Around the world there has been shock and anger at the barbaric brutality of the Israeli government’s onslaught on the Gaza strip and horror at the impact of the random missile attacks on Israeli civilians.

We publish this interview with Mexican workers in struggle which was conducted by members of the CWI in Latin America for our Spanish web page mundosocialista.net. We are sure that this interview will be of interest to our readers, but it does not necessarily fully reflect the ideas and programme of the CWI.

Even before the dramatic economic collapse since September, opportunities to build the socialist movement internationally were growing fast in 2008. Socialist Alternative is in political solidarity with the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI), which has sections in nearly 40 countries around the world. The CWI has made important progress over the last year, not least of all in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Over the next year, the stunning failures of capitalism will undoubtedly provide major new openings to build the forces of socialism in this country and internationally.

Dear Socialist Alternative, You did a marvelous job at the Obama vs. Nader debate the other night [with Seattle City Councilor Nick Licata]. If there were any winners or losers, you won by a wide margin.

Anyone can see that in the American political system, whether it’s Democrats or Republicans, you always get the same crap. I came to the realization long ago that the same situation will persist regardless of who is elected – it’s business as usual for these people.

Global capitalism’s failures are being exposed for all to see. There’s no hiding it anymore. But capitalism has seen crisis before and it won’t simply do itself in.

There are several reasons why I became a socialist. Growing up in the South, I saw immense poverty wherever I went. There were people who had worked for textile factories for over 20 years forced to leave because companies moved their factories to places more primed for profit at workers’ expense. There were kids from my high school putting their lives at risk in the military because there was no hope to give them more job security than Iraq or Afghanistan.

While continuing to organize against the war and on community issues, Socialist Alternative energetically campaigned for a vote for Ralph Nader in the presidential elections, arguing that building mass movements independent of the two parties is the surest way to win the change we need.

In late October, the Seattle Times, the largest daily newspaper in Seattle, interviewed Philip Locker, the editor of Justice newspaper, about the real meaning of socialism, given the Republican claims that Barack Obama is a socialist.

Mick, an Irish worker for an Airbus supplier and CGT union activist, interviews Patrick, a French Airbus sheet metal worker, on the Final Assembly Line in Toulouse.

What will it take to stop U.S. imperialism? Is there an alternative to the corporate domination of our world? Is a democratic socialist society realistic? Come to a discussion on these questions introduced by Ayisha Zaki from Beirut and consider joining the struggle for a socialist future.

Evo Morales’ MAS (Movement towards Socialism) government won a crushing victory in the re-call referendum, which took place on 10 August 2008. Following this victory, the right-wing reactionary forces in the eastern provinces of the “media luna,” went on the offensive.

From September 1-4, St. Paul, Minnesota was home to the Republican National Convention - and four days of protests and police repression.

Can the epic social and environmental crises we face be solved on the basis of capitalism, or is democratic socialist change necessary? Unfortunately, most opinion leaders tend to simply avoid such fundamental questions, or offer "solutions" that amount to mere band-aids on the wounds inflicted by capitalism. But serious thinkers and activists have an obligation to look deeper.