By Duncan Cameron - May 21, 2013

The capitalists won the B.C. election. Extractive industries make big profits in the province, and have bigger plans for its future...Corporations support the BC Liberals as a form of insurance protecting shareholder privileges. Most of the business and commercial world follows the corporate lead.

By Bill Van Auken - WSWS

...[U]nder conditions in which the Venezuelan working class lacks its own independent mass party, mounting hostility toward the “Bolivarian” government among broad layers of workers and other sections of oppressed found its expression in an increased protest vote for the right.

By Nathan Crompton - May 15, 2013

In reality the [New Democratic Party] allowed itself no alternative platform from which to launch a criticism against the BC Liberal record. On each big issue the NDP chose instead to emulate the BC Liberal platform: rock-bottom corporate taxes, privatized affordable housing, health care austerity and ongoing neoliberal reforms. Instead of fighting on the basis of a progressive policy platform, the NDP message was simple: We can govern; we can oversee the status quo because we are as mature as the common-sense Liberals.

By Dylan Lubao - 13 May 2013

[BC New Democratic Party leader Adrian] Dix has emphasized the NDP’s support for the huge deterioration in the social position of the working class over the past three decades, by stressing that he will not make the purported mistake of previous NDP governments of “trying to do too much.” With the full support of the trade unions, Dix has been avidly courting big business, pledging that an NDP government will be “business-friendly” and will use its ties to the union bureaucracy to develop a right-wing “consensus.”

By Derrick O'Keefe - April 22, 2013

B.C. is a province awash in wealth, much of it on ostentatious display. There is simply no excuse for anyone to be malnourished, homeless and otherwise severely indigent...The tepid promises of the B.C. [New Democratic Party] on welfare rates indicate that even with the B.C. Liberals out, neoliberalism will remain mostly in command – for now. Reversing this state of affairs is an ideological and political battle that must continue, one step at a time.

Latin American and other heads of state attended Maduro's inaugural ceremony. Earlier he accused opposition forces of triggering post-election violence.

Post-election US-orchestrated destabilization continues. Venezuelans elected Nicolas Maduro president. The electoral process was scrupulously open, free and fair. The result is indisputable.

Throughout his tenure, America's scoundrel media vilified Chavez relentlessly. They did so straightaway.

Venezuela's spirit of democracy lives. Celebratory fireworks followed Maduro's win. They were more subdued than last October. Chavez won then by 11 points.

Faced with certain defeat, opposition forces may try anything. Venezuelans have final say. On Sunday, expect Bolivarianism to remain triumphant. It's institutionalized. It's here to stay.

Jimmy Carter calls Venezuelan elections the world's best. He does so for good reason. They shame America's sham process. Duopoly power controls things. People have no say.

By Mike Davis - March 31, 2013

...[A] dwindling band of conservative realists are discovering that the small-government fundamentalism of the Tea Party, originally heralded as the third wave of the Reagan Revolution, is actually the road to an elephant graveyard...The Tea Party...tapped into a deep well of conservative nostalgia for a white-majority America ruled by fathers and bosses.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) President Tibisay Lucena announced Sunday, April 14. Acting President Nicolas Maduro carries Chavez's torch. He'll do it responsibly. Millions of Venezuelans depend on him. He won't them down. It won't be easy. He faces enormous obstacles. So did Chavez.

Israeli election results hardened fascist rule. Dominant right-wing parties control 102 of 120 Knesset seats.

Israeli Arabs are enfranchised in name only. They may seek office and serve if elected. They have no policy-making authority. They're prohibited from challenging Israel's Jewish character. Arabs can't demand equal rights, privileges and justice.