LATVIA is set to follow Estonia, where the privatisation process is 90 per cent complete and workers are suffering the bitter consequences.
The Latvian Privatisation Agency is seeking western buyers for previously state-owned industries.
With the closing date on December 22, capitalists in the west can bid for a little Christmas present for themselves. Special offers include the warship repair plant at Riga.
Of course the Latvian Privatisation Agency would like promises that investors will maintain or create jobs.
But there's little chance of that, since it is the German Ministry of Finance and the European Union who are funding the privatisation process.
In the West companies sink or swim and 'unfair disadvantages' such as workers having rights are being eradicated from the European Union.
Working within the market system as an outpost of German capitalism, Latvian workers will find that promises to invest and maintain jobs are not worth the paper they are written on.
And while European capital can get into virtually any country it likes, and profits from Latvia will be welcome into all EU member states, Latvian workers hoping to benefit from the higher pay levels in the West will find the EU borders closed to them.