America

Thiago and Saif were abducted last week in international waters by Israeli forces, more than a thousand kilometers from Gaza, while sailing on a humanitarian mission in support of the Palestinian people. Of the 180 activists abducted, most were released after 48 hours, but Thiago and Saif remain in detention, subjected to interrogation and physical and psychological torture. In yet another affront to international law, the Israeli court decided on Monday, 4 May to extend the detention of humanitarian activists Thiago Ávila, from Brazil, and Saif AbuKeshek, members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, for six more days. The decision was made by the Ashkelon Magistrates’ Court, which granted the Israeli government’s request to keep them in custody until next Sunday (10 May) at 9 a.m., without presenting any formal charges against either of them.

My daughter, Carolina Garzón, disappeared in Quito, Ecuador, on 28 April 2012, while she was on holiday with classmates from the District University of Bogotá, where she was studying. Aged 22, she was a student activist and a member of the Socialist Workers’ Party (PST). The presidents of Ecuador and Colombia at that time were […]

The demonization and attack on immigrants remains a bipartisan project. Case in point, this past week the governor’s office of California announced that it will be turning over the driver’s license data of all 1 million undocumented immigrant drivers in the state to a federal database where their names, information, and addresses can be looked up. While implementation may be dependent on the legislature voting funds for the process, this decision has not yet been legally challenged and as of yet there have been no rallies opposing it. This is coming from the Democratic Party—the party that says it stands with immigrants! If they are willing to do this today, what will they do next?

On Tuesday, the 28th, the 4th Federal Criminal Court sentenced PSTU President Zé María to two years in prison for the crime of “racism.” What is most surprising is that the decision stems from a speech by Zé María in defense of the Palestinian people, denouncing the genocide and the colonialist regime imposed by the State of Israel on occupied Palestine. In the face of a decision with no legal basis, the PSTU will appeal to the Federal Court of São Paulo (TRF3). Beyond that, the party will not back down one inch from its condemnation of the State of Israel and the successive crimes against humanity it has been perpetrating under the gaze of the world.

Between Monday, March 16, and Saturday, April 4, a predominately immigrant workforce shut down one of the largest beef processing plants in the country. Beyond the “bread and butter” issues of wages, healthcare and safety this strike had much larger political implications about the ability of immigrant workers to organize and fight back against employer and government attacks in the workplace and community. The strike certainly raised questions about the difficulties workers face in winning contracts that deliver big economic packages and make meaningful long term gains. But what the strike lacked in financial impact it made up for as an example of fearless union members coming together from dozens of different ethnic backgrounds to stand up and fight.

Whether it's taking jobs, pricing out utilities or polluting neighborhoods, capitalist AI is an obvious menace. The fightback it's provoking also has immense potential

Pakistan’s role as an international mediator is not a sign of structural change, but a reconfiguration within the same system. The state uses its geographic position to enhance its relevance among competing global powers while managing internal instability. This external role is transformed into an ideological narrative domestically. State media and official discourse present Pakistan as an emerging global actor and an indispensable force for peace. At a time when the population faces inflation, unemployment, and severe economic pressure alongside repression, this narrative functions as a substitute form of hope—that international recognition is improving and future conditions will become better.

The recent detention of Guillermo Medina Reyes by ICE agents in San Jose, Calif., is a direct attack against immigrants and against the entire working class of this country. His arrest is part of a state offensive that combines immigration repression, the criminalization of protest, and a detention apparatus that clearly serves the interests of the ruling classes. Guillermo’s case cannot be understood outside the concrete functioning of the capitalist state—a set of institutions (police, courts, legislatures, national and local executive bodies, prisons, ICE) designed by the boss class to control, divide, and discipline the working class, particularly its immigrant sectors.

Six weeks into Trump’s Big Iranian Misadventure, fuel and food prices are soaring because of massive supply chain disruptions caused by the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran. In the context of the U.S.-Israeli war and Iranian retaliatory attacks, the price of oil rose worldwide. The Strait of Hormuz is effectively shut down with no end in sight. Approximately 20.3 million barrels of petroleum and crude oil, 25% of the world’s maritime oil shipments, passes through the Strait of Hormuz daily. Currently, about 95% of all traffic through that vital waterway is stopped.

Dr. Alter is one of many teachers, professors, and student activists on the front lines of attacks under the New McCarthyism, especially targeting the teaching of ideas about gender, race, and settler colonialism in Palestine. These attacks are only escalating as the ruling class increasingly turns to authoritarian methods.

Last week, I was in Cuba. It is the country of the most celebrated revolution on the continent, a small Caribbean island that stood up to an empire and won not only independence, but also education, healthcare and, for a time, a planned economy geared towards the needs of workers and the Cuban people. Today, […]

While we are critical of the Cuban government, the efforts by U.S. imperialism to destroy the island must be opposed. The IWL participated in solidarity activities to provide aid and support the Cuban people

The No Kings mobilization on March 28 was a powerful outcry against the forces of war and reaction. It was the largest single-day outpouring of street protests in U.S. history. The massive flood of people was fueled by widespread opposition to the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, as well as by the resistance to ICE’s immigrant roundups shown by the people of Minneapolis in the winter.

Far from being a personal whim of Trump's or a trap set by the Mossad, the US-Israel war on Iran is the logical conclusion of decades of imperialist policy, with bipartisan and European approval backing it up.

For the Iranian people to be able to choose their destiny, Trump’s offensive must first be defeated. History demonstrates—from the partisans of Yugoslavia to the revolutionaries of China, and including the lesson of the MEK’s failure when Iraq invaded Iran, and the crimes committed by the recent U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan—that the working class can only advance if it joins the struggle against the invader.

The struggle by JBS workers in Greeley extends beyond the shop floor. The issues of immigration and human trafficking also play a central role in understanding the relationship between the JBS workers and the managers and owners. Meatpacking workers are a highly immigrant sector of the class, and close to 50 languages are spoken on the floor of the plant. In Greeley, a significant number of the workers are Haitian immigrants, protected by Temporary Protective Status (TPS), a program that is now under attack by the Trump administration.