Caribbean:
Vote for Workers’ Fight Candidates

Jun 6, 2022

This article is translated from the May 21^st issue, #1286 of Combat Ouvrier (Workers Fight), the paper of comrades in Guadeloupe and Martinique, two islands that are French overseas departments in the Caribbean.

Candidates from Workers Fight are running in all constituencies in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

With the war in Ukraine, the threat of World War III has become more ominous. World leaders themselves have raised this as a possibility if necessary, to defend the interests of the big capitalists who are their masters. Humanity must get rid of these people with no delay!

So it is essential that we present candidates in the name of revolutionary communism in these elections. Our presence is intended to help in the revival of workers’ class consciousness. Workers must reconnect with the fundamental idea of organizing together, independently of all other social strata, to constitute their own political force, their own party. Such a party will allow them ultimately to overthrow capitalism through an offensive and conscious collective struggle.

Workers’ struggles are numerous today in Martinique and Guadeloupe, from fired health care workers to Carrefour supermarket strikers, and including those at the post office and ArcelorMittal. These battles must find a political outlet.

It is no coincidence that rumors of war spread as the economic and social crisis deepens. War is part of the very logic of the capitalist system. Capitalism allows a wealthy minority to accumulate ever more profits on the backs of the majority, who are condemned to exploitation and growing poverty.

The peoples of the Caribbean have been victims of systems of exploitation for centuries, exploitation in all forms, with violence and humiliation. From the genocide of Native Americans to the repression of 20th and 21st century labor struggles. By way of slavery, colonialism, and racism. Today some are more colonized than others. The “wretched of the earth” are the poor blacks, the workers, who suffer exploitation and oppression more than the wealthy strata of doctors, lawyers, and other VIPs.

In these elections, we will be the voice of all these workers, especially those who are fighting. We will also express the voice of young people from the working classes, who mobilized at the roadblocks during the social explosion of November-December 2021.

The economic and social crisis calls for emergency measures. We defend a program of struggle. With today’s high unemployment: distribute work among all with no loss of in pay! With the high cost of living: no wage, pension, or benefit less than $2,130 dollars (2,000 euros) net take-home per month! Given speculation and the rapacity of big capitalists: abolition of business secrecy and control by workers!

We take advantage of this campaign to warn workers of the danger of the rise of the far right. It is a political cancer growing among the working classes. National Rally, an anti-worker party full of racists, should not get the vote of any worker, especially Black or Indian. This party’s growth reflects the discouragement of part of the population. Each politician in power after the next is responsible for this demoralization—starting with the current one, President Emmanuel Macron.

On the other hand, voting for the candidates of Workers Fight opens the perspective of overthrowing this rotting capitalism and building a just and fraternal society—a communist society. Every vote for our candidates will affirm this inspiring perspective. It’s the only prospect that lets humanity move forward!