
Robert Belano
Robert Belano is a writer and editor for Left Voice. He lives in the Washington, DC area.
Thousands of Workers and Young People Participate in Socialist-led Assemblies across Argentina
Last weekend, the Party for Socialist Workers (PTS) in Argentina held over 100 democratic and open assemblies in cities and towns across the country to debate the inflationary crisis, government’s the austerity program, and a working-class solution.
Robert Belano
November 15, 2022Democrats’ ‘Climate Bill’ Puts Polluters before People and the Planet
Congressional Democrats, supported by President Biden, just passed a major spending bill focused on climate change, health care, and taxes. But it’s no win for the climate or the working class.
Robert Belano
August 13, 2022Over 50 Migrants Found Dead in Texas. Biden Has Blood on His Hands.
The Biden Administration has maintained virtually all of Trump’s draconian and murderous immigration policies. Dozens have died in a trailer in Texas as a result.
Robert Belano
June 29, 2022Peru’s ‘Progressive’ President Sends the Police to Repress Popular Mobilizations
Protests against the rising cost of living have shaken Peru. The crisis demonstrates the dead end of “anti-neoliberal” figures like President Pedro Castillo and parties who try to administer the capitalist state.
Robert Belano
April 9, 2022Ireland and Argentina Won Abortion Rights through Struggle. Protecting Our Rights Here Won’t Be Any Different
Abortion rights are under threat in the United States. As the abortion movements in Ireland and Argentina have shown, the right to free, safe, and legal abortions can only be won through combative action and mass mobilization in the streets.
Robert Belano
December 11, 2021Five Indigenous Struggles You Should Support on Thanksgiving
While Thanksgiving is an opportunity to spend time with family and community, it also represents the whitewashing of the country’s genocide of Native Americans. Here we present five Indigenous struggles that you can support today.
Robert Belano
November 25, 2021Meet Alejandro Vilca, the First Indigenous Worker Elected to Argentina’s Congress
The Indigenous sanitation worker Alejandro Vilca is set to enter Congress for the Workers Left Front — Unity (FIT-U). A militant campaign by thousands of workers, young people, and Indigenous communities made history.
Robert Belano
November 16, 2021Biden and the Democrats Have Given Up on Meaningful Climate Action
Democrats have accepted major cuts to Biden’s already-inadequate climate and social-spending plan, once again showing that the interests of big business come first for the party.
Robert Belano
November 10, 2021The Trotskyist Left Is a Rising Force in Argentina
In Sunday’s primary elections in Argentina, the Workers’ Left Front - Unity, an electoral coalition of four Trotskyist parties, had its best election yet and is now the country’s third-largest electoral force.
Robert Belano
September 13, 2021New Orleans Looks Out for Big Business, Not Residents in Ida’s Wake
Another major hurricane has battered the South. But instead of providing the relief residents need, authorities are deploying “anti-looting” police to discipline the region’s poorest — overwhelming Black folks.
Robert Belano
August 31, 2021The Demand for Carbon Capture Is a Gift to the Fossil Fuel Industry
Oil companies, governments, unions, media outlets, big environmental groups, and even sections of the Left have all declared carbon capture technology to be an important way to combat climate change. But what this demand actually does is justify continued fossil fuel extraction and preserve the unsustainable status quo.
Robert Belano
August 21, 2021The Northwest Heatwave Killed Hundreds and Capitalists Won’t Stop Fossil Fuel Extraction
Record-breaking temperatures were felt across the Pacific Northwest in the past week, affecting 13 million people and creating deadly wildfires and thunderstorms. The connection between extreme weather and climate change is as clear as ever, but neither Biden nor Trudeau are capable of taking meaningful action.
Robert Belano
July 3, 2021None of This Was Inevitable: Half a Million Covid Deaths and Counting
In less than a year, 500,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the United States. The failure to contain the pandemic has been a bipartisan affair.
Robert Belano
February 23, 2021Science, Profit, and Anti-Vaxxers
Understanding vaccine skepticism requires a look at the nature of health care and science in the U.S.
Robert Belano
February 7, 2021Biden’s Climate Plan Is a Catastrophe in the Making
Liberals have hailed the president-elect’s climate plan as “ambitious” and even “revolutionary.” In fact, it’s a middle-of-the-road plan that can only lead to catastrophe.
Robert Belano
December 4, 2020Against Pragmatism: Socialists Shouldn’t Vote for the “Lesser Evil”
A section of socialists like Eric Blanc and Dan La Botz are urging a vote for the pro-imperialist Joe Biden as a lesser evil to Trump. This “pragmatic” logic is deeply rooted in the ideology of American capitalism.
Robert Belano
November 2, 2020For the Planet, There Is No “Lesser Evil”
As fires rage on the West Coast, Donald Trump and the Republican Party continue to deny the basic science of climate change. Many people hope that voting for Joe Biden will save the planet. But the Democrats’ record on the environment shows they offer nothing to stave off a climate catastrophe.
Robert Belano
September 16, 2020Bolsonaro’s Coronavirus Response is a Campaign of Terror Against Black and Indigenous People
Brazil is a new epicenter in the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The death toll has doubled in only the last two weeks, reaching more than 30,000. Not coincidentally, the country is led by the world’s foremost coronavirus denier: Jair Bolsonaro.
Robert Belano
June 3, 2020Ecocide and the Coronavirus: How the Capitalist Mode of Production Makes Pandemics Inevitable
The capitalist mode of production has proven itself fatal for nature and humanity. The most recent manifestation of this is the global spread of the coronavirus. As socialists, how can we confront these problems in a way that will be both sustainable for the environment and for human life?
Robert Belano
April 30, 2020While Brazilians Die, Bolsonaro Continues to Deny the Pandemic
President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has gone beyond even Trump in his denialism toward the coronavirus. With Brazil now leading South America in Covid-19 cases, how can the right-wing leader continue to ignore the facts?
Robert Belano
April 7, 2020Democrats and Republicans to the Rescue… of Corporations
Republicans and Democrats have agreed on an unprecedented $2 trillion stimulus package, much of it going to shore up corporate profitability. While hundreds of thousands are sick and dying from the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress makes clear again in whose interest it governs.
Robert Belano
March 25, 2020“Neoliberalism Has Led to a Public Health Emergency” — Interview with an Italian Socialist
Left Voice spoke with Giacomo Turci, a member of the Revolutionary Internationalist Fraction (FIR), about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, the reasons why the healthcare system is overwhelmed, and the urgent measures needed to confront this crisis.
Robert Belano
March 16, 2020Langston Hughes Reflects on the Promise of The Soviet Union
Not only one of America’s preeminent poets, Langston Hughes was also firmly committed to the liberation of Black people and the working class. His accounts of his journey to the USSR in 1933 provide a powerful insight into the Revolution’s advances in fighting the oppression of religious and ethnic minorities.
Robert Belano
February 18, 2020Amazon’s Green Capitalism Is a Cruel Joke
Megacorporations like Amazon are racing to rebrand themselves as leaders in environmental sustainability. But capitalism is a system that is inherently dirty and unsustainable.
Robert Belano
January 15, 2020Hands Off Antifa
Trump and the Right are trying to shut down Antifa, and with it, all resistance to their reactionary agenda. Socialists must fight this attack against the Left.
Robert Belano
July 28, 2019Conclusions After the First Democratic Debates of 2019
The first Democratic debates are now over, meaning the primary season for 2020 is now fully underway. Featuring 20 candidates over the course of two nights, the debates offered important insights into the candidates’ strategies — both in what was said and what was not.
Robert Belano
June 28, 2019Unions Must Join the Global Climate Strike
Greta Thunberg and other teenage climate activists have issued a call for a worldwide general strike to end fossil fuel extraction. Will union leaders support this important action for the planet? Or will they side once mode with fossil fuel executives?
Robert Belano
June 4, 2019Back in the Establishment? More Austerity and Military Spending in Trump’s 2020 Budget
Trump’s 2020 budget includes major cuts to health care, education and environmental protection programs, while dramatically increasing military spending. Even if the budget does not pass in its current form, it represents an escalation of the administration’s war on the poor and the working class.
Robert Belano
March 18, 2019A Green New Deal Can’t Save Us. A Planned Economy Can.
Capitalism has put humankind and much of the Earth at the brink of catastrophe. But there is a way out. The solution isn't a green new deal. It's a communist, democratically run planned economy
Robert Belano
March 15, 2019Socialism Has Trump on Edge. Rightfully So.
Trump and the right wing have been sounding the alarm about the growing threat of socialism. That’s good news for everyone who cares about the future of humanity and the planet.
Robert Belano
March 6, 2019