Portuguese Communists roll out “unwelcome mat” for Netanyahu, Pompeo

The Portuguese Communist Party has rolled out an “unwelcome mat” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who are meeting in Portugal this week. The Portuguese Communists not only deplore the visit, but the fact that their own country’s government is giving it official recognition by giving them a high-level reception.

The Portuguese Communist Party sees the visit as being “profoundly contrary to the national interest, to our Constitutional norms, and to the values of peace and cooperation.” Receiving them would implicate Portugal in the “reiterated violations of International Law” committed by the present governments of both Israel and the United States. This is especially heinous, coming as it does soon after another wave of Israeli violence toward the Palestinian people, which has cost at least 30 lives. The Communist Party calls on all democratically minded people to repudiate the visit and the role Portugal’s government has played in allowing and legitimizing it.

Uruguay: Communists analyze victory of right in presidential elections

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uruguay has issued an initial analysis of the narrow victory of the right in the October 27 presidential election. In the second round, conservative National Party candidate Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou edged out the candidate of the leftist Broad Front (Frente Amplio), Daniel Martínez, by a 1.58 percent popular vote margin.

The Communist Party, itself part of the Broad Front, pointed out that this was the narrowest margin of victory in the entire history of the country. And this was accomplished by Lacalle Pou only after an unprecedented barrage from five right-wing parties, which included fascist elements. The Communists lauded their own and their allies’ intensive “get out the vote” efforts, which nearly overcame the gap in the final days of the campaign. According to the Communists, these things need to be taken into account in the process of self-criticism.

Vietnam and Laos: Major binational Communist meeting

On December 7, several hundred delegates from the communist parties of Vietnam and Laos participated in a joint meeting in Nghê Anh Province, Vietnam. The delegates were all from the provinces near the borders of the two neighboring countries. The focus was the relations that exist among the different ethnic groups of the area.

Truong Hoa Binh, a member of the Politburo of the Vietnamese Communist Party who is also his country’s Permanent Deputy Prime Minister, stated that the get-together was an opportunity to strengthen international and inter-ethnic relations among the people living alongside the Truong Son Mountains. The high level of friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Laos was praised, also, by Saysomphone Phomvihane, a Politburo member and president of the Lao Front for National Construction.

South Africa: Communists call for a better solution for national airline

After a major strike against South African Airways, the country’s state airline, the company now finds itself in a situation of reorganization to enable it to pay its bills.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has expressed disappointment with a plan worked out among the company’s management, the unions, and the South African government, which goes in a neoliberal direction. Rather, says SACP spokesperson Alex Mashilo, the solution should be based on “a state led turnaround process”— in other words, more government support for the airline rather than privatization and retrenchments. “We called for a thorough investigation into procurement conduct on all contracts, including airline leasing and fuel contracts, as well as into all major appointments” to see what part these things played in creating the current crisis.

Image: Convention of Communist Party of Portugal

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