ILPS NEWSLETTER | Volume 1 | January – April 2021 | Issues 1 ad 2

ILPS Newsletter

Volume 1, Issues 1 & 2

January-April 2021

(This is the Word version of the newsletter. You may find download link to the PDF version at the bottom of  this post.)

The Annual Report of the ILPS for the Year 2020

Editorial Team: Erdelan Kurdistan, Malcolm Guy, Malem Ningthouja, and Samuel Villatoro. Published online by the International League of Peoples’ Struggle from  P.O. Box 23402, Docklands, Victoria, Australia 8012.  Emails: [email protected]

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The Annual Report of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle for the Year 2020 reflects the activities and works in supporting and advancing the democratic and anti-imperialist struggles of the world’s peoples. It is divided into eight sections:

1. Introduction
2. Calls for Global Solidarity and Campaigns

III. ILPS Concerns and work of the Commissions

1. Work of the ILPS Global Regions
2. Building the Broad Anti-imperialist and Anti-fascist United Front and Alliances
3. ICG/ICC and the Global Secretariat

VII. Communications Work

VIII. Summary

1. Introduction

The year 2020 was both a challenge and an opportunity for stepping up resistance against imperialism and all reaction as the Covid-19 pandemic afflicted countries across the globe exposing a global public health crisis spawned by decades of capitalist neoliberal policies. This health crisis has intensified the vulnerabilities of the world’s poor. As ILPS Chair Emeritus Jose Ma. Sison said in his input to the ILPS webinar series, InterViews, “Covid-19 has exposed and aggravated the antisocial character of the world capitalist system, the unpreparedness of the monopoly bourgeoisie and the harsh consequences to the people who have long suffered class exploitation, gross inequality, mass poverty and deprivation of social services in the fields of  public health, education and housing. Under neoliberal economic policy, the broad masses of the people have become extensively and extremely vulnerable to the recurrent and worsening crisis of the world capitalist system, to the imperialist sanctions, threats of war, actual wars of counterrevolution and aggression, natural disasters and pandemics.”

In response to the pandemic, governments imposed lockdowns and quarantine policies. Authoritarian and fascist regimes ordered militarized lockdowns and took advantage of the pandemic to enforce repressive measures that curtailed the people’s basic rights and freedoms. Instead of responding to the demands for mass testing, economic relief and emergency subsidies, these regimes increasingly used state terror to enact anti-poor and repressive laws, crackdown on activists and militarize civilian bureaucracy as the state’s response to the pandemic. Imperialist countries, especially the US, continued to wage wars of intervention and expansion while Zionist expansionism and occupation of Palestine and Turkish occupation of Kurdistan continued.

But the pandemic and the enforced lockdowns and restrictions did not stop the people’s resistance movements against imperialism and all reaction from surging forward. The Black Lives Matter Movement was revived after the police killing of George Floyd and saw the unprecedented mobilization of an estimated 15 to 26 million people across the US and thousands more in Europe and Canada. The broad democratic struggle in the US eventually led to Trump’s defeat at the polls. In Bolivia, the landslide victory of Evo Morales’ Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) in the elections signified the peoples’ rejection of US intervention in the country.

In Indonesia, thousands protested against the new anti-workers omnibus labour law; in the Philippines, activists braved the longest militarized lockdown in the world to protest against Duterte’s fascist attacks and in Thailand young people protested against the monarchy. In India a historic 200,000 to 300,00 farmers protested against the enactment of three new anti-farmer laws.

Meanwhile the armed revolutionary struggles for national and social liberation in the Philippines, Palestine, Kurdistan, Turkey, West Papua, India, Kashmir and other parts of South Asia and Latin America are developing and advancing.

Our Chairperson, Len Cooper in his report to the first ICC meeting in March said that the current crisis was inevitable even without the pandemic and that “it is clearer than ever for people to see that imperialism is indeed in the final, dying stage of capitalism.” He stressed that, ”In this context, the global work of ILPS is more critical than ever.”

1. ILPS Calls for Global Solidarity and Campaigns in 2020
2. January 25 Global Day of Action Against War on Iran

The year kicked off with the ILPS call for mobilization on January 25 for a Global Day of Action Against US War on Iran following the murder of General Qasem Soleimani of Iran by US forces. Our member organizations and allied networks in the Philippines, Indonesia, Hongkong, Japan, Australia, Kenya, Guatemala, Italy, US and Canada held simultaneous protest actions and issued statements to condemn the military intervention and continuing war of aggression by the US against the Iranian people and in West Asia (Middle East).

2. April 15 Global Day of Solidarity for Public Health Not Private Profit

In response to the need to have information on the impact of the pandemic on the poor and deepen the analysis on the Covid-19 pandemic, ILPS organised a series of online discussions on the Covid-19 pandemic and the peoples’ response. The first session was the April 9 first episode of InterViews where Chair Emeritus Joma gave a comprehensive analysis on the Covid-19 pandemic and the public health crisis in the context of the global capitalist crisis. He stressed the importance of people’s resistance and building up of broad peoples’ unity and global solidarity. Other InterViews episodes and regional and country webinars discussed the pandemic in the context of the situation in their respective regions: Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and West Asia, North America and Europe. Chair Len called for a Global Day of Solidarity for Public Health Not Private Profit on April 15 enjoining all our members and networks to mobilise both online and offline to press for the following people’s demands:

* Mass testing and treatment for all;

* Guaranteed income and livelihood even under quarantine;

* No bailouts for corporations; bailouts for working people;

* Social protection for farmers, workers and toiling masses; and

* Respect for democratic and human rights.

The call received enthusiastic response from our members across the globe and from our networks and allies. There was a broad range of actions mounted to express solidarity like issuing statements, online posting of video messages, solidarity ribbon and photos with the demands and outdoor mobilizations and noise barrage. We produced a discussion guide on Covid-19 to support our members in their education and organising work in the time of the pandemic. We also issued a statement rejecting the capitalist “new normal” and put forward the people’s alternative demands.

3. Lenin @150: Lenin Lives Campaign

In commemoration of Lenin’s 150^th birth anniversary, we launched the Lenin@150: Lenin Lives campaign to revisit Lenin’s socialist and revolutionary principles and his historical legacy and relevance today. Due to Covid-19, however, the International Conference on Lenin which was scheduled to be held in the Netherlands was cancelled as well as the youth camps that some chapters were organizing. Instead, study sessions on Lenin and Imperialism were conducted mostly online by the global regions and country chapters. ILPS Canada organised a 5-part mostly on-line LeninFest. ILPS Latin America and country chapters in the US, the Philippines and Australia also held webinars on Lenin. A draft outline of a discussion guide on Lenin was produced by PRISMM.

4. Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle (May 25-31, 2020)

ILPS issued a call for a Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle from 25 to 31 May 2020. This was our response to the call made last year by several international organisations for the holding of a week of anti-imperialist protest actions highlighting US intervention in Venezuela and Latin America. Our planned activities shifted online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We also expanded the global scope of anti-imperialist struggles to include experiences in Africa and West Asia and the Asia Pacific regions. Ten webinars were held in four countries [Australia, Canada, US, India (Northeast Region)] and in Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean regions. Four cultural programs by the ILPS Philippines, ILPS USA, Commission 10 and the Global Secretariat were streamed online. The People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty issued a statement and organized a webinar with ILPS Commission 6.

5. Months of Global Solidarity

In September, October and November, 2020, we organized Months of Global Solidarity for the Philippines, Palestine and Kurdistan respectively. These dedicated months of solidarity were aimed to draw attention to the urgent and pressing issues of the people of the Philippines, Palestine and Kurdistan and to organize and generate support for their struggles.

5.1 September 2020 Month of Global Solidarity for the Philippines

With the theme, “Support the Filipino People’s Struggle to End Duterte’s Reign of Terror,”  we launched various activities to draw attention to the intensifying fascist attacks against the Filipino people perpetrated by the US-Duterte regime. In August, peasant leader Randall Echanis and human rights worker Zara Alvarez, both belonging of ILPS member organizations in the Philippines, were brutally murdered following a pattern of red-tagging and vilification that mimicked the vigilante-style killings under the regime’s war on drugs that has already claimed 20,000 victims. The ILPS Asia Pacific region spearheaded the holding of three webinars: 1) On the Philippines as a Semi-colonial and Semi-feudal Society; 2) Importance and Program of the National Democratic Revolution in the Philippines; and 3) Peace Negotiations and People’s War in the Philippines. ILPS Latin America also held a webinar on Fascism in the Philippines and Palestine.

The Global Secretariat coordinated a whole day social media campaign on Sept 18 and the Sept. 21 Global Day of Protest Actions Against Duterte’s Tyranny. On or near these two dates, offline and online protest actions were held in Togo, Guatemala, Cordillera Philippines, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Bolivia, Chicago, France, Africa, Hawaii, Canada, West Papua, Palestine and the Netherlands. ILPS Asia Pacific held an online protest mobilization on Sept. 21. Video messages, written statements. photo quotes, draw your Duterte art works, Facebook photo frame and online postcard were the other forms of solidarity generated by the campaign.

International networks also supported the ILPS call and organized symbolic protests and webinars and issued solidarity video and written statements.

The month of solidarity for the Philippines culminated with a cultural solidarity program of songs, dances, and solidarity messages organized by ILPS Asia Pacific.

The ILPS month of solidarity actions contributed to the global call launched by the Philippine organizations and their international support network in September to stop the killings and political repression in the country.

5.2 October 2020 Month of Global Solidarity with the Palestinian People

The Zionist/US imperialist plan to annex the illegally occupied West Bank including parts of the agriculturally rich Jordan Valley was met with strong resistance by the Palestinian people. In solidarity with the just stand of the Palestinian people, we called for solidarity actions throughout October to oppose the US-backed annexation plan and the continuing Israeli occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands.

The webinar to launch the campaign featured Leila Khaled, long-time freedom fighter and symbol of Palestinian resistance, as keynote speaker. Nine other webinars were organized by the chapters in Latin America, the Philippines, Australia, West Asia (in Arabic with English interpretation), and by Commission 10 and Samidoun Palestinian Network of Political Prisoners. On October 28, coordinated solidarity actions dubbed Colours of Resistance were held online and offline. Written statements and video messages of solidarity were posted on the ILPS website and other social media platforms. ILPS Philippines held a mass action while ILPS Belgium along with other Palestinian solidarity organiszations had a symbolic protest during the bicycle event in Belgium. Information materials on Palestinian struggles were gathered and posted on the website as Palestine 101 education materials. The month ended in a cultural solidarity event where artists offered their cultural works in solidarity with Palestine

5.3 November 2020 Month of Global Solidarity with Kurdistan

In response to the escalating Turkish occupation in the borders of Kurdistan and other countries in West Asia which included increasing incidents of drone attacks, kidnapping and mass arrests, the ILPS called for solidarity actions that will highlight the struggles of Kurdistan. The campaign focused on the issues of the isolation of Kurdish leader Öcalan, Turkish occupation and fascism in the region.

We organized two webinars during the month: the first webinar to launch the campaign and discuss the focused issues and the other organized by ILPS Europe to gather European solidarity for Kurdistan. The International Women’s Alliance responded to our global call by organizing two webinars on the Kurdish women’s movement and the role of women in the struggle. The global day of solidarity with the call for freedom for Öcalan and Kurdistan was held on November 20. Video solidarity messages and statements from Chair Len, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, KMU, Philippines, PAN-AP, Commission 10 and PCFS were posted online. A signature statement calling for freedom for Öcalan and all Kurdish political prisoners was circulated.

A Free Kurdistan cultural solidarity program was streamed online on November 28. The culminating event of the month was the showing of Commander Arian, an inspiring documentary film of a Kurdish woman freedom fighter.

III. On the Concerns and Work of the ILPS Commissions

A meeting of the commission leads was held in Hong Kong in January 2020 to assess their work since the 6th International Assembly. In that meeting, it was resolved that ILPS member organizations should be encouraged to join at least one commission to animate and involve them not only in their country issues but also in regional and global engagements. Organizational mechanisms and procedures for coordinating commission work were also discussed like the composition of the coordinating group which should consist of at least three members, with at least two members coming from different countries; coordination with the global secretariat and the International Coordinating Group (ICG) and International Coordinating Committee (ICC) of ILPS; list serves and participation in the ILPS communication platforms. The importance of developing the concerns of the commissions through study and practical campaigns and the task of broadening the reach of the commissions were also discussed.

Eighteen out of twenty commissions were active in 2020. They participated in the global calls and campaigns by issuing statements, holding webinars and organizing other activities on their specific concerns and reached out to other organizations and networks outside ILPS.

Commission 10 on Indigenous peoples and minority nationalities was the most active in mobilizing to support the global calls and in organizing activities on its specific concerns. It co-organized with ILPS Asia-Pacific the month of solidarity with West Papua. It also organized education activities like a study on repression of IPs and webinars on Northeast India, self-determination and other issues. It published three issues of the Commission 10 newsletter.

Commission 5 on workers concerns has an active secretariat that coordinated the various activities of the commission like protest actions in Europe, the Philippines, Indonesia, May Day rallies, holding of webinars and putting out statements on workers issues including the six demands of the workers during the pandemic and solidarity statement with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Commission 6 on concerns of farmers and agricultural workers organized a webinar on imperialist domination on food and agriculture and actively participated in webinars organized by the Asian Peasant Coalition. The commission also came out with a statement denouncing the recent enactment of three anti-farmer legislations in India.

Commission 15 on migrant and immigrant concerns organized activities which were mostly online. They held a webinar on migration and Covid-19, organized an online media event and online forum. The online rally to commemorate international domestic workers day mobilized about 500 migrants all over the world. The first online forum on tribute to seafarers led to the campaign on the Magna Carta of seafarers in the Philippines.

Commission 19 on environment regularly released statements on environmental issues. It organized a webinar on the global mining industry and is the organizer of the International People’s Mining Conference. It is expanding links with climate justice advocates.

Commission 8 on youth concerns actively participated in the global campaigns. It organized a webinar on Covid-19 and Imperialism which was attended by youth organizations from South Asia. The commission also organized several webinars for members in North America. It released its newsletter in February.

Commission 4 on peace concerns released 3 issues of its newsletter and issued several statement against sanctions, on the UN call for a global ceasefire, and others. It participated in activities such as the global day of action against sanctions and the anti-war program for Hiroshima.

Commission 7 on the concerns of women participated and promoted the ILPS campaigns. It issued solidarity release of political prisoners, particularly women, and participated in the one-week celebration of the International Women’s Alliance in August.

Other active commissions like Commission 3 on human rights, Commission 11 on health, Commission 14 on teachers, Commission 18 on the homeless, Commission 2 on economic development and Commission 13 on science and technology issued statements on their concerns, organized or participated in webinars and in the global campaigns.

Commissions 1 on national liberation, democracy and social liberation, 9 on children’s rights, 11 on teachers, researchers and other educational personnel, 12 on health workers and 17 on LGBTQ had varied degrees of participation in the global calls while Commission 16 on the elderly and the new Commission 20 on interfaith concerns were inactive.

1. On the work of the global regions

The ILPS global regions actively participated and mobilized to generate support and solidarity for the calls for global action that the ILPS issued in 2020. They organized webinars, published statements, sponsored events and linked up with organisations and networks on the basis of the issues and themes of our global calls and campaigns. Aside from the global campaign issues, the global regions highlighted particular regional/ country issues and concerns in their education work, and in mobilising, organising and networking. Below are highlights of the activities and updates on our organising initiatives in the global regions.

1. Asia-Pacific

ILPS Asia-Pacific organized the solidarity month for West Papua in July and held webinars on the West Papua history and people, struggle for self-determination and liberation and the West Papuan people’s movement. It also organized online education/study series and webinars dubbed “Coffee Break” on labour and migration, rural people’s situation under the pandemic, on the situation and issues in South Asia including Northeast India, militarism and repression in Asia Pacific, migrants issues and movement building and issues in Indonesia and Hongkong and Macau. It also organized a webinar series on the Philippines during the month of solidarity for the Philippines. It published solidarity statements on the West Papuan resistance and on the protests in Thailand and PM Modi’s fascist attacks against those opposing his national registry laws in India. Country chapters in Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau, the Philippines and Australia came out with statements on the pressing issues in their countries.

ILPS Asia Pacific has been active in the region, operating through the regional committee composed of key officers in the region

2. Latin America and the Caribbean  

There were many campaigns and activities organized at the country and regional levels. Notable in Latin America is the participation of the country chapters in various physical mobilizations to  advance the protest movements: protests against President Duque in Colombia; workers mobilizations in Guatemala; solidarity actions on workers issues in El Salvador; rallies against the murder of peasant leader Tomas Martinez Pinacho in Mexico. At the regional level, although new to the technology of the internet as platform for discussions, the region organized webinars on Covid-19, fascism in Palestine and the Philippines, on imperialism and on Lenin.

The region has six country chapters: Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Argentina and El Salvador. Six new organizations joined in the region since the sixth assembly and a chapter in Bolivia has been formed. The provisional regional committee is functioning and meeting regularly with the active participation of the ICC members from the region. The provisional regional committee will be organized as a regular committee in 2021.

3. Africa and West Asia

ILPS Africa and West Asia member organizations participated in the global campaigns. They organized three InterViews global webinars on Covid-19 in Africa and West Asia and on the West Africa Monetary Union Agreement. They also conducted three webinars on the rising repression in Africa amid Covid-19, on Kenya and the Saba Saba People’s March and on the Palestinian people’s struggle. It issued statements on the police brutality and crackdown on activists who participated in the peaceful Saba Saba protest where ILPS activists were arrested. Two issues of Africa Anti-Imperialist monthly were published. In West Asia, ILPS member organization Red Oak issued a statement on the massive explosion in Beirut while the Arab Network on Food Sovereignty warned of a risk of food crisis in Lebanon.

There are two country chapters in the region and the current 23 member organizations are in 8 countries. There is a potential increase in members in Africa as a result of the webinars held throughout the year.

4. North America

4.1 Canada Chapter

In addition to the global campaigns, ILPS Canada participated in solidarity actions across the country in support of the Wet’suwet’en people who defied efforts to force an oil pipeline across their land. The chapter was also active in the anti-US war and US Intervention campaigns and continued to build international solidarity links with communities from Chile, Palestine, Iran and South Asia and with peace organizations and anti-war movements. The chapter conducted 5 online study sessions on Lenin and imperialism as part of the LeninFest series.

The country chapter continued to be an active pole of anti-imperialist struggles in Canada uniting more than 24 mass organizations of migrant workers, poor folks, women, youth, health workers, and international solidarity organizations. There are active ILPS groups and local committees in Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

4.2 US Chapter

At the beginning of the year, ILPS US united to take on the US elections as a major issue, planning a mass mobilisation in coordination with the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention. Due to the pandemic, the plan was scaled down to a smaller country-wide mobilization. The chapter produced a People’s Platform on the elections to popularise the demands of the people on the ground whose issues were not represented by the traditional parties. It participated actively in the George Floyd and the Black Lives Movement protest actions throughout the country, issuing statements and touching base with the Black and indigenous organisations that are engaged in local issues. The chapter also participated and organised activities to support the global campaigns, especially Lenin Lives and the week of anti-US imperialist struggles.

In 2020, ILPS US made strides in building the anti-imperialist movement in the US and developing organisationally as an alliance. The chapter has 54 member organizations, 10 recruited in 2020. It strengthened its committee system and engaged more members in its activities.

5. Europe

The planned launching of ILPS Europe in March was cancelled because of the pandemic. The regional coordinating committee mobilized the ILPS member organizations in the region to support and implement the global campaigns. The members participated in the online protest and outdoor rally on September 21 organized in line with the call for solidarity with the Philippines. The members organized a symbolic action during a bicycle event in Belgium to show solidarity with the Palestinian people. The committee also organized a webinar on the month of solidarity with Palestine and another on the month of solidarity with Kurdistan. These activities gave opportunity for ILPS to activate links with old contacts and link up with new ones.

1. On Building the Broad Anti-imperialist, Anti-fascist United Front and Networks
2. The Broad Anti-Imperialist and Anti-fascist United Front

The documents “Call for Building the Broad Anti-imperialist and Anti-fascist United Front” (provisionally called the Front) and its Rules for Participation were published in January and an online registration for subscription to the Front was set up. The planned launching in June was cancelled due to difficulties in meeting face-to-face because of the pandemic but by the middle of the year, the provisional consultative committee was set up with the ILPS and the International Coordination for Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR) acting as co-chairs. Chair Len and the two vice chairs, Malcolm Guy, Vice Chair for External Affairs and Victor Garces, Vice Chair for Internal Affairs are the ILPS representatives to the provisional committee with Malcom assigned to do liaison work with the Front and to the provisional secretariat which is still to be set-up.

In June, the ILPS and ICOR, as members of the Provisional Committee of the Front, released a joint statement on the current crisis of capitalism amid Covid-19 and put out the peoples’ 12-point immediate and urgent demands on the people’s welfare and rights amid the pandemic. The joint statement affirmed the fight against imperialism and fascism.

ILPS and ICOR had several on-line meetings to plan for subscription of participants to the front, especially of international organizations that will be interested to participate as part of the Consultative Committee which is the coordinating mechanism of The Front. To date, 55 have registered to participate in The Front including 10 international organizations.

The immediate plans for the first semester of this year include the holding of a series of webinars on rising fascism, wages and livelihood of the toiling people and their resistance under the pandemic and women’s struggle. We hope that these webinars will draw participants to The Front.

2. Associated Networks

Through the efforts of the member organizations, country chapters, regional committees, commissions and the global structures, we sustained our solidarity relationship with local, regional and international organizations and networks and individuals and opened links with new ones to advance the peoples’ democratic and anti-imperialist struggles worldwide. Aside from ICOR, we engaged networks and friends like the Asia-Pacific Research Network, International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-determination and Liberation, International Women’s Alliance, International Migrants Alliance, People over Profit, Resist US War and the People’s Coalition for Food Sovereignty to participate in our various activities.

1. Communications Work

The ILPS drew up the communications plan for 2020-2023 to widely promote the anti-imperialist and democratic analysis and perspective of the ILPS on various international issues. Our communications work specifically aims to facilitate a healthy and dynamic exchange among our members regarding current issues, strengthen the consolidation of our member organizations, country chapters and commissions through wider dissemination and promotion of their materials like statements, videos and documentation of their activities in various platforms and expand the reach and links of our League in the international community.

We released an average of 4 to 5 position statements a week authored by the Chair/ICC, the global regions, country chapters and the various commissions. Among the significant issues covered in these statements were our analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic, people’s demands amid Covid-19 and rejection of the capitalist new normal, US war on Iran, US militarism in times of Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter protest movement, call for release of political prisoners, solidarity with the protest and resistance movements against fascist attacks and imperialist intervention in the Philippines, Palestine, Kenya, India, Kurdistan, El Salvador, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia; on workers solidarity and issues of farmers, the homeless, women, LGBTQ and indigenous peoples.  We published these statements in the ILPS website, posted on our FB page and other FB pages and sent to our internal (members only) and external (network and allies) list serves. We have started to use the ILPS intranet online platform that could be utilised to engage directly with our members using the @ilps.info email account.

We started the online discussions on people’s struggles and international events through the Inter Views global webinar series. For this year, we held 10 InterViews webinars organized by the global secretariat, global regions and country chapters. The regional committees, country chapters and commissions also organised other webinars to discuss local and regional issues and commission concerns.

We have also increasingly used the multimedia like online posters to publicize events and video messages and photo quotes to convey statements on issues and solidarity messages which can be easily shared online.

Commission 4 came out with three issues of their newsletter, Peace for the People, while Commission 10 produced three issues of Self-Determination Quarterly. Commission 15 published its Batingaw July-August 2020 newsletter. The global newsletter is in the process of organizing and will come out in 2021.

The ILPS General Secretariat helped set up the GroundSwell News (GSN), a non-profit web-based media exchange that promotes global awareness and citizenship by linking stories from the ground to the broad global public. GSN is a community of journalists, editors, media facilitators and media outlets in different countries contributing news, news features, analysis, opinion pieces and other multimedia. It is now being run by Narra, an NGO based in New York and International Community Services Vzw in Belgium. GSN was launched in August 2020. Some of our member organisations and commissions contributed materials to the website to boost our members’ projection in the international media. The Global Secretariat continues to support GSN by organising a network of correspondents/contributors and media liaison volunteers from among ILPS member organisations, its network and individual volunteers.

We produced a discussion guide on the Covid-19 Pandemic and a draft discussion guide on Lenin was produced by PRISSM. Webinars, InterViews discussions and online events of the chapters, members and commissions can be accessed via the ILPS online library posted on our website. For updates on upcoming events of our members, we keep an ILPS webinar calendar posted on our website and Fb page.

We have facility for Spanish and French simultaneous interpreters with the support of Marie Boti and her team. One of our webinars had simultaneous Arabic interpretation. We are in the process of creating a committee on translation and simultaneous interpretation.

VII. ICC/ICG and the Work of the Global Secretariat

1. The ICC/ICG

The ILPS International Coordinating Committee(ICC) and International Coordinating Group (ICG) met in March/April and in October 2020. The March/April meeting discussed the update on the international situation with input from our Chair Emeritus and planned the activities for the year in the context of the pandemic.  Most of the members of the ICC were active in the work in the regions and in their respective countries.

To ensure good coordination and monitoring, collective leadership and political guidance in the implementation of ICC/ICG decision, Chair Len initiated a monthly meeting of key officers – Chair, Vice Chair, Vice Chair for Internal and External, General Secretary, Treasurer and the Auditor. The Chair also represented the League in online events and issued written and video statements on behalf of the League. The Global Vice Chair, Azra Sayeed, represented the League in meetings and conferences as speaker. The Vice Chair for Internal, responsible for the commissions and organizational membership, led the meetings of the commissions and regional committees to assess and guide their work. The Vice Chair for External also attended these meetings as well as hosted many global and regional webinars to coordinate efforts to expand ILPS networks and links. The General Secretary coordinated the day-to-day work of the League and managed the Global Secretariat. The Treasurer after examination by the Auditor has submitted financial reports and has issued a memo regarding payment of 2020 dues.

2. The Global Secretariat

The General Secretariat is tasked to implement the day-to-day administration of the global plans and activities of the League and other functions as may be assigned by the International Coordinating Committee. This year, the Global Secretariat focused on setting up, managing and developing, with the assistance of the Belgium-based NGO Vzw, the various communication platforms of the League : internal and external list serves, intranet, ILPS website, social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and GSN.

The Secretariat ensured the dissemination of ILPS statements and Chair Len’s calls and memos and the statements of chapters and commissions to our members and broad network and to the international community at large.

The proceedings of the 6^th International Assembly came out in January 200 but was only distributed to attendees based in the Philippines due to lockdowns and restrictions on travel. However, it has been uploaded on the website.

VIII. Summary

Undeterred by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and restrictions, the League persevered to advance the peoples’ anti-imperialist and democratic struggles worldwide. We were at the country, regional and international levels building broad unity to press for people’s demands in the time of the pandemic. Our member organizations participated and were at the forefront in the anti-fascist and anti-imperialist protests movements, advancing the aspiration for democracy, self-determination, national liberation and social emancipation.

Although our global and regional planned activities and meetings were cancelled due to restrictions in travel, we quickly shifted online and conducted our meetings, study sessions, issue discussions and even protest actions. At the country level, our members participated in outdoor rallies and protest actions mindful of the proper health protocols.

We established our communication mechanisms and platforms for better flow of information and more engaged sharing among our members and our different structures at all levels. However, we still need to develop our members’ appreciation of these platforms and its technologies.

Our organizational structures from the International Coordinating Committee to many of the country chapters were able to provide leadership to carry forward the work of the League. The regional committees, in varying degrees, and most of the commissions were able to mobilize in response to the global calls and also conducted their own particular campaigns and activities.

We still need to develop the work of expanding our membership and building the broad unity with organizations at the country/territory, regional and international levels to bring to greater heights our democratic and anti-imperialist struggles towards a new and bright future.

You have in your hands (or on your screen) the latest edition of a renewed and updated League newsletter. It will be coming out every two months in English and Spanish (other versions/translations welcomed!) on the web and in PDF format to facilitate printing and sharing hand-to-hand. The newsletter is a complement to the other communication tools of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS).

This special launch issue features an in-depth article by ILPS General Secretary Liza Maza and the ILPS General Secretariat staff reviewing the global work of the ILPS during 2020, which was quite the year as you well know.

The newsletter is edited by a team made up of Erdelan Kurdistan, Malcolm Guy (coordinator), Malem Ningthouja and Samuel Villatoro under the auspices of the ILPS General Secretariat.

Suggestions of topics for future issues along with articles (750 words maximum) are very welcome. Feedback, corrections and suggestions for improvement are naturally warmly accepted. It is your newsletter, so we hope you will print and share and participate in its growth and impact over the upcoming crucial period in the anti-imperialist struggle. The next issue will be published in May 2021.

DOWNLOAD THE PDF VERSION HERE: ILPS Newsletter 2021 March English