Minneapolis, MN – A large number of protests and events are planned for this upcoming week, March 26 through April 1, to demand “Justice for Trayvon Martin.” A few are listed below.

*Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement of support in defense of veteran Chicano activist Carlos Montes from the State Association of Mexican American Educators (AMAE).*

All around the U.S., people are taking action to denounce the racist murder of African American teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. We demand justice!

Ron Paul is attracting a lot of attention, including some attention from some people in the anti-war movement, because of his views on foreign policy. Paul has demanded that the president “bring the troops home.” He reflects popular opinion when he says that President Bush overstepped his powers in starting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without a declaration of war. In general, Paul is known as an isolationist, rather than a pro-war candidate. However, Ron Paul supports assassinations and other ‘covert actions,’ acts, which are both illegal and anti-democratic, against other countries. In the Republican debates, his campaign tends to put little emphasis on his anti-war stances. Still, to find a candidate of either party who is against the wars is viewed by some as refreshing.

Tampa, FL – 300 protesters rallied and marched against the Republican Party at the primary debate in Tampa, Jan. 23. The protest began with a rally at the University of South Florida's Administration Building. The groups, part of the Coalition to March on the RNC, included Students for a Democratic Society, local affiliates of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Occupy Tampa, Fight Back Florida and Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

There is growing apprehension that through miscalculation, deliberate provocation or a staged false flag operation, a U.S. war with Iran is imminent.

On Sept. 17, 2011, a group of protesters gathered in Zuccotti Park in New York City. Their intention: to expose Wall Street greed and corporate domination over the lives of working and middle class people, the 99%. Almost immediately, police responded to the protesters with repression and pepper spray. This caused thousands of New Yorkers to flood to Zuccotti Park. Occupy Wall Street was on. Protesters camped in the park and did not leave for 59 days. Support for the protest built quickly and spread across the country and around the world. Within weeks, almost a thousand cities had Occupy protests. U.S. cities big and small had Occupations, including Chicago, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Oakland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tampa and Winston-Salem.

Minneapolis, MN – Speaking to *Fight Back!* Jan. 2, Steff Yorek, the political secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, condemned President Obama’s signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (the NDAA), which includes provisions that allow for indefinite military detention without trial.

It’s an old saying – oppression breeds resistance. In 2011, we saw that it’s still true. In 2011 there were massive new outbreaks of resistance around the world, from Egypt’s Tahrir Square to mass upsurges in Greece, Chile and Spain and to the Madison, Wisconsin capitol building and Occupy Wall Street in the U.S. In 2011 long-standing resistance struggles continued to push forward too, from Palestine to the Philippines to Nepal to Colombia.

The United States and its Western allies, along with reactionary pro-U.S. Arab regimes in the Middle East, are doing everything in their power to bring down the government of Syria. They have imposed sanctions that harm the Syrian people. They interfere in Syria’s internal affairs, with the aim of spreading disorder and chaos. Behind these attacks there is the steady drumbeat threatening foreign military intervention.