Category: Articles

Trump Escalates Cuba Sanctions with EO 14404

At the beginning of May, Trump signed Executive Order 14404, imposing yet another host of sanctions on Cuba, in addition to the existing oil blockade. The Executive Order is titled “Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and for Threats to United States National Security and Foreign Policy,” and significantly expands the U.S. sanctions regime […]

The Ebola Outbreak as a Legacy of Imperialism

A new Ebola outbreak is spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda. Hundreds have already died, and health authorities are racing to contain the disease. For many outside Africa, outbreaks like this are seen as another unfortunate but inevitable natural disaster. A dangerous virus appears, people become infected, and the world watches […]

Pollute More and Get Paid

California is giving free emission permits, allowing big polluters to pollute more and reducing the money available for transit, housing, and other programs.

What is Happening with the General Strike in Bolivia?

This is a translation of a synthesis of three articles by Rafael Santos of the Partido Obrero (Workers’ Party) in Argentina, published on its website, Prensa Obrera on May 23, 2026. Its analyses are those of a Trotskyist current, with information and perspective that should be interesting to our readership. Why are the Bolivian people […]

Statement on the June 2nd Primary Election for California Governor

On June 2, California holds its primary election for Governor. The two leading Democrats are Xavier Becerra, a longtime Democrat who served 24 years as a California Congressman and then as Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services Director, and Tom Steyer, a billionaire former hedge fund manager and major Democratic donor who ran unsuccessfully […]

Bay Area Air Quality Hearings – Who Talks? And Who Is Really Listening?

The following is a report-back from a Bay Area resident, regarding their experience attending a hearing on a proposed ban on gas water heaters. May 6th started out like it was going to be a typical board meeting at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. What is typical? Well, one Wednesday a month for […]

Selma – The Struggle for Voting Rights Continues

On Saturday, May 16, an estimated 5,000 people demonstrated in Selma, Alabama against the various efforts to attack people’s voting rights. People from all over the South came to take a stand against the suppression of their votes. The protest took place at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, which was not an accident given […]

I Love Boosters: Working Class Revolution in Technicolor

Boots Riley’s new film, I Love Boosters, presents a striking critique of capitalism through a dazzling, surreal fantasy world. The movie centers on three young women who steal racks of clothing from a chain of high end fashion stores and resell them at bargain prices in their community. These “boosters” see theft as both a form […]

Project Hail Mary Review – The Fiction of Government Competence

One of the big blockbuster hits this month has been Project Hail Mary, based on the book by Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian. Like The Martian, Project Hail Mary is a sci-fi story that follows a funny, likeable narrator (played by Ryan Gosling in the movie) who finds himself far away from Earth. Also […]

Pro-Israel District Attorney Recused for Conflict of Interests in Stanford 11 Trial

In June 2024, twelve Stanford University students occupied the Stanford president’s office, demanding the school divest from Israel amidst the genocide in Palestine. Five of those twelve students were criminally charged with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass – disproportionately punitive charges when compared to the actual alleged cost of damages. The first trial was declared […]

The Two Men Who Believe They Can Rule the World

The recent meeting in China between Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping, filled the world’s media. Where they met, what they ate, and who traveled with them were covered in detail. It was presented as the meeting of the world’s two superpowers, aimed at maintaining a peaceful relationship while they compete for the world’s markets […]

San Francisco: Trump Admin Closes Immigration Courts, We Must Oppose This Attack!

For nearly 80 years, the immigration court at 100 Montgomery Street in San Francisco’s Financial District has processed the asylum claims and immigration applications of hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. Earlier this year, the Justice Department declared its intention to close the court at the end of the calendar year. […]

Stay Tuned – For No Union Updates

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA. With no updates from the county supervisors’ ad hoc committee, workers are desperate for news about what is happening with the planned layoffs that are now barely a month away! Unfortunately the union “updates” leave us with more […]

Who is Zé Maria?

Longtime Brazilian industrial union leader and political activist faces a two-year prison sentence for speech in defense of Palestinian liberation. By PSTU – Brazil Published on May 8, 2026 and reprinted from the Workers’ Voice website. The trajectory of José Maria de Almeida, Zé Maria, is intertwined with the recent history of the Brazilian workers’ […]

Who Wins and Who Loses from Their War on Iran?

Since late February, U.S. and Israeli forces have launched a brutal war on Iran, dropping over 30,000 bombs and killing more than 3,400 people. While they have claimed to only attack military targets, they have bombed whole neighborhoods, schools, and hospitals, reducing them to rubble and totally destabilizing the whole society. And despite so-called “ceasefires,” […]

Plan to Cut Disability Benefits from Low-Income Families

A ProPublica investigation revealed a new change proposed by the Trump administration that would cut Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for up to 400,000 Americans with disabilities. The SSI system provides a very modest basic income to adults who are unable to work due to severe disabilities such as Down syndrome, autism, or blindness. The maximum monthly […]

The War on Iran Means a Crisis of Fuel and Food Worldwide

On May 5th, an oil tanker called the New Corolla arrived off the coast of Los Angeles, California. It was the last shipment of oil headed for California to pass through the Strait of Hormuz before the beginning of the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran over 2 months ago. It might be shocking to […]

A Lifeline Under Threat: The Attack on Medication Abortion By Mail 

On May 4, the U.S. Supreme Court restored temporary, nationwide access to the abortion pill mifepristone by mail. Amidst escalating threats to abortion access, the order would allow those seeking abortions to obtain the pill without an in-person visit to the doctor.  The restoration comes days after a federal appeals court sided with the State of Louisiana […]

The Fight over Spirit Airlines’ Future 

Last week, Spirit, a budget airline carrier, cancelled all flights and announced that the airline would be shut down. The airline, originally one of the most profitable in the country, struggled to maintain its profitability amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and had filed for bankruptcy. The recent increase in gas prices due to the U.S.-Israel war on […]

France: No to Attacks on Workers! Raise Wages and Ban Layoffs!

May 4, 2026 editorial of the New Anticapitalist Party-Revolutionaries (NPA-R) in France, translated from French. On May 1, nearly 300,000 people demonstrated across [France] for International Workers’ Day, reminding us that only our solidarity can help us stand up to attacks by employers. A mobilization that some would love to see disappear! Former Prime Minister […]

The Whole World is a Casino

Earlier this month, an account on Polymarket, one of the most popular prediction market websites, bought €100 (about 117 USD) worth of shares betting that the highest temperature in Paris would exceed 18°C on April 15. Shortly after, the weather station referenced by Polymarket showed, for a few minutes, temperatures well above 18°C (around 64°F), and […]

Rally with Workers to Stop the Layoffs!

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA. Join AHS workers and fellow community members on May 5th from 4-6pm for a rally outside the AHS executives’ Jack London Square offices! AHS executives are spending millions of taxpayer dollars on waterfront offices, despite already having perfectly […]

No End to War: the U.S. Government’s Betrayal of Its Afghan Allies

After effectively ending Afghan resettlement under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), the Trump administration has discussed sending up to 1,100 Afghans (including more than 400 children) who supported the U.S. military during the war on Afghanistan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from Qatar, where they have been living for over a year. Those […]

Palestine ’36: An Enduring Struggle

Palestine ’36 takes us back to a lesser-known part of history, over a decade before the mass displacement of Palestinians in the Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948. Directed by Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacin, the film recounts the violent oppression of British colonial rule during that period, and the subsequent mass uprising of the local people. Palestine ’36 highlights […]

Cuts and Layoffs to Bay Area Public Schools

In the wake of dozens of California teacher strikes across the state, cuts to public education were announced. Many school districts, such as San Francisco Unified School District, timed these cuts to happen immediately following the teachers’ strike. This made it appear as if the cuts were required because of the teachers’ salary raise and improved health […]

Meatpacking Workers in Colorado End Strike

After striking for three weeks, in early April meatpacking workers in Colorado ended their strike against Brazilian meat production giant JBS. Union leadership said that 93% of members voted to ratify the agreement, although it is unclear if that was the percent of those who voted or the percent of the local’s total membership. The […]

Elections in Hungary: The End of the Orbán Era

April 17, 2026 article of the New Anticapitalist Party-Revolutionaries (NPA-R) in France, translated from French. After 16 years in power, the ultra-reactionary Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suffered a resounding defeat in the parliamentary elections of April 12, losing to the main opposition candidate, Peter Magyar – 54% to 38%. The only other party to […]

Against Racism from Above, Workers’ Unity is Our Strength!

April 6, 2026 editorial of the New Anticapitalist Party-Revolutionaries (NPA-R) in France, translated from French The mere fact that a Black man, Bally Bagayoko, was elected mayor of Saint-Denis—a city of over 100,000 residents and one of the poorest in France (with 37% of its residents living below the poverty line)—was enough to have far-right […]

Anti-War Protests in Israel Face Police Repression

Protestors took to the streets in multiple cities in Israel on Saturday, April 4th, condemning the war against Iran and the ongoing military action in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank. Although the Israeli High Court of Justice issued an order allowing the demonstrations to take place, police in Tel Aviv declared the protest unlawful, […]

Amazon Demands Workers Keep Going as Co-Worker Lies Dead

Supervisors told workers at an Amazon warehouse in Oregon to keep working as a co-worker lay dead on the floor. Top managers also failed to bring work to a halt. A worker was prevented from acting on normal human compassion and stepping in to help another person do chest compressions. Once EMS arrived, the facility’s […]

Computer Catastrophe at Highland

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA. Highland computer network systems unexpectedly shut down twice last week, sending the hospital into chaos as computers, phones, elevators, and badge-access doors all suddenly stopped working. Patient care was severely disrupted for several hours over both days. Nurses […]

Trump Administration Rolls Back Protections for Trans Youth

Recently, The U.S. Education Department (ED), under the Trump administration, announced the ending of Title IX agreements with five school districts and one college that protected transgender students from discrimination. Title IX is a 1972 civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education programs receiving federal funding. Under previous administrations, its regulations were further extended to transgender and gay students. […]

Election Day in Peru: More of the Same

This article was sent to Speak Out Socialists by a friend in Peru. On Sunday, April 12, 27 million Peruvians were called to the polls for the first round of the presidential election, as well as to elect senators and members of Congress. The second round will take place on July 7, leaving plenty of […]

Another California School District to Go on Strike

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) teachers and staff will strike on April 14, unless the two unions representing 68,000 LAUSD employees reach an agreement with the school district. United Teachers Los Angeles, representing roughly 38,000 teachers, and SEIU Local 99, which represents more than 30,000 workers, such as cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and special education assistants, […]

Cuba: No to Compromises with Imperialism at the Expense of Workers!

Published on April 1, 2026 by the New Anticapitalist Party—Revolutionaries in France (translated from French) As we write these lines, Russian and Chinese vessels carrying oil and gas have been authorized by the U.S. Navy to dock in Cuba. While these deliveries will provide relief to the population for a month or two—and all the […]

A Review of Dolores, The Documentary

The 2017 Dolores documentary follows the life of organizer Dolores Huerta. Known for being the co-founder of the National Farm Worker’s Association (which would later become today’s United Farm Workers labor union), the film offers a sincere look at the great efforts she made to organize her communities and the unique struggles she faced as a Latina […]

Bloqueo No! Hands Off Cuba!

For decades, the small island nation just 90 miles off the coast of Florida has been a target of U.S. imperialism. With the Trump administration’s refocusing of U.S. operations to what Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has referred to as “our hemisphere,” threats to Cuba have steadily increased over the past months. The Cuban economy […]

Stronger Together

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA. Alameda Health System (AHS) workers are sometimes frustrated by the bureaucracy of their union SEIU, and talk about how it would be better to have a more democratic process. Workers dislike the “closed bargaining” practiced by SEIU, in […]

Unprecedented March Heat Wave Shatters Temperature Records in the Bay Area

A record-breaking heat wave swept across the Bay Area in March, shattering century-old temperature records. In San Francisco and Oakland, temperatures reached 90 and 88 degrees respectively, breaking previous records set in 1874 and 1970. In total, over a dozen cities saw their hottest March days on record. Meteorologists were stunned, with one noting, “We’ve never issued a heat advisory in […]

ICE Stokes Fear as TSA Workers Get Screwed

For nearly one month, about 50,000 workers from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) went without pay as their parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), had been under a partial funding freeze. This recent funding freeze comes after TSA agents were not paid for more than one month in the fall during an earlier […]

NYU Faculty Win New Contract

New York University faculty celebrated a major win on March 25th after reaching a tentative agreement following a two-day strike. Their new contract would provide a substantive 20% raise, bringing their salaries closer to meeting the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. If the contract is approved by union members, 95% […]

TSA, Police Help ICE in SFO Detainment  

On Monday, two plainclothes ICE agents, dressed as travelers, detained a woman in front of her 9-year-old daughter in San Francisco International Airport (SFO). A video of the scene shows both the mother and child visibly distressed while the agents handcuff the woman. Observers recording the interaction repeatedly ask the officers to identify themselves by providing their […]