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.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from “Ang Bayan,” the official publication of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

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.

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.

En ocasión del aniversario 105º de la fundación del Partido Comunista de China, la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad saluda al partido que ha liderado al pueblo chino a través de los fuegos de revolución y hacia el alba de la construcción del socialismo. El partido tomó los sueños de la gente común por una vida mejor y los organizó para luchar, trayendo los sueños a la realidad.

Mao entendía que “sin el Partido Comunista no existiría la nueva China” como una verdad histórica.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Brooklyn, NY – On Saturday, June 6, community members and activists with Brooklyn Against War [BAW] gathered at the Bedford Library for a panel and discussion regarding their ongoing campaign to free Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores. Titled “What is Happening in Venezuela?”, the panel featured guest speaker Steve Ellner, an author, historian and political scientist who taught at the Universidad de Oriente for 26 years. 

Washington, DC – On the evening of June 3, organizers and community members from around the DMV (DC, Mayland and Virginia) area rallied outside the Cuban embassy to demand hands off Cuba and an end to U.S. imperialism and intervention abroad.

Two trade unionist leaders from Colombia recently shared updates at a videoconference of international trade unionists on the situation in Colombia and the stakes of the presidential elections. Marlon Puentes, a member of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), talked about how Colombia has been dominated by decades of a radical right-wing government. It is only with the 2022 election of Gustavo Petro that “working-class Colombians have had access to government but not power.”

El 31 de mayo, la primera vuelta de elecciones presidenciales en Colombia terminó entre acusaciones de intervención de EE.UU. Porque ningún candidato obtuvo el 50% de la votación, el proceso va a pasar a una segunda vuelta el 21 de junio entre el senador izquierdista Iván Cepeda y el abogado de la derecha extrema Abelardo de la Espriella.

Nearly 100 roadblocks around the country have the neoliberal agenda of domestic and foreign elites in the grip of the masses of organized Bolivians. From indigenous campesino organizations and trade unions, to mining cooperatives and neighborhood councils, working-class Bolivians have paralyzed the efforts of President Rodrigo Paz to make Bolivia a buffet for corporate interests.

Porto, Portugal – Workers throughout the country set up picket lines and marched in the streets instead of going to work on June 3, bringing key sectors of the economy to a standstill. Public transit, education, health care and many sectors of production were impacted by a general strike.

In a June 3 statement, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) said that the Marcos administration's campaign is an “insult to the thousands of victims of state violence, killings, and aerial bombings in the Philippines.”

On May 31, the first round of the Colombian presidential elections concluded amid allegations of U.S. interference. Since no candidate won 50%, the process will be a second round runoff on June 21 between leftist Senator Iván Cepeda and far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella.

Porto, Portugal – Business elites and conservative political leaders are powerless to stop the massive working class wave about to hit them as momentum builds toward a nationwide general strike June 3.

San Francisco, CA – Over 500 people gathered in the Bay Area, May 30 and 31, for the U.S. chapter of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) Third National Assembly and Political Conference. The theme of the action-packed weekend was “Advance the Peoples’ Struggle.”

Dozens of peasant organizations, unions and community organizations representing tens of thousands united for a national strike on May 20 to demand agrarian reform. Marches and street blockades in the countryside and major cities like Bogotá, Valledupar, Cartagena, Popayán, Montería and Sincelejo have shut down transportation and some services.