the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Nov 10, 2025
Hurricane Melissa hit the island of Jamaica with sustained winds racing up to 185 miles per hour. The storm ripped roofs from concrete homes, uprooted trees, drove flood waters to the roofs of two-story houses, and snapped enough power poles to cut electricity to three-quarters of the island. Killing at least 32 people on Jamaica and 43 on Haiti and causing up to seven billion dollars in damage, Melissa was the most devastating area storm in more than 60 years.
What made Melissa so destructive was abnormally warm Caribbean waters, which sped up its wind speeds by 11 miles per hour. The warmer ocean results from the air being warmer and wetter. That is due to capitalist activity releasing record levels of greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere.
Disastrous storms are getting more intense. Melissa is one of at least five storms since 2013 powerful enough to merit adding a new higher rating to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale: Category 6.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holmes insisted, “Every repaired bridge, re-roofed home and rebuilt road must be designed for the storms of tomorrow, not the storms of yesterday.” But how likely is this to happen? The capitalist system is only set up to do damage control for the benefit of profit. Jamaican military helicopters landed in the completely destroyed town of Black River—not to deliver aid, but to deliver troops with machine guns who cleared residents from taking necessities from the ruined pharmacy and grocery store.
What about the massive U.S. naval presence in the Caribbean, which includes nine Navy ships including the world’s largest aircraft carrier, carrying no fewer than 6,000 personnel? They are not there to help with storm repair and rebuilding. They are in the Caribbean to bomb Venezuelan boats, killing at least 66 people in 16 known bombings as of November 6. That’s about oil, not about aid.
After more than 500 years of colonialism, the capitalist system offers no future for the people of the Caribbean but more ravaging.