Hello and welcome to Around the World in 8 Minutes, a show by People's Dispatch. In this show, we take you to the front lines of struggles against capitalist oppression as the workers of the world strive for a better future. In this episode, we look at the latest developments in the Doctor's Strike in Zimbabwe where senior professionals have joined the movement. We then look at a long march that has begun in India to save the public sector. Finally, we go on to Bolivia where a team of human rights activists is facing persecution from the Kourijim. Since the 3rd of September, junior doctors in Zimbabwe have been on strike. The doctors have said that they are incapable of going to work since the country's currency has been devalued so much that they can't even afford transport. But instead of addressing these issues, the government has chosen to fire nearly 450 doctors from service. On 26th November, senior doctors in Zimbabwe's government hospitals represented by the Senior Hospital Doctors Association or the SHDA went on strike after serving two months as emergency service without pay. Junior doctors in the country have stayed away from work since September 3rd. It's not clear as to exactly how many senior doctors are on strike, but the severely underfunded public hospitals of Zimbabwe have a total of only 200 such senior doctors including specialists. The senior doctors' action is on the lines of their juniors who are represented by the Zimbabwe Hospital's Doctors Association or the ZHDA. The association has reiterated time and again that this is not a strike action per se. They were forced to withdraw their service because of the sharp decline in their wages has left them incapable of affording the cost of reporting to work. Nurse's another allied health professionals are also incapacitated and have been reporting to work only twice or thrice a week under pressure from a health ministry directive. The average salary of senior doctors is less than 500 RTGS dollars and consultants receive a basic salary of $1,010 RTGS dollars. Payments in this unsound quasi-currency called RTGS dollar was introduced late last year when the currency was specced to the US dollar. However, while there has been a continuous slide in the value of this currency vis-à-vis the US dollar in accordance with which the prices have been rising, the salaries and RTGS dollars have remained constant. Currently 500 RTGS dollars is worth a mere 30 US dollars and 1010 RTGS dollars is equal to 62 US dollars. This is according to the official Interbank exchange rate at which as on date 1622 RTGS dollars can be exchanged for 1 US dollar. However, market rate is varying between 22 to 26 RTGS dollars for 1 US dollars. However, the senior doctors have continued offering medical care in the emergency wards. In the meantime, rather than taking measures to address their incapacitation, the government began intimidation. Junior doctors were targeted first. The union's president, 26 year old Peter Moghambai, was abducted by suspected state security agents and was later hospitalized for treatment upon being released. Over 448 junior doctors have been fired so far, which is over a quarter of the total 601 junior doctors employed in public health care. Many more are said to be targeted in these mock trials. In the meantime, the senior doctors were paid no wage at all over the past two months for their service in the emergency wards. This has finally left them incapable of affording the costs of providing even this limited service and on November 26th they withdrew from work completely. In a statement on November 27th, the S.H.T.A. highlighting the persisting shortages of medicines, bandages, gloves and syringes said that the hospitals have remained a death trap even with the presence of the hardworking, highly specialized workforce that Zimbabwe has. The Indian state of West Bengal is witnessing a long march of workers called by the centre of Indian trade unions CITU with the slogan, Save Public Sector Against the Government's ongoing spree of selling and privatising public sector undertakings or PSUs. The 283-kilometer long march by thousands of working-class people began on November 30th from Chitaranjan locomotive factory in Pustin, Bathamand district and will culminate at a public meeting in a state capital called Kata on December 11th. The long march is also in protest against the implementation of the national registry of citizens across the country as proposed by the far-right Parthia Jantapati led government at the centre. Talking to NewsClick Anadisaahu, Secretary of CITU West Bengal said the BGP government at the centre is trying to sell all public sector undertakings. 56 PSUs in our state have been closed down and sold already. In a similar manner, the state government has closed down several PSUs and merged some with others. If this keeps going on, lakhs of people will lose their jobs in the near future. Neither the central government nor the West Bengal state government have paid any heed to one burning question. What will happen to these workers who are losing their jobs because of privatisation? Prior to the workers march, conventions and public meetings were organised in large numbers across all districts. More than a hundred rallies have already taken place in support of the march. We caution the foreigners that are arriving to our country as the seemingly harmless subjects. We are watching them, we are following them. This was the welcome given by the interior minister of the self-proclaimed government of Bolivia, Arthurow Morillo. He added, any attempt to commit terrorism and sedition, they will have to deal with the police. An Argentine delegation of human rights defenders, social leaders and lawyers arrived in the country on Thursday, November 28th. The delegation came with the objective of standing in solidarity with the people of Bolivia and verifying the grave human rights violations committed following the coup d'état of November 10. The threat by Morillo was not the first aggressive gesture faced by the delegation. Upon the arrival of the Vero Vero International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 14 members of the delegation were detained by the security forces for hours and subjected to interrogation. Inwhile the other members of the delegation were attacked by coup supporters while they waited for their colleagues to be released. Following the incident, the delegation declared, violent groups of Camacho and the police forces illegally interrogated us and intimidated us in Santa Cruz, but we have arrived in La Pass in order to take forward this task in defense of human rights. Deposed President Ivo Morales, who is currently exiled in Mexico, denounced the attacks on Twitter. 14 members of the Argentine delegation were detained by violent coup supporting groups in Santa Cruz and subjected to interrogation by the police. The fascist dictatorship has shown its authoritarianism. In the following days, the delegation will meet movements, human rights groups, victims of right wing, violence and their family and religious leaders in order to record testimonies for an exhaustive report on the human rights situation in the post-Cou-Bolivia. The delegation met with family members of victims of the recent massacre at a church in Senkata in Western Bolivia. One gruboy, lawyer and social leader who was violently attacked by coup supporters in Santa Cruz and detained by the police declared, this delegation should not be a nuisance to anyone. If as they say, they really do not have anything to hide. As such, the harassment and intimidation that we are receiving does not make sense. We hold the de facto government of Bolivia responsible for anything that happens to our safety. We are not scared and they will not stop us with this type of threats. That's all we have time for in this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. For more such stories and videos visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Thank you.