The Heroes of Canning Town’s Citizen Revolutionary.
At a time when most Newham councillors, at least those wanting reselection are polishing their Starmerite credentials whilst airbrushing their Corbynite past from Facebook, one member stands out for her refusal to tow the new party line. Perhaps this is because the Labour Party isn’t actually the party she supports.
This self-proclaimed ‘citizen-revolutionary’, Belgica Guana seems more at home in the Ecuadorian party the Citizen Revolutionary Movement. You’d think that with Jeremy gone she would no longer feel much attachment to the Labour Party. Apparently not. She is still there, but it can’t be for ideological reasons. Perhaps it is the chance to pick up a cheque for a grand a month for doing, well, doing not much actually, but such a suggestion would be churlish.
We understand that she has relatively recently returned to Facebook under a new user-name, having been kicked off the platform for some rather ill-advised, but nonetheless flattering references to President Assad of Syria. Yes, the one that killed 10,000 political prisoners in jail. And the same one responsible for the deaths of half a million Syrians. And, yes, the same one responsible for the flight of 4m Syrian refugees. And of course, the same one who used chemical weapons against his own civilian population.
What does she believe in? Let’s look at what does inspire her, in her own words.
My Spanish is not that great, but you can get the general idea of the tenor of this post without much Spanish. Good to see that the great man remains untainted by the tens of millions killed in his name during the twentieth century.
And then there are some of the local causes.
She’s quite keen on Extinction Rebellion.
Her enthusiasm for Extinction Rebellion doesn’t seem to be matched by that of her constituents, actual workers, who took quite a different approach to the matter of ER protests at Canning Town Station.
And we know how well the US and European withdrawal from Afghanistan was welcomed by Afghans and how the agents of imperialism have been replaced by a much more democratic, liberally minded, fair, just and peaceful regime.
We can’t help but feel that Ms Guana has attached herself to the wrong wagon. In her favour, she at least has some politics, however unpleasant. The pictures of Fidel, Noam Chomsky, Ken Loach and John Pilger that are liberally spread across her Facebook page suggest that her days are numbered as these icons of the socialist Left find that they no longer fit the post Corbyn Labour brand. Unless of course the Labour Party has run out of women candidates, when all bets are off.