Tucson, AZ – The Federal Building in downtown Tucson saw the largest rally since the pandemic, May 17, with over 300 people demanding an end to the Israeli bombing of Gaza. The demonstration, organized by the Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance and the Tucson chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, drew protesters from the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities, along with other supporters of Palestine.

Tucson, AZ – The Federal Building in downtown Tucson saw the largest rally since the pandemic, May 17, with over 300 people demanding an end to the Israeli bombing of Gaza. The demonstration, organized by the Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance and the Tucson chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, drew protesters from the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities, along with other supporters of Palestine.

Tucson, AZ – On March 1, a dozen people rallied outside the Federal building in downtown Tucson to protest the recent U.S. airstrikes in Syria by the Biden administration. The crowd received honks of solidarity, and held signs that reading, “U.S. Hands Off Syria! U.S. out of Iraq! U.S. out of the Middle East!”

Tucson, AZ – As the state of Arizona reached the highest rate in the world of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people, hundreds of Arizona educators prepared a sick-out to demand two weeks of virtual learning. In the Chandler School District, the educator’s union’s consistent organizing efforts achieved big wins.

Tucson, AZ – As COVID-19 rates and deaths continue to rise in Arizona, as many as 750 educators in the districts of Chandler, Dysart, Peoria and Deer Valley are planning a sick-out to resist the order to return to in-person instruction.

Tucson, AZ – When the Chandler Unified School District governing board decided to stay with in-person instruction as Arizona continues to experience another spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths, some educators organized their resistance in the form of a sickout. Over 100 educators in CUSD called in sick on Friday, December 11 to express their opposition to the negligent board. The local union, Chandler Education Association (CEA) had issued a number of demands that include: educator representation on the district COVID committee, use of the more stringent county health metrics, and creating a COVID Task Force of educators, students, families, community and health professionals.

Tucson, AZ -Despite the closure of the physical presence of picket lines due to COVID-19, the eight unions representing nearly 2000 workers on strike at five Asarco facilities in Texas and Arizona remain “One day longer, one day stronger” against the abusive global copper giant.

Caracas, Venezuela – During the World Anti-Imperialist Congress, members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) delegation talked with women in the Bolivarian Militia. The Bolivarian Militia was created in 2005 in response to U.S. intervention. As of December 2019, President Maduro said he is moving toward making the Militia into “combat units” within the Armed Forces. In 2019, with multiple U.S.-backed coup attempts to install Juan Guaidó in place of democratically elected President Maduro, the Bolivarian Militia nearly doubled to 3.3 million members in a country of around 30 million people. Their role and responsibilities have increased in that time as Maduro assigned them to the food distribution program in May 2019.

Caracas, Venezuela – On the final day of the World Anti Imperialist Congress, January 24, Venezuelan President Nicólas Maduro spoke to the hundreds of international delegates from over fifty countries. A delegation from Freedom Road Socialist Organization is participating in the Congress.

Caracas, Venezuela – On January 23, thousands marched in Caracas and listened to a fiery speech from President Maduro to mark two important historic events. In 1958, mass movements joined with patriotic forces in the military to bring down the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jímenez. This was the model of civic-military unity that President Hugo Chávez used in his vision of a Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. Unfortunately for Venezuelans, the fall of the Jímenez dictatorship was a short-lived victory. The betrayal of this victory ushered in 40 years of violent repression of communists and other dissidents and disastrous economic policies like import substitution and neoliberal privatizations of important public services. By 1989, the massive poverty created by neoliberal policies led to an urban rebellion of workers and the poor, which led to a vicious police crackdown that killed over 3000 people. Three years later, paratrooper commander Hugo Chávez led a military uprising that ultimately failed but created a lasting popularity in the minds of millions of Venezuelans.