Freedom Road Socialist Organization denounces the escalation of the bloody and unjust U.S. war in Afghanistan. We condemn the decision made by the White House and Pentagon to ‘surge’ over 30,000 U.S. and NATO forces into Afghanistan in an attempt to stabilize a failing occupation regime.

President Bush and the U.S. government slapped the Colombian people in the face by imposing a 60-year prison term upon Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera is a hero of the Colombian people. He has dedicated his entire life to the struggle of peasants and workers. He is responsible for negotiating peace processes and humanitarian prisoner exchanges on behalf of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC) and was seized in Ecuador on such a mission.

We are saddened by the death of Manuel Marulanda, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP). At the same time, we are inspired by the powerful example of his life and work. Marulanda embodied the struggle of the Colombian people for national liberation and socialism. He was both a Colombian patriot and an internationalist – a persistent advocate for a united Latin America free from domination by U.S. imperialism. Marulanda was a Great Liberator, in the tradition of the Simon Bolivar.

Americans are celebrating the defeat of warmonger and angry rich guy John McCain. The voters wanted change – an end to war, lies and corruption. Many correctly saw McCain as the continuation of Bush’s failed policies, so they punished him in the voting booths. To be sure, McCain’s pathetic response to the economic crisis and defense of tax breaks for the rich sealed his defeat. Working and middle class voters are angry about the economy, opposed to the $700 billion bailout and looking for a leader who will “spread the wealth.”

The anti-war movement and a wide array of progressive people’s forces is set to protest outside the Sept. 1 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Organizers are predicting more than 50,000 will fill the streets on Labor Day 2008. Protesters will confront the war-makers, racists and reactionaries who just a few years ago were bragging that Republican rule would last forever.

The midterm elections represented a defeat of historic proportions for the Bush administration. They were a referendum on the war against Iraq. The American people voted ‘no.’ The Republican agenda of racism, inequality and reaction met with a setback. This is a moment to savor. It’s payback time for the politicians who left people to die on freeway overpasses in New Orleans and who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands in Iraq.

Make no mistake about it, John G. Roberts, Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, is a clear and present danger to your rights. He’s a right-wing corporate lawyer with a reactionary agenda. Everyone concerned about what is fair and just should object to his confirmation by the Senate.

Ricardo Palmera, a key leader in Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was handed over to U.S. custody Dec. 31. He is now sitting in a U.S. jail awaiting trial in federal court. Everyone who values justice should raise their voices and demand his immediate release.

Analysis of Bush reelection and second term prospects

Over the past year, a powerful movement to drive George Bush from office was born and developed. Many of us built demonstrations at his campaign appearances, passed out anti-Bush leaflets, marched against the war at the Republican National Convention and urged our friends, neighbors and co-workers to get out and vote against him. In the face of real obstacles, on Nov. 2 a vast outpouring of working people and those for oppressed nationality communities – African-Americans, Chicano-Latinos, Asian and Native Americans – rejected him and his policies. This was not enough to get Bush out of office, but because so many did so much, we’re in a better position to fight the attacks that are sure to come over the next four years.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators will flood into Miami, Florida during the week of Nov. 18 to protest the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA). Workers, students, environmentalists and young militants – the folks who brought the world the Battle of Seattle – are reviving the anti-imperialist globalization movement. While the Western Hemisphere’s trade ministers (excluding Cuba) meet in corporate bunkers, youth and workers will be outside marching and protesting. While the rich financiers plot the ruin of Latin America, young protesters will be breaking through police lines.

In industry after industry, manufacturing or service sector, greedy employers have a common agenda for unionized workers. They are going after our wages and working conditions; they want to gut our health care plans and pensions; they want more from workers while giving us less – in a word, they want concessions.

You wouldn’t know it from reading your daily paper or watching FOX news, but on May 1, something really extraordinary will take place. Hundreds of millions of working people across the globe will take to the streets to celebrate a day that is ours and ours alone – International Workers’ Day.

Bush's speech at the UN, resolutions put before Congress to authorize an illegal first-strike attack, and a slow but steady military buildup in the Gulf region all make it clear that the Bush administration is moving toward war. Already in the region, there are 30,000 U.S. troops, 400 warplanes, and equipment to outfit an invasion force of 15,000. Bombings in the no-fly zones have stepped up – one operation in September included 100 planes attacking southern Iraq. The path to war seems certain.

On May 1, working people in the hundreds of millions will celebrate a holiday that is truly our own – International Workers Day. On every continent, workers will fill the streets of cities and villages. In the jungles of the Philippines and Colombia, poor peasants will gather. In the countries where the rule of the rich has come to an end, such as Cuba and Democratic Korea, May Day is recognized as a national holiday. From Moscow to Manila to Minneapolis, working women and men will gather and say, “Enough is enough; we don't have to live this way. We do not have to put up with exploitation, discrimination, and national oppression.”

On May 1, hundreds of millions of working people will celebrate International Workers Day. From Madrid to Minneapolis, from New Delhi to New York, working people will assemble. We will condemn all who exploit us. We will celebrate our victories. Moreover, we will look forward to a world that is free of injustice, discrimination, and national oppression.

George Bush is in the White House. His road to power was paved with the racist disenfranchisement of African-American voters, deceit and outright fraud. He failed to win a majority of the votes. The Electoral College, a relic of slavery originally set up to strengthen the hand of southern plantation owners, gave Bush the presidency.

With anger and passion, protests hit the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. For days, thousands of demonstrators put a people's agenda in the face of Democratic Party politicians.

Minneapolis, MN – It was standing room only, as more than people 55 came together here, May 6, to celebrate International Workers Day. Leaders from labor, the fight for Native land at Highway 55, welfare rights, anti-war, and student movements spoke of their struggles and victories over the past year. Some traveled over 100 miles, from Duluth MN, to attend.

There are large protests being planned this summer, and we can make a difference. First in Philadelphia, with the Republican Convention, and then in Los Angeles, with the Democrats, thousands of progressive activists will be there to express our anger at the bought-and-paid-for politicians. These meetings will be key places to push a people's agenda, and to make demands on the wealthy elite who control both political parties.

Protesters who converged on Seattle for the meeting of the World Trade Organization did something really great, for the people of this country and peoples of the world.