The 10th World Congress of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI) started last week in Belgium. The event is attended amongst others by delegates and visitors from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England and Wales, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Quebec, Russia, Scotland, Spain, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, USA and Venezuela. Unfortunately, the denial of visas meant delegates from Bolivia and Pakistan could not attend.
The congress will last one week and is discussing the main issues facing the working class internationally in this period of savage austerity attacks, and the tasks for the CWI.
Below we publish a report of the first Congress discussion on World Relations, by Sarah Sachs-Eldridge, from the England and Wales (Socialist Party) delegation. Other reports of the main discussions taking place at the 10th World Congress will follow over the next few days.
Millions have participated in demonstrations and general strikes in France. There have been general strikes in Greece, in Portugal, the biggest since the revolution of 1974, in Spain, and in India, involving 100 million workers. There has been a huge and partially victorious movement in South Africa, and many more expressions of anger at the most devastating crisis since the 1930s.
In introducing the discussion Peter Taaffe from the International Secretariat (IS) of the CWI, quoted WB Yeats - “All is changed, changed utterly” - to describe the events of the last few months, not least the poet’s home country, Ireland. Contributions to the discussion dealing with the countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America, the Middle East, Europe and Eastern Europe made it clear that there is not one part of the world that has not been affected by the world economic crisis.
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/4701
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