Milwaukee, WI – In the early morning hours of September 14 ten drones carried out an intensive bombing of two of the world’s largest oil refineries, both located in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Aramco facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais were decimated, crippling the productive capabilities of the oil manufacturers in the country. The Air Force of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees have announced that these strikes are a part of what they’re calling the 2nd Operation of Balanced Deterrence.

Chicago, IL – On Monday September 16, the leaders of several opposition parties arrived at the Foreign Ministry in downtown Caracas to participate in the Roundtable of National Dialogue organized by the elected government of Nicolás Maduro. The Roundtable was established in the aftermath of the fascist violence in 2017, which was a response to the Supreme Court's decision to strip the National Assembly of its powers after its refusal to adhere to the country's constitution.

Chicago, IL – On September 16, community, civil rights, faith-based and peace activists will join 35th Ward Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 33rd Ward Alderman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez and State Representative Jaime Andrade (40th District) in a delegation to the Consulate General of the Philippines, 11:00 a.m.,122 S. Michigan Avenue.

Tampa, Fl – On September 10, students at the University of South Florida (USF) participated in a national day of action that was called by National Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) to speak out against the Trump administration’s attacks on undocumented immigrants. The event was hosted by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Over 30 students and staff attended.

Demand fairness and respect

Minneapolis, MN – University of Minnesota AFSCME members confronted soon-to-be-inaugurated University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel at the September 13 Board of Regents meeting in the McNamara Alumni Center.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Sept. 10 statement from the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS).

Kenosha, WI – When Cyntoia Brown’s case was brought forward to the media, there was a large public outcry for justice. How could a victim of human trafficking be imprisoned for killing her rapist and trafficker? Unfortunately, her case is not novel. Chrystul Kizer, a Milwaukee native, has been charged with multiple counts for defending herself against a sexual predator, Randall Volar III.

Kenosha, WI – Just in time for the new semester, Students for a Democratic Society at UW Parkside came out victorious in their gender neutral bathrooms campaign from the previous semester. Four bathrooms were converted on campus to support the trans and gender non-conforming community, a demand which some students have been proposing for several years.

Washington DC – The progressive Lebanese political party Hezbollah announced early September 9 that its military forces had shot down an Israeli Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) over Lebanon.

Macon, GA – Workers at the Kumho Tire factory in Macon, Georgia, voted to join the United Steelworkers (USW) union, September 7, nearly two years after the initial vote was marred by the company’s numerous violations of workers’ rights.

Arlington, TX – 60 people showed up at a protest organized by the Progressive Student Union (PSU) at the University of Texas at Arlington, September 4, against the Trump administration’s change to of policy on the detention of undocumented children.

Minneapolis, MN – A September 5 press conference at the offices of CAIR MN made public new information in the police murder of 23-year-old Isak Aden. Aden, a breadwinner and caregiver for his younger siblings and disabled grandmother, was surrounded on July 2 by 90 officers for four hours in the Twin Cities suburb of Eagan, before fatal shots were fired by five cops from the cities of Eagan and Bloomington.

Chicago, IL – Founded in 1973 as an organization that grew out of the movement to free the wrongfully imprisoned Angela Davis and other political prisoners, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is set to relaunch this November. This refounding, led by the Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and other organizations, will be taking place in Chicago, Illinois on November 22-24 at the Chicago Teachers' Union Hall.

September 5, 1882

The huge procession began with 400 members of Bricklayers Union No. 6, all dressed in white aprons. They were followed by a band and then the members of the Manufacturing Jewelers union. The jewelers marched four abreast, wearing derby hats and dark suits with buttonhole bouquets. They all carried canes resting on their shoulders (similar to the way infantry officers carry swords when on parade.)

St. Paul, MN – “In 2017, the Trump administration awarded Elbit a contract to work on the expansion of the Mexico border wall. Elbit System’s CEO has said that the company’s current growth can be attributed to increased U.S. border spending,” said Sarah Martin of Women Against Military Madness. “This last decade has seen the international community divesting from Elbit, including the Norwegian State Pension Fund, Danske Bank. Governor Walz, we Minnesotans refuse to continue to profit from pain, injustice and tragedy at the hands of Elbit. We want you to do what Norway and Denmark did. Divest now!”

Caracas, Venezuela – President Nicolás Maduro spoke to labor delegates from 25 countries August 31. They were gathered at the 1st International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its Government and its People. The conference consists of labor union delegations from nearly all of Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, Jared Hamil and Gabriella Killpack, trade unionists and members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), are participating.

Chicago, IL – On the afternoon of August 28, members of Students for a Democratic Society and AnakBayan Chicago, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, passed out flyers on the quad to oppose the partnership that the university has with the CIA. SDS members held a banner reading “CIA off campus,” the slogan that has been used in past decades by student activists around the country in similar campaigns. Protesters held signs each detailing a different CIA operation and the number of deaths it caused.

In a video released on August 29, 2019, Iván Márquez, former lead peace negotiator for the FARC-EP in the peace talks in Havana, Cuba, announced that a sector of the FARC party (name of the successor party to the FARC-EP that was founded after the signing of the peace agreement in 2016) were returning to the armed struggle under the banner of the revolutionary guerrilla organization the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia- Ejército del Pueblo). Iván Márquez read the FARC-EP’s new manifesto dressed in military fatigues surrounded by armed companions, including the famous FARC-EP commanders El Paisa and Jesús Santrich. The manifesto was read by Márquez with large, colorful FARC-EP banners in the background, and was filmed in the Inírida forest that is in a remote area of Colombia that borders both Brazil and Venezuela.

Caracas, Venezuela – The Freedom Road Socialist Organization's trade union delegation arrived in Caracas, Venezuela for the “1st International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its Government and Its People,” starting on August 29.