Joseph Kishore, National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in the US, is visiting Sri Lanka to speak at public meetings organized by the SEP and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE).

Two meetings entitled “Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the 21st Century” will be held at Peradeniya University on December 7 and in Colombo on December 10. The first meeting is sponsored by the Political Science Association of the university. Kishore will discuss the contemporary significance of the struggle of the Trotskyist movement for the principles of international socialism.

Kishore has been the national secretary of the SEP (US) since 2008 and is a regular writer for the World Socialist Web Site published by the International Committee of the Fourth International. He was also the presidential candidate of the SEP (US) in the 2020 US elections.

The meetings in Sri Lanka are part of a series of events organised by the ICFI globally to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Left Opposition in the Soviet Union in October 1923 under the leadership of Leon Trotsky, co-leader with V.I. Lenin of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

The eruption of imperialist war, including the murderous siege by the Zionist state of Israel against the Palestinians, confronts the international working class and youth with all the unresolved problems of the 20th century. All the burning issues facing workers and the oppressed masses—social inequality, war, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, state repression and the rise of authoritarianism and fascism—are international problems and require a global and revolutionary solution by the working class.

The entire South Asian region, including Sri Lanka, has been dragged into a global maelstrom of geopolitical tensions, as US imperialism intensifies its war preparations against China. What is needed is a powerful socialist and global anti-war movement of the working class. Against this backdrop of a looming nuclear world war, understanding the lessons of the struggle of the Trotskyist movement over the past century is essential in building such an anti-war movement.

The SEP and IYSSE invite workers, youth, students, academics and World Socialist Web Site readers to participate in these important meetings.

Dates and Venues:

Peradeniya
December 7 at 3 p.m.
Hall No. 86, Department of Political Science,
University of Peradeniya

Colombo
December 10 at 3 p.m.
New Town Hall, Colombo

As the deadly COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and rapidly spreading throughout the world, we kindly request all participants wear N95 or KN95 facemasks when they join the meeting.