THE NEW WORKER

The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 3rd May 2019

Lead story

Another Defeat for the US in Venezuela

by New Worker correspondent

THE PEOPLE rallied in defence of their Bolivarian revolution this week to see off yet another attempt by those in the pay of American imperialism to seize power in Venezuela. As they streamed into the heart of the capital, Caracas, to demonstrate their support for President Nicolas Maduro and his revolutionary government another drama was being played out at a nearby air-base, which a tiny band of rebels claimed to have captured in the name of the self-appointed “interim president” Juan Guaidó.

Meanwhile Cuba has called on the international community to stop US imperialism’s dangerous and aggressive escalation. Cuban leader Miguel Diaz Canel said that Cuba stands by the legitimate government of Venezuela, which is calmly and courageously facing a new coup attempt by the pro-imperialist right with the complicity of the USA and its lackey governments in the region.

Read the full story here >> Another Defeat for the US in Venezuela

Blair roasted by Tory Brexiteers

by New Worker correspondent

TONY BLAIR has come under fire from Tory Brexiteers after he told the Institute for Government think-tank that a second referendum on Brexit would be a “healing process” and the only way to decide the UK’s fate.

The former Labour premier has long been urging a second Brexit referendum, calling on parliament to vote down any withdrawal deal between Brussels and London, and thus let the citizens decide, as there is a downside to whatever option they choose. He argued that MPs, who don’t want to take responsibility for delivering Brexit, should let voters have a final say.

Read the full story here >> Blair roasted by Tory Brexiteers

Editorial

Justice for Assange!

BRITISH judges are not known for their liberality and our courts are generally not sympathetic to those who jump bail. Nevertheless, the sentencing of Julian Assange to 50 weeks in jail — just two weeks shy of the 12-month maximum for this offence, smacks of the vindictiveness that the bourgeoisie reserve for those who politically offend them.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail by a London court this week for skipping bail to enter the Ecuadorian embassy, where he was holed up for almost seven years until police dragged him out last month. His sentence, for seeking and receiving asylum, is twice as much as the sentencing guidelines. The so-called ‘speedboat killer’, jailed for six years for the manslaughter for the death of his girl-friend in a crash on the Thames, only got six months extra for failing to appear in court. His supporters now, quite rightly, doubt whether he will receive a fair extradition hearing when it comes up this week.

The persecution of Assange is part of a world-wide imperialist campaign to suppress anything that challenges the lie-machines that exist to justify bourgeois rule. In the past they masqueraded as champions of “democracy” and “human rights” to justify the Cold War and neo-colonialism in the Third World. The ‘New Media Age’, with independent global TV networks and a world-wide internet network than cannot easily be controlled, has broken the bourgeois media monopoly and now the ruling class are resorting to fascist methods of censorship and persecution in a new drive to stifle anything that challenges aggression, oppression and exploitation.

Read the full story here >> Justice for Assange!