Seoul, SK – On August 15, the Jaju Solidarity Brigade, led by Nodutol, joined 10,000 people marching in Seoul, Republic of Korea to demand “U.S. out of Korea.” This was the first international delegation to ever join the annual National Liberation Day protest in South Korea, which has historically brought together the country’s most progressive trade unions, student organizations, women’s groups, and other civil society organizations to oppose the Ulchi Freedom Shield war drills.

June Colcol, the secretary general of BAYAN USA, explained the purpose of the delegation at a press conference for the delegation, “We aim to contribute to uplifting the Korean national liberation struggles against U.S. militarism by raising the people's resistance and linking our efforts to kick out the U.S. from our homelands. U.S. military presence continues to place our people in danger.”

21 international anti-war and progressive organizations, from the U.S., Hawai’i, Puerto Rico, Guåhan (Guam), the Philippines and India, participated in the Jaju Solidarity Brigade. The brigade spent a week visiting sites of U.S. military occupation, including Gusan Air Base, Camp Casey and Camp Humphreys. The delegation also met with people’s resistance leaders from across South Korea to learn about their fightbacks to U.S. occupation.

Chrisley Carpio, a member of the standing committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, participated in the delegation and stated, “We visited memorials of children killed by U.S. troops, mass unmarked graves of political prisoners who defied U.S. occupation, lands where villages were displaced to make way for U.S. military expansion – and yet these were not wholly sites of tragedy, but of struggle. There was a movement, campaign, and demand at every step. Together, countless organizations spoke with one voice: the U.S. needs to leave Korea now.”

#SeoulSK #SK #Korea #International #JajuSolidarityBrigade #Nodutdol #BAYAN #Featured

Minneapolis, MN – On August 15, community members gathered at Mayday Plaza to honor the 81st anniversary of Korean Liberation Day. The event was held in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, right outside of Mayday Books.

The action was emceed by Trent Fast from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and Leo Del Rio from About Face, who began with the acknowledgement of the U.S.’s ongoing presence and occupation in Korea.

One occupation replaced by another

Fast explained to the crowd that the first liberation day in Korea was in 1945, after World War II ended. This marked an end to decades of Japanese colonial rule. Soon after, however, the United States military “showed up and established its own, brand-new occupation.” Thus, the Korean War began.

From 1950 to 1953, the U.S. government killed over two-and-a-half million Koreans and nearly decimated every major North Korean city. At the end of those three long years, the Mutual Defense Treaty was signed. Even though the war had “ended,” the U.S. remained in Korea as an imperialist force, occupying newly-designated South Korea. This occupation still lasts today. On average, there are about 28,000 U.S. troops that are living in Korea, and South Korea has the largest overseas U.S. Army base in the world.

Cedar Larson, representing WAMM, educated the crowd around the Mutual Defense Treaty and other similar agreements, calling them, “political tools to increase U.S. domination and control” over the land. They said the treaty gave the U.S. the “opportunity to threaten their enemies” and had “disastrous effects on the lives of the people.”

Forced prostitution

Larson also drew attention to the human rights violations that have been occurring since the 1960s. For example, the governments of the United States and South Korea established areas around military bases known as “special tourist zones for foreigners” – meaning soldiers. In these designated areas, South Korean, American and United Nations troops introduced forced prostitution. Women and girls, as young as 15, were “deceived, kidnapped, and forced into sex labor,” said Larson.

These crimes have continued to the present day. Even though laws have been put into place, they are rarely followed. The areas discussed above are often now branded as “tourist stops” but have a dark underbelly.

Ecological consequences of imperialism

Liz McLister from FAMM brought up the ecological effects that the U.S. occupation has had in Korea. McLister said that from “contaminating water supplies and arable land” to “disrupting wildlife habitats,” the U.S. has only brought destruction to the country. As climate change continues to worsen, the Pacific region is experiencing extreme heat, rising sea levels, coastal erosion and severe storm systems.

U.S. activities in the region are accelerating ecological damage and leaving its communities traumatized by decades of systemic abuse. Emily Newberg from WAMM stated, “Occupation is wrong. To occupy another’s land to take away their sovereignty and their self-determination. It leads to catastrophe in almost every way: economically, environmentally and nationally as the people are torn apart by propaganda and false promises.”

Not only does this occupation affect the communities living in Korea, but also U.S. citizens. U.S. tax dollars are being used to maintain around 80 military bases in Korea, using “$6 billion to maintain U.S. bases and troops in South Korea,” according to Larson. McLister pointed out that the “Korean peninsula is of immense strategic value to U.S. military operations.”

Korea’s proximity to China and other strategic locations makes it the perfect target for the U.S. military and imperialist interests.

Simulated invasion

Along with the maintenance of military bases, the United States also engages in staged military exercises or “war games.” Since 2021, the U.S. government has stolen $60 billion from U.S. taxpayers to fund war games like Ulchi Freedom Shield, RIMPAC and Balikatan. These military exercises are conducted in “preparation” for a war with other countries in the area, such as China and Japan.

Fast noted that during the upcoming week, the United States and South Korean militaries were planning to hold “one of the largest annual war drills on earth.” This exercise is named Ulchi Freedom Shield.

During these drills, tens of thousands of troops are deployed to the border with the North, simulating an invasion. Fast said that these war games could quickly escalate to actual war if there is a simple misunderstanding by either side, and have a heavy psychological toll on the people of Korea, who fear an uncertain future.

The day after the protest, President Donald Trump announced a reduction of the scope of this year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield, in apparent reaction to depleted U.S. military capacities stemming from the ongoing U.S. war on Iran.

As Naveen Borojerdi from MPAC put it, Korea is a “country that has paid a massive toll for its right to self-determination.”

A speaker from Anakbayan asked rhetorically, “For whom? For whom was the United States liberating countries across Asia? It was not for those people.”

Organizations were represented at the action, included About Face: Veterans Against the War, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Families Against Military Madness (FAMM), Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC), Anakbayan Twin Cities, and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC).

#MinneapolisMN #MN #International #AntiWarMovement #Korea

Los Angeles, CA – On Sunday, July 26, over 100 activists from different organizations came together to celebrate the launch of Bulosan – a network fighting for the labor movement in the United States and international solidarity with unions and workers in the Philippines.

“The core of our organization is made up of union organizers and workers who understand the importance of building genuine trade unions, building solidarity between workers in the Philippines and workers in southern California, and organizing overseas Filipino workers to contribute to the struggle back home. Before launching our organization, we grew to include several more organizers and workers and we are now growing every week,” said one of the Bulosan organizers.

The program started with report-backs from U.S. union members who recently went on a labor solidarity trip to the Philippines and saw firsthand the militancy and discipline of the KMU trade unionists. They noticed that workers in the Filipino labor movement are connected and involved across different industries and unions. “When there is a labor action in the Philippines, everybody comes out for it,” said Ryan Calbreath of the United Electrical Workers.

Then a panel of workers who traveled to Crockwell, California shared their experiences on the picket lines of the C&H refinery strike. C&H ILWU Local 6 workers have been on strike since June 15 over proposed cuts to health care, overtime and sick days. The workers have refused to unload the sugar from the ports where it arrives from sugar plantations of Negros Island in the Philippines.

The panel summated that workers in the Philippines and workers in the United States have more in common with each other than with their bosses. And sometimes, like with C&H sugar, they even have the same bosses.

The program ended with solidarity statements from other organizations including Migrante USA, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, International Women’s Alliance, and Centro CSO.

Leilani Gonzalez, executive co-chair of Centro CSO, shared a solidarity statement supporting the labor movement in the Philippines. “It's important to continue to organize and raise the political consciousness of workers, to question the systems of oppression and connect it back to imperialism and join organizations like Bulosan. We look forward to working together more against our shared enemy.”

To learn about how you can support Bulosan, follow them on Instagram: @BulosanLA

#LosAngelesCA #CA #Labor #International #Philippines #Bulosan

Chicago, IL – On Sunday, July 26, over 100 Chicagoans gathered downtown at the Philippine Consulate for the annual People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA) to demand accountability and transparency from the Filipino government, an immediate end to political repression and forced migration, and funding for essential services like jobs, education, healthcare and food.

PSONA is held by Filipino organizations to protest President Bongbong Marcos’ yearly State of the Nation address, which is rife with imperialist and pro-U.S. propaganda. The world that the Filipino people are living in is nothing like the one Marcos describes.

A member of Anakbayan Metro Detroit said Marcos’ words “could not be any more contradictory to the actions he took during his administration,” and noted that “during Marcos’ regime, July 2022 to June 2026, there have been 147 extrajudicial killings. 52 of those killings took place on Negros Island alone.”

Among demands was justice for the Negros 19, a group of 19 activists who were executed by the Marcos regime this past April. Two of the victims were minors.

“Marcos commended the AFP following the Negros 19 massacre, calling it a ‘job well done,’” said a member of Anakbayan. “Because Bongbong enabled the rapid militarization of the countryside, and let the Balikatan exercises continue in the region, residents are actively being displaced; over 650 people in Negros alone. Shame!”

The violence inflicted by the Marcos regime comes in many forms, including lack of funding for vital services like healthcare. “Currently, the state of the Filipino healthcare system is dire. People die of preventable and curable diseases. And even though the Philippines is known for exporting nurses abroad, the nursing shortage in the country is severe, with one nurse assigned to as many as 60 people,” said a member of Kalusugan at Kalikasan ng Bayan.

Many speakers also denounced Pax Silica, a U.S.-engineered global AI supply chain initiative designed to assert Western hegemony over critical minerals used to power AI.

A member of the Chicago Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines stated that “although Pax Silica and the critical minerals pact are framed as economic initiatives, we must see the truth of the U.S. and the Philippines’ violence and greed. While they cling to the veneer of neoliberal globalization and ‘free’ markets, and with new AI toys in hand, they double down on military force and subjugation.”

A member of Kabataan Alliance – Midwest spoke further to the exploitation of natural resources of the Philippines at the expense of its environment and infrastructure, stating that Marcos’ sham investigations into flood control projects allow “corrupt officials to continue to roam free and steal our money and resources, contributing to the suffering of the people.”

Though Marcos’ address is a horrifying reminder that the Filipino people are fighting for their lives, a member of Tanggol Migrante spoke to the determination of Filipinos in the fight for their freedom. “As a people torn from our homeland, we will not back down and we link arms with all Filipinos all over the world to fight wherever we are, and even go back home to serve our people. We will have a better future and world for all of us, where genuine freedom is not just an inspiration but is a reality for each and every one of us.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #International #Philippines #AntiWarMovement

New Orleans, LA – On Sunday, July 26, activists and community members gathered in front of the federal building downtown to commemorate the Cuban National Day of Rebellion and demand that the U.S. cease its blockade against Cuba.

The rally occurred with a backdrop of several banners on the walls of the Hale Boggs Federal Building commemorating the 250 year anniversary of the United States. Members of New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports held up their own banner which read “No more wars for oil. End the embargo on Cuba now. Venceremos!” alongside the Cuban and Venezuelan flags.

73 years after the Cuban people kickstarted their rebellion against the U.S.-backed regime and succeeded, the U.S. government has escalated its attacks on Cuba, with intent to cause suffering and break the spirit of the Cuban people

In January, President Trump issued an executive order which effectively established a fuel blockade against Cuba, plunging the nation into a deep humanitarian crisis. Protesters gathered to demand an end to this cruel economic war on the Cuban people. Despite the decades of U.S. sanctions that have plagued the Cuban population, the Cuban people have continued to resist U.S. interference in their politics and economic life.

Rose Framboise of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization made a point to read excerpts from Secretary of State Rubio’s recent inflammatory report on Cuba, which she quoted verbatim: “‘In Cuba’s telling, the oppressed peoples of the world from Harlem to Hanoi all share one enemy: the same racist Yankee imperialism victimizing Africa, Asia, Latin America was victimizing Blacks and other minorities in the United States.’ I appreciate your candor, Marco Rubio – it seems like a pretty fine analysis to me!” said Framboise.

The Trump administration’s increasing economic and political pressure against Cuba is only becoming less popular. Recent polls from May show that only 15% of Americans support U.S. intervention in Cuba, with over 64% completely opposing U.S. war in the country. The crowd echoed that sentiment by chanting “Cuba sí, bloqueo no!” and “Biggest threat to the world today, Donald Trump and the USA!”

#NewOrleansLA #LA #International #Cuba

San Francisco, CA – On July 27, a crowd surrounded the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco for the People’s State of the Nation Address to protest against the reactionary Bongbong Marcos Jr. This comes after a torrent of nationwide protests which have rocked the Philippines in the wake of economic disasters and armed attacks on workers and farmers.

The action began with the song Kapangyarihan honoring the martyrs who died resisting Duterte’s “War on Drugs,” which extrajudicially killed 30,000 people.

Che Lodico from Kabataan Alliance stated, “This past June I participated in the Bayanihan disaster response trip and peasant integration to the Philippines. During our trip, we were able to integrate to the province of Camarines Sur, which is one of the richest provinces and yet the people there are the poorest in the Bicol Region.”

Lodico continued, “Just like most of the countryside in the Philippines, many of the farmers do not own the land they are tilling on, so they are hired by the landowners as farmworkers for only 250 to 500 pesos a day.” This follows a pattern in the Philippines as victims of poverty and man-made environmental disasters are met with neglect, red-tagging, and even extrajudicial killings by the Marcos regime for demanding welfare and repairs.

“Why is the NTF-ELCAC investing 24 million pesos in constructing dams, flood control dams, water systems, road constructions in indigenous people’s communities of Mindanao? Because they only want to attack the activist youth and peasants. They also take away their livelihoods by creating man-made disasters in the countryside!” continued Lodico.

Tree Aquino from Pilipino Laban sa Korapsyon (PILAK) stated, “Currently, Vice President Sara Duterte made history for being the first Filipino politician to be impeached twice, and this trial must continue without fail. She must be held accountable for the misuse of 600 million pesos in public funds, and we demand that she be transparent with her bank and tax records!”

Aquino also recalled attempts made by the organization to call on the Philippine Consulate and its consulate general, Arnel Talisayon, to protect Filipino migrants, only to find they had lopsided priorities.

“When we tried to schedule a meeting with Arnel Talisayon to discuss the pressing needs of Filipinos and undocumented migrants in our area, he left his scheduled meet-and-greet early and did not address any of our concerns,” Aquino lamented. “Meanwhile, he happily takes time to meet with big tech and sell out the Philippines to the highest bidder!”

Isa Patoto made a tearful plea on behalf of the Defend Negros Island Campaign to seek accountability and justice for the Toboso 19 and victims of extrajudicial killings. “On April 19 and 20, the 79th Infantry Battalion from the Armed Forces of the Philippines did a forced evacuation of 653 people from Toboso, Negros Occidental and did an illegal strafing on their community killing 19 including two beloved Filipino American activists, Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem.” This comes as one-third of all extrajudicial killings by the Marcos Regime are committed in the “Sugarbowl of the Philippines” alone.

“The massacre was a direct result of the organized peasants and farmers who resisted under the NTF-ELCAC and under the guise of counterinsurgency. And what did Bongbong Marcos do? He congratulated the 79th Infantry Battalion and treated them to a feast, and also had a bid for the UN Security Council!” said Patoto, highlighting the absurdity of the government’s response to the AFP’s violation of international human law.

The action ended with a performance of the song Lahat ng Sangkot, Dapat Managot, while protesters destroyed effigies of Trump and Bongbong Marcos Jr. as the crowd cheered on.

#SanFranciscoCA #CA #International #Philippines

Tucson, AZ – For 53 days, the social movements of indigenous peoples and trade unions blockaded streets across Bolivia to protest the neoliberal agenda of President Rodrigo Paz. Shortly after Paz’s inauguration in November of 2025, unions and community organizations issued economic demands that included stopping the privatization of the nationalized resources of country, reinstating fuel subsidies, and ending tax cuts for the rich.

When Paz refused to meet and dialogue for solutions, the popular forces in the country united for a national strike and blockaded major highways. The movement's escalated tactics brought an escalated demand that President Raz resign immediately. For almost two months, amid heavy repression under the “state of exception” that allowed for detentions and arrests without warrants and state violence, the peoples’ movements held strong.

A longtime indigenous leader from the trade union movement who served as Bolivia’s president from 2006 to 2019, Evo Morales had been protected in his home by indigenous organizations. It was reported that workers took over a nearby airport to prevent state forces, in coordination with present U.S. military advisers, from kidnapping him like they did democratically-elected Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.

Now, the far-right, pro-U.S. government of Rodrigo Paz is out to get Evo Morales for bogus charges of “armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the state, terrorism and attacks on the safety of means of transport.”

Other leaders facing this political repression include Juan Carlos Huarachi, a leader from the trade union federation Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), and Freddy Mamani, a professor and leader in an educators’ trade union.

#TucsonAZ #AZ #International #Bolivia #EvoMorales

New York, NY – On July 29, over 150 people rallied outside of New York City’s Philippine consulate for the annual People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA), presenting the people’s assessment of the Marcos Jr. administration and demanding justice for Filipino immigrant workers and an end to political repression.

The rally took place with an added sense of urgency after community member Kuya Raul was taken by ICE two nights before the demonstration. Throughout the afternoon, protesters repeatedly chanted “Free Kuya Raul” and “Justice for Kuya Raul!” linking his detention to the broader struggle against anti-immigrant policy and state repression.

A member of the Malaya movement asked the crowd, “Do we think he’s [Marcos Jr] telling the truth?” Protesters answered with a loud “No!” Do we think he knows the realities of the Filipino people?” Once again, the crowd responded in unison. The exchange reflected the central message of the People’s State of the Nation Address: that the experiences of workers, immigrants and poor communities stand in sharp contrast to the image presented by the Marcos administration.

Speakers from Migrante, Gabriela and Anakbayan connected the conditions faced by Filipinos in the Philippines with the struggles of immigrant communities in the United States, emphasizing that poverty, displacement, labor exploitation and state repression cannot be separated from attacks on migrants abroad.

Speakers from Nodutdol and JUPI connected the struggles to their own national liberation struggles in Korea and Puerto Rico, emphasizing the need for international solidarity. Participants carried signs and banners calling for justice, chanted throughout the march, and called on passersby to stand in solidarity with the Filipino people.

Among the day’s most emotional speeches was that of Kuya Raul’s son, who stated, “He needs to be home,” he told the crowd. “He is the breadwinner of our family.”

After the rally, demonstrators marched towards the Ceberus building, bringing their demands beyond the Philippine Consulate. Chants of “Justice for Kuya Raul!” echoed alongside calls for justice for the Filipino people, drawing the attention of pedestrians and motorists while demonstrating the unity of the coalition assembled for this year’s PSONA.

As the march concluded, organizers reaffirmed their commitment to continuing the struggle for genuine democracy and justice for the Filipino people while calling for Kuya Raul’s release.

#NewYorkNY #NY #International #Philippines

Northampton, MA – On July 26, the River Valley Anti-War Committee (RAWC) called a rally to stand in solidarity with Cuba. The rally was held in Pulaski Park in downtown Northampton to demand the U.S. lift the blockade and for the Trump administration to cease its drive toward war with Cuba.

The rally was attended by over 30 community members holding signs reading “Cuba is not a threat” and “Stop the embargo.” A trio of teenage activists held a hand painted banner that proclaimed “Hands off Cuba! Break the blockade!” In between speakers, the attendees chanted, “Biggest threat in the world today? Donald Trump and the USA!” and “We want justice, you say how! Lift the blockade on Cuba now!” earning applause and cheers of encouragement from community members passing by the park on several occasions.

Aidan Mastroianni of RAWC opened the rally, “July 26 is widely considered the spark that began the Cuban revolution that would go on to topple the U.S.-backed dictatorship,” he said, detailing the importance of July 26 to the history of Cuba.

Mastroianni continued by denouncing the 100-page document recently published by the U.S. State Department titled “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” stating that this is “an attempt to fool the people of this country into supporting yet another illegal military intervention against a sovereign nation” and that it contains “mostly fantastical lies and outright projection.”

Sadie Ryan, a member of Mass Cuba Solidarity, talked about the declassified federal documents that clearly lay out the reasoning and tactics employed by the U.S. government when the blockade was first enacted.

“The most effective means of undermining the popular revolution was to isolate and suffocate the country,” said Ryan, quoting one of the many similar documents available to the public. “The strategy was clear: to tighten the noose around the Cuban people to deliberately produce hunger, desperation and overthrow of the government.”

“Why do we demonize the country that has uplifted and helped so many nations when inside the belly of the beast we are told to support only destruction?” asked Roman Handlen of the River Valley district of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, as he spoke about the tradition of internationalism upheld for generations by the people of Cuba. “Why was our government spending so much time, money and energy trying to destroy the Cuban people when America’s own people struggled in poverty?”

Handlen continued, contrasting how by 1960 the Cuban government had outlawed discrimination and institutional racism with the fact that Black Americans in the Black Belt south continued to suffer under Jim Crow laws.

Several speakers ended their speeches with calls to visit Cuba on one of the many solidarity brigades that make the trip yearly and to continue their solidarity work.

“The experience and perspective gained from traveling to Cuba is essential for us to continue to expand our advocacy and solidarity work here,” said Jaiden O’Kane of the River Valley Democratic Socialists of America. “Every conversation we start, every voice we amplify strengthens our solidarity and builds our movement.”

Aidan Mastroianni closed out the rally by echoing this call to visit Cuba stating, “See for yourself that they are not our enemy, see what kind of society they have built and how much of a lie the mainstream narrative we have been fed for decades is.”

#NorthamptonMA #MA #International #Cuba #AntiWarMovement

An estimated 3,000 Aeta indigenous people from five barangays marched in Capas, Tarlac on July 14 to denounce the seizure of their ancestral land and the harassment they suffer from the Philippine Air Force (PAF). They also condemned the takeover of their ancestral land for the expansion of New Clark City under the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

The Aeta masses marched from Barangay O’Donnell to a checkpoint entering Colonel Ernesto Ravina Air Base (CERAB), a military reservation in Barangay Santa Juliana. National democratic groups in Central Luzon voiced support for them.

The PAF barred these communities from building and repairing homes. It suppressed their water and electricity supply and blocked the entry of aid and other services. This is tied to plans of building a Joint Training Complex for Filipino and American troops in the area.

The indigenous people said they were not asked for their free, prior and informed consent for this. Residents will be driven out of the 18,000-hectare military complex in the barangays of Santa Juliana, O’Donnell (Patling), and Santa Lucia.

Meanwhile, the BCDA continues constructing roads and destroying farms, ancestral land, and the environment for New Clark City. The Aeta residents expect the evictions to intensify further because the expansion includes a U.S. plan to build an economic security zone with an “artificial intelligence hub,” data centers, and other infrastructure under the Pax Silica initiative.

The US Embassy in the Philippines announced on July 14 the visit of US Ambassador Lee Lipton to the site of the projects in the economic security zone. That zone sits right next to the Joint Training Complex and is part of military and economic hubs such as the Subic Ammunition Factory and Agila Shipyard, Basa Airbase, Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation, and the APECO Defense Hub.

#International #Philippines #AngBayan

NYC, NY—On July 22 at 8 a.m., protesters will rally to demand, “Free President Maduro and First Lady Flores!” outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan, New York.

A growing coalition of groups and individuals, both in NYC and nationally, support freedom for the pair. Coalition members include Brooklyn Against War, the Anti-War Action Network, Workers World Party, International Action Center, Palaver Collective, Black Alliance for Peace, and the International League of People’s Struggle.

“President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores have done nothing wrong. They have committed no crime. Their kidnapping, detention, and trial by Trump and the U.S. government is the only crime here,” said Tom Burke, a longtime anti-war activist and organizational secretary for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Burke continued, “The whole world sees Trump and Wall Street attempting to dominate Venezuela’s oil, minerals and economy. It is armed robbery.”

“While other countries send Venezuela earthquake aid, Trump and the U.S. government are imposing U.S. military forces and enforcing U.S. economic sanctions,” Burke said.

Dozens of anti-war and international solidarity protesters will gather at Baxter Street and Worth Street in Manhattan to let the U.S. Department of Justice know they demand the cancellation of the prosecution against President Maduro and Cilia Flores. Their flyer reads, “Free Maduro! Free Flores! Hands off Venezuela! No war with Cuba!”

#NYCNY #NY #International #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #Maduro #Cuba #BAW #AWAN #Featured

For four years, the Filipino people have endured suffering under Marcos’ puppet, oppressive, and fascist regime. Despite all of Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s efforts to paint Philippine “progress,” he cannot conceal the reality of worsening conditions of the country and the Filipino people. Marcos officials have repeatedly declared the defeat of the revolutionary armed struggle, yet military operations across all guerrilla fronts throughout the archipelago remain relentless. Marcos continues to fan the flames of the people’s war.

The situation of workers, farmers, fishermen, and other basic classes and sectors comprising the majority of the people further deteriorates. On the other hand, the few ruling classes, accomplices of US imperialism, feast on wealth accumulated from oppression and exploitation of the toiling masses, bureaucratic corruption, plunder of natural resources, and grabbing people’s land and livelihood. The nation’s security is in peril as Marcos allows the US to use the Philippines as a giant military base.

Living standards plummet amid skyrocketing prices of oil, food, and daily necessities. Marcos’s photo-op gestures like rice giveaways and aid programs are hollow. Workers’ wages and the salaries of ordinary employees fall short of half what a family of five needs to live decently. Farmers are sinking deeper into debt in the face of rising costs of production and living.

The unemployment crisis is acute. Millions are jobless, especially among the youth. Thousands of Filipino workers migrate overseas daily seeking employment. This results from the decline of local production in both manufacturing and agriculture, caused by all-out import liberalization and flooding of foreign commodities. There is no program to build local national industries to produce basic needs. Marcos continues to bury the Philippines deeper into debt.

While the people struggle, factional strife over corruption and power continues unabated. The 2028 election remains far off, but maneuvering and posturing have already begun. To preempt Vice President Sara Duterte’s candidacy, the Marcos camp is pushing for her impeachment. What the people truly want is justice and accountability for all those involved in corruption and plunder of public funds, particularly Marcos himself as the highest official and chief of bureaucrat-capitalism.

Marcos surpasses all previous puppet presidents in his subservience to US imperialist dictates. In the economic field, he provides boundless incentives and privileges to foreign capitalists. Everywhere, land is being taken away by plantations and “renewable energy” projects. While no land is allocated for farmers, Marcos will open 1,620 hectares of land for an “economic security zone” for American corporations under the Pax Silica framework. Militarily, there is an unprecedented increase in US military forces within Philippine territory as they prepare an imperialist war against China. Marcos blindly allows the Philippines to be used as a vast military base and launchpad for US aggression and intervention, showing utter disregard for Filipinos who will suffer from being dragged into a US-instigated war.

The US provokes and fans fascist oppression in the Philippines to suppress the Filipino people’s anti-imperialist resistance in all forms—armed and unarmed. More than one billion dollars has been allocated by the US for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the coming five years. The US military wages all-out intervention in counter-guerrilla warfare, campaigns of suppression and martial law imposition in the countryside, under the guise of the “Salaknib” and other military exercises. The US supplies AFP units with weapons and equipment for small-scale operations desperately attempting to crush the continuing spread and expansion of the NPA.

From the people’s point of view, the Marcos regime equates to unparalleled corruption, suffering and hunger of the masses, subservience to foreign capital, and fascist oppression. Among the broad people, it is clear that Marcos represents the rotten and decrepit system ruled by US imperialism in collusion with the few ruling classes. Today, Marcos is the primary catalyst driving the Filipino people to rise up and take the difficult path of struggle.

From various corners of the country, mass struggles are bursting forth to defend land and homes, struggle for living wages, expose corruption, hold plunderers accountable, defend people’s rights, oppose the destruction of the environment, protest the presence of foreign troops, and fight for national sovereignty. They are getting organized and acting together to defend their welfare and the interests of the entire nation.

In the countryside, armed struggle advances steadily and expands across guerrilla zones and fronts. Wherever they go, Red fighters of the New People’s Army are warmly welcomed by the masses who firmly embrace them as their true army. With the NPA, the broad masses of peasants are emboldened to rise and fight against land grabbers and their fascist mercenaries.

Amid the gross sufferings of the Filipino people, the Party is determined to serve as the core and vanguard of their struggle to end oppression, alter their destiny, and establish a new sovereign and democratic nation. In the spirit of the rectification movement, cadres and Party members devote their mind and strength to the people’s cause. Wherever the masses are, the Party takes deep and wide roots to guide them along the path of struggle.

#International #ThePhilippines #AngBayan #CommunistPartyofthePhilippines #NPA #Marcos

Brooklyn, NY – On July 3, dozens of activists rallied outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) to demand freedom for kidnapped Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. The picket also marked six months since President Maduro and First Lady Flores were kidnapped from Caracas in a United States military operation which killed 100 people, including 32 Cuban bodyguards.

Despite the oppressive 100-degree heat, energy was high. Bolstered by reports that Maduro had been able to hear last month’s protest, protesters chanted loudly, “Maduro, aguanta, el pueblo se levanta!”

Organizations in attendance included Workers World Party, Palaver Collective, Black Alliance for Peace, the International League of People’s Struggle, and Brooklyn Against War.

Michela Martinazzi of Brooklyn Against War spoke, connecting the heatwave with the U.S. military aggression against Venezuela. “The number one polluter in the world is the United States military. It is our responsibility as people living on this planet to fully dismantle the U.S. military and the system that upholds it. So today, we’re standing in record-high temperatures, and we know that war affects all of us. It affects every single one of us. And President Maduro and Flores, who haven’t done anything wrong except govern their country in a way that challenges the United States, are being held right here at the Metropolitan Detention Center. This is a war crime.”

The activists vowed to continue their monthly protest at the MDC until Maduro and Flores are freed. They will also rally at the federal courthouse in Manhattan on July 22, the next scheduled court date for Maduro and Flores.

#BrooklynNY #NY #International #Venezuela #AntiWarMovement

On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the Communist Part of China’s founding, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization salutes the party that has led the Chinese people through the fires of revolution and into the dawn of building socialism. The party took everyday people’s dreams for a better life and organized them to fight, bringing dreams into reality.

Mao understood that “without the Communist Party there could be no new China” as a historic truth.

For hundreds of years, the Chinese people were being crushed under the enormous weight of three mountains: feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism and imperialism. The CPC led the people in a righteous struggle to tear those mountains down. With the science of revolution, incredible sacrifice, and a refusal to surrender, they won liberation and embarked on the construction of a socialist society that continues to chart new courses.

A single spark can indeed light a prairie fire. In 1921, at its founding, membership was just over 50. 105 years later, it surpassed 101 million members and stands as the largest governing party in the world, with an unbreakable bond with the masses of people, because the Party is part of the fabric of everyday life, from farm to factory.

The CPC’s achievements have been rooted in the commitment to “serve the people.” And the achievements are truly world-historic: lifting nearly 100 million people out of absolute poverty, making breakthroughs in advanced technology, pioneering green energy and development, and building out infrastructure projects that make life better for the many. In unleashing the productive forces, China has truly reshaped the world. With its party at the helm, the brave spirit and blazing hope of the Chinese people are shining a light on the path to a brighter, socialist future.

Long live the Communist Party of China!

Long live international solidarity!

#FRSO #International #China

Salt Lake City, UT – On Saturday, June 20, at an event organized by the Utah Anti War Committee, dozens of community members gathered at an overpass to demand hands off Cuba.

This protest was called after recent escalations in the decades-long effort by the U.S. to destabilize the nation of Cuba through economic strangulation and covert means. The Trump administration recently indicted beloved Cuban leader Raul Castro and has made threats of more direct military confrontation. Other organizations quickly signed on to the protest, including the National Network on Cuba, Armed Queers SLC, The 71% Coalition, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Protesters held a large banner sporting the Cuban flag, reading “Hands off Cuba!” and received overwhelmingly positive reactions to their message from the vehicles passing by.

“The overall general trend in regard to U.S. imperial power is one of decline,” said Adam Koritz of the FRSO of the aggression on Cuba and the ongoing U.S. war on Iran. “However, we know a wounded beast is dangerous and prone to lashing out in its death throes.”

Mustafa Khader of the 71% Coalition condemned attempts to restore a U.S. backed dictatorship in Cuba saying, “You don’t care about the Cubans; you care about your pockets!”

Protesters chanted, “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!”

An activist with Armed Queers stated, “By being an unknowing accessory to an empire, we are forcefully kept from becoming fully human. This will continue to happen until we stand up, destroy the shackles of capitalism, and prove that we can build a system that does not rely on the subjugation of people based on race, gender, sexuality, or nation, the destruction of the environment, or the impoverishment of workers.”

Nova Morra of the Utah Anti-War Committee then called the crowd to join their July 4 protest at a local Raytheon Applied Signal Technology facility in West Valley City as part of their campaign to shut down the facility and protest Raytheon’s involvement in war crimes carried out by the U.S.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #International #UAWC #AWC #Cuba

Lisbon, Portugal – On Thursday, June 18, thousands of workers marched outside the Assembly of the Republic demanding that the right-wing government kill the anti-worker “labor package” they were poised to vote on. The next day, in a vote that shocked most pundits, the labor package was voted down by the legislators even though there is a right-wing majority in the assembly.

How did this happen? Over nearly a year, the governing right-wing parties tried to push the proposal through, presenting it as absolutely necessary and its passage as inevitable.

But Portugal’s militant union federation, the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), had different ideas. They sprung into motion, and over 11 months they carried out several mass marches and two general strikes – one on December 11, 2025, and another earlier this month, on June 3.

While Prime Minister Montenegro publicly claimed that not many workers participated in the general strikes, he and the right-wing parties knew that the reality on the ground was different. The general strike brought transportation systems, education and health care in the country to a near halt, and many private corporations, large and small, had significant numbers of workers go on strike, stopping production in important industries and sectors of the Portuguese economy. The working class spoke in a loud and united voice, saying that the labor package has to fall.

Even up to the day before the vote, the governing right-wing coalition thought they had the votes to pass it. But their negotiations to assure the votes of Chega, the farthest right-wing party, continued until a half hour before the vote. Chega is a far-right populist party not dissimilar from Trump’s MAGA movement. Ultimately, Chega likely feared losing the working-class voters in their base to the left if they voted in favor of the bosses’ labor package. So, Chega voted with the left-wing and centrist parties, sending the package to defeat.

The constant militant mobilizations by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) turned the labor package into a social question that drew sharp class lines. This made it impossible for the right-wing parties to simply craft labor policy behind closed doors at the behest of the rich. The working class took the stage and made this vote into a “which side are you on” question. The capitalists’ dream – of passing new labor laws that would increase profits for the rich by driving down workers’ living standards and peeling back union rights – turned into their nightmare of awakening the unity and militant action of the working class.

After the vote in the assembly, the leader of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), Tiago Oliveira, said, “It was 11 months of struggle that translated into 11 months of workers mobilizing constantly, building two huge general strikes, building a set of initiatives that translated today into the defeat of the labor package. So today I give a huge recognition to the determining role of the workers’ struggle that developed over these long 11 months. It was the workers who were essential in all of these developments. The workers were the key that determined the position of all the political parties that today voted against this labor package. In the name of the CGTP, a word of solidarity and gratitude to the workers, because they are the true creators of everything good in our lives. Today it’s proven that it’s the workers’ struggle that determines whatever outcome.”

#LisbonPortugal #International #Portugal #Labor #Featured

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following greetings from communist and workers parties to the 10th Congress of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Workers Party of Belgium (PTB)

Your Congress convenes at a critical juncture in the development of the people’s struggle and the accelerating decline of U.S. Imperialism. The U.S. war machine has become ever more aggressive under the second Trump administration, yet this aggression signals not strength, but desperation as it faces rising competition and intensifying resistance at home and abroad.

Notably, the U.S.-Israeli genocide on Palestine failed to exterminate the Palestinian people, and their military forces did not succeed in defeating Iran.

Meanwhile, the American people have demonstrated the power of organized struggle against monopoly capitalism. From the resistance against mass deportations and ICE violence to demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine and opposition to the war on Iran, the movement is growing. The mobilization of a record eight million people in the streets during the recent “No King’s Day” protest illustrates how these protests are expanding among the broad public, proving that the system is losing its grip.

We recognize the role FRSO has played in these battles. Your leadership in the fight against mass deportations, your solidarity with Palestine, and your active participation in the trade union, African American, and Chicano liberation movements represent vital organizing work within the broader coalition of the oppressed.

As you gather during a period of significant organizational growth—attested by the recent purchase of a national office to house your operations—we wish your delegates productive deliberations. May your congress strengthen the united forces necessary to take on monopoly capitalism and advance on the road to socialism.

Solidarity,

Bert De Belder

Department of International Relations

PVDA-PTB

Mouvement National Congolais – Lumumba (MNC/L)

Dear Comrades Delegates to the 10th Congress of the FRSO,

On behalf of the C.P.C. of the MNC/Lumumba and on behalf of all the Lumumbist sympathizers of our country, allow us to present to you our warm greetings and our best wishes of solidarity on the occasion of the Tenth Congress of your organization.

Through your socialist organization, we cordially greet all the workers of the United States of America. We salute the American people and express support and solidarity to them as they confront the crisis of a panicked imperialist system in their struggle against the austerity measures of the American administration.

We also take the opportunity of the FRSO’s 10th Congress to present the situation of our country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as that of our organization, the MNC/Lumumba.

This Congress is being held at a very important moment in the international situation and our struggle. Yes (!) at a very important time.

The unipolar world, dominated by the United States of America and its NATO allies, is giving way to the multipolar world, which we all support around the world. Despite this, US imperialism, the Zionists, and their European vassals refuse this change. They are stoking wars in the Caribbean, Africa, Ukraine, and the Middle East in the hope of delaying this shift in the balance of power. Our country, the D.R.C., is facing a vast conspiracy by imperialism and the Zionists.

Since the coup d’état that interrupted the national liberation process on September 14, 1960, and throughout the various regimes that took power, nothing has led to any change of quality in favor of the Congolese people. The so-called “free” elections and the alternating multiparty system have not brought peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo, nor to the rest of Africa. All those who speak of peace, life and freedom cannot, of course, remain indifferent to the negative process that is taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including in the African Great Lakes region, the AES area, the Caribbean, Ukraine and the Middle East.

Against the fundamental interests of the African peoples, our continent is being transformed before our eyes into a battlefield between the Western imperial powers and the forces of national liberation.

The ruling circles of the Western imperialist powers, especially the United States of America and the European Union, are stirring up distrust and animosity among the African populations, using: ethnic and religious divisions; inequality of social, economic and cultural development; and national peculiarities, among others.

The African continent, which experienced the slave trade and colonization, still lives today under a neo-colonial system of imperialism, and remains an arena of fratricidal conflicts that take hundreds of thousands of human lives and cause immense material damage.

Dear Comrade Delegates,

Any oppressive power, wherever it comes from, from outside or within, cannot reign without a powerful network of collaborators among the population. Similarly, the demise of a tyrannical regime can only be ensured by the political death of all its leaders and key collaborators.

In Congo, our country, from the overthrow of Lumumba’s Congolese Central Government to the present day, the general tendency in the democratic movement has been and is towards conciliation with the leaders and enforcers of the neo-colonialist regimes. If this tendency is not overthrown, the Congo will never experience a radical change in quality, because it will be the collaborators of the prior oppressive regimes who will be at the head of the Congo.

The attitude to be taken towards the Congolese oligarchs by the MNC/Lumumba is very clear. We have always spoken since October 1958 on behalf of the majority of Congolese. It is our principled position that distinguishes us from those who fish in troubled waters [opportunists]. It’s clear that the fifth column is not disarming. It becoming active and intensifying the confusion. Their objective is to maintain themselves by trying to be seen as saviors. The dispersion of the Congolese oligarchs between the sacred union of the presidential majority, the legal opposition, and the AFC/M23 “rebellion” does not affect the system in any way.

The Congolese National Movement/Lumumba is reorganizing itself on a new basis with a very clear political program on the political, ideological, economic, social, cultural and military levels to mobilize and organize the Congolese popular masses in the struggle against the Congolese imperialists and oligarchs. Infact, the CPC of the MNC/Lumumba takes this opportunity to launch an appeal for the solidarity of Friendly organizations in order to support us morally, materially and diplomatically in the accomplishment of our weighty mission.

Long live the FRSO!

Long live the 10th Congress!

Oppressed people of the world, unite!

The MNC/Lumumba: UNITY – STRUGGLE – INDEPENDENCE!

Homeland or Death!

Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD)

Dear Comrades of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, USA!

The Central Committee of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) extends warm and revolutionary greetings to your 10th Congress, and wishes the Congress great success.

Your Congress is taking place at a time when organized, active mass resistance against the fascist course of the Trump administration is growing steadily. This is becoming a serious obstacle to Trump’s plans for a fascist restructuring of the U.S. state. The development of resistance in the USA, especially the connection between the working class in the factories and the active mass resistance in residential areas, is a great source of encouragement for people worldwide who are confronted with a growing fascist trend. Imperialism is incapable of solving even a single one of humanity’s problems. It can only bring fascism, war and environmental destruction. Revolutionaries have a great responsibility to utilize the potential of this development to strengthen the anti-fascist united front, to propagate the necessity of revolutionary change and a socialist future, and to build revolutionary parties with strong roots in the working class. As a member of the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR) and the International Anti-Imperialist United Front against Fascism, War and Environmental Destruction, we are committed to worldwide unification in this spirit. We can learn a great deal from one another among the revolutionary and anti-imperialist forces around the world.

We know that you play a very active role in the struggles in the USA, and we have often reported on this in our media. Your struggle requires determination and courage. We are very happy to hear that you are strengthening your ranks in this process. The establishment of a house for your national office will certainly enrich your work. The MLPD assesses that we are experiencing a worldwide pre-revolutionary ferment, which does not yet constitute a revolutionary situation, but the development is clearly moving in that direction. This also requires a higher quality of international cooperation and proletarian internationalism.

In the past, our organizations have often conducted mutual visits and discussions in friendship and solidarity, which we gladly remember. We look forward to closer practical cooperation in the future in the struggle against fascism and war, and to further discussion of the ideological and political questions that arise today, such as the role—according to our analysis—of neo-imperialist countries like Iran.

Please keep us informed about the results of your important Congress and further developments in the USA.

In this spirit, we wish your Congress great success!

Long live socialism!

Gabi Fechtner

Chairwoman of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany

Communist Construction (Kommunistischer Aufbau)

Dear Comrades,

We send our warmest greetings to your 10th Congress and all its delegates.

From our own history, we know the special significance a congress holds for a Marxist-Leninist organization. Especially in these dynamic times of class struggle and as our organization continues to grow, the congress serves as a vital means of strengthening and unifying the organization.

As a relatively new organization, we are eagerly following your development and look forward to learning more about you—about your role in the protest movements against U.S. imperialism, its wars, and its reactionary policies both abroad and at home.

In the coming period, as Marxist-Leninists, we want and must urgently increase and expand contact and exchange between revolutionary and communist organizations. Let us learn from one another and wage a common struggle, across all national borders, together against imperialism, its wars, and the exploitation and oppression of the working class worldwide.

Once again, we wish your organization and all delegates a successful convention, productive discussions, and groundbreaking resolutions to address the challenges ahead.

Revolutionary and red greetings

Kommunistischer Aufbau / Communist Construction

CARC Party

Greeting to the FRSO 10th Congress

When the workers of the capitalist countries have gained confidence in their own strength and the awareness that they are capable of getting along without the bourgeoisie—and not only of demolishing the old, but also of building the new (socialism)—this will mark the beginning of the end of capitalism and the surest sign of the victory of the proletarian revolution (I. Stalin, Political Report of the Central Committee – December 18, 1925)

Dear comrades,

the CARC Party wishes your 10th Congress every success; we are following it with the utmost attention.

The imperialists of your country are the first, along with the Zionists, to drag the world into world war. It is not only and not so much your task to oppose the imperialist bourgeoisie of your country and prevent it from devastating the world with its infamous attacks, but above all, you are offered the opportunity to overthrow it. On the eve of World War I, Lenin predicted that either the socialist revolution would prevent the war or the communists would turn the war into a revolution. This is what happened in the countries where the working class, led by its Communist Party, succeeded in winning, building the first socialist countries, foremost among them the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. But it has not yet succeeded in doing so in any imperialist country; that is why we are once again embroiled in a world war. Today, for communists, the situation is such that either we bring about a decisive leap forward in the socialist revolution in the imperialist countries—the conflagration that will liberate the world from the imperialist system and thereby halt the spread of World War III—or the destructive spiral into which the rule of the imperialist bourgeoisie is dragging the masses of most of the world will continue to worsen.

You confirm to us that times are changing. Your Secretary writes in the preface to the book on The Revolutionary Science of Marxism-Leninism by J. Sykes that we are at a turning point, that a new communist movement is rising in the U.S. and a mobilization of the masses is taking place the likes of which have not been seen since the 1960s and 1970s. We have seen, after those years, the communist movement retreat, up to the fall of the Soviet Union, and the beginning of the period of dark reaction that that fall would generate, as Stalin foresaw. Now that period is coming to an end and the resurgence is beginning—a leap into the new wave of the proletarian revolution.

The qualitative leap of the new wave of the proletarian revolution and the rebirth of the communist movement is the conquest of power in one or more imperialist countries, foremost among them the U.S., which acts as the world’s policeman, and Italy, where the Vatican is headquartered. It is up to the communist movement in the U.S. to eliminate imperialism in their country, just as it is up to the communist movement in Italy to eliminate the Vatican, but the elimination of both concerns the entire world communist movement.

Our main commitment lies in advancing the socialist revolution in Italy, but at the same time we are paying increasing attention to the communist movement in the U.S., of which you are a part. The commitment, in this case, is to forge ties in three areas.

One area is the development of mutual understanding and joint action. The retreat of the communist movement has led to a weakening of relations among the various organizations that compose it at the international level, to the extent that communists in one country know very little about the conscious and organized communist movement in other parts of the world, and joint action remains at an embryonic stage or is confined to one or another of the international coordinating bodies that do not communicate with one another. Overcoming this limitation is an aspect of the ongoing rebirth of the communist movement.

A second area is mutual solidarity against repression. The imperialist bourgeoisie, in this terminal phase of the economic, political, social, and cultural crisis, is displaying all its ferocity, and repression is a weapon it resorts to with increasing frequency and intensity. The CARC Party is a component of the Caravan of the (New) Italian Communist Party, the collective of organizations and individuals following the (New) Italian Communist Party toward the goal of making Italy a new socialist country, and this Caravan has always faced repression, since its founding more than forty years ago—the same period when the FRSO was founded. It faces it today as well, with the repressive action against the CARC Party on April 21, searches, seizures of materials based on a charge that is the same one with which the fascist regime imprisoned Antonio Gramsci and led him to his death, and with fines of thousands of euros for demonstrations against fascists and Zionists. We would like to thank FRSO here, which was among the first communist organizations—among many—to express their solidarity with us at the international and national levels. Mutual cooperation in confronting repression is open.

A third arena is frank and open debate. The course of the revolutionary process in the U.S. differs from that in Italy in many specific ways, but the two processes also share universal, common aspects regarding which debate is essential. Above all, we share the fact that FRSO and P.CARC operate in imperialist countries—countries where the socialist revolution has not yet triumphed, where the ground is therefore new and unexplored. For this reason, exchange is essential—sharing what we discover, discussing the assessment of the communist movement, the analysis of the ongoing crisis, the regimes the bourgeoisie adopts in imperialist countries, and the strategy for seizing power. Therefore, we have be