Western Liberals Supporting Fascism In Ukraine?

Liberal coffee shop types around the world are pouring out their bleeding hearts in defense of the Ukrainian opposition. One would think that these people would take the time to figure out exactly what they are supporting before opening their mouths so widely - but as usual, they have chosen to not let facts get in the way of a good story. The lack of a class analysis has led them to conclude that any movement against a dictatorship must be progressive, but I suppose this this isn’t so surprising when these people think that western-style Liberal capitalism is the end of history, towards which all other people are progressing.

Amidst the widespread romanticization of the Ukranian opposition it can get difficult to find out the real facts about what is going on. This is also painfully obvious when it comes to the way that the Venezuelan opposition is being presented to the world at this point in time, but that’s a story for another article. If these friends of the opposition did their homework they would know that:

1. The Opposition has been infiltrated by Fascists.

And not only are they present at demonstrations, they have largely hijacked them. The original student and labor groups who were protesting against the corruption and heavy-handedness of the Yanukovych regime have been either become burned out by the presence of fascists in their ranks, or have been forced out by Fascist violence. Labor and Socialist groups have found themselves excluded from the movement, and their voices have been replaced by slogans calling for pogroms against Jews, the LGBT community and communists. Jewish leaders have even called for Jews to try to flee Kyiv, or even the country so that they do not become victims of attacks by the extreme right-wing. The Communist Party, despite its mixed-up ideology and Stalinist attachments, has to its credit started to mobilize people into Anti-Fascist militias in order to protect themselves, and their communities.  Standing in opposition to both Yanukovych and the Fascists, this project could lead to a huge qualitive change in the situation, but not unless the Communist Party is able to gain the support of the wider labor movement, and other groups on the left.

Members of the Communist Party of Ukraine march through Kyiv during a recent demonstration.
© Pavlo Podufalov (kyivpost.com)

2. Imperialist Games Abound

Western Imperialism has never had any scruples about intervening to hijack popular movements, and Ukraine is no exception. It does not seem to be an accident that the events have been presented to the world as a people struggling to join the European Union against the wishes of the Pro-Moscow government, but things are not quite so simple. It is true that many people in the country, particularly the youth, look towards to EU as a possible way out of political corruption and the capitalist crisis, but as Greece and other failing economies in the Eurozone have shown, this is a pipe dream. Popular discontent aside though, this movement has led to a split in the capitalist class between those who want to continue to ally themselves to Russian imperialism, and to grow rich from Russian investment - and those who wish to align themselves with the west, in the hopes of higher western investment. This has not escaped the eyes of the two imperialist blocs, and the Western imperialists have decisively backed the opposition, including its most extreme elements, such as the Fascist “Right Sector” and Svoboda. Russia seems to have been hoping that past aid to the government would allow it to either crush the opposition, or come to a compromise. What will come of this remains to be seen, as Yanukovych has been deposed, and information about his current location is uncertain.

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John McCain meeting with leaders of the Fascist "Svoboda" party on  Dec. 14, 2013
(Source:www.businessinsider.com)