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IMPORTANT NOTICE: This video was pre-recorded a week in advance. We will return to normal programming on Thursday 12th February. A lot is said about Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution. The billionaire-owned media cry out indignantly that was a dictator who ruined life for ordinary Venezuelans. But over the course of his presidency, he won a total of 19 democratic elections and referendums with record voter turnout – how many bourgeois politicians can claim the same? In the meantime, the imperialists in Washington launched a number of coup attempts; all of which failed miserably, when brought face to face with the will of the organised masses. The power of the working class is like no other on Earth, and the Venezuelan Revolution offers an invaluable glimpse of what is possible when this power is unleashed. What was it about Chávez’ methods and outlook that allowed him to lead the most important revolutionary movement of the 21st century? And what was it about those same methods and outlook that ultimately led to its defeat after his death? Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh answer these questions and more on this week’s episode of Against the Stream. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT for a Marxist analysis of world events. 📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' – Documentary on the failed 2002 coup 🔗https://vimeo.com/513876099 Carry Out the Legacy of Hugo Chávez 🔗https://marxist.com/carry-out-the-legacy-of-hugo-chavez.htm From Alan Woods' book 'The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective': Encounters with Hugo Chávez 🔗https://marxist.com/book-the-venezuelan-revolution-marxist-perspective/encounters-with-hugo-chavez.htm Marxists and the Venezuelan Revolution 🔗https://marxist.com/book-the-venezuelan-revolution-marxist-perspective/marxists-andnbspthe-venezuelan-revolution.htm 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

The movement against ICE in Minneapolis is not just any ordinary protest – it is a microcosm of the revolutionary events that will shake the United States in the period ahead. With their class struggle methods, culminating in the first general strike in America in 80 years, the workers of Minneapolis not only forced Trump to retreat, they have also inspired millions across the country and the world. These events are a living and breathing lesson in the mechanics of revolution. They also show how, under the surface, the conditions for revolution – and particularly the consciousness of the classes – can develop undetected, before bursting to the surface in the form of dramatic events, which Trotsky described as the molecular processes of socialist revolution. With more revolutionary shocks inbound, we as communists need to study and explain what is going on. In this episode of our Marxist current affairs podcast, Against the Stream, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh delve into the events playing out in the US, and address how we can intervene in the struggle and prepare for the battles ahead. New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube. 📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖 United States: the 2026 Minnesota general strike – a historic turning point 🔗https://marxist.com/united-states-the-2026-minnesota-general-strike-a-historic-turning-point.htm Welcome to the American Winter – The Atlantic 🔗https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/minneapolis-uprising/685755/ Minneapolis Makes History: Now Spread the General Strike! [Podcast] – Revolutionary Communists of America 🔗https://youtu.be/nFi3sJCU1AY?si=r40nsT37QGFPZq1o ICE Terrorizes Minneapolis: GENERAL STRIKE in the air [Podcast] – Revolutionary Communists of America 🔗https://youtu.be/EGBrOxhSqjs?si=5Eq9ycZ_E5xP7_qA 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Donald Trump has bulldozed his way into 2026. Now, he has put the acquisition of Greenland at the top of his new year’s wishlist, sending the Europeans into panic and jeopardising trans-Atlantic relations even further. Why does Trump want Greenland? What would such a prospect mean for Europe on the world stage? And how are Trump’s actions abroad tied to the crisis at home, where the ICE murder of Renee Good has sparked an explosive movement. In this episode of our Marxist current affairs podcast, Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh discuss these questions and more, highlighting the underlying capitalist crisis that is driving all of these disasters.New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖United States: anti-ICE rage surges in Minnesota — prepare for a general strike!https://marxist.com/united-states-anti-ice-rage-surges-in-minnesota-prepare-for-a-general-strike.htmAmerican imperialism increases pressure to take over Greenlandhttps://marxist.com/american-imperialism-increases-pressure-to-take-over-greenland.htm

2026 is only a few weeks old, yet world events are already unfolding at breakneck speed. From Donald Trump’s kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, to the killing of Renee Good and the protests against ICE in Minneapolis, and now the growing mass movement and the prospect of US intervention in Iran, huge events are shaking up the world situation. In the first episode of the new season of our current-events podcast Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh unpack what these developments mean. They focus in particular on Iran: what is really happening on the ground, how today’s crisis is the product of centuries of imperialist meddling in the region, and what position communists should put forward in response. Against the Stream is the Marxist current-affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. New episodes air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube. 📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖 Iran: Imperialists and Pahlavis – hands off Iran! 🔗https://marxist.com/imperialists-and-pahlavis-hands-off-iran.htm After Ruining a Treasured Water Resource, Iran Is Drying Up - Yale E360 http://e360.yale.edu/features/iran-water-drought-dams-qanats The effect of international sanctions on the size of the middle class in Iran - ScienceDirect http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176268025001090 How Iran’s economic pain sparked explosion of unrest – Financial Times http://www.ft.com/content/770dc40f-66be-4542-a584-3b6144117314 Venezuela: Donald J Trump’s New Year’s gift to the world 🔗https://marxist.com/donald-j-trump-s-new-year-s-gift-to-the-world.htm Trump’s attack on Venezuela: condemn this act of criminal aggression! – RCI statement 🔗https://marxist.com/condemn-criminal-us-attack-on-venezuela.htm A week from US military aggression: where is Venezuela going? 🔗https://marxist.com/a-week-from-us-military-aggression-where-is-venezuela-going.htm [Podcast] Hands off Venezuela 🔗https://marxist.com/podcast-hands-off-venezuela.htm ICE: United States: ICE murder of Renee Good – who are the real terrorists? 🔗https://marxist.com/united-states-ice-murder-of-renee-good-who-are-the-real-terrorists.htm 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

As 2025 draws to a close, workers and young people around the world will look back on a year that has starkly exposed the blind alley of world capitalism. Trump’s return to the White House has only deepened the disorder, with his administration’s foreign and economic policies causing chaos on the world stage. The recently released National Security Strategy makes one thing unmistakably clear: the United States is not in the position it used to be, no longer capable of policing the globe on its own. This redivision of the world will not unfold calmly or peacefully – as the events of 2025 have shown. The relentless succession of crises is shaking consciousness on a mass scale, pushing hundreds of millions to question the status quo. Increasingly, people are searching for a way out of society’s dead end, and a growing layer is becoming receptive to communist ideas. In this episode of Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh look back on the tumultuous year, discuss what lies ahead, and explore how communists should prepare for the struggles to come. Against the Stream is the Marxist current-affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. New episodes air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube. 📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖 National Security Strategy of the United States of America 🔗https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf “Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds” https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2025/dec/10/just-0001-hold-three-times-the-wealth-of-poorest-half-of-humanity-report-finds The meaning of China’s $1tn trade surplus 🔗https://www.ft.com/content/80933ccf-a23f-43ab-b83c-1d2055e5995d Labour is slow-marching working people to populism 🔗https://www.ft.com/content/1052957c-90ef-4e00-b599-e45643c5c8e4 How asset managers like BlackRock took over the world 🔗https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2025/06/16/how-asset-managers-like-blackrock-took-over-the-world-vulture-capitalism-extract-grace-blakeley/#:~:text=In%20this%20extract%20from%20her,concentration%20of%20money%20and%20power. The world turned upside down – a system in crisis 🔗https://marxist.com/world-perspectives-2025.htm 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

This week, in Britain, Your Party – led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana – held its inaugural conference. Zarah Sultana spoke there about not only taxing the rich, but of nationalising the entire economy! What does this development signify? And what would it take for Your Party to pose a real threat to capitalism in Britain? Meanwhile, amid a growing dispute within the US government over strikes on alleged drug-running vessels, Donald Trump announced that he will soon authorise military action against targets inside Venezuela. What lies behind this latest act of imperialist bullying and escalation? And what consequences would a new war have on the global situation In this episode of Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh explore these questions and outline the communist perspective on them. Against the Stream is the Marxist current-affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. New episodes air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube. 📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖 Britain: Gary, Jeremy, and the super-rich – how do we make the billionaires pay for this crisis? 🔗https://marxist.com/britain-gary-jeremy-and-the-super-rich-how-do-we-make-the-billionaires-pay-for-this-crisis.htm French lessons: what Corbyn can learn from Mitterrand's mistakes 🔗https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2017/10/french-lessons-what-corbyn-can-learn-mitterrands-mistakes US imperialism and Latin America: Trump threatens war on Venezuela 🔗https://marxist.com/us-imperialism-and-latin-america-trump-threatens-war-on-venezuela.htm The High Stakes in Venezuela 🔗https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-high-stakes-in-venezuela-08382e2d ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️ 1:40 Venezuela update 17:12 Zarah Sultana & Your Party 58:55 Answering viewers' questions 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

With Trump’s proposed peace plan in Ukraine, Europe is once again finding itself sidelined by its former ally and benefactor, the United States. Having staked their crisis-ridden regimes on a Russian defeat in Ukraine, the Europeans are now waking up to the stark reality – Ukraine has lost the war, and Zelensky has his back against the wall. Although the European leaders would be the first to deny it, the continent where capitalism was born has now been left to rot on the vine. As Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh discuss in this episode of Against the Stream, the decline of the European economy in a period of rising imperialist competition is creating an explosive situation all across the continent. Against the Stream is the Marxist current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. It airs weekly on YouTube on Thursdays at 6pm GMT. 📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖 China is making trade impossible 🔗 https://www.ft.com/content/f294be55-98c4-48f0-abce-9041ed236a44 Why Trump pushed for peace — again 🔗 https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2025/11/ukraine-peace-push-russia-trump-zelensky/685045/ Top U.S. negotiator warned Europeans that Russia is stockpiling missiles 🔗 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/world/europe/ukraine-peace-talks-russia-missiles.html How can Europe pay for things that it cannot afford? 🔗 https://www.imf.org/en/-/media/files/publications/imf-notes/2025/english/insea2025004.pdf 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443 📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

The biggest crisis of Trump’s second term is unfolding over the Epstein files. Having initially promised to release the trove of documents detailing Epstein’s crimes and his rich and powerful customers, Trump – one of those customers – quickly changed his tune once in power. However, this opened a rift within the MAGA movement and woke many up to the fact that Trump, far from “draining the swamp”, is part and parcel of it. Now he’s U-turned again and is expected to finally publish the files. But this threatens to shine a light on depravity, debauchery and unaccountability of the ruling class.  Meanwhile, the regime in Ukraine is facing a crisis on the frontlines as well as within the regime. City after city is being taken by the Russian army, while a corruption scandal is implicating more and more of Zelensky’s inner circle.  In this week’s episode of Against the Stream, Josh Holroyd and Hamid Alizadeh sit down to discuss all this and more.  Against the Stream is the Marxist current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. It airs weekly on YouTube on Thursdays at 6 p.m. GMT. 📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖 🔗 https://communistusa.org/maga-mutiny-over-epstein-forces-trump-u-turn/ 🔗 https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/dangerous-ideas/201910/psychology-s-dark-triad-and-the-billionaire-class 🔗 https://www.axios.com/2025/11/19/trump-ukraine-peace-plan-russia-donbas 🔗 https://www.axios.com/2025/11/19/ukraine-peace-plan-trump-russia-witkoff 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm  🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443  📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

A major corruption scandal is rocking Ukraine. Cabinet ministers and one of Volodymyr Zelensky’s own business partners are implicated in a war profiteering scheme worth more than 100 million dollars. Meanwhile, on the front, the situation is getting even worse. Pokrovsk – a key defensive position in the Donbass – is falling to the Russians. Zelensky’s days are numbered. But corruption and crisis are far from confined to Ukraine. In Britain, over the past month, every pillar of the established order has experienced some sort of disaster. From the stripping of Prince Andrew’s titles over his relations with Epstein, to the historic collapse of Labour in the polls, to the BBC being attacked by Donald Trump, the ‘old order’ is being discredited in the eyes of millions.   What is behind this rot? And how can we as communists connect with the rising anger that it is producing? In this week’s episode of Against the Stream, Ben Curry and Hamid Alizadeh sit down to discuss all this and more. 📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖 Inside the Wes Streeting plot 🔗 https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/inside-the-wes-streeting-plot/ Britain: one prince isn’t enough – Abolish the monarchy! Clear out the parasites! 🔗 https://marxist.com/britain-one-prince-isn-t-enough-abolish-the-monarchy-clear-out-the-parasites.htm The BBC ‘coup’: A ruling class at war with itself 🔗 https://communist.red/the-bbc-coup-a-ruling-class-at-war-with-itself/ Reeves must get whatever growth she can 🔗 https://www.ft.com/content/20d6d434-0ae7-4305-b1c9-db1e26182931 The Ukrainian war: an internationalist class position – RCI Statement 🔗 https://marxist.com/the-ukrainian-war-an-internationalist-class-position-imt-statement.htm

Zohran Mamdani is the new Mayor of New York City. By running a campaign that promised to take on the billionaires and better the lives of working class New Yorkers, he tapped into anti-establishment, working class anger that is growing not only in New York but across the world. But the struggle has only just begun. Already, Trump has declared war by cutting off funding to New York. Meanwhile, billionaires and Democrats are attempting to court Mamdani and get him to water down his programme. The question remains whether Mamdani will resist this pressure and carry out his programme. Meanwhile, in Sudan, the RSF have taken control of El-Fasher, and is now carrying out a genocide against the population. Why is this happening? What can we do? And what can revolutionaries learn from the whole tragic path, from revolution to counter-revolution, that brought Sudan to this?

Over the last few weeks, Trump has been brazenly ratcheting up tensions with Venezuela. Having declared its president, Maduro, the leader of a drug cartel, he has moved a tenth of America’s navy and B-52 bombers to menace the country. Hot off making ‘peace’ in Gaza, Trump seems to be headed straight towards a new war.  Will the US go to war in Venezuela? What is the Trump administration seeking? And what would be the implications of such an adventure for South America? To answer these questions Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh sat down for another episode of Against the Stream, the Marxist current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. 📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖 Will Donald J Trump ever be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? 🔗 https://marxist.com/will-donald-j-trump-ever-be-awarded-the-nobel-peace-prize.htm Hands off Colombia and Venezuela! 🔗 https://marxist.com/hands-off-colombia-and-venezuela.htm The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective 🔗 https://wellred-books.com/the-venezuelan-revolution-a-marxist-perspective/

This week, the collapse of Tricolour and First Brand sent a ripple of fear through the capitals of the world. From giddy boasts that the ‘bull’ market would never come down, capitalists are now reckoning with the fact that there is a gigantic bubble in the world economy, which threatens to pop. But the bubble – which they are powerless to fix – is symptomatic of a much deeper crisis. Capitalism has reached its limits. For years, they have used bailouts to delay the day of reckoning. Now they are crushed under a mountain of debt, which threatens an avalanche of bankruptcies. With economies around the world sliding into recession, overproduction, endless political instability, tariffs, and inter-imperialist competition, it is only a matter of time before the crash arrives. When it does, it will have devastating implications for the entire world economic system. Most of all, as Francesco Merli and Hamid Alizadeh explain in this week's episode of Against the Stream, it will be a recipe for class struggle, as the capitalists and bankers try to force workers to pay the bill. 📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖 The Big Crash: Are we really heading for another 1929? 🔗 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/11/big-crash-are-we-really-heading-another-1929/ Gita Gopinath on the crash that could torch $35trn of wealth 🔗 https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2025/10/15/gita-gopinath-on-the-crash-that-could-torch-35trn-of-wealth What the stock market bubble can tell us about the state of the US economy 🔗 https://marxist.com/what-the-stock-market-bubble-can-tell-us-about-the-state-of-the-us-economy.htm Zombies: Ranks of world’s most debt-hobbled companies are soaring, and not all will survive 🔗 https://apnews.com/article/zombie-business-corporate-debt-investing-interest-borrowing-52bd9ebbe1dd98983d39fe7d14e3c7fd

📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖 A Federal Critical Mineral Processing Initiative: Securing U.S. Mineral Independence from China 🔗 https://warontherocks.com/2025/04/a-federal-critical-mineral-processing-initiative-securing-u-s-mineral-independence-from-china/ Israel’s two-year Gaza war nears its end, but questions of victory remain 🔗 https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-870569#google_vignette A high-stakes gamble Ukraine has successfully slowed Russia’s advance in central Donbas — but at the cost of its defenses elsewhere 🔗 https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/10/06/a-high-stakes-gamble The meaning of the ceasefire in Gaza 🔗 https://marxist.com/the-meaning-of-the-ceasefire-in-gaza.htm

This week, after two years of the genocide in Gaza, Trump struck a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But who benefits? And will it last? Meanwhile, the Palestine solidarity movement continues to escalate in Europe. Italy has shown the way forward with a general strike which has inspired activists across the continent. In France, yet another government has collapsed. In this week's episode of Against the Stream, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh take stock of this whirlwind of events, explain where things are leading, and point out the tasks for revolutionary communists today. Against the Stream is the current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. It airs weekly on YouTube on Thursdays at 6pm London time.

Yesterday, Israel once again attacked a peaceful flotilla travelling towards Gaza to break the naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid. In the following hours, millions came pouring onto streets across Europe to protest the assault and demand an end to the genocide. In Italy, a general strike has been called for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Trump and Netanyahu have presented their criminal ‘peace plan’ for Gaza. And, Gen Z revolutions are erupting across the world on an almost daily basis. In this week's Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh take stock of the whirlwind of events and point out the tasks for communists today.Against the Stream is the current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. It airs weekly on YouTube on Thursdays at 6pm London time.📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖“Israel has intercepted the flotilla: block everything! – For a workers’ boycott and general strike!” by the RCI🔗 https://marxist.com/israel-has-intercepted-the-flotilla-block-everything-for-a-workers-boycott-and-general-strike.htm“‘Dockers don’t work for war’: international dockworkers’ meeting in Genoa shows the way forward!” by Francesco Salmeri, Partito Comunista Rivoluzionario🔗 https://marxist.com/dockers-don-t-work-for-war-international-dockworkers-meeting-in-genoa-shows-the-way-forward.htm“GenZ212: Moroccan youth rise up and open a new chapter in the class struggle!” by Anas Rahimi 🔗 https://marxist.com/genz212-moroccan-youth-rise-up-and-open-a-new-chapter-in-the-class-struggle.htm“Madagascar: GenZ protest movement develops towards a national uprising” Jorge Martín🔗 https://marxist.com/madagascar-genz-protest-movement-develops-towards-a-national-uprising.htm“The world turned upside down – a system in crisis” by The RCI 🔗 https://marxist.com/world-perspectives-2025.htm 🌐 LINKS 🌐 ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/ 💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/