Tune in LIVE tonight at 6pm BST to hear Paul Murphy, TD (MP) for Dublin South West in the Irish Dáil (parliament) talk about the crisis as it is unfolding in Ireland. Murphy was reelected as a representative of RISE in the election on 8 February. That election dealt a shattering blow to the old two-party system and saw Sinn Féin emerge as the party with the most votes, while the two right-wing parties that have dominated Irish politics for a century, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, were relegated to second and third place respectively.

Amidst the global turmoil unleashed by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. has decided to ramp up its imperialist aggression and interference in the Venezuelan government. On Friday, 27 March, the U.S. Department of Justice filed charges of drug trafficking, corruption and the promotion of terrorism against Nicolás Maduro, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and 13 high-ranking state officials, all in an attempt to legitimise any future acts of intervention and insurgency in Venezuela. On 25 March, Jorge Rodriguez, Minister of Communication, also presented the country with evidence of a new conspiracy, organised in Colombia, to traffic arms into Venezuela, conduct terrorist operations and carry out the potential assassination of Maduro; Juan Guaidó and U.S. advisers were aware of this. Both cases are closely related. Lucha de Clases, the Venezuelan section of the International Marxist Tendency, is vehemently opposed to this recent reactionary attack.

The declaration of the state of emergency is unprecedented in Spain, except in the brief period of the air traffic controllers’ strike 10 years ago. It is true that this declaration currently has overwhelming support among the population. This is understandable. The seriousness of the situation and the uncertainty that accompanies it makes people trust "authority" as the only reliable source of protection available, at least as long as that trust lasts. So what is the position of Marxists on this?