The World Federation of Trade Unions, representing more than 105 million workers who work live, and struggle in 133 countries all over the world, strongly condemns the continuation of military interventions and wars, the accelerated militarization of international relations and confrontational rhetoric, the soaring of the military expenditures, as well as the NATO plans amid the escalating intra-imperialist confrontation. The 2024 ΝΑΤΟ summit which will take place in Washington D.C. on 9-10-11 July 2024, constitutes one more step toward the intensification of NATO’s aggressive imperialist plans, interventions, and wars.

NATO has already announced an increase of its military budget for 2024 by 12% to 2.03 billion euros and its civil budget by 18.2% to 438.1 million euros increasing even more the operating capacity of NATO Command Structure headquarters, missions, and operations around the world. This year’s figures confirm the continuation of an at least 10 years-long course of moving towards a “war economy” for the member states of NATO, with NATO’s Secretary General emphasizing that “burden sharing is improving within NATO” while military spending is up 18 percent across European Allies and Canada in 2024, and 23 member states will spend at least 2% of GDP in military spending this year.

The International class-oriented trade union movement unequivocally condemns the war plans of the imperialists and strongly opposes the uninterrupted increase of the NATO budget which sharpens even more the confrontation and deepens the preparations and the risk for a generalized imperialist conflict with disastrous consequences for the popular strata and the ordinary people who always pay the cost of the imperialist antagonism.

NATO’s history demonstrates nothing but interventions, wars, juntas, refugees, starvation, destruction, and death. In addition, the continued soaring in military spending constitutes a provocation for the people who constantly see their living standards affected due to generalized price rises, inflation, and long-term austerity policies.

The militant class-oriented trade union movement intensifies the struggle against imperialist wars and the system that creates them. The WFTU fights for the dissolution of NATO which constitutes an aggressive war machine in service of the imperialist interests of its member states, aiming to maintain, and expand if possible, the existing favorable correlation of forces for the NATO countries in order to safeguard the profits of their monopolies.

Simultaneously we reiterate our firm demand for the immediate dissolution of all military coalitions, the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, an immediate end to all imperialist armed conflicts, and full respect for the sovereignty, independence, and right of every people to freely choose their present and future. We denounce the exclusions, discriminations, embargoes, and sanctions imposed by the US, NATO, and the EU against various countries, negatively impacting the standard of living of low-income families, workers, poor small farmers, and popular strata in general.

The WFTU calls upon workers all over the globe, the militant trade unions to join the ranks and the struggles of the international class-oriented trade union movement for lasting peace, for a world free of imperialist interventions and man-by-man exploitation.

#WFTU #NATO #EU #Militarization #Imperialism #Exploitation #Peace #Labor #TradeUnion

On October 29, President Trump ordered 5200 U.S. troops to the Mexican border in an attempted show of force with a caravan of refugees moving north from Honduras through Mexico. Trump has since threatened thousands more troops. The troop total could end up being more than the U.S. troops continuing the war in Afghanistan.

The caravan, composed largely of Hondurans fleeing gang violence and violent political repression, has seen as many as 7000 people. That figure has dropped to nearly 3500 because some 1700 have been said to have applied for documentation in Mexico. Regardless of the causes and the nature of the thousands of refugees seeking asylum, work and safety, Trump has rallied his rabid white racist base by unleashing the U.S. military to the border. The 5200 U.S. troops would be added to the existing 16,500 Border Patrol Agents and the extra 3500 National Guardsmen that Trump mobilized earlier this year.

The Tucson Anti-War Committee completely condemns this racist and militaristic move by Trump and calls for their immediate removal of ALL troops from the border. We are fully aware of the history of U.S. imperialism’s role in Central America that has led to the destruction of many countries like El Salvador. Presently, the nations of Central America today live among the concrete conditions laid in the wake of government overthrows, assassinations and military dictatorships. Moreover, the U.S. has only once admitted any culpability to their crimes in Central America. It has not contributed any reparations for the lives lost and damage done even though, in 1986, the International Court of Justice ruled the U.S. guilty of illegal support for the Contras and ordered the US pay reparations to Nicaragua.

More recently, in 2009, as the Pink Tide of leftist policies in Latin America was rising in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua, the U.S. and Honduran elites worked together to remove progressive President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras in a military coup. This coup was supported by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama. Since then, Honduras has seen a massive rightward shift of control, rife with brutal repression, and government collaboration with gangs. The result for the Honduran people has been the highest murder rate in the Western Hemisphere, increased poverty, privatization of public services, political assassinations and massive migration. The Anti-War Committee holds the U.S. government responsible for the lives journeying through Mexico and facing a now further militarized U.S. border.

Furthermore, the heavy U.S. military presence in Central America and the Caribbean is part of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), a combat command center that plans and implements covert and overt military operations throughout Latin America. Meanwhile, the U.S. 4th Naval Fleet stalks the shores of Central American countries like Nicaragua in order to enforce the agenda of Washington. Despite having been in the U.S. imperial crosshairs many times, including this spring and summer, Nicaragua’s Sandinista government programs have led to strengthening of economic and social stability, reduction in crime, and towards self-sufficiency. Compared to its northern neighbor Honduras, which suffered a U.S.-backed coup, Nicaragua has not contributed to mass migration.

Further south, the U.S. has used their influence over Colombia to operate bases that coordinate the war against the FARC and make Colombia a ‘global partner’ of NATO. As the neighbor of Venezuela, Colombia could now house nuclear weapons as the U.S. continues to seek regime change against President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. It is clear that the U.S. continues to seek to impose its will on the peoples of Latin America.

The Anti-War Committee joins all popular forces in demanding that President Trump remove the troops from the border and give asylum to Central American refugees.

Troops Off the Border!

U.S. Out of Latin America!

Asylum for All Refugees!

#TusconAZ #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #US #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarCommittee #militarization #DonaldTrump

Chicago, IL – When the people of Ferguson rose up last August, an act of international solidarity took place that the world is still talking about. Less than one week after the killing of Mike Brown, Palestinian activists resisting the Israeli war on Gaza tweeted advice on dealing with tear gas to Black protesters in the suburb of Saint Louis.

In Chicago, over 40 people gathered to hear a panel of local organizers discuss the struggle against war and occupation at home and around the world on Sept. 12. Holly Kent-Payne of the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, the group that hosted the gathering, talked about the use of tanks, assault rifles and other surplus military gear by the cops in Ferguson. These images were shocking to the U.S. public unaware that police forces in oppressed Black, Chicano and Latino communities have militarized heavily in recent years.

19-year-old Sundous Daghash of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network explained the struggle of the people of Palestine, and then noted that “tactics of repression were perfected by the Israeli military by constantly using them against the Palestinian people and then brought back to the U.S. to be practiced on the occupied Black nation here in the U.S.”

Lorena Buni of AnakBayan, a patriotic organization of Filipino youth in the U.S., detailed the suffering of the indigenous Lumad people at the hands of mining companies in the Philippines. The country’s armed forces torture and murder human rights advocate with impunity and with the full support of the U.S. military.

Frank Chapman, field organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and the main force behind the recent and historic August 29 rally to #StopPoliceCrimes in Chicago, put the different struggles in the context of U.S. imperialism and its 500 years of genocide and oppression of subjugated nations, including African Americans, Chicanos and Native Americans in the U.S., and Filipinos, Palestinians, and countless other countries that have the boot of imperialism on their necks.

All the speakers referenced the case of Rasmea Odeh, the Palestinian community leader in Chicago unjustly convicted in a federal kangaroo court for refusing to accept Israel’s occupation of her homeland. All the speakers, and many in the crowd, pledged to be present in Cincinnati when Rasmea has her appeal hearing on Oct. 14.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #militarization #Ferguson

Gainesville, FL – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Florida marched through campus on Dec. 3. Students are demanding that the University Police Department opt out of the Department of Defense 1033 Program that provides assault rifles and armored vehicles to local police. The 1033 Program came under close scrutiny after protests against the police murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Photos of protesters and residents being confronted by local police armed with assault weapons and tank-type vehicles shocked the world.

SDS was joined by other campus groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and the UF Libertarians, as well as Veterans for Peace from the local community. Those marching joined in chants of “Tuition money is for education, not police militarization,” and “From Kofi to Brown, shut it all down,” referencing a Ghanaian graduate student shot in the face in his own apartment by campus police in 2010.

Sky Button of SDS spoke about the growing campaign, “The student response that we received was overwhelmingly positive. After learning about the 1033 Program, the vast majority of students came out against this program.”

Three students from SDS and SJP were granted a meeting with the head of University of Florida Police Department (UFPD), Lieutenant Linda Stump. Stump agreed to opt out of the 1033 Program if the UFPD were allowed to keep its armored rescue vehicle. As an alternative, Stump agreed to sign a pledge to consult with students if the UFPD were to consider receiving other materiel.

Tristan Worthington, one of the SDS members in the delegation that met with Lieutenant Stump commented on the meeting, “I’m pleased that Lieutenant Stump says she is willing and eager to work hand-in-hand with us to reform the system and revise the current relationship UFPD has with the 1033 Program.”

#GainesvilleFL #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PoliceBrutality #militarization #Antiracism #StudentsForJusticeInPalestine #DepartmentOfDefense1033Program

Gainesville, FL – On Nov. 5, Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Florida (UF SDS) conducted a workshop on history and growing militarization of police in the U.S., titled “The War at Home.” 25 students participated in the workshop. The University of Florida is where graduate student Kofi Adu-Brempong was shot by campus police with an assault rifle on March 2, 2010. Adu-Brempong, from Ghana in Africa, was in his apartment when police broke down the door and Officer Keith Smith shot him in the face. The university eventually fired Lt. Stacey Ettel who was in charge at the scene.

Tristan Worthington, a lead organizer with SDS, opened the workshop saying, “We are facing an increase of police militarization on campuses across the U.S., including UF.”

Jonathan Waring, an SDSer, explained, “The militarization of the police on campus was fueled by the Department of Defense Excess Property Program (DoD 1033). The 1033 Program allows the Department of Defense to give away military-grade weapons, new or used in combat, to police departments. The only fees the police departments pay are for shipping or upkeep. This is now an issue because small sleepy towns such as Gainesville, Florida have armored cars and assault rifles at the ready.” Waring underlined the problem saying, “Police officers in most of the country require less training hours than barbers need to get a license, and yet we trust them to protect us.”

Eric Brown, with both SDS and Students for Justice in Palestine, covered the militarization of police forces beginning in the 1960s with the creation of SWAT teams. Brown told his fellow students, “It’s not a surprise that the first SWAT raid in this country was on the Black Panther Headquarters in Los Angeles.” He also commented on the current context for heavily-armed police forces, “The U.S. sold $220 billion worth of arms between 2004 and 2011. The U.S. is the leading arms exporter in the world and has connections to most military conflicts in the world.”

SDS is continuing their campaign to end police militarization on their campus by demanding that the University of Florida opt out of the 1033 Program and stop receiving military grade weapons. There will be another student event on Dec 3.

#GainesvilleFL #InJusticeSystem #SDS #PoliceBrutality #militarization

First of all, the militarization of the border will kill migrants. There is no doubt about this. This policy is a natural extension of a policy the U.S. has followed for some years now of essentially pushing would-be migrants to attempt crossings in the more deserted, drier and dangerous parts of the border. It is an extension of the border fence and the ‘Canal of the Americas’, which have had the effect of causing more and more migrants to attempt crossings through the driest parts of the Arizona desert. The deaths are becoming more and more concentrated in the area of Pima County Arizona, where migrants are crossing some fifty miles of barren desert before they reach the first road. The cost of this can be counted in the bodies of migrants who do not succeed in making the crossing.

In the early and mid 1990s, the number of migrants dying each year trying to cross into the United States was typically between 200 and 300. In 2009, the bodies of 417 migrants were found. Even this number probably underestimates the true total, since the bodies of many migrants are probably never found.

The militarization of the border is a criminal policy. Those who are pushing this policy are clearly aware that it will kill migrants, since the effect of this sort of policy was clearly pointed out to Congress in a General Accounting Office report in 2005. The policy of militarization of the border nevertheless has almost universal support in Congress. This shows the cynicism of our political leaders, who are evidently unconcerned with how many people their policies, especially when the victims are Mexicans.

But this disregard for human life has a long history in the Southwest. Mexican miners and ranchers were robbed of their land and lynched in California during the Gold Rush. Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans have suffered from police brutality and police murders throughout the modern history of this region. They continue to be criminalized, as seen in Arizona’s SB1070 that mandates that police stop and question people based only on a ‘reasonable suspicion’ they are undocumented. And the prisons are full of Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans who are imprisoned for years in circumstances where others would be set free.

The same dehumanization of Chicanos, Mexicans and Central Americans is evident in the violence with which political movements in this community are often suppressed. It is only three years ago – May 1, 2007 – that a peaceful immigrant rights rally in Los Angeles was suppressed by police firing rubber bullets and swinging batons, leaving dozens of people injured, including nine journalists. Nor has the community forgotten the police riot and the murder of Ruben Salazar, and killing of Angel Diaz, and Lynn Ward at the hands of police during the mass Chicano Moratorium march and anti-war rally of August 29, 1970.

In light of all this, the Congressional disregard for Mexican life, while appalling, is not surprising. We must keep in mind as well that the use of soldiers to keep Mexicans out of the Southwestern United States is a historical injustice. It is a well-known fact that the United States seized the territory which is now California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas from Mexico by war and the treaties which followed wars. This chapter in American history is shameful and many Americans now recognize that. But that is mere historical fact: To use the military to prevent desperate Mexicans from entering the territory which was stolen from Mexico is to continue these historical crimes into the present day.

It is a well-known fact that the use of soldiers to perform police duties is a recipe for trouble. Soldiers are trained and equipped for war, in which it is a matter of kill or be killed. They are not prepared for the much grayer area of law enforcement. It is dangerous to civilians and unfair to soldiers to thrust soldiers into a role for which they are not prepared. The Border Patrol has already killed two Mexicans this year, how many more will die with soldiers there?

Furthermore, the militarization of the border is a serious danger to United States civil liberties. The right wing is trying to whip up fear of immigrants by saying that immigrants are bringing crime and drugs to the United States. But the reality is that immigrants are less likely to be involved in criminal activity than native-born Americans. This policy of militarization calls for an enormous increase in the use of surveillance equipment, including remote cameras and even military drones, and hugely increased patrols by soldiers and border patrol officers alike through a large swath of the United States. These are steps that are unprecedented in American history. In the history of this country no government has ever found it necessary to do this. It sets a dangerous precedent can be followed by similar increases in surveillance in American cities. This will come down the hardest on Latinos, African Americans and other oppressed nationalities who bear the brunt of the governments violation of civil liberties.

Also, we must keep in mind the fundamental injustices of U.S. border policy. Migrants from Mexico and Central America are coming to the United States because of the economic devastation in their own countries. The reality is that the economic problems in those countries are a direct result of United States policy. U.S. policy has devastated our neighbors to the south through free trade agreements, U.S. funded civil wars, the drug industry which supplies the United States and neoliberal economic policies which our government has forced the governments of those countries to implement. It is grossly unfair that we should destroy the economies of those countries and then turn our soldiers against the refugees we have created by preventing them from seeking a better life here.

President Obama's recent remarks have given many people in the immigrant community renewed hope that there may be some form of reform this year. It is plain to see that at most what can be expected from this administration is half measures. But the situation of immigrants in the United States is so poor that even half measures must be welcomed. At the same time, those of us involved in the struggle for immigrant rights must not lose sight of the dangers of border militarization.

We must to fight against any border militarization component of immigration reform proposals and continue to struggle against this murderous and unjust policy.

#UnitedStates #militarization #border