Africa

The increasing use of repressive measures in Morocco reflects the weakness, not the strength of the present regime. We can expect more of this in the next periods as the protests spread. The families of the arrested workers and youth thank everyone for their support and renew their appeal for more solidarity actions.

The recent elections in Nigeria were blatantly rigged, but the nature of the official opposition – as corrupt as the clique in power – means the masses have no clear point of reference to rally round. In this situation the responsibility of the leaders of the labour movement is enormous. If they gave a lead the masses would rally behind them and it would mean the end of this regime and the beginning of the struggle for socialism.

Repressive measures in Morocco are being stepped up. The five activists arrested in Ksar-ek-kebir in the aftermath of the May Day demonstrations have been sentenced to three years in prison! They need the solidarity of the workers and youth of the world. Please take up the issue in your country and join the protest movement.

Further to yesterday's report, we publish some pictures of the demonstration in support of the political prisoners of KK yesterday in front of the court. The sit-in was composed of young left wing activists, members of the union, of the ANCDM (the unemployed youth association), of the AMDH (the Human Rights Association) and of activists of the youth of Voie Democratique.

A number of left-wing activists have been arrested and sentenced to severe terms in prison in Morocco. The regime is cracking down because there is a growing wave of militancy in the country. Please sign and send off the protest letter here provided.

For the first time in years there was one joint Mayday rally in Nigeria of all the trade unions. The Marxists intervened successfully in spite of attempts by the police to stop the distribution of material. Meanwhile the petit bourgeois left are once again making the same mistakes as in the past by mouthing the same slogans as the bourgeois “opposition”.

The recent elections in Nigeria were blatantly rigged. The problem is that the official bourgeois oppositions is incapable of doing anything about it. That is because they serve the same interests. It is up to the working class to build its own party through the trade unions and offer a genuine socialist way out of the present crisis.

The Nigerian authorities are attempting to crush all independent student union representation. At the OAU campus the students are valiantly defending their right to organise but have been met with a brutal response. Please add your name to the protest.

Workers at the Riekebir shoe factory in Morocco work under terrible conditions with dangerous chemicals. They have set up a union and are fighting for better and safer working conditions. The bosses have launched a counter campaign of sackings and intimidation. We are launching the following appeal in support of the workers at the factory.

The Obasanjo regime in Nigeria boasts about its economic achievements, but it is only fooling itself. The real situation is that polarisation between the classes, with extreme wealth for the few and intense poverty for the many, has never been so great.

A Labour Party has been launched in Nigeria and is standing candidates in the forthcoming elections. Unfortunately it is dominated by bourgeois politicians, in many cases people who have abandoned the rotten ship of the discredited parties that make up the present set up. That may explain why so few workers have joined it so far.

Guinea has been rocked by a series of mass mobilisations and general strikes since the beginning of the year. The strikes in January and February represent the high point in a series of mobilisations that have taken place since the end of 2005.