The Great Housing Mission of Venezuela, launched in 2011 by Hugo Chavez, is the most ambitious housing project in the country's history. This week, the 4,600,000th house was built, with a goal for 5 million homes by 2024 and beyond. The program has built 1,255 residential complexes on a total of 9,837 hectares, an area equivalent to six times the Swiss city of Geneva.
The program additionally provides social infrastructure like schools, subsidized food markets, and recreational and green spaces. Over 70% of constructions are self-managed by communities, with financial and logistics support from the government. Communities also provide each other with materials - from each according to their supplies, to each according to their needs. Russian, Chinese, and Belarusian companies have helped supply the program over the years.
In Antímano Parish in southwestern Caracas, a group of predominantly women came together in 2015 and trained in construction, cleared land, and then built apartments while under the pressure of food and materials shortages and electricity blackouts due to the United States' sanctions campaign.
Claudia Tisoy, a mother and self-trained plumber, said “This goes beyond building homes for our families, we are also building the future of our country, with women leading the way. This is what the socialist horizon is all about.”VA
Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.
This week's first update is here in the comments.
This week's second update is here in the comments.
This week's third update is here in the comments.
Links and Stuff
The bulletins site is down.
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Add to the above list if you can.
Resources For Understanding The War
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Telegram Channels
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
Pro-Russian
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Last week's discussion post.
Aside from a comment by Alaskaball, I am shocked no one is talking about Comrade Khorzan, chairman of the Pridnestrovie Communist Party in Transnistria being found stabbed to death in his house last week. He has been a a solid communist in eastern Europe post collapse and has been back and forth from high ranking official in the government to prisoner. I remember reading about him and being impressed a few months ago.
Horrific that he was murdered, possibly assassinated. Like this should be a pretty big deal, especially for communists
https://www.kp.md/online/news/5364598/
@SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net
Has there been any further info on the investigation or protests in response?
According to Gazeta.Ru, he suffered multiple stab wounds in the neck and back, beaten with a blunt object on the head. One of the other theories is that the murder is robbery as his body was found next to an open empty safe. (It may be a possibility, but it is equally if not more likely this was a hit)
Here's an obituary and a biography of the man from the msk.kprf site
https://msk.kprf.ru/2023/07/20/240400/
In memory of Oleg Khorzhan According to publications on the Central website of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
On July 16, 2023, the Secretary of the Central Council of the UCP-CPSU, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Pridnestrovian Communist Party, laureate of the Lenin Prize of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Oleg Olegovich Khorzhan died at the hands of vile killers. The massacre of the leader of the opposition forces of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic will forever go down in history as a link in an endless chain of persecution and crimes against the communists. The life path of O.O. Khorzhan, which contained many outstanding achievements, will remain in the memory of his comrades and followers as an example of selfless service to the communist idea, his homeland, and the working people. O.O. Khorzhan was born on June 30, 1976 in the urban-type settlement of Kamenka, Kamenka district, Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. Oleg belonged to a generation that experienced the tragedy of the collapse of a great multinational state. The consequence of the destruction of the Soviet Union was the nightmare of civil war in one of the most prosperous, peaceful and calm regions of the country. With weapons in their hands, the common people of Transnistria repelled the military invasion of the Kishinev Nazis, which almost turned into a genocide of the non-Romanian population. It was in the Dubossary hospital, where the wounded and crippled were taken in the summer of 1992, that the formation of the future political fighter began. It was at that time, being, in essence, at the forefront, at the age of 18, he joined the ranks of the Communist Party.
In 1994, Khorzhan entered the Faculty of Law of the Pridnestrovian State University named after T.G. Shevchenko, and just a year later he was elected a deputy of the Tiraspol City Council. Having headed the permanent commission on legality, Khorzhan became the youngest parliamentarian in the thirty-year history of the young Pridnestrovian state.
The novice politician resolutely embarked on the path of fighting not only with those who tried to strangle the PMR from outside, but also with those who, declaring false patriotism, sought to turn it into an undivided fiefdom of the criminal oligarchy. Organizing mass resistance to the anti-people policy of local authorities, O.O. Khorzhan, one of the few, told the truth to the face of President I. Smirnov and other apologists for "big privatization." The capture and ruin of large enterprises, the destruction of collective farms in the countryside in the critical 1990s became the main reason for the protracted economic backwardness of Pridnestrovie.
Organizational talent, non-standard, innovative style of Khorzhan's political activity, his clear, principled position resonated in the hearts of comrades and ordinary citizens of the Republic. In May 2003, he was elected Chairman of the Central Committee of the Transnistrian Communist Party. Solving the difficult task of strengthening inter-party ties, integrating divided peoples in the post-Soviet space, on the initiative of the new leader of the Pridnestrovian communists in 2006, public receptions of the Chairman of the Central Committee, Head of the Communist Party faction in the State Duma G.A. Zyuganov and the first secretary of the Central Committee, head of the CPU faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine P.N. Simonenko.
The growing popularity of Khorzhan and his party caused hatred and panic among the criminal regime. In Pridnestrovie, a dirty campaign was launched to discredit the PKP, defamation of its leadership. At the same time, forceful pressure on the party activists was expanding. In March 2007, for preparing a protest action against the growth of consumer prices and tariffs for housing and communal services, against poverty and lack of rights of working people, O.O. Khorzhan was captured by special services, and a criminal case was initiated against him. The fearless oppositionist was sentenced to one and a half years of probation.
Having failed to achieve a decrease in the activity of the leading opposition party, the ruling elite of the PMR inspired a new, truly barbaric act of intimidation. Unknown people set fire to Khorzhan's apartment, where his wife and young son were. The family survived by a miracle - friends and neighbors arrived in time. The organizers of the crime were not identified. Since then, constant blackmail, threats to his own life, reprisals against relatives and friends haunted Khorzhan until the most tragic night of July 16-17, 2023.
In December 2010 O.O. Khorzhan was first elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The massive fighting spirit of the voters, who unanimously supported their candidate, brought to naught all attempts to falsify the elections. On the parliamentary rostrum, the communist deputy fearlessly raised topics that were inconvenient for the authorities, proposed legislative initiatives aimed at real improving the lives of fellow countrymen. The blissful and half-asleep course of the sessions was repeatedly interrupted by him with furious denunciations of the banditry of the Sheriff commercial holding, which is not without reason called the “cancer tumor” of Transnistria. In order to put up a solid barrier to criminality, it was necessary to rally all honest and sensible people around the idea of the triumph of law and order. O.O. Khorzhan became the founder of The Union of Opposition Forces, which included a number of independent public organizations of the Republic, was elected one of its co-chairs, and subsequently recognized as the leader of the entire Pridnestrovian opposition.
An internationalist in spirit, Khorzhan deeply understood the importance of friendship and cooperation between Russians, Ukrainians, Moldavians, Gagauz and other peoples who have lived together for centuries on the banks of the Dniester. He put a lot of effort into the creation of the deputy association "For Unity with Russia", which united more than 600 deputies of different levels. With the direct participation of O.O. Khorzhan signed important agreements for the PMR on the establishment of sister city relations with such major cities of the Russian Federation as Novosibirsk and Irkutsk.
In the treasury of specific cases of the Chairman of the Central Committee of the PKP - assistance to children, the disabled and the poor, the organization of the youth movement, the protection of freedom of the media, attempts to restore peace and good neighborly relations with Moldova. However, his powerful creative potential and positive energy only increased the desire of the mafia clan, which had settled in the structures of power, to deal with a dangerous competitor. Approaching parliamentary and presidential elections, which could be victorious for Khorzhan. That is why in the summer of 2018 a new criminal case was fabricated against him. The reason was a meeting with voters in Tiraspol, where they talked about the environmental catastrophe hanging over Pridnestrovie due to the greed and irresponsibility of big business. The deputy demanded the voluntary resignation of the Pridnestrovian leadership for corruption and chronic inability to effectively manage the state.
On the same evening, the security forces raided all the participants in the meeting. The Central Committee of the party began to receive calls asking for help. Arriving at the city police department, Khorzhan tried to find out on what basis innocent citizens were arrested, but was forced out into the street by brute force. A few days later, parliamentary immunity was lifted from the people's choice and a decision was made to take him into custody.
The whole Republic watched the farce of the "trial" which ended in a shameful verdict. For a long four and a half years, the unbending communist leader was sent to prison bars. It fell to him to fully experience the methods that the fascist scum always used. Torture by deprivation of proper sleep and rest was supplemented by the introduction of unidentified medications. After each demand of the parliamentary factions of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova to stop fanaticism, bullying and humiliation each time resumed with renewed vigor. The main political prisoner of the Transnistrian ruling clique was forced to go on hunger strike twice - for 49 and then for 52 days. Having lost 50 kilograms in weight, Khorzhan suffered a heart attack. And only after he fell into a coma, the conditions of detention under pressure from the international community were slightly softened.
Despite the arbitrariness and lawlessness, the leaders of the PMR, who had long lost their human appearance, failed to either break or discredit Oleg Khorzhan. His big moral victory was his release in December 2022. The selfless struggle, in which he saw the whole meaning of his life, could only be stopped by death.
Today, the investigation into the circumstances of the monstrous atrocity, which shocked the entire country, according to the authorities, continues. But one thing is indisputable: the untimely death of Khorzhan will forever remain on the conscience of those who methodically broke his life, who are pushing the independent Pridnestrovian state to chaos and catastrophe. Customers and perpetrators of the brutal massacre will not escape responsibility. They will suffer a well-deserved punishment and the contempt of their compatriots.
Let the honor and courage, loyalty to one's convictions, moral purity and reliability, which have always been inherent in Oleg Olegovich Khorzhan, serve as guidelines for all fraternal communist parties of the UCP-CPSU. His bright image will forever remain in our hearts.
RIP to a comrade. Seems like it just keeps getting harder to be a communist in that part of the world especially.
We should assign scores to potential suspects, it helps build a better picture 1-10. Who benefits most?
Moldova ??
Ukraine ??
Nato ??
Russia ?? (included because I'm still pretty suspicious that it was probably russia that assassinated various communist-leaning people in donbas in the 2014-2021 years)
Internal political forces ?? (supported by foreign influence?)
Unfortunately I'm not very in tune with transnistria but if someone that is has thoughts it could be interesting.
Rest in peace comrade.