What left alternative?
The Zapatista march creates then a new relationship of forces, but also a vacuum, in stressing the absence of an independent left capable both of supporting the struggle of the Zapatistas and proposing a left alternative to a profoundly neoliberal government. In the absence of the emergence of such an actor, which can no longer be the PRD of Cardenas, there is even the possibility that the PRI will be reborn from the ashes, a little like the former Communist parties in some eastern European countries. All these questions are posed or will be posed, but in a framework profoundly modified by the superb initiative of the Zapatistas. Michel Husson is an economist, in charge of employment at the Institut de recherches economiques et sociales (IRES) in Paris. He is member of the Fondation Copernic, a left-wing think tank, and of the Scientific Council of ATTAC. He has just published Un pur capitalisme, Lausanne 2008, Éditions Page Deux. You can consult his writings on http://hussonet.free.fr
