus on public safety.”

Abu Dhabi Zayed Sustainability Prize Of US$3 Million For Entrepreneurs 2023

Application Deadline: 23rd May 2023

Eligible Countries: All countries in The Americas, Europe, Africa, Oceania and Asia

To be taken at (country): United Arab Emirates

Categories of the Prize: The Zayed Future Energy Prize awards 5 categories:

• Health
• Food
• Energy
• Water
• Global High Schools (1 award for each of the below regions)
  • The Americas, Europe, Africa, Oceania and Asia

About the Award: The Prize fund comes from the Abu Dhabi Government as a way to honour and continue the legacy of the late founding father of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, manages the Zayed Future Energy Prize. A dedicated team works on the Prize all year round.

This annual award celebrates achievements that reflect impact, innovation, long-term vision and leadership in renewable energy and sustainability. You are invited to be a part of this vision and commitment to finding solutions that will meet the challenges of climate change, energy security and the environment.

Offered Since: 2008

Eligibility: The Zayed Future Energy Prize is open to all entrants other than:  (a) board members and employees of Masdar; and  (b) anyone who has been involved in organising, promoting or judging the Prize.

Selection Criteria: The Prize criteria for all categories are: Innovation, Impact, Leadership and Long-Term Vision.

Number of Awardees: several

Value of Awards: The total Prize fund is US $3 million, distributed as such:

• Health  – US$ 600,000 (Six hundred thousand dollars)
• Food      – US$ 600,000 (Six hundred thousand dollars)
• Energy  – US$ 600,000 (Six hundred thousand dollars)
• Water   – US$ 600,000 (Six hundred thousand dollars)
• Climate Action  – US$ 600,000 (Six hundred thousand dollars)
• Global High Schools   – US$ 600,000 – Total value (Six hundred thousand dollars)
  • Divided amongst 6 Global High Schools in 6 different regions, awarding each up to US$100,000 (One hundred thousand dollars)
  • The Americas
  • Europe & Central Asia
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • East Asia & Pacific
  • South Asia
  • MENA

How to Apply: Apply here

Visit Award Webpage for details

Award Provider: The Abu Dhabi Government

Important Notes: The submission should be sufficiently detailed and clear to enable the judges to analyse properly and to form a view on all elements of the submission and the nominee.

US Hypocrisy and the Global South

Melvin A. Goodman

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

U.S. diplomats have been unsuccessful in recruiting key countries in the Global South, particularly India and Brazil, to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.  Nations of the Global South don’t want to be part of the Cold War between the West and Russia; don’t accept the Western view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “unprovoked;” and charge the United States and key European countries with hypocrisy in trying to isolate authoritarian countries.

The United States has been particularly critical of African countries for not taking a strong stand against Russia’s war against Ukraine, and for ignoring the Western sanctions regime against Russia.  The United States can’t even get longterm partners such as Israel and Jordan to take sides between Washington and Moscow.  As both China and Russia increase their economic and military deliverables to the African continent, it has become more difficult for the Unites States to achieve its diplomatic goals.  Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has visited numerous African countries this year in order to prepare for July’s summit in St. Petersburg with African leaders.

U.S. charges of human rights violations against Russia and China also fall on deaf ears in the Global South because of the increased gun violence in the United States; the increased wealth gap between the rich and poor; and of course the systemic racism in U.S. society.  The insurrection in Washington on January 6, 2021, raised additional questions regarding the strength and longevity of U.S. democracy and U.S. governance.  The polarization and disunity in the United States belie its self-appointed image as a laboratory of democracy.  U.S. efforts at regime change over the past seventy years sustain the cynicism of Third World leaders.

The current reporting in the mainstream media regarding the violence in Sudan assigns blame to the role of the Russian military and the paramilitary Wagner Group, but ignores the role of U.S. support for military leaders in Sudan as well as throughout the Global South, particularly Africa and Latin America.  U.S. diplomats have been coddling military leaders in Africa, particularly in Sudan, rather than working with civilian leaders.  The United States and the European Union leaned to the Sudanese military leaders as the only valid power brokers for organizing a government in Khartoum.

This is similar to decades of U.S. involvement In Central America, where the U.S. supported general officers in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, despite their role in terrorizing the populace.  Washington supported power-sharing arrangements in these nations, even though civilian officials were typically secondary to their military counterparts.

There have been several significant votes in the United Nations since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, with increasing numbers of African states unwilling to support the U.S. positions on suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council or calling for Russian reparations for Ukraine.  Russia is still highly regarded for decades of support for Africa’s liberation movements and opposition to European colonial interests.

The United States for the most part has ignored African interests, and only recently did Vice President Kamala Harris travel to Africa to announce forthcoming economic assistance.  This assistance pales in comparison to Chinese support for numerous infrastructure projects throughout the continent.  Recently, South Africa allowed a Russian cargo plane to land at an air force base near Pretoria, although it was under sanctions from the United States for shipping weapons to Russian military forces.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to South Africa last year; shortly thereafter South Africa and Russia held their first joint military exercises.  Russian Vladimir Putin is expected to travel to South Africa later this year for a regional summit, and it is highly unlikely that the South African government will support the requests of the International Criminal Court for the arrest of the Russian leader if he were to appear.

The Biden administration needs to take note of the charge of hypocrisy from leaders in India, Brazil, and elsewhere.  While U.S. diplomats encourage Global South nations to avoid energy contracts with Russia, the United States is looking for ways to improve its relations with Venezuela in order to import more oil from Caracas.  President Joe Biden campaigned on the basis of turning Saudi Arabia into a “pariah,” but traveled to Riyadh to fist bump Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in order to get increased Saudi oil production.  Numerous European countries have signed significant energy contracts with repressive Arab regimes in order to bolster their own energy imports.

Recent leaked documents demonstrate that India has resisted U.S. efforts to support Western resolutions at the UN regarding the Russian invasion.  India also resisted U.S. efforts to arrange a discussion of the war at the recent G-20 summit in New Dehli.  Leaked documents also reveal that India’s national security adviser, Ajit Kumar Doval, assured his Russian counterpart, Nikolay Petrushev, that India would not take sides in the current confrontation between Russian and the United States.  Other important regional states such as Brazil, Egypt, and Pakistan have given similar assurances to their Russian counterparts.  All of these nations have been paying higher prices for important commodities and consumer goods because of U.S. sanctions and tariffs against China and Russia.  Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the two largest American oil companies, have been earning record profits as a result of disruptions in Russian energy deliveries.

Meanwhile, China is stealing a march on the United States in both the Middle East and Africa.  In addition to signing long-term energy arrangements with both Iran and Saudi Arabia, Beijing is poised to dominate the exploitation of the most important minerals for the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles.  Demand for cobalt is expected to increase significantly in the near term, and the Democratic Republic of Congo dominates the mining of cobalt.  Lithium allows electric vehicles to generate the same energy and speed as gas vehicles, and Zimbabwe is a top producer of lithium.  China has excellent state-to-state relations with these key African countries as well as an increased presence in Afghanistan, which has huge reserves of lithium.  The United States and its allies have sufficient reserves of lithium and copper, for example, but it would require significant investments and technological cooperation to build up mining industries.

Overall, U.S. investment pales in comparison to China’s belt and road initiatives throughout the Global South, particularly the huge loans for vast infrastructure projects, and U.S. demands regarding democratic governance compare unfavorably to Russian and Chinese unwillingness to force the countries of the Global South to take sides.  There is also an intense great power competition for influence in the Middle East and North Africa as both Moscow and Beijing take advantage of U.S. nonrecognition of Iran; U.S. open-ended support for Israel; and U.S. hypocrisy over its role in the so-called Middle East peace process.

Police carry out mass arrests during coronation of King Charles

Robert Stevens

The UK Conservative government utilised Saturday’s coronation of King Charles III to clamp down on anti-monarchist and other protesters. Newly enacted police-state powers under the Public Order Act rolled out days before the event were used to carry out mass arrests and set a precedent for their future widespread use.

London’s Metropolitan Police arrested 64 people for offences including affray, public order offences, breach of the peace and the sinister charge of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

Police arrest an anti-monarchy demonstrators ahead of the procession of Britain's King Charles III to Westminster Abbey for his coronation in London Saturday, May 6, 2023. [AP Photo/Scott Garfitt]

Most significantly the Met moved to take out the leadership of the Republic group and prevent their participation in the protests. Republic are a registered pressure group in existence since 1983 advocating the abolition of the monarchy and its replacement with a parliamentary republic. Their protests generally consist of chanting “Not My King!”

In the days leading to the coronation the Home Office sent threatening messages to Republic, informing them that the Public Order Act 2023 had been passed and that its provisions would be used during a mass mobilisation of police. The legislation was brought forward from its initial timetable and received Royal Assent—signed into law by Charles himself, on May 2. The Met announced four days ahead of the coronation, “We have an extremely low threshold for anybody or anything that will disrupt this event and what you will see is very swift action from us.”

At around 7.30 a.m. Saturday, before any protesting had begun, six members of Republic, including its leader Graham Smith, were arrested near Trafalgar Square where the group planned to hold a rally near the statue of the deposed monarch Charles 1 (1600-1649). Police seized by force a vanload of hundreds of placards reading “Not My King.” A video seen by 5.5 million on Twitter shows a reporter asking why the arrests are being carried out and a police officer replies, “I’m not going to get into a conversation about that, they are under arrest, end of.”

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Smith was held for nearly 16 hours in police custody, only being released at 11 p.m. Saturday evening. Smith tweeted, “I’m now out of the police station. Still waiting for my colleagues. Make no mistake. There is no longer a right to peaceful protest in the UK. I have been told many times the monarch is there to defend our freedoms. Now our freedoms are under attack in his name.” He added of the arrested colleagues, “We are not being given a reason. They will probably be released when the whole monarchy PR show is over.”

A Republic director, Harry Stratton, stated, “What would we lock on to? We are just protesting”—referring to the newly-minted offense of gluing yourself to a road, building and art-works by environmental protesters. He added that one protester at Trafalgar Square had been taken away by police as he had string on him. “It’s string that was part of his placard. What was he going to do with that?”

Stratton revealed, “We had meetings with the police where they outlined what would and wouldn't be accepted today. They told us any mention of Prince Andrew or the sex abuse cases would mean arrests.”

Chillingly, the state was prepared to kill protesters during the coronation, with Stratton revealing, “They said if anybody got in the way of the procession, they could be shot because the military around the streets might be a bit touchy and not understand what was going on.” He added, “These arrests seem like the work of a police state. It’s not acceptable. We are only saying that we don’t believe in the monarchy and we’re doing it peacefully.”

Such was the dragnet imposed by the Met that three volunteer members of Westminster City Council’s Night Stars team who give out rape alarm whistles to vulnerable women—with Home Office funding—were arrested for having the item in their possession. The volunteers were apprehended at 2 a.m. Saturday morning on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance and held for 14 hours. The Met claimed it had “received intelligence that indicated groups and individuals seeking to disrupt today’s coronation proceedings were planning to use rape alarms to disrupt the procession.”

The Public Order Act is one of the most draconian pieces of legislation in British history, effectively ending the right to protest and further clamping down on strikes. Protests are deemed illegal if they include acts causing “serious disruption to two or more individuals, or to an organisation.” “Serious disruption” includes “noise.”

The Home Office stated last week that the legislation would “bolster the police’s powers to respond more effectively to disruptive and dangerous protests.” It noted “the following measures in the Public Order Bill will commence on 3rd May 2023. The definition of serious disruption in the Public Order Bill: locking on; going equipped to lock on; interference with key national infrastructure; amending the seniority of police officers in London who may attach conditions to an upcoming protest or prohibit a trespassory assembly to match that applicable in forces outside of London.”

Police can stop and search protesters if they suspect they are setting out to cause disruption. The penalty for those convicted of blocking roads, airports and railways is a jail sentence of up to 12 months. Those locking on to others, objects or buildings face prison for six months and an unlimited fine.

One of the Republic organisers said, “We had a delivery of placards ready for the protest and then the tactical support unit questioned us as to how we had got through the road closures. They questioned whether what we were doing was a delivery. They then said they found evidence of means of locking on, of items that could be used to lock on, and they arrested us.”

The repression was carried out as part of a vast lockdown of the capital by 11,500 Met Police officers, codenamed Operation Golden Orb. 9,000 members of the UK’s Armed Forces were in London with 2,000 on active duty and the remainder on ceremonial duties.

Also deployed was HMS Diamond, with the Type-45 destroyer warship docked in the Thames at Greenwich. The Royal Navy said it had been deployed to “celebrate the Coronation.” However, the Sun newspaper reported, “But Naval sources say it would only take a ‘flick of a switch’ to trigger its air defence systems.” The ship is able to deploy 16 missiles at the same time as they head towards targets.

The repression of protest, no matter how small, points to the crisis and fear of a ruling elite and the terminal decay of a system atop which sits a hidebound medieval monarchy with its ridiculous ceremonies, crowns and costumes—the accumulation of centuries of medieval trash. They view all protest as a threat from below.

Several commentators raised that the coronation points to the existence of two Britains, torn apart by class antagonism. No less than the Financial Times, in an op-ed by Henry Mance, warned that for all the interest of a royalist constituency in the “splendid and strange ritual,” it “would be wrong to say that the British public had been gripped by the prospect of the coronation. Two-fifths thought it was a waste of taxpayer money, according to one poll. Two-thirds didn’t care about it very much or at all, according to another.”

He added, “The whole of Britain, let alone the Commonwealth, could not fit into the coronation. Britain is not simply the gleam of the orb; it is the gloom of the sky outside. It is not only the flag-waving faithful on the Mall; it is the republican protesters who were arrested in Trafalgar Square. It is not just the millions who gaped at the television; it is the millions who were more interested in the afternoon’s football.”

The coronation exposed that the “oldest democracy in the world” is one only in name. That protest against this system is now outlawed is a decisive refutation of all the lies that NATO’s war against Russia is being fought to defend democracy.

Stark increase in UK homeless deaths in 2022, more than 4,000 dead since 2019

Dennis Moore

According to research by the Museum of Homelessness charity, 1,313 people died while homeless across Britain in 2022. The last three years of reporting by the charity have shown a continuous year-on-year increase in deaths of this kind, with 1,286 fatalities recorded in 2021, 976 in 2020, and 710 in 2019, making an overall increase of 85 percent.

The Dying Homeless Project was established by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in October 2017 and taken on by Museum of Homelessness in April 2019. It commented on the figures, “More than 4,000 people have died while homeless across the UK since 2019, with someone now dying every 6.5 hours on average.”

A homeless man sleeping in a shop doorway in Romford, London, December 2022 [Photo: WSWS]

The real number of deaths is likely to be higher as several local authorities did not respond to freedom of Information (FOI) requests, including Ealing, Hackney Lewisham, Hillingdon, Blackpool, Fife and Birmingham. Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city with a population approaching 1.2 million, told the charity that they do not collect information on how and when people are dying in homelessness settings.

Other local councils reported that they were not able to provide more detailed information relating to age or causes of death.

As well as FOI requests, details were gathered from members of the public, grassroots groups, coroners’ reports, homelessness charities and family members.

For the first time, the death figures include those living in exempt accommodation, which is usually shared and where some support is provided, but which is not currently regulated.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also provides data on deaths of homeless people, however the methodologies are different. The Homelessness Museum survey covers the whole of the UK, and captures data from sources left out of official statistics gathering. Nonetheless, the ONS too found an increase in deaths, with their most recent estimate for 2021 significantly higher than in any of the years 2013-2017.

The homeless population is often understood to include those sleeping out on the streets, but in fact includes people in a number of settings. These include supported accommodation (13.8 percent), emergency accommodation (4.3 percent), bed and breakfast accommodation (4.4 percent), temporary accommodation (35.5 percent), rough sleepers’ accommodation (24.4 percent), and others (6.9 percent). The street homeless make up 10.6 percent of the total.

Homelessness deaths occur throughout the year, with a higher number actually occurring in the summer. This is contrary to the popular understanding that homeless people are more likely to die in the winter time and shows that the serious risk to life is in no way seasonal.

The causes of death were sampled from 314 people from the overall number of 1,313—all of them living on the streets with no fixed abode. After physical health conditions, they are predominantly linked to drugs, alcohol and overdosing.

The study notes, “Last year we reported on 31 people completing suicide; this has increased to 35 this year [to March 2023]. Five of these deaths were of people who were street homeless and had no fixed abode.”

People who are homeless or sleeping out on the streets often struggle to access mental health support, and there are gaps in provision for what are some of the most vulnerable people in society.

The ages of 951 of the people who died were known, with people often perishing before they reach middle age. The most common group for age of death was 35-55. This figure is shocking when one considers that average life expectancy in the UK is 80.

Those who died in exempt accommodation are highlighted in this year’s report. This is accommodation not commissioned by local authorities, but which is used to house vulnerable people. Such housing is exempt from local licensing regulations and housing benefit caps, which mean the local council or police have few powers to act over the quality and safety of the dwelling.

The majority of local authorities responding to FOI requests for information on deaths in exempt accommodation said they did not have data. Of the total 151 deaths recorded across the twelve who provided data, Manchester had the highest number at 109.

Even the government’s own report into exempt accommodation published last year via the Department for Levelling up and Communities was scathing in its criticisms. It described the system as a complete mess and in some instances involving the exploitation of vulnerable people, as unscrupulous providers make excessive profits by capitalising on loopholes. The gold-rush is all funded by taxpayers through housing benefit paid by tenants to landlords.

The inquiry found that some residents’ experiences of exempt accommodation are hellish and that some people’s situations actually deteriorate versus living on the streets as a result of the shocking conditions in which they live.

Homelessness Museum calls for mandatory fatality reviews for all local authorities, including accountability. Co-founder Matt Turtle said, “The fact that so many people continue to die in unregulated, taxpayer funded accommodation run by rogue landlords is a disgrace”.

In 2022 the government spent £1.6 billion putting people into this type of accommodation, mostly owned by private companies or individuals.

At root, homelessness deaths are the outcome of year of cuts to housing, mental and general health, drug, alcohol and allied services. Figures published by The Health Foundation show that the public health grant has been cut by 26 percent in real terms per person basis since 2015/16. Paid to local authorities from the Department of Health and Social Care budget, the grant is used to provide preventative services including drug alcohol services, smoking cessation, children’s health services and sexual health services.

The real terms per person cuts have been even greater to those living in some of the most deprived areas of England. The seaside town of Blackpool, considered to be the most deprived upper tier local authority in England, has seen its grant (including new drug and alcohol treatment funding) cut by £33 per person in real terms since 2015/16.

Poor health outcomes are strongly associated with living in areas of socio-economic deprivation. A girl born into one of the most deprived 10 percent of areas can expect to live in good health for 19 years less than a girl born into the least deprived 10 percent areas—a factor that contributed to high COVID-19 mortality rates.

The deaths of thousands of homeless people is a chilling confirmation, amid an ongoing pandemic that has taken over 220,000 lives in Britain, that the ruling class views the lives of working-class people as entirely dispensable.

NATO to expand Asia-Pacific presence by opening office in Japan

Ben McGrath

Last week, news emerged that NATO intends to open a liaison office in Tokyo, Japan next year. The office would be NATO’s first in the Asia-Pacific region and represents the increasing role of the organisation in preparation for a US-led war against China. Both Tokyo and NATO have confirmed the plans.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after media briefing in Tokyo on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. [AP Photo/Takashi Aoyama]

Nikkei Asia reported on May 3 that NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg discussed opening the office with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during Stoltenberg’s visit to Japan in January. Similar offices exist at the United Nations in New York and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna, as well as in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kuwait. Tokyo also intends to create an independent mission to NATO by separating its current mission from its embassy in Belgium and dispatching a new ambassador.

While the move does not mean Japan is joining the alliance, the new NATO office in Tokyo is a major provocation directed at China. The US/NATO war against Russia in Ukraine was instigated, in part, through the encroachment of NATO’s borders towards Russia. NATO’s collaboration with countries like Japan, coupled with attempts to goad Beijing by challenging the “One China” policy over Taiwan, will only heighten the danger of war.

The Danish ambassador to Japan, Peter Taksoe-Jensen, who acts as the contact point between Tokyo and NATO, made clear that the decision to open the liaison office was directed against China and preventing it from becoming an economic challenger to the West.

He told Nikkei Asia, “In 2022, at the (NATO) Madrid Summit, allied leaders decided that Russia was no longer a partner but a foe, and that there was also an acknowledgement that China's rise would and could have an impact on trans-European security.”

Beijing’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning criticised the plans for the new liaison office in Tokyo, saying, “NATO’s continual eastward expansion in the Asia-Pacific, interference in regional affairs, attempts to destroy regional peace and stability, and push for bloc confrontation calls for high vigilance from countries in the region.”

NATO and Japan also intend to sign an Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP) ahead of the July 11 and 12 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Japan, as well as South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand is expected to attend the summit. The liaison office will facilitate increased cooperation between NATO and these four countries, dubbed the Asia-Pacific partners of NATO, or AP4. The meeting last year in Madrid was the first time the four nations had been invited to attend a NATO summit.

As part of their collaboration, Japan and NATO will also work together to address “cyber threats, disruptive technologies, and disinformation activities.” In other words, the two will work on ensuring that the internet and social media are employed to spread imperialist propaganda while blocking workers and youth from accessing so-called “disinformation,” including socialist, anti-imperialist and anti-war viewpoints.

The opening of the office is part of a broader agenda in which the US is developing and integrating a series of alliances meant to surround China. These include the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), comprised of the US, Australia, India, and Japan, and the AUKUS alliance, made up of Australia, the United Kingdom and the US. Washington and Seoul also recently announced increased collaboration over the planning and use of Washington’s nuclear arsenal.

In addition, under pressure from Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have worked to ease tensions that have existed between the two countries for years. Following a summit in Tokyo in March between Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, the two sides agreed to increased cooperation, normalisation of a military intelligence-sharing agreement and more military drills alongside the US.

Japan is also increasing its cooperation with other countries, including the UK. Tokyo signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement with London in January granting troops from each country easier access to enter the other. Tokyo is considering a similar agreement with the Philippines.

The opening of the NATO office in Japan also contributes to Tokyo’s goal of remilitarisation. In 2014, the then-Shinzo Abe administration announced a “reinterpretation” of the constitution to allow so-called “collective self-defense.” The following year, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rammed legislation through parliament to codify this change. This, Tokyo argues, allows Japan to go to war alongside an ally in the name of “self-defense,” thereby sidestepping Article 9 of the constitution, which explicitly bars Japan from maintaining a military or waging war.

By working alongside NATO, Tokyo will claim that its growing military assertiveness and aggression aligns with this bogus and unconstitutional concept of “collective self-defense.”

Along these lines, a NATO delegation visited Japan from April 24-26, led by its Cooperative Security Division Director Lieutenant General Francesco Diella, who met with leading Japanese military officials. Diella claimed during these discussions, “Our security is deeply interconnected and so must be our cooperation, which is rooted in our shared values, and our shared vision—of a free, peaceful and prosperous world.”

The claims that NATO and its member countries as well as Japan represent “shared values” is aimed against Russia and China. Washington, Tokyo and their allies claim that in Asia, China represents a threat to the “free and open” Indo-Pacific. In reality, the imperialist powers denounce Beijing for not acquiescing to the post-World War II order established and dominated by the US. While Washington conducts provocative and dangerous “freedom of navigation” operations on China’s doorstep, any reaction from Beijing is denounced as proof of Chinese “aggression.”

Furthermore, the claims that NATO and, above all, the United States represent “democratic values” flies in the face of reality. In the US, immigrants are denied the right to asylum while police regularly gun down workers and the poor. In France, the president of the rich, Emmanuel Macron, rules using police state repression against striking workers and protesters. In the UK, journalist Julian Assange remains behind bars in Belmarsh Prison for exposing the crimes of US imperialism while the government wasted hundreds of millions of pounds on King Charles’s recent coronation ceremony.

In Japan, past war crimes are covered up in order to promote remilitarisation. The ruling LDP, with no genuine opposition from other parties, is pursuing constitutional amendments that would severely restrict democratic rights, and journalists face barriers and even harassment.

Ultimately, Washington, Tokyo, and NATO’s goal is not defense of “democratic values,” but the re-division of the Indo-Pacific at the expense of China, risking a new world war that would be fought with nuclear weapons.

Nine killed, seven wounded in Texas mall shooting

Chase Lawrence

Nine people were killed and seven wounded in a mass shooting Saturday at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, just north of Dallas. This was the 200th mass shooting in the US so far this year, averaging about 11 such events per week.

According to ABC News, multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the shooting at 3:30 p.m. The gunman was killed in the parking lot by a police officer who was at the mall on an unrelated call. Officials said the ages of the victims ranged from 5 to 61.

People raise their hands as they leave a shopping center following reports of a shooting, Saturday, May 6, 2023, in Allen, Texas. [AP Photo/LM Otero]

According to an Allen Police Department news release on Sunday, four people were undergoing treatment at Medical City McKinney Hospital, with three in critical condition. Another person is undergoing treatment at Medical City Plano, one at Medical City Children’s Hospital, and another at a hospital not named in the release.

The suspected shooter has been identified as Mauricio Garcia, 33, a security guard. Garcia reportedly used an AR-15 rifle in the shooting and had at least one other weapon on him when he was fatally shot. More weapons were found in his car.

Witnesses said the gunman’s tactical vest was packed with ammunition. According CBS News reporter J.D. Miles, Garcia, who was living in an extended-stay hotel in Dallas, had “no serious criminal record.”

Dashcam video circulating on social media shows the shooter leaving a grey sedan outside of Allen Premium Outlets mall and immediately proceeding to open fire on mall-goers. People ran from the shooter and some fled in their cars under fire.

One boy and his mother told CNN they fled in their car and were hit twice by gunfire. A witness speaking to the Washington Post described a young boy running away from the shooter while screaming “run!” At least one victim was a child, according to officials and witnesses. Another young boy was found under the corpse of his mother, who died shielding him.

It is not clear if there was a security guard on duty at the mall, though an individual with a security uniform was among the dead.

The Post reports that according to “people familiar with the investigation,” the shooter “had an apparent fascination with white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs that are now being examined by investigators as a possible motive for the attack.”

According to the Post’s sources, the shooter had a patch on his tactical vest that read “RWDS,” which stands for Right Wing Death Squad. An RWDS patch was worn by Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino at Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rallies in the lead-up to the January 6 coup. The shooting is reportedly being investigated as a possible hate crime.

As of this writing, the reports linking Garcia to neofascist tendencies have not been confirmed by the local police or federal authorities. Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey told the press that the police believe the gunman acted alone.

The shooting comes just days after a mass shooting in an Atlanta, Georgia hospital by a Coast Guard veteran, injuring four and killing one, and just over a week after five people were killed, including an eight-year-old boy, in a mass shooting of a family by a neighbor in a rural town north of Houston, Texas. These “mass casualty” events were preceded by mass shootings in Alabama and Kentucky.

According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), 14,675 shooting deaths have been recorded so far this year, rapidly approaching the total number for all of 2018. Last year there were 20,200 deaths and 647 mass shootings. This was topped only by 2021, which had the highest number of shootings and deaths since the GVA began keeping track in 2014, when there were 272 mass shootings.

The American media and political establishment is incapable of providing any serious explanation for this epidemic of gun violence because it is an expression of a social breakdown of staggering dimensions, rooted in a toxic and insoluble crisis of American capitalism.