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The US military seizes the 2nd oil tanker in the Indian Ocean linked to Venezuela.

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By Pedro Monzón Barata – Mar 16, 2026

Pedro Monzón Barata argues that Trump’s latest executive order and threats against Cuba represent a deliberate escalation of long-term US pressure aimed at strangling the island’s economy and sovereignty. Cuba’s response is one of resistance, adaptation, and defense across energy, diplomacy, and national survival.

A new and more direct threat now falls upon Cuba, imposed by the brutal force of the empire. On March 5, 2026, while the world’s attention was fixed on the unfolding imperial aggression against Iran, President Donald Trump made a chilling and arrogant declaration: after Iran, Cuba is next. In a phone interview with Politico, he stated bluntly that “Cuba’s going to fall, too”. The following day, at a White House event, he reiterated that action against Cuba is “just a question of time” once the conflict with Iran is concluded. This is not mere rhetoric; it is the public announcement of a premeditated plan to erase our nation from the map.

His plans increasingly include a final military aggression, but the reinforcement of the energy blockade is a chosen weapon for this final assault. Washington seeks to shut down power plants, water pumps, hospitals, ambulances, and transportation, freezing the country’s economy. This tragedy, the work of the United States government, represents an act of historical cynicism without parallel in the 21st century, crossing the final threshold of unconventional warfare to inflict massive suffering upon a peaceful population.

The blackouts of 12, 16, and 20 hours that we endure are not a geopolitical accident or a management crisis, but rather large-scale State terrorism, a crime against humanity perfected with the coldness of an executioner who determines the exact point where to cut in order to provoke maximum agony. Trump’s executive order of January 29, 2026, which declares Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” is consistent with the military intervention in Venezuela and the kidnapping of Maduro. They are arms of the same pincer whose ultimate purpose is not to overthrow a government, but to erase from history the living example of the Cuban Revolution.

The imperial rhetoric of “sanctions,” “democracy promotion,” and the “fight against terrorism and drugs” is the rotting shell that conceals the genocidal face of U.S. foreign policy. What moral legitimacy can a nation claim that has elevated state violence to both doctrine and practice? From Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Vietnam and Raqqa; from financing death squads in Central America and the Middle East to torture in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo (usurped Cuban territory) while protecting convicted terrorists on U.S. soil, such as Luis Posada Carriles, the mastermind behind the mid-air bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 innocent people, on October 6, 1976. Washington’s accusations are a pathological projection: it accuses Cuba of what constitutes its own essence. Its terror has a concrete face: children without oncology medications, respirators that fail, food that does not arrive due to lack of fuel. This immoral policy has been condemned for 32 consecutive years at the United Nations. It is the policy of the gangster who burns down the house when the victim refuses to kneel.

The persistence of the crime
This policy of terror did not emerge with Trump, nor with the 21st century. It has a precise origin, a founding document that reveals its genocidal intent.

On April 6, 1960, Undersecretary Lester D. Mallory drafted the foundational memorandum of this U.S. policy toward Cuba, declassified years later as irrefutable proof of genocidal intent: “The majority of Cubans support Castro… There is no effective political opposition… The only foreseeable way to deny him internal support is through disenchantment and dissatisfaction arising from economic hardship… All possible means must be employed quickly to weaken Cuba’s economic life, deny it money and supplies, provoke hunger, desperation and the overthrow of the government.” Trump’s 2026 executive order is the application of the Mallory principle with 21st-century tools.

This energy aggression did not begin now. From 2019, oil tankers were pursued, threatened and intercepted in international waters; shipowners fined and intimidated for fear of losing access to the U.S. economy. The executive order was the formalization of an energy war already underway. Now the total supply of energy is prohibited, the vital fluid of any modern society, with the same objective as always: to provoke desperation to overthrow the Revolution, but with increased lethal precision. The perverse calculation seeks multi-system collapse as a breeding ground for “humanitarian” intervention. They do not want peaceful transition, but a docile failed state to administer and from which to erase the ghost of insurgent dignity.

Total blackout and total asphyxiation
What the empire seeks is not a simple economic adjustment, but a humanitarian collapse. The world witnessed this on March 4th, when a failure at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the country’s largest, left two-thirds of the nation without electricity, including Havana. This was no accident. It was the most brutal manifestation of the “energy war” declared by Washington. As the Cuban News Agency has denounced, Trump’s executive order replicates the genocidal formula of the 1960 Mallory Memorandum: to provoke hunger and desperation in the population to overthrow the Revolution.

The immediate cause of the blackout was the “weakness of the electrical system due to lack of fuel.” Since January 9th, no fuel-laden ships have arrived on the island, and the odious U.S. pressure through threats of tariffs on countries that send oil to Cuba has paralyzed imports . President Trump himself admitted this on March 5, stating: “We cut off all oil, all money, or we cut off everything coming in from Venezuela, which was the sole source. And they want to make a deal”. Meanwhile, the Trump administration, in an act of limitless cynicism, maintains a “de facto blockade” while allowing certain very small shipments only to private businesses, attempting to divide the nation and create a dependency that undermines sovereignty. It is the same script: finance a fifth column while asphyxiating the people.

State terrorism and its human consequences
The consequences of this criminal policy have names and faces. While Cubans stood in line to buy candles during the massive blackout, the world could see the face of the State terrorism we denounce. A father, Damián Salvador, expressed it with the rawness of someone with nothing left to lose: “Everything you have in the fridge spoils: meat, the baby’s milk, everything” .

The revolutionary government, far from surrendering, has implemented emergency measures to preserve essential services: a four-day work week for the state sector, fuel rationing, and the reduction of transportation and educational activities. These are the measures of a nation preparing for the worst without ceasing to function, prioritizing life. But the reality is that fuel scarcity is pushing sensitive sectors like health, transportation, and water supply to the limit, leading even the United Nations to warn of an imminent risk of “humanitarian collapse.”

Trump’s ominous ‘friendly takeover’ threat
While the Iranian people resist and confront the US-Israeli aggression that has already cost thousands of lives, including children killed in airstrikes , Trump has turned his gaze to our homeland with increasing belligerence. On March 9, he escalated his threats dramatically, suggesting the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba—or perhaps not so friendly. “It may be a friendly takeover, it may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they’re really, they’re down to, as I say, fumes. They have no energy. They have no money. They’re in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis,” Trump declared. This is the language of a colonial power, treating sovereign nations as territories to be acquired.

The empire’s strategy is clear: first Venezuela, then Iran, and now Cuba. Trump has boasted that the capture of President Maduro on January 3 and the destabilization of Venezuela were essential steps in cutting off Cuba’s lifeline. He has publicly acknowledged that the worsening situation on our island is the direct result of his “intervention.” And now, as the conflict in Iran grows more complicated than anticipated, he has signaled with characteristic arrogance that the far-right Secretary of State, Marco Rubio (the son of Cuban immigrants with a long history of animosity toward the Revolution) is waiting in the wings to take charge of the Cuban portfolio.

State terrorism as doctrine
This pattern of exploitation and aggression is not exceptional; it is the consistent doctrine of U.S. foreign policy. U.S. foreign policy is a catalogue of State terrorism: overthrowing democratic governments (Mossadegh in Iran, Arbenz in Guatemala, Allende in Chile), support for bloody dictatorships (Pinochet, Videla, Somoza), the invasions of Panama and Grenada; wars based on open lies as in the case of Iraq; drone bombings in eternal wars; creation and financing of terrorist groups. And what is the blockade but massive economic terrorism? The difference between a terrorist with a bomb and a bureaucrat who denies insulin to a child is only a matter of method: both inflict pain to break wills. This is the true face of the empire: a pain-generating machine that presents itself as the only doctor capable of healing the wounds it inflicts.

Imperial propaganda as champion of democracy and human rights crumbles before the facts. The United States has no moral authority to judge. It is the principal violator of sovereignties, the world’s greatest exporter of violence, and a historic sponsor of state terrorism. While accusing Cuba of human rights violations, Washington granted asylum in Miami to terrorists Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch; kept Julian Assange confined and tortured for exposing its war crimes; and, in Guantánamo, continues to usurp Cuban territory and subject individuals to prison and torture without trial.

But setting aside the immorality of the accuser, we must ask a more fundamental question: are there objective reasons for Cuba to deserve punishment? The documented answer is a resounding no. Cuba respects and promotes human rights as an absolute priority. There is no proven case of torture or inhumane repression. It is a country of peace where social justice and solidarity are the very essence of the system: free universal health care and education, progressive labor legislation and social security, inclusive political participation, selfless international cooperation, and much more. While in the U.S. and Europe, peaceful demonstrations are brutally repressed, people are discriminated against, poverty and migration are criminalized, and prison systems hold millions, Cuba maintains enviable citizen security and prioritizes equity and solidarity as principles of the State.

The paradox of the ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’

This leads us to an apparent contradiction that, upon examination, reveals the true nature of the conflict.

How can an island of 10 million people, a supposed “failed state in decline,” pose an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the superpower? It is a crude fallacy, meant only to confuse. But if we dig beneath the surface, it reveals a real substance: they do not fear Cuba for our military or economic size, but for the power of our example. The demonstration that a small, poor, and blockaded people can build a more just society, resist for decades the aggression of the most powerful empire, and export solidarity instead of war. This proves that another world is possible, that dignity is neither bought nor sold, and that popular sovereignty prevails over imperial domination. That is why they must destroy Cuba: our very existence disproves their narrative that there is no alternative to savage capitalism.

Cuba resists and does not stop
And yet, despite this existential threat, Cuba does not merely endure; it advances.

Cuban resistance is not immobility but constant movement, permanent adaptation, and incessant creativity. We do not resist to remain static, but to continue existing and advancing. Cuba has erased the concept of collapse that the empire predicts, transforming obstacles into opportunities and scarcity into a stimulus for innovation.

Aware of our energy vulnerability, the Island has been conceiving actions to confront the fuel blockade. They are not improvisations, but the result of strategic analysis, contingency scenarios and accumulation of moral and material reserves, which cannot always be made public.

Along with resistance against the blockade, we work sovereignly to resolve our own problems and deficiencies. We are aware of management insufficiencies, errors committed and structures to perfect. But precisely because we seek solutions by our own means, without external tutelage, the blockade is doubly criminal: it asphyxiates us and reduces our capacity for correction with our own resources.

From ‘option zero’ to ‘war of all the people’
This capacity for self-correction and adaptation is not new. It was perfected in the crucible of the Special Period, and from that experience emerged concrete strategies.

Certainly, the response to aggression has been calculated, serene, and decisive. When the enemy turns off our lights, we turn on collective intelligence and draw on past experience. One legacy of the Special Period was the conception of “Option Zero”: a limit scenario, for which we are prepared, grounded in the decision to resist, selflessly, in defense of sovereignty. It entails draconian yet rational energy rationing; the absolute prioritization of fuel for life-sustaining services; urban and suburban agriculture for food self-sufficiency; a return to animal traction and bicycle transportation; and the conversion of industry to low-consumption technologies. Essential services are prioritized: hospitals, where electricity decides between life and death; general and special education centers; and fundamental industries for survival and development. The basic productive and social fabric are all protected.

The response: serenity, rationality, and energy sovereignty
But the empire and its lackeys, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are wrong again if they believe desperation will make us surrender. The serenity and conviction I speak of were demonstrated on March 6th, when, in less than 48 hours, 80% of homes in Havana and most of the country had their electrical service restored. That capacity for response is not improvisation: it is the maturity of a people who have overcome far worse crises.

In parallel, we accelerate the renewable energy revolution. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz made it clear: “Cuba continues to work to achieve energy sovereignty.” These are not empty words. While Washington blocks, we build. We are accelerating the installation of 49 new photovoltaic parks that are already contributing over 1000 MW to the system, doubling renewable generation from 3% to 10% in the last year. The goal is to reach between 15% and 20% of the energy matrix with clean sources by the end of the year. Furthermore, the government has approved tariff and tax exemptions for families and businesses to import and install solar panels. We turn the lack of fuel into the greatest opportunity to harness the sun we have in abundance. It is the victory of collective intelligence over brute force.

Cuba: 5 Detained for Vandalism Amid Protests Against the Energy Crisis Generated by US Blockade

Diplomacy and the principle of solidarity
This battle is not fought only within our borders. It extends to every diplomatic trench where the truth of Cuba is at stake.

On the diplomatic and legal front, we wage a global battle for truth. We dismantle accusations by exposing the aggressor’s illegal actions. We insist that the correct term is blockade, not embargo: more precisely, it is economic and political war. The difference is legally and morally crucial: an embargo is a measure between belligerents; a blockade is an act of war designed to isolate, asphyxiate, and starve a civilian population, with extraterritorial reach that even violates the sovereignty of third countries.

Our voice has overwhelming support at the UN General Assembly, year after year, with the organic solidarity of Our America expressed through ALBA-TCP communiqués and joint declarations by organizations, institutions, countries, and prominent personalities. The Global South experiences the aggression against Cuba as its own and sees in it the essence of its own struggle.

Cuban international solidarity is an unprecedented and defining trait. Unlike the empire, which promotes terrorism, Cuba offers medical aid, education, and technical assistance. Medical brigades have saved millions of lives; educators have made entire populations literate. It is pure cooperation, not military intervention or plunder. “Doctors, not bombs,” Fidel summarized. This truth grants Cuba moral standing in the eyes of the world and inspires reciprocity.

Even within the “monster” (as José Martí called it), solidarity movements and courageous voices emerge. Cubans abroad, foreign businessmen with investments on the Island, and friendly governments and citizens offer us their support. This transnational network proves that Cuba is not alone: our cause is just, and the empire has failed to monopolize the global narrative.

Cuba and multipolarity
This growing network of solidarity is not accidental. It coincides with a profound shift in the global order.

Many ask about the possible role of critical aid from the emerging powers shaping the multipolar world order. Cuba recognizes the sincere expressions of solidarity from our most powerful friends, but we approach the issue with strategic serenity, without naive romanticism or dependence. We appreciate help in critical moments, but our final victory must be the result of our own effort, our ingenuity, and our unity.

However, Cuba’s symbolic value transcends circumstances. We are not the pariah state that propaganda paints us as; we are a nation with substantial political and moral capital, living proof that it is possible to resist and defeat the most powerful hegemonism in history. We trust, without chauvinism, that the world as a whole, and key actors in the multipolar order, will not allow the U.S. to erase Cuba from the political map. Concrete solidarity is already making itself felt with growing force.

An invincible fortress in the geopolitical storm
Our struggle is not a local matter: it is the frontline trench of a global civilizational war between genocidal unilateralism and the aspiration for a just international order based on respect and cooperation. Every day we resist, every blackout we survive, every act of aggression we dismantle, strengthens the credibility of our alternative. Defending ourselves is defending every people’s right to live in sovereignty.

The ferocity of the empire does not stop at Cuba’s borders. The aggression against Venezuela, which led to the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife last January 3rd, had a secondary objective: to wrest from Cuba its main source of fuel. However, they have once again underestimated the militant solidarity of our peoples and the fortitude of our leaders. President Miguel Díaz-Canel has reiterated the willingness to dialogue with the United States, but always from a place of respect for sovereignty and without the slightest concession to interference. When Trump threatened that “Cuba is going to fall,” our president’s response was immediate and firm: Cuba will defend itself “to the last drop of blood.”

An invincible fortress
But if diplomacy fails, if the blockade tightens, if the empire resorts to its ultimate argument, Cuba is prepared to respond with its ultimate defense.

While waging economic, communications, and diplomatic battles, we maintain unwavering vigilance and preparation in national defense. The brutal intervention in Venezuela, where 32 brave Cuban military collaborators fell while fighting overwhelming forces, did not intimidate us: it filled us with pride and revealed to us the enemy’s ferocity and the need to be ready for the maximum scenario.

When imperialism threatens, our people do not tremble or hide: they report to fortifications, firing ranges, and military units. The “War of All the People” is not an abstract concept: it is a physical reality, drilled every Saturday in every municipality, neighborhood, and workplace. It is the materialization of Fidel’s principle that every Cuban is a soldier.

This unique defensive system is not based on stealth aircraft carriers or unattainable hypersonic weapons, but on political consciousness, training, and the bravery of millions. The Revolutionary Armed Forces, as the professional backbone, integrate organically with the popular Territorial Troop Militia, who dominate the terrain and know how to use weapons, tactics, and strategies. This is “deterrence by denial” taken to the extreme: making the cost of invasion so prohibitive in blood, time, resources, and prestige that it becomes unthinkable, even for Washington’s most aggressive hawks.

They would not find a conventional army to annihilate, but an entire nation transformed into a swarm of resistance—where every citizen is prepared and trained to confront the enemy. This is not about defeating an imposed government; they would have to defeat the people themselves, because the Cuban Revolution is the entire people.

Serenity, rationality and conviction
What sustains this readiness is not fear, but a particular state of mind that visitors to the Island often remark upon.

In Cuba, one perceives a particular atmosphere of serenity, rationality, profound conviction, willingness to sacrifice, and security in final success. It is not naive euphoria or denial of danger, but the maturity of a people who have traversed multiple crises, and know the enemy’s destructive capacity and our own strength.

This serenity is confidence and concentration, the calm that precedes and accompanies decisive action, the result of decades of political education, comprehensive education, and the institutionalization of revolutionary conduct. When Fidel was no longer physically among us, many predicted imminent collapse. But revolutionary perseverance is not a contingent phenomenon: it is the result of a conscious process that transformed the intuition, political attitude, and bravery of heroes, martyrs, and the Commander in Chief into a resilient, adaptive State doctrine deeply rooted in the masses. That is our capital.

The absurdity of the blockade
And yet, this entire apparatus of aggression, this six-decade war, is not only criminal—it is profoundly irrational.

Without a blockade, both peoples would benefit. U.S. businessmen would access a neighboring market of 10 million consumers; enjoy a universally recognized culture, beautiful beaches, prodigal nature and a sympathetic population. Cubans would access technology, investments and markets to enhance their development. Both peoples could establish friendly relations instead of confronting each other. It is irrational and painful to promote bloodshed in unnecessary confrontation. The blockade is absurd in every sense: economic, political, moral, cultural and legal.

Despite this absurdity, Cuba does not close the door to dialogue—but neither will it open the door to submission.

There are sectors where, despite profound differences, we can engage in dialogue and work together: environmental issues, the fight against drug trafficking, orderly migration management, and scientific cooperation. But there is a non-negotiable red line: we will not negotiate sovereignty. Not one micron. Nothing. We do not ask permission to exist, to choose our political system, or to maintain our independence. We are willing to dialogue as equals, but never under threat, coercion, or blackmail.

Trump’s miscalculation
The empire’s leader believes he can add Cuba to a list of conquests, speaking of us as “one of the small ones” for him. He boasts that his intervention has crippled us, that we are desperate to make a deal. He speaks of a “friendly takeover” as if our homeland were a piece of real estate to be acquired. He is profoundly mistaken.

What Trump fails to understand (what none of them understand) is that Cuba is not for sale. We are not desperate to make a deal; we are determined to resist. The “fumes” he believes we are running on are not the last gasps of a dying regime, but the fuel of a people whose dignity has been forged in decades of resistance. The darkness he seeks to impose on us only makes the light of our conviction shine brighter.

The victory of ideas
This leads us to the final, inevitable question:

Can the energy blockade, added to the six-decade blockade, finally subdue the Cuban Revolution? The answer is in the archives of imperial failures. They have tried everything: the invasion of Playa Girón (1961), where the Rebel Army and a newly created and still poorly trained militia inflicted their first great military defeat on U.S. imperialism in the Americas; the terrorist war of the 1960s and 1970s, with sabotage and biological attacks; the terrifying Cuban Missile Crisis (1962); the strangulation of the Special Period, which forged a resilience of steel; a permanent cultural and media war, and the seductive lure of ‘soft change.’ And now, the final assault on the energy system. But here we are: standing, fighting, creating.

Our strength is not measured in barrels of oil or megawatts, but in inexhaustible moral reserves. It is nourished by Martí’s ethic, which placed “the cult of the full dignity of man” as the first law of the Republic. It feeds on Fidel’s thought, which bequeathed the conviction that decisive battles are won with ideas, unity, and an indissoluble connection between leadership and people. It is strengthened by the living memory of every collective sacrifice overcome, from the literacy campaign to the pandemic.

The immediate path will be extremely difficult: physical darkness that hurts, scarcity that oppresses, and constant uncertainty. But it is precisely in this forced darkness where the light of our reason, our morality, and our historical certainty shines with inextinguishable force. The United States, in its pathological obsession to destroy our example, only exhibits its own brutality and moral misery, while revealing the strength of our principles.

We will do what we have always done, what we know how to do best: resist, create, and win. Because we know that a people united by a just cause, conscious of their rights, and prepared to sacrifice for their dignity and sovereignty, is a force against which all empires shatter. Our final victory will not be a headline in the Western press; it will be the eternal endurance of Cuba as a free, sovereign, socialist nation of solidarity—inspired by Martí and Fidel. It will be the triumph of the idea that another world is possible, necessary, and inevitable. As long as Cubans have the will to fight, the flame of the Revolution, like the sun we harness in our solar panels, will never be extinguished.

These are the options of Cuba.

Bibliography
• Lamrani, S. (2024). The Economic War Against Cuba: A Historical and Lega

Perspective. Monthly Review Press.

• Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba (MINREX). (2025). Declaraciones del MINREX sobre el bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero. MINREX. https://cubaminrex.cu/
• Gustafsson, J. E. C. (2021). Danish academic backs Cuba’s battle against the cruel US blockade. Misiones ubana. https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/articulo/danish-academic-backs-cubas-battle-against-cruel-us-blockade
• Anwar Yassine. (2022, noviembre 4). Intervención en reunión de la Asociación José Martí em Líbano. Cubaminrex. https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/articulo/jose-marti-association-lebanon-reaffirms-solidarity-cuba
• Taimur Rahman. (2024, agosto 28). Intervención en sesión de intercambiosobre Cuba en Lahore. Cubaminrex. https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/articulo/cuba-yes-blockade-no-also-pakistan
• Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba (MINREX). (2026). Informe anual sobre el bloqueo: Necesidad de poner fin al bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero impuesto por los Estados Unidos de América contra Cuba. MINREX.
• Partido Comunista de Cuba. (2021). Conceptualización del Modelo Económico y Social Cubano de Desarrollo Socialista. Editora Política.
• Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (ONEI). (2025). Anuario Estadístico de Cuba 2024: Sector Energético. ONEI.
• Martí, J. (2019). Obras completas. Edición crítica. Centro de Estudios Martianos.
• Castro, F. (1975). Selección de discursos acerca del partido. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, Instituto Cubano del Libro.
• Díaz-Canel, M. (2024). Intervención en la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular: Políticas para el enfrentamiento al bloqueo energético. Ediciones del Consejo de Estado.

Pedro Monzón Barata, former Cuban Ambassador and Consul General in Sao Paolo; researcher at the Center for International Policy Research

(Al Mayadeen – English)

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By Kit Klarenberg – Mar 15, 2026

The Zionist-American war on Iran was intended to be a lightning strike routing, **fought exclusively**from the air, lasting only a few days. Instead, Washington and its Israeli proxy have blundered into a major multi-front conflict, which could well threaten the Empire’s very existence. The initial US aerial bombardment’s centrepiece was Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s February 28th murder. Initially hailed by Western media as “the assassination of the century,” the vile act has resulted in catastrophe for the perpetrators.

The Islamic Republic’s relentless battering of Zionist entity civilian centres and military and intelligence infrastructure, and US bases throughout West Asia, hasn’t been deterred one iota. **Vast crowds**took to the streets of Tehran in vengeful mourning. Their righteous anger has pullulated throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Ever since, incensed Shiites have violently clashed with security forces in multiple major Pakistani cities. Meanwhile, Bahrain teeters on the brink of all-out revolution. Now, Mojtaba Khamenei, the slain Supreme Leader’s son, has taken his place.

Iranians celebrate Mojtaba Khamenei’s ascension to Supreme Leader

Iranian citizens of every ethnic and religious extraction braved US-Israeli airstrikes to celebrate his ascension. Commonly perceived as a hardliner with strong ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, expectation the new Supreme Leader will adopt a considerably less conciliatory, patient approach than his father is widespread. Western sources forecast Mojtaba may decide the Islamic Republic “must move quickly to obtain nuclear weapons in order to forestall future US and Israeli attacks,” overturning Ali Khamenei’s longstanding fatwa against their development by Tehran.

US President Donald Trump **has declared**he is “not happy” with Mojtaba taking power, and Israeli apparatchiks are likewise perturbed by the development. Nonetheless, this was an inevitable upshot of assassinating the former Supreme Leader. There was also no reason to believe doing so would precipitate the Islamic Republic’s collapse, or lead to Tehran’s military submission. It begs the obvious question of why Washington and Tel Aviv electively helped install a ruler more committed than ever to expelling the Empire from West Asia.

Similarly, Hezbollah’s extraordinary broadsides of the Zionist entity since Khameinei’s assassination should dispel any notion – as perpetuated by Israeli political and military chiefs – the group**was obliterated** by Tel Aviv’s criminal October 2024 invasion of Lebanon. That incursion was prefaced by an operation in which thousands of pagers used by senior Hezbollah operatives**were detonated**simultaneously, having been wired with explosives by Mossad pre-purchase, killing and injuring many. A week-and-a-half later, the group’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah was **lethally targeted**in a Zionist entity airstrike.

Evidently, the Resistance cannot be crushed via high-level assassinations. In fact, such actions actively strengthen its members. This inconvenient reality has been well-known to the CIA since at least 2009. In July that year, the Agency produced a top secret assessment laying out the pros and cons of liquidating “high value targets” (HVTs). It was prepared in advance of Barack Obama’s CIA chief Leon Panetta shifting US “counter-terror” operations from capturing and torturing high-level suspects, to outright executing them.

The assessment concluded HVT operations “can play a useful role when they are part of a broader counterinsurgency strategy,” and sought to “assist policymakers and military officers involved in authorizing or planning” such strikes. However, it listed many “potential negative effects” of “high value” assassinations. Israel’s past killing of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders were specifically cited as examples of how the strategy can spectacularly backfire. We have witnessed the CIA’s unheeded cautions play out in real-time since February 28th.

Under Fire, Not Divided: Why Iran’s Ethnic Front Has Not Cracked

Foremost among prospective blowback from HVT operations is the risk high-level assassinations can increase an “insurgent” group’s support. This occurs when killing a target “[strengthens] an armed group’s bond with the population, radicalizing an insurgent group’s remaining leaders, creating a vacuum into which more radical groups can enter, and escalating or deescalating a conflict in ways that favor the insurgents.” Such actions can also “[erode] the ‘rules of the game’ between the government and insurgents,” thus exacerbating “the level of violence in a conflict”:

“HVT strikes…may increase support for the insurgents, particularly if these strikes enhance insurgent leaders’ lore, if noncombatants are killed in the attacks, if legitimate or semi-legitimate politicians aligned with the insurgents are targeted…An insurgent group’s unifying cause, deep ties to its constituency, or a broad support base can lessen the impact of leadership losses by ensuring a steady flow of replacement recruits.”

The CIA assessment noted several historical instances of supposed HVT successes. When high-level targets have “prominent public profiles”, assassinations can in specific instances shatter a target group. However, this was not the case with Hamas or Hezbollah. The pair “carry out state-like functions, such as providing healthcare services,” so higherups are well-known to citizens of Gaza and Lebanon. Yet, their “highly disciplined nature, social service network, and reserve of respected leaders” mean they can easily “reorganize” in the wake of assassinations.

A CIA table on past/ongoing Western assassination programs

The Zionist entity had by this point been engaged in “targeted-killings” against Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Resistance groups since the mid-1990s. However, their “decentralized command structures, compartmented leadership, strong succession planning, and deep ties to their communities” made them “highly resilient to leadership losses.” Undeterred, Tel Aviv’s high-level assassinations continued apace. In the early 2000s, Hamas founder Sheikh Yassin and the group’s leader in Gaza Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi were murdered. However, the killings “strengthened solidarity” between Resistance factions, while “[bolstering] support for hardline militant leaders.”

The obvious lessons of this wanton bloodletting remained unlearned by the Zionist entity, once the Gaza Holocaust erupted. In June 2024, elite imperial journal Foreign Affairs published a report unequivocally headlined Hamas Is Winning. It boldly concluded “Israel’s failing strategy makes its enemy stronger.” The outlet also recorded how “according to the measures that matter,” Hamas was considerably bigger and more powerful than on October 7th 2023. Israel had thus stumbled into a deeply ruinous attritional war, with a “tenacious and deadly guerrilla force.”

Hamas’ surging popularity with Palestinians throughout the Gaza genocide was found to have significantly enhanced the group’s “ability to recruit…[and] attract new generations of fighters and operatives.” This granted Hamas the ability to launch “lethal operations” in areas previously “cleared” by the IOF “easily”. Foreign Affairs charged the Zionist entity, to its “great detriment”, failed to comprehend how “the carnage and devastation it has unleashed in Gaza has only made its enemy stronger.”

It is not merely Hamas that has been galvanised by the Gaza genocide. Israel’s “carnage and devastation” has greatly expanded the ranks and resolve of the entire Resistance, while its constituent members have won hearts and minds globally in ever-mounting numbers.Tel Aviv and its Anglo-American puppetmasters have no good choices left to make, in a criminal war of choice aged against an indefatigable adversary committed to total victory, the likes of which they have never faced before.

The calamitous outcomes of Zionist-American conflict with Iran were amply spelled out in a June 2025 report by the Israel-based Institute for National Security Studies. Among its prescriptions, INSS cautioned against assassinating Ali Khamenei, as the Islamic Republic “would likely have little difficulty selecting a successor, who could prove to be more extreme or more capable,” while uniting the Iranian public and government more than ever. The consequences of disregarding this prophetic curse will reverberate throughout West Asia for centuries.

(Global Delinquents)

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From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

This editorial by Hugo Aboites originally appeared in the March 14, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those ofMexico Solidarity Mediaor theMexico Solidarity Project*.*

The faculty and staff of the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) have a very generous collective bargaining agreement that supports their teaching and research activities. It includes freedom of research, sabbatical leave, other leaves of absence, a balance between teaching and research, and more. Furthermore, the UAM administration has committed to providing the SITUAM union, through the collective bargaining agreement, with information on the institution’s academic activities. This allows the union to intervene with more information to defend the academic workers and enables them to contribute to the direction and progress of this important work.

The outdated prejudice persists that a union in a university is only useful for negotiating salaries and benefits. Everything else, it is said, is academic and not relevant to the discussion. But if the union includes administrative and academic staff (more than a thousand), then it is clearly relevant. Furthermore, when academic matters are prominently featured in the bilaterally signed contract, then of course it is appropriate to discuss, and even expand upon, what has been agreed upon.

And in that sense, it’s good that the clauses dealing with academic matters are very precise, as this facilitates discussion. For example, clause 215 states that UAM administration is obligated to “inform the union annually of the research projects approved by the divisional councils, as well as their names” and, among other things, “the resources” allocated to them (Section XXV).

The teaching schedule must also be made public. (Section XXIV) Furthermore, the Rector’s Office must provide detailed information on agreements with public or private institutions and companies (Section XXVI). Clearly, the union does not decide on the approval of projects or teaching loads, but since it is informed, it can freely analyze and express its opinion regarding a given project. Nothing prevents an academic discussion on a topic or project, especially since UAM is legally obligated to ensure that “the training of professionals corresponds to the needs of society” and “to develop research activities… primarily addressing national problems…” (Organic Law, Art. 2).

Some examples clarify the type of problems that can arise at this point: UAM has entered into agreements with transnational companies to conduct research on a technology that, among other uses, improves the performance of tanks, aircraft, and combat helicopters for the U.S. armed forces. In cases like this, UAM provides facilities, researchers, and other resources from public funding to the institution free of charge. This is highly questionable for UAM. Another example: the design and manufacture of machinery for a company seeking to make its toilet bowl deodorant tablets more compact and longer-lasting.

Another example: the development of products and adhesives for application, for instance, on shoe soles. Yet another: offering a master’s degree program at a large company’s facilities to train its technical staff. And more: countless courses on dog training, bonsai care, theater, and so on, with fees reaching thousands of pesos. It’s so important to know and analyze what’s being done, but equally, or perhaps even more, important to examine what aspects of Mexico are not being addressed at UAM.

Many activities could be discussed by panels of academic experts convened by SITUAM to critically examine the implications of these projects. Furthermore, on the 51st anniversary of its founding (March 4th), SITUAM can join as a key player in this important endeavor to support a UAM that addresses the broad challenges facing the Mexican people and contributes to resolving them.

The fact that, with the new labour law (despite our initial suspicion), all workers of the institution, unionized or not, can decide whether to approve the progress in the negotiation carried out by SITUAM, has served to increase the discussion and participation of non-unionized workers in union issues.

This fosters greater union membership and strengthens both the union and democracy at UAM. With votes for or against what SITUAM obtained in the negotiations, we broaden the base of democratic decision-making in an institution where unilateral decisions abound. And that strengthens the union’s contribution to UAM.

A country of organizations and, hopefully, of democratic universities, ultimately has a better chance of facing the hostile climate that prevails today due to the decision of the United States and israeli governments to bet on war in the Middle East, and due to the threats against the Cuban people and nation.

• 

  Analysis | Labor

  SITUAM, A Renewed Actor in the University

  March 17, 2026

  The Metropolitan Autonomous University’s faculty and staff union has broadened the base of democratic decision-making in an institution where unilateral decisions abound.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera March 17

  March 17, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on electoral reform, healthcare routes, security & arms-trafficking, and Cuba solidarity.

• 

  Analysis

  Cuba: A Paradigm in Health, Despite the Blockade

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  Cuba’s achievements are noteworthy despite an economic blockade from the US that has lasted more than 65 years, writes Martí Batres.

The post SITUAM, A Renewed Actor in the University appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

Every day, President Claudia Sheinbaum gives a morning presidential press conference and Mexico Solidarity Media posts English language summaries, translated by Mexico Solidarity’s Pedro Gellert. Previous press conference summaries are available here.

Electoral Plan B: fewer privileges and more power to the peoplePresident Claudia Sheinbaum’s Plan B is advancing in the Senate. The proposal seeks to reduce privileges of the electoral apparatus and strengthen democracy, make recall referendums more accessible, impose salary caps for INE and electoral court officials who will not be able to earn more than the President, and eliminate bonuses and perks and privileges.

The bill also proposes reducing council seats in municipalities, capping spending by local congresses, and making party finances transparent by prohibiting illicit or foreign funds. These measures are estimated to save 4 billion pesos (US$226.02 million), with the resources to be earmarked to infrastructure and wellbeing for the people.

Healthcare Routes: record pharmaceutical supply and strengthening of the public systemThrough the Healthcare Routes, 115 million units of medications were delivered in 2025 and 45 million thus far in 2026. A first-level pharmaceutical catalog has been consolidated, and specialized kits are being distributed, with supply levels in the 56 IMSS-Wellbeing oncology units between 91% and 97%, a record high. In addition, 10,785 specialists were hired at IMSS and 1,295 at ISSSTE hospitals and clinics.

Security and arms trafficking in the Mexico–U.S. relationshipPresident Claudia Sheinbaum explained that the main way the U.S. can help Mexico is by stopping arms trafficking into the country. The President mentioned a New York Times report indicating that the amount of arms entering from the U.S. may have doubled, though she clarified that the data needs verification. Sheinbaum emphasized that security coordination with the U.S. is maintained under a clear principle: respect for sovereignty and the country’s territorial integrity.

Solidarity with Cuba amid the crisisSheinbaum stated that supporting the Cuban people is an act of solidary and fraternity in the face of the crisis the island is facing. Those who wish to contribute can do so, and those who don’t are within their rights.

The President also criticized the pettiness and disinformation spread about these donations. In addition, she backed the flotilla departing on March 19 from Puerto Progreso, Yucatán to Cuba, and stated that the government will determine how it can support this solidarity initiative.

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• 

  Analysis | Labor

  SITUAM, A Renewed Actor in the University

  March 17, 2026

  The Metropolitan Autonomous University’s faculty and staff union has broadened the base of democratic decision-making in an institution where unilateral decisions abound.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera March 17

  March 17, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on electoral reform, healthcare routes, security & arms-trafficking, and Cuba solidarity.

• 

  Analysis

  Cuba: A Paradigm in Health, Despite the Blockade

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  Cuba’s achievements are noteworthy despite an economic blockade from the US that has lasted more than 65 years, writes Martí Batres.

The post People’s Mañanera March 17 appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

This column by Martí Batres originally appeared in the March 16, 2026 edition of El Heraldo de México. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those ofMexico Solidarity Mediaor theMexico Solidarity Project*.*

There is no legal, political, or historical reason that justifies the siege the Cuban people are suffering. On the contrary, the Caribbean nation has been characterized by its spirit of solidarity, particularly on a matter very sensitive to human dignity: health.

It is remarkable that despite an economic blockade lasting over 65 years, the fall of its ally the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago, and the intensification of measures against it in recent times, Cuba has been able to promote a remarkable level of healthcare for its citizens, as well as consistent solidarity in this area with many nations around the world. At the same time, it has developed advanced biomedical research in many fields, such as monoclonal antibodies against autoimmune diseases, arthritis, vitiligo, cancer, and others, and has achieved an unprecedented rate of medical training per capita.

Among its many comparative achievements, we can note the following: Regarding the number of doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, Cuba has 9.5; Costa Rica 2.9; the United States 2.6; Mexico 2.5; and Latin America 2.7 on average; and in the world 1.8.

In terms of the number of nurses per 1,000 inhabitants, Cuba has 7.1; the US 12.3; Mexico 3.4; Chile 4.7; Latin America 7.1 and the world 4.

In relation to the number of hospital beds per 1,000 inhabitants, Cuba has 4.3; the United States 2.8; Mexico 1 and Latin America 2.

Regarding life expectancy at birth, Cuba has 78.3 years; the US 77.5; Mexico 75.5 and Latin America 74.8.

Regarding child malnutrition, Cuba has a prevalence of 4.1%; the United States 0.5%; Mexico 12.6% and Latin America 11.5 percent.

In infant mortality, Cuba has 5.8 cases per 1,000 inhabitants; the US 5.4; Mexico 11.5 and Latin America 13.2.

In terms of low birth weight, Cuba has 7%; the United States 8%; Mexico 10%; Latin America 10% and the world average 15 percent.

In exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, Cuba has 40.6%; the US 25.8%; Mexico 21.1%; Canada 26.2%; Latin America 43% and the world average 47 percent.

In terms of diabetes prevalence, Cuba has 9.4%; the United States 13.7%; Mexico 16.4%; Latin America 10.1% and the world average is 11.1 percent.

In adult obesity, Cuba has 24%; the United States 40%; and Mexico 38%.

In new cases of Tuberculosis per 100,000 inhabitants, Cuba has 6%; Mexico 29%; Chile 14%; and the world average is 13.9 percent.

Before seeking to annihilate a small country of 10 million inhabitants, bellicose powers should learn a great deal from all that Cuba has managed to do in public health with very scarce resources and in spite of excessive obstacles.

Martí Batres is General Director of Mexico’s Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) and the former interim head of government of Mexico City.

• 

  Analysis | Labor

  SITUAM, A Renewed Actor in the University

  March 17, 2026

  The Metropolitan Autonomous University’s faculty and staff union has broadened the base of democratic decision-making in an institution where unilateral decisions abound.

• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera March 17

  March 17, 2026

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on electoral reform, healthcare routes, security & arms-trafficking, and Cuba solidarity.

• 

  Analysis

  Cuba: A Paradigm in Health, Despite the Blockade

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  Cuba’s achievements are noteworthy despite an economic blockade from the US that has lasted more than 65 years, writes Martí Batres.

The post Cuba: A Paradigm in Health, Despite the Blockade appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

This article by María del Pilar Martínez originally appeared in the March 16, 2026 edition of El Economista.

With less than ten days until the legal deadline, labour tensions at the General Motors (GM) plant are reaching a critical point. This Tuesday, union representatives from the National Independent Union of Automotive Industry Workers (SINTTIA) and company executives will resume negotiations to try to resolve the impasse in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) review. However, the rank-and-file workers have already begun formally forming their strike committee.

Despite the openness to dialogue, 300 workers formally joined the strike committee at an assembly. This body will be responsible for coordinating logistics, security details, and operational strategy should the red and black flags be raised on March 25.

For a plant that employs 7,000 workers, the mobilization of this committee of 300 delegates sends a clear message to the company: the willingness to reach an agreement does not imply a renunciation of their labour demands.

SINNTIA was among the first Mexican unions to secure the right to negotiate the Collective Bargaining Agreement after the implementation of the 2019 labour reform.

This process is not just another contract review, as this union is one of the emblematic organizations of the new labour era in Mexico. It’s worth remembering that this union was among the first to secure the right to negotiate the Collective Bargaining Agreement after the implementation of the 2019 labor reform, breaking with decades of traditional practices and legitimizing its representation through free, direct, and secret ballot.

The next few hours will be crucial. While the company seeks to maintain operational competitiveness, the union is pushing for salary increases and benefits that compensate for the current cost of living.

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  General Motors & SINTTIA Union Resume Talks: Workers Form Strike Committee

  March 17, 2026

  For a plant of 7,000 workers, the mobilization of a strike committee of 300 sends a clear message to GM: a willingness to reach an agreement doesn’t imply a renunciation of their demands.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Ministry of Health says Vaccinations Working: 30% Fewer Active Measles Cases

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  The public’s response to the call to get vaccinated against the virus has begun to show results in the country, with a reduction in active cases and a downward trend.

• 

  Analysis

  The Inconsistencies of Ebrard

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  Mexico’s Secretary of Economy touts a new trade policy of origin over price, yet the import of highly subsidized staple grains benefits US producers at the expense of Mexico’s domestic producers.

The post General Motors & SINTTIA Union Resume Talks: Workers Form Strike Committee appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

This article by Arturo Sánchez and Alma E. Muñoz originally appeared in the March 17, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. The public’s response to the call made by health authorities to get vaccinated against measles has begun to show results in the country, with a reduction in active cases and a downward trend, the federal government reported on Tuesday.

At the morning press conference at the National Palace, officials from the Ministry of Health detailed that 13.3 million vaccines have been administered in five weeks, which has helped to slow the transmission of the virus. However, they urged the public to “not let their guard down.”

Undersecretary of Health Eduardo Clark García Dobarganes emphasized that vaccination is the primary tool for containing the outbreak. “Thanks to this effort, we are already seeing a significant reduction in the rate of measles virus transmission,” he noted.

He indicated that the peak of infections occurred toward the end of February and that there are currently “almost 30 percent fewer” active cases compared to three or four weeks ago. However, he warned that the risk remains if measures are relaxed. “There can always be surprises if we let our guard down,” he stated.

He explained that the goal is to administer 25 million vaccines, averaging 2.5 million per week, and that they have already surpassed half of that target. He also acknowledged the participation of institutions such as the IMSS, ISSSTE, and IMSS-Bienestar, as well as state governments.

Despite the progress, he warned that in Durango, Sonora, Puebla and Quintana Roo a clear downward trend is not yet observed, so he called for reinforcing vaccination, especially among people aged 13 to 49 who do not have a complete vaccination schedule.

For his part, Health Secretary David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz reported that the outbreak in Jalisco, where 60 percent of the cases were concentrated, “is clearly on the decline.” He detailed that of more than 4,600 accumulated cases, there are currently 617 active cases and only 59 new infections.

He added that most cases in that state are concentrated in six municipalities and that vaccination has been key to containing the spread. “We are reaching very high vaccination levels to control the outbreak,” he stated.

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  General Motors & SINTTIA Union Resume Talks: Workers Form Strike Committee

  March 17, 2026

  For a plant of 7,000 workers, the mobilization of a strike committee of 300 sends a clear message to GM: a willingness to reach an agreement doesn’t imply a renunciation of their demands.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Ministry of Health says Vaccinations Working: 30% Fewer Active Measles Cases

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  The public’s response to the call to get vaccinated against the virus has begun to show results in the country, with a reduction in active cases and a downward trend.

• 

  Analysis

  The Inconsistencies of Ebrard

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  Mexico’s Secretary of Economy touts a new trade policy of origin over price, yet the import of highly subsidized staple grains benefits US producers at the expense of Mexico’s domestic producers.

The post Mexico’s Ministry of Health says Vaccinations Working: 30% Fewer Active Measles Cases appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

This column by Arturo Huerta González originally appeared in the March 17, 2026 issue of La Jornada de Oriente, the Puebla edition of Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper, La Jornada*.* The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those ofMexico Solidarity Mediaor theMexico Solidarity Project*.*

On March 11, 2026, the Secretary of Economy stated that “all trade from now on will be organized based on where the product was made, not necessarily its price. The model, from before the 1990s until now, was to buy from whoever produced it cheapest, regardless of who that was; that is changing.” In fact, this is what governments from the 1990s to the present have been doing. They have resorted to importing basic grains, whose price is low due to both higher productivity in the US and the cheap dollar that Mexico has been using to help lower inflation. This has been detrimental to domestic producers, as they are unable to compete with imports because they operate with higher costs. Consequently, they have seen increased financial problems, higher levels of debt and insolvency, which reduces their income, investment, and national production, thus increasing the share of basic grain imports in national consumption.

Imports of staple grains benefit US producers and workers at the expense of domestic producers , who become undercapitalized and over-indebted. This reduces their investment capacity, preventing them from increasing productivity to compete with imports. Consequently, the economy remains dependent on imports to meet consumption needs, creating a vicious cycle of reliance on capital inflows to maintain a cheap dollar and finance imports. This places the country in a highly vulnerable position regarding its borrowing capacity.

It is very costly for the country to lower inflation with cheap imports of basic grains, because it has to establish high interest rates and fiscal austerity to attract capital, so Mexico has stopped having an economic policy in favour of productive growth and employment and hence the context of stagnation of the national economy and the high levels of indebtedness , underemployment and poverty.

It’s necessary to remove basic grains from the USMCA, so that Mexico’s domestic production is prioritized, our food dependency is reduced and foreign trade deficit caused by such imports is diminished.

The growth of cheap imports of staple grains negatively impacts the income of farmers and their families, reducing their purchasing power, which in turn contracts demand, the domestic market, and national economic activity, including job creation. The low prices of imported staple grains, by displacing domestic producers, leave them unable to service their debt, thus rendering them ineligible for credit and affecting banking stability.

Therefore, the Secretary of Economy must be consistent and stop promoting cheap imports of basic grains, given the negative effects this is having. He must prioritize domestic production, even though it is more expensive, because by boosting production, productivity will increase, costs will decrease, and prices will fall.

To protect domestic producers and advance food self-sufficiency and improve the income of agricultural producers so they can cover their debts and increase investment, it is necessary to remove basic grains from the USMCA, so that domestic production is demanded and our food dependency is reduced, as well as to reduce the foreign trade deficit caused by such imports.

The Secretary of Economy also pointed out that “the federal government has modified more than 770 tariff classifications with the aim of protecting domestic producers from imports that, he said, were entering the country at ridiculously low prices.” Therefore, if the government does not remove basic grains from the USMCA , it must be consistent with its statements and establish tariffs on imports of these products to protect domestic producers. This would benefit domestic production, and producers would have the income to increase investment and move toward self-sufficiency in basic grains.

The war between the US and Israel against Iran not only leads to increased oil and gas prices, which will affect Mexico, but also raises the price of fertilizers and will cause food shortages worldwide. Hence the urgency for Mexico to move towards self-sufficiency in basic grains, gasoline, and gas , and not continue depending on imports, which will be more expensive.

The Mexican government , in addition to removing staple grains from the USMCA and/or imposing tariffs on their imports, must abandon high interest rates, budget cuts, and the exchange rate appreciation that makes imports cheaper, all of which discourage investment in the production of these goods. What is needed is affordable credit, subsidies for producers, supply centers, and collection and distribution facilities that eliminate intermediaries, as well as greater public investment in infrastructure to expand irrigated land and establish fair prices that allow for investment and production, thus advancing food self-sufficiency and reducing imports. As domestic production increases, so too would employment, leading to more endogenous growth, less pressure on the foreign trade balance, and less dependence on capital inflows. This would increase the income of producers and agricultural workers, stimulating the domestic market and reducing our dependence on food imports and capital inflows. The problem is that the Secretary of Economy is not acting in favor of domestic producers. It hasn’t even crossed his mind to remove staple grains from the USMCA, nor will he establish tariffs on imports of these goods, as he doesn’t want to confront the US government. Instead, he has submitted to its dictates, meaning that domestic producers of staple grains will continue to suffer the aforementioned problems. Furthermore, there is no indication that the demands of agricultural producers to improve their financial situation and their capacity for investment and production, thus enabling them to achieve food self-sufficiency in these products, will be met.

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  General Motors & SINTTIA Union Resume Talks: Workers Form Strike Committee

  March 17, 2026

  For a plant of 7,000 workers, the mobilization of a strike committee of 300 sends a clear message to GM: a willingness to reach an agreement doesn’t imply a renunciation of their demands.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Ministry of Health says Vaccinations Working: 30% Fewer Active Measles Cases

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  The public’s response to the call to get vaccinated against the virus has begun to show results in the country, with a reduction in active cases and a downward trend.

• 

  Analysis

  The Inconsistencies of Ebrard

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  Mexico’s Secretary of Economy touts a new trade policy of origin over price, yet the import of highly subsidized staple grains benefits US producers at the expense of Mexico’s domestic producers.

The post The Inconsistencies of Ebrard appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

This article by Gloria López originally appeared in the March 15, 2026 edition of El Sol de México.

Faced with the high costs of trials, women in Mexico City and the State of Mexico are financing litigation for alimony, custody and vicarious violence with weekly contributions of 100 pesos to access a dignified defense.

The strategy is driven by the Rojo y Morado organization, made up of 30 lawyers who offer support during legal processes that can last up to a year and a half and cost between 12 and 15 thousand pesos, which opens an accessible way to face cases that were previously abandoned due to lack of money.

With weekly payments of 100 pesos, women can cover legal processes that were previously unattainable for them due to the high costs of private firms or the lack of interest from public defenders, who also have poor results and minimal pensions.

Rojo y Morado’s Founding & Purpose

Paola Carolina Rojo Aranda, founder of the Rojo y Morado organization, explained that the project arose from the need to assist women who cannot afford a lawyer due to the high cost of legal fees.

“The organization was born out of the need of many women who cannot afford a lawyer because it is very expensive and often use the services of public defenders, but these do not show the interest or respect that their cases deserve, and they end up obtaining very minimal pensions or with their cases destroyed,” she said.

Faced with the dilemma that victims must choose between feeding their children or paying for legal defense, the organization decided to implement the weekly payment system.

Payment System & Service Scope

“We charge them 100 pesos weekly, an amount they can easily afford. There are extreme cases where we don’t charge them at all or we reduce the fee from 100 pesos, but that’s the base amount, until they have access to a decent pension,” she explained.

Since its inception in 2023, the Rojo y Morado organization has served over 100 women in the Valley of Mexico region. While the first few years focused on establishing the organization’s structure and outreach, the founder noted that they now have archives filled with favorable court rulings.

“We’ve been doing this for three years; the first year I think we managed to handle around 20 cases, we lacked publicity. In the second year the situation was much better and now we receive many more cases,” she emphasized.

Success Rate & Operating Model

This work model has allowed the organization to achieve a 70 percent success rate in the trials they handle from beginning to end. Rojo y Morado’s operating model differs from a traditional law firm because it prioritizes the plaintiff’s financial stability before demanding full payment of fees.

Once the lawyers obtain a fair provisional pension in court, the weekly payment is adjusted to amounts that can rise from 500 to 1,000 pesos per month, allowing the woman to finish paying for the lawsuit regularly without depleting her capital.

The fee is adjusted to cover the remaining cost of the process, which can range from 12,000 to 15,000 pesos, ensuring that a lack of immediate resources is not a reason to abandon the case. The founder clarified that even if the fee is paid off sooner than expected, the organization remains committed to supporting the woman.

“If they finish paying for their legal proceedings within a year and a half, we won’t abandon them; we’ll see the case through to the end,” she assured. She also noted that the total cost of the legal proceedings is covered thanks to the support of a network of students, interns, and lawyers who contribute their time and effort to this social cause.

The cases that the lawyers handle most are claims for alimony, which ranks first in requests; followed by cases of vicarious violence and situations in which grandparents resort to the organization to request custody of grandchildren who have been abandoned by both parents.

In November 2025, El Sol de México reported that the process for filing child support claims in Mexico City became more complicated due to changes in the new National Code of Family Procedures, which caused the number of claims to decrease by 82 percent, compared to 2024, and by 29.5 percent compared to 2023.

Expansion & Organizational Structure

The organization’s structure currently has headquarters in the municipality of Nezahualcóyotl and is in the process of opening a second headquarters in the Coyoacán borough to meet the high demand in Mexico City.

The team is strategically divided to cover different territories and avoid work overload.

“In Mexico City, there are seven of us lawyers, and in the State of Mexico, more than 27 women are dedicated to handling cases. We all work in certain municipalities; we divide and map out our workload so that we don’t get overwhelmed,” the lawyer commented.

The organizational chart includes three specialists in gender and childhood perspective, followed by the litigating lawyers and a group of students and recent graduates who collaborate in the drafting of documents and in attending hearings.

Paola Rojo highlighted that they also handle divorce cases involving economic violence, particularly with women who dedicated themselves exclusively to the home, cases of parental rights, alimony debtors, among others.

“When the ex-husband does not want to pay alimony, this is an economic imbalance because, while they worked for many years and gained experience and stability, they stayed at home without gaining work experience, and have to resume their studies or look for work,” she explained.

One of the organization’s purposes is to advise teenagers seeking to claim their pension rights independently, with the intention of encouraging young people to become informed and resort to their own judgments when family circumstances require it.

Gloria López is a reporter in Mexico City who covers gender, politics, human rights, and sexual diversity.

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  General Motors & SINTTIA Union Resume Talks: Workers Form Strike Committee

  March 17, 2026

  For a plant of 7,000 workers, the mobilization of a strike committee of 300 sends a clear message to GM: a willingness to reach an agreement doesn’t imply a renunciation of their demands.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico’s Ministry of Health says Vaccinations Working: 30% Fewer Active Measles Cases

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  The public’s response to the call to get vaccinated against the virus has begun to show results in the country, with a reduction in active cases and a downward trend.

• 

  Analysis

  The Inconsistencies of Ebrard

  March 17, 2026March 17, 2026

  Mexico’s Secretary of Economy touts a new trade policy of origin over price, yet the import of highly subsidized staple grains benefits US producers at the expense of Mexico’s domestic producers.

The post Women Financing Child Support & Violence Lawsuits in 100 Peso Installments appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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From Mexico Solidarity Media via This RSS Feed.

This article by Atzayacatl Cabrera originally appeared in the March 17, 2026 edition of El Sol de México.

Regardless of whether a person owns a home, rents it, lives in a cooperative, or even lives in an informal settlement, the reforms to the Housing Law propose to provide protection and legal certainty to all people to prevent evictions, dispossession, or other threats.

Last Wednesday, an initiative from President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to reform the Housing Law arrived at the Chamber of Deputies, proposing to change the concept of “decent and dignified housing” to “adequate housing” as a human right enshrined in the Constitution.

The initiative details that to be considered adequate housing, it must have seven essential characteristics: security of tenure, availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure, affordability, habitability, accessibility, location and cultural appropriateness.

“What passes with this proposed reform is that these seven elements are part of an international source of human rights, which is General Comment No. 4 of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” Daniela Sánchez Carro, coordinator of the “María Luisa Marín” Housing Law Clinic at the Ibero-American University, explained to El Sol de México.

“These seven minimum elements are established, which are the necessary conditions valid in any context and at any time to consider that a home is adequate,” she explained in an interview with this newspaper.

The proposed reform aims to include these seven characteristics in the Housing Law, and in the case of security of tenure it specifies that this is the “condition that guarantees that the occupants of the dwelling have legal protection against forced evictions, harassment or other threats, whatever the type of tenure.”

The Housing Bill states, “Everyone should have some degree of legal protection against eviction, harassment, or other threats, regardless of their housing tenure.”

Although the previous concept of “decent and dignified housing” was included in the Constitution and the Housing Law of 2006, this was not reflected in the massive construction of houses during the last decades.

According to the initiative’s explanatory statement, it does not matter whether a person owns, rents, lives in a cooperative, rents, lives in an informal settlement, or occupies land; and it states that all people should have “some degree of legal protection against eviction, harassment, or other threats.”

Sánchez Carro explains that legal security of tenure is a concept that has been part of the country’s housing regulations for many years; “we live with it through many forms of deed registration, notary sessions through incorporation programs, regularization programs. This, let’s say, strengthens the legal security of tenure, which implies that all homes and all people have this recognition from the State,” she points out.

The specialist explains that, based on General Comment No. 4 of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, housing is considered an essential need for families and individuals; and all have the right to some form of protection from the State.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m an illegal occupant, I need and deserve a degree of legal security. And that’s what the observation mentions,” she explains.

After the Chamber of Deputies sent the initiative to the Housing Committee for its review, the presidential proposal is expected to be discussed in the coming days by the committee chaired by Maribel Martínez Ruiz of the Morena party. As of press time, no meeting has yet been scheduled for this discussion.

If the initiative is approved in committee, the reform would then be discussed in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies and sent to the Senate for discussion and possible approval.

A New Concept: Adequate Housing

In addition to this characteristic for “adequate housing,” the presidential initiative proposes six others. Carlos E. Ramírez Capó, President of the National Chamber of the Housing Development and Promotion Industry (CANADEVI), explains that the availability of services, materials, facilities, and infrastructure is of utmost importance.

“We are linking the human right to water to housing to ensure that any development, any new housing complex, has guaranteed access to water,” he says.

Ramírez Capó adds that affordability is seen, for its part, in programs such as the Housing for Well-being Program , whose six-year objective is to build 1.8 million homes at affordable prices, of around 600,000 pesos; and that habitability must consider that homes require safe structural conditions in the face of seismic risks, tropical storms, hurricanes, etc., which are problems that Mexico faces.

“Another very innovative feature is the theme of cultural education , which takes into account the characteristics and practices of each region. For example, in Yucatán, cultural education would mean having the necessary space to hang a hammock, which are very typical things in that region of the country,” he points out.

In a conversation with this newspaper, Luis Alberto Salinas Arreortua, a researcher at the Institute of Geography of the UNAM , questions whether, if the initiative to reform the Housing Law is approved, it would be necessary to consider creating mechanisms for oversight, review, or supervision to ensure that the construction of homes actually meets the seven characteristics of adequate housing.

This is because the previous concept of “decent and dignified housing”, although included in the Constitution and the Housing Law of 2006, was not reflected in the massive construction of houses during the last decades.

“Since the Constitution was enshrined stating that every Mexican has the right to decent and dignified housing, what has happened in recent decades of massive construction has not been reflected in any way, even though it was in the Constitution and the 2006 law, it was not put into practice,” the researcher criticized.

Necessary to Discuss Housing Tenure

Salinas Arreortua explained to El Sol de México that, in his opinion, Mexico needs to promote general regulations for access to housing through rental agreements or cooperative societies.

The UNAM researcher mentions that in our country, the idea that owning a home is essentially the only way to access housing is deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness. However, he emphasizes that there are many other ways in which people can live in a house.

“As long as this situation persists, and access to homeownership continues to be favoured, I believe we will continue to have a society that is completely indebted, where the costs of mortgage loans are increasingly absorbing workers’ incomes, and where, to cope with this, they must make many changes in their daily lives,” he says.

Sánchez Carro agrees with this point and explains to El Sol de México that “historically we have this culture of not feeling completely fulfilled as people if we do not own a property.”

But for the coordinator of the Housing Rights Legal Clinic, there are many ideas in other countries around the world that can broaden the discussion in Mexico about how people can live in a home.

As an example, he points out that in Austria or Germany, 80-90 percent of homes are rented; and that most people living in Europe are renters.

“We need to broaden our perspective and provide greater incentives, for example, to housing cooperatives , to create conditions for more social housing loans, to build more social housing, and to support renting. In the United Kingdom, for example, there are subsidies for those who rent housing to students,” he concludes.

Atzayacatl Cabrera is a poet and journalist who navigates between verse and hard data, and a reporter for the Presidency who also covers the Legislature.

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  News Briefs

  Housing Law Reform Boosts Legal Protection Against Forced Evictions in Mexico

  March 17, 2026

  Enshrining security of tenure specifies that this is the “condition that guarantees that the occupants of the dwelling have legal protection against forced evictions, harassment or other threats, whatever the type of tenure.”

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  CNTE Teachers Will Hold National Strike March 18th to 20th; Sit-in at Mexico City’s Zócalo

  March 16, 2026

  The CNTE urged unions and workers to join actions to demand repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law, & for the defense of a social security system that “provides all with health services and decent pensions.”

• 

  News Briefs

  Zacatecas Normalistas Join Solidarity with Cuba

  March 16, 2026March 16, 2026

  The national association of alumni of the Emiliano Zapata Rural Teachers’ College in Loreto, Zacatecas—founded in 1958—joined La Jornada’s call to stand in solidarity with the government and people of Cuba.

The post Housing Law Reform Boosts Legal Protection Against Forced Evictions in Mexico appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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On February 20, Venezuela’s National Assembly (AN) approved a Law of Amnesty for Democratic Coexistence, which has become a key instrument to overcome political differences and move toward reconciliation among Venezuelans.

Jorge Arreaza, president of the AN’s special commission, stated in remarks to the media that the regulation seeks to heal wounds through forgiveness and mutual listening. Since its enactment, the Amnesty Law has granted 7,727 full releases in Venezuela: 253 for individuals who were deprived of liberty and 7,474 to citizens under precautionary measures. A total of 12,557 applications have been received to date.

The legislation, promoted by acting president Delcy Rodríguez, establishes that those approved for amnesty will have any criminal record elimianted provided that the acts fall within the defined time periods.

However, Arreaza emphasized that the law strictly excludes anyone who has committed war crimes, human rights violations, homicide, drug trafficking, or treason (in the form of statements that encouraged or requested foreign invasion). He also warned that if a beneficiary of the amnesty commits a serious offense against Venezuela again, they will be immediately brought to justice.

The lawmaker highlighted that the legal text, composed of 16 articles, was the result of a consensus process that incorporated proposals from families of victims of political violence from 1999 to 2026, legal experts, political parties, and representatives of the judiciary. Arreaza described this step as a gesture of goodwill by the Legislative Branch, recognizing the leadership of acting president Rodríguez and the government in preserving peace.

The legislation covers 13 specific political events eligible for amnesty. These include events related to the April 11–12, 2002 coup d’état, as well as attacks on public and private facilities that occurred during that period.

A central aspect of the law is the social and public reintegration of beneficiaries. The regulation guarantees that those granted amnesty can fully resume their lives in society and in the public sphere, promoting democratic coexistence.

This law represents a significant legislative effort to address reconciliation and democratic coexistence in Venezuela by establishing a legal framework to resolve situations arising from past and present political conflicts.

(Telesur)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/CB/SL

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Pressure from Donald Trump to form an international military coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ran into a diplomatic wall in Europe. On Monday, March 16, during the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares categorically ruled out his country’s participation in the operation.

Spain is leading a group of countries whose leaders are advocating for de-escalation. Spain already maintains tense relations with Washington after refusing to increase military spending and banning the use of the Rota and Morón bases for attacks against Iran. These bases are located within Spain and host both Spanish and US military assets.

Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares emphasized that the solution to rising fuel prices is not military but diplomatic and called for an end to war and bombings in the Middle East in order to return to the negotiating table.

Germany firmly joined this position. Its defense minister, Boris Pistorius, questioned the usefulness of sending European frigates to an area where the US Navy is already operating, stating: “This is not our war; we did not start it.” Countries such as Japan, Australia, and Greece joined the chorus of refusals, while Kaja Kallas, vice-president of the European Commission, reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz is outside of NATO’s operational scope.

Despite the lukewarm international response—and his own threats of trade retaliation against Spain—Trump downplayed the lack of support aboard Air Force One, saying it would be “interesting to see which country would not help with such a small task,” while leaving open the possibility of unilateral US action if the coalition fails to materialize.

The Trump regime’s strategy to break Iran’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz has proven unsuccessful thus far. Despite repeated calls for support, none of these countries has made a concrete commitment. A visibly frustrated US president even went so far as to condition future support for NATO, invoking US aid to Ukraine as leverage to pressure allies into securing the route through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.

How European Countries Are Aiding the US and Israel in the War on Iran

On the ground, the situation is critical. The conflict that began in late February has left more than 1,000 oil tankers stranded and has led to attacks on at least 10 commercial vessels. While the Trump regime claims Tehran’s defenses are weakened, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has continued to respond defiantly, urging the US Navy to enter the Persian Gulf.

For his part, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that control of the strait is total and that any safe passage for foreign ships must be negotiated directly with Iran’s armed forces.

International responses have left Washington visibly isolated. China has limited itself to calling for diplomatic de-escalation, while analysts note that Beijing sees no reason to intervene, as Iran is only blocking crude destined for direct allies of the United States and the Zionist colony of Israel.

Germany was also unequivocal in stating that regional security can only be achieved through dialogue and not through active confrontation. Japan and Australia cooled the proposal, citing a lack of formal requests and internal legal constraints.

This lack of international backing leaves the global economy exposed to a prolonged energy crisis, while Trump warns of a bleak future for allies who, in his view, have left the US administration alone in this maritime surveillance mission—deepening diplomatic rifts amid a price surge that shows no sign of easing for global consumers.

Oil prices could surpass $150/barrel amid escalating crisisAmid these circumstances, oil prices could soon exceed $150 per barrel, according to Kirill Dmitriev, as reported by Sputnik.

“I already predicted it last June, just as I did oil prices above $100. Now it is heading toward $150 or more in the next two or three weeks, as disruptions are affecting not only logistics but also production itself,” Dmitriev warned on social media.

He made these remarks in response to a report by The Wall Street Journal which stated that executives from US oil companies warned authorities that the energy crisis triggered by the unprovoked attacks against Iran by the United States and the Zionist colony would continue to worsen.

In this context, the United States authorized the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on tankers starting March 12.

Additionally, the United States and the International Energy Agency announced the release of strategic oil reserves. However, their real impact on prices is considered marginal, as it represents only a very small fraction of global energy demand.

US-Israeli War on Iran Is Not About Nuclear Weapons. It’s About Imperialism.

(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/CB/SL

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On Monday, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yván Gil repudiated the recent statements made by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

The UN High Commissioner recently presented an updated report on Venezuela calling for the repeal of laws allegedly used to repress political dissent.

Minister Gil stated that the UN High Commissioner’s office maintains a biased position regarding Venezuelan and ignores key elements of the national situation.

“The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights insists on a partial narrative about our country, repeating unfounded accusations and deliberately omitting the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the rights of the Venezuelan people,” Gil wrote in a public statement.

In his statement, the foreign minister criticized Volker Türk for being unable to “detach himself from the agenda of extremism in Venezuela. On the contrary, and despite serious human rights violations across the world, he opts for his immoral bias against Venezuela.”

Moreover, Minister Gil warned that such positions make joint work between the Venezuela and the UN difficult.

“In this way, it becomes difficult to sustain serious technical cooperation when your office ends up acting as an echo chamber for falsehoods,” said Minister Gil, adding that Venezuela’s priority is “peace and coexistence.”

UNHRC may be Contributing to US Aggression Towards Venezuela

(Últimas Noticias)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/CB/SL

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Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Last week, Venezuela received three new groups of migrants under the Return to the Homeland Plan, maintaining the consistent pace of repatriation operations seen throughout early 2026. These arrivals at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, La Guaira, come as the Venezuelan government continues to provide a state-led response to the mass deportations carried out by US imperialism.

Recent flight data and statistics
So far in 2026, 24 repatriation flights have arrived from the US, returning a total of 4,096 Venezuelan deportees. Last week alone, 548 Venezuelans were repatriated across three separate operations. When added to the cumulative figures from 2025, a total of 23,067 migrants have returned to the country through this program under the 2025 agreement between Venezuela and the US regime.

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These individuals often return after experiencing the systemic failures of the US immigration system, where many are held in carceral facilities for months before being returned on chartered flights. This week’s operations involved two different US-based carriers, GlobalX and Eastern Airlines. Details are provided below:

• Flight 122: Arrived on Friday, March 13, from the US, carrying 144 deported migrants. The group consisted of 14 minors, 19 women, and 111 men. The operation was conducted on a GlobalX Airlines aircraft.
• Flight 121: Arrived Wednesday, March 11, from Phoenix, Arizona, with 270 deported migrants. The group included eight minors, 38 women, and 224 men. The operation was conducted on an Eastern Airlines aircraft.
• Flight 120: Arrived Monday, March 9, from Miami, Florida, with 134 deported migrants. The group included 13 minors, 30 women, and 91 men. The operation was conducted on a GlobalX Airlines aircraft.

Economic blockade and the sovereign right to return
The migration patterns affecting Venezuela are fundamentally a byproduct of the illegal US blockade and the multi-layered hybrid war directed at the country’s stability. Washington’s strategy of economic strangulation was designed to induce social collapse, effectively weaponizing migration as a tool for international stigmatization. While US policy initially incentivized these departures to frame Venezuela as a “failed state,” it has now pivoted toward summary deportations and the criminalization of the Venezuelan diaspora.

Venezuela Increases ‘Economic War’ Bonus by 25% Ahead of May Day

In sharp contrast to the carceral treatment received abroad, the Return to the Homeland Plan serves as a sovereign shield against xenophobia and exploitation. Every returning citizen is met with a comprehensive social care protocol that includes immediate medical screening, psychological counseling, and legal assistance. Since its inception in 2018, the program has been a cornerstone of Venezuela’s policy to protect its people from the fallout of imperialist aggression, offering a dignified path for returnees to reintegrate into the social and economic fabric of their homeland.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

OT/JRE/SF

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The transportation strike called by a small sector of private urban bus lines in Caracas, Venezuela, failed to disrupt the capital’s public transport on Monday, March 16. Venezuelan Transportation Minister Aníbal Coronado confirmed that the ministry, alongside other national agencies, deployed a fleet of vehicles across the capital to ensure passenger commuting.

During a meeting with the Superior Transportation Authority of Caracas, Coronado emphasized that the few lines participating in the work stoppage “failed.” He condemned the actions as an attempt to “boycott” and “sabotage” residents’ daily lives.

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To mitigate the impact, the ministry deployed Metrobuses, SITSSA (Integrated Surface Transport System) units, jeeps, traffic officer vehicles, and police trucks. Coronado urged transport workers who intended to participate in the boycott to return to the negotiation table. “We want to talk, but above all, [we want] to protect the average citizen,” he stated. “We want peace.”

The private operators behind the strike cited the government’s lack of response to a proposed fare increase—from 60 bolívares (approximately $0.13) to 120 bolívares (approximately $0.26)—as their primary issue. Additionally, transport leader Nelson Vivas demanded the release of new bus units allegedly held by authorities for nearly two years.

Commuters condemn the action
Despite the call for a strike and light rain across the city, Caracas residents sought alternatives early Monday morning. Commuters used the Caracas Metro and government-provided ground transportation to reach their destinations, according to Diario Vea.

Mayerling Hernández, a resident running errands, noted that although service was slower than usual, she arrived at her destination without problems. “I don’t think that so-called strike has actually happened as they announced, because I’ve seen buses going back and forth,” she said, adding that many people opted for the Metro.

Train Derails at Caracas Station, Eight Injured

Other commuters expressed frustration with the private operators. Oscar Ramos, who works in La Trinidad, criticized the “transport lords” for the delay in his commute. “That sector should have exhausted all avenues of dialogue,” he argued, noting that the strike mostly harmed the community. Alfredo Jiménez, a resident of Las Adjuntas, echoed these sentiments, stating that while the economic reality is difficult, a strike is not the solution.

Luis Valenzuela, a computer science student traveling from Los Teques, Miranda, mentioned that although public transportation felt slow, he was still able to complete his community service hours.

(Diario Vea) by Yuleidys Hernández Toledo with Orinoco Tribune content and editing

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SF

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This article by Laura Poy Solano originally appeared in the March 16, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Thousands of teachers from the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) in 20 states are preparing for a 72-hour national strike on March 18, 19, and 20, as part of their National Day of Struggle for the repeal of the 2007 law of the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) and the so-called USICAMM law, which regulates the teaching career, which they consider affects their working conditions, promotion, and entry into the teaching service.

In an interview with La Jornada, Pedro Hernández Morales, general secretary of the dissident teachers’ union, section 9, emphasized that unlike last year, “this time there will be a strong response in the states, where 80 percent of the base will be deployed, while 20 percent will be concentrated in the nation’s capital.”

He explained that this Wednesday, contingents from various states, mainly from Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero and Mexico City, will gather at the Angel of Independence, where they will hold a press conference, and then march to the Zócalo in the capital, where they will set up a protest camp.

“Our core demands remain the same: the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE law and the education-labor law, which negatively impacts our working conditions. Another priority is resuming dialogue with President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and various federal government agencies. We hope to be heard and that the National Single Negotiation Commission will be received.”

He added that the teachers’ contingents “have been preparing for months; we have an action plan to carry out various acts of protest in the country, in addition to setting up state sit-ins in Oaxaca, Guerrero and Chiapas, apart from the one that will be established in the capital of the country.”

Hernández Morales explained that another agreement reached at the National Representative Assembly (ANR) is that on the afternoon of March 18, members of the CNTE will make “courtesy visits” to various embassies to express their rejection of “the genocide against the Palestinian people and the war unleashed by the United States and Israel in the Middle East.” He noted that the permanent ANR will be convened that same evening.

The dissident teachers will also seek to establish a dialogue with legislators in order to promote “a solution to repeal the 2007 ISSSTE law, since of the 3.5 million beneficiaries, only 750,000 workers are protected by transitional article 10, which means that by 2034, practically all state workers will be in individual accounts and condemned to have poverty pensions.”

Therefore, he urged unions and workers to join the protest actions to demand the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law, and for the defense of a social security system that “provides us with health services and decent pensions.”

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  Labor | News Briefs

  CNTE Teachers Will Hold National Strike March 18th to 20th; Sit-in at Mexico City’s Zócalo

  March 16, 2026

  The CNTE urged unions and workers to join actions to demand repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law, & for the defense of a social security system that “provides all with health services and decent pensions.”

• 

  News Briefs

  Zacatecas Normalistas Join Solidarity with Cuba

  March 16, 2026March 16, 2026

  The national association of alumni of the Emiliano Zapata Rural Teachers’ College in Loreto, Zacatecas—founded in 1958—joined La Jornada’s call to stand in solidarity with the government and people of Cuba.

• 

  Analysis

  Business & Obesity

  March 16, 2026

  The weight-loss drug business is as lucrative as obesity itself, and everything remains within the purview of the transnational corporations that make us sick and then offer to cure us.

The post CNTE Teachers Will Hold National Strike March 18th to 20th; Sit-in at Mexico City’s Zócalo appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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This article by Alfredo Valadez originally appeared in the March 16, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Zacatecas, Zacatecas. The national association of alumni of the Emiliano Zapata Rural Teachers’ College in Loreto, Zacatecas—founded in 1958—joined La Jornada‘s call to stand in solidarity with the government and people of Cuba, demanding that the United States end its illegal economic and energy blockade of the island. It launched a fundraising campaign to assist the Cuban people in the face of the severe food and fuel crisis they are experiencing.

The open call to alumni and the general public was launched this weekend, and immediately several San Marcos residents, both men and women, made bank deposits that will be used to purchase food, medicine, generators, and other essential products for the Caribbean nation.

• 

  Labor | News Briefs

  CNTE Teachers Will Hold National Strike March 18th to 20th; Sit-in at Mexico City’s Zócalo

  March 16, 2026

  The CNTE urged unions and workers to join actions to demand repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law, & for the defense of a social security system that “provides all with health services and decent pensions.”

• 

  News Briefs

  Zacatecas Normalistas Join Solidarity with Cuba

  March 16, 2026March 16, 2026

  The national association of alumni of the Emiliano Zapata Rural Teachers’ College in Loreto, Zacatecas—founded in 1958—joined La Jornada’s call to stand in solidarity with the government and people of Cuba.

• 

  Analysis

  Business & Obesity

  March 16, 2026

  The weight-loss drug business is as lucrative as obesity itself, and everything remains within the purview of the transnational corporations that make us sick and then offer to cure us.

The post Zacatecas Normalistas Join Solidarity with Cuba appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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By Pavan Kulkarni – Mar 14, 2026

About two-thirds of the 64 billion will be raised domestically from the revenues generated by state-owned enterprises and through citizen shareholding programs.

Burkina Faso launched its 64-billion-dollar National Development Plan (NDP) for 2026–2030, earlier this week on March 9. The plan isone of the largest economic programs ever proposed in the Sahel. About two-thirds of this money will be raised domestically from the revenues generated by state-owned enterprises and through citizen shareholding programs.

“Using our sovereign resources, we can sustainably transform our economy and improve the lives of our people,”insisted Finance Minister Aboubakar Nacanabo, highlighting the significance of this break from the previous regime’s reliance on external funding.

​Earlier, on January 29, when the cabinet adopted the NDP, Nacanabolisted four specific objectives to be achieved in these five years:

1. Reduction of the poverty rate from 42% to 35%

2. Increase in life expectancy from 61 to 68 years

3. Increase in electricity generation capacity from 685 MW to more than 2,500 MW

4. And, most importantly, retaking control over the whole territory of the country​

The Burkinabe state was in control ofbarely 60% of its territory when Capt. Ibrahim Traoré took power in 2022, after the ouster of the France-backed regime of Roch Kaboré’s in a popularly supported military coup earlier that year. Terror groups held the rest of the country.

Expelling French troops from the country, Traore’s government has strengthened the national army,regaining control over almost 75% of the territory by the end of 2025.

The country has also experienced major strides inagriculture andindustry.Nationalizing five foreign-owned gold mining assets in June 2025, the state was able to cash in on the rally in the price of gold, the main export of Burkina Faso. Using the revenue generated to repayover two billion dollars, the government reduced its domestic debt by a quarter, considerably improving the country’s fiscal position.

Agricultural Offensive: How Burkina Faso Is Moving Towards Self-Sufficiency in Food Production

On this sound footing, Burkina Faso has now made an ambitious leap, with the 64-billion-dollar five-year plan, aimed at not only expanding the mining operations but also processing raw materials locally instead of exporting them. Developing infrastructure to promote industrialization is a top priority in the NDP, which has been in the making for a year, starting on March 9, 2025.​

On December 31, 2025, the steering and supervision committee, chaired by Prime Minister Jean Ouédraogo, reviewed and adopted the NDP. “The document,” Ouédraogo said, “now stands as a true national pact for the structural transformation of our economy, the consolidation of security and peace, the rebuilding of the State, and the promotion of inclusive and sovereign endogenous development.”

(Peoples Dispatch)

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Solidaridad Mexico Cuba se fortalece con AMLO’s call for donations to buy oil and aid amid US blockade tightening; Díaz-Canel thanks AMLO and Sheinbaum for humanitarian support.

Emotional Solidarity Mexico Cuba: AMLO Calls for Donations While Díaz-Canel Thanks for Support Against Blockade
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed deep gratitude on Sunday, March 15, 2026, to former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) for his steadfast support during his 2018-2024 term and recent calls for international solidarity. The message highlights Mexico’s role in aiding Cuba amid intensified US blockade pressures.

Díaz-Canel also thanked the Mexican people and President Claudia Sheinbaum‘s government for humanitarian shipments sustaining Cubans through the energy crisis. “We will never forget your permanent and decisive support in strengthening this cherished friendship,” he posted on X, quoting AMLO directly.

The acknowledgment followed AMLO’s March 14 post from retirement, condemning attempts to “exterminate” Cuba over its sovereignty ideals. Breaking his public withdrawal, AMLO urged Mexicans to donate via Banorte account 1358451779, held by civil association Humanidad con América Latina.

Solidaridad México Cuba Drives Humanitarian Efforts
AMLO specified funds would purchase food, medicines, oil, and gasoline for Cuba. “¡Que cada quien aporte lo que pueda!” he exhorted, invoking General Lázaro Cárdenas’s 1961 words during the Bay of Pigs invasion: indifference to Cuba’s struggle is unjust, as their fate mirrors ours.

The association, formed March 9, 2026, by citizens, writers, and journalists, channels contributions transparently. AMLO’s appeal amplified existing solidarity, responding to Cuba’s acute shortages from restricted fuel imports.

On March 13, two Mexican Navy vessels—ARM Papaloapan and Huasteco—delivered the third aid shipment to Havana this year. Cuban Ambassador Eugenio Martínez Enríquez praised the crews as key figures in Mexico’s generosity.

Official details on Mexican humanitarian shipments to Cuba available from DW coverage of third aid arrival.

Geopolitical Context
Solidaridad México Cuba gains urgency amid US President Donald Trump’s January 29, 2026, executive order imposing tariffs on goods from nations supplying oil to Cuba, escalating a 60+ year blockade. This intensifies Cuba’s energy crisis—blackouts, food scarcity, and economic strain—while pressuring regional allies. Mexico’s actions, rooted in historical ties and non-intervention principles, counter isolation efforts and support sovereign resilience. In Latin America, this bolsters progressive solidarity networks, easing migration pressures and humanitarian fallout. Globally, it challenges unilateral sanctions, highlighting debates on sovereignty versus security policies in a multipolar world facing energy transitions and climate vulnerabilities.

Recent Aid Deliveries Strengthen Bilateral Bonds

February saw Mexico dispatch 1,193 tons of humanitarian aid, including beans, powdered milk, and medical supplies. The latest March shipment continues this pattern, distributed to vulnerable populations.

Cuban officials describe Mexico’s support as incomparable, contrasting sharply with US efforts to restrict fuel flows. Díaz-Canel’s post reaffirms unbreakable fraternal ties.

External Link: AMLO’s original call and donation details from La Jornada report on Cuba solidarity drive.

Arribaron hoy La Habana, Cuba barcos de la Marina de #México con ayuda del gobierno y el pueblo mexicanos. Hace apenas unos minutos el Presidente de Cuba reconoció a México como el país que se ha destacado por apoyar a Cuba en actuales circunstancias y reconoció su Presidenta. pic.twitter.com/MN1z3CqkPp

— Eugenio Martínez Enríquez (@EugenioMtnez) March 13, 2026

AMLO’s Legacy of Support Echoes in Current Crisis
During his presidency, AMLO revived cooled relations, visiting Havana in May 2022 and receiving Cuba’s José Martí Order. His retirement message revives that commitment, framing aid as defense of shared dignity.

Díaz-Canel echoed this sentiment, noting Mexico’s consistent accompaniment in Cuba’s “heroic resistance.” Public responses in Mexico show growing participation in the collection.

Mexico’s President Responds to Trump’s Threats Against Sending Oil to Cuba

Broader Implications for Regional Solidarity
The exchange underscores Latin America’s push for mutual aid against external pressures. Sheinbaum’s administration maintains dialogue promotion, as seen in her statements favoring peaceful Cuba-US relations.

As Cuba faces deepened blockade impacts, solidaridad México Cuba provides tangible relief and political backing. Calls for contributions continue, inviting broad civic engagement.

This moment reflects enduring bonds forged through shared history and principles. With donations flowing, the initiative aims to alleviate immediate hardships while affirming sovereignty and fraternity.

Gracias, querido hermano @lopezobrador_ .

En nombre de #Cuba, no me cansaré de agradecer la generosa solidaridad y el acompañamiento de #México a la heroica resistencia del pueblo cubano.

Y jamás olvidaremos tu permanente y decisivo apoyo al fortalecimiento de esa entrañable… https://t.co/Z9ivRPm1pT

— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) March 15, 2026

(teleSUR)

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From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

On Sunday, March 15, the Venezuelan government opened an investigation into a railway accident on the Ezequiel Zamora system that left eight people injured.

According to an official statement from the Ministry of Transport, the incident occurred when the first three cars of a train traveling from Generalísimo Francisco de Miranda station (Charallave Norte) derailed while entering Simón Bolívar station in La Rinconada, Caracas.

Rescue teams, including road paramedics and various pre-hospital care units, were deployed to the scene. Preliminary reports indicate eight people were injured, including the train driver. The victims were treated on-site before being transferred to healthcare centers, where they are reportedly in stable condition under medical observation.

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A post shared by Ministerio del Poder Popular para el Transporte (@mintransporte_ve)

Due to active security protocols, railway services were temporarily restricted at the Caracas terminal station. A contingency plan was activated using ground transportation, including metro buses and other authorized services, to move commuters from La Rinconada to the Valles del Tuy stations, reported Últimas Noticias.

According to unofficial reports, one of the train cars crashed into a wall of the Simón Bolívar station during the derailment. Authorities and technical teams from the railway system are currently conducting site inspections and expert assessments to determine the exact causes of the accident.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

OT/JRE/SF

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By Al-Akhbar – Mar 10, 2026

The time has come to stop prioritizing Western approval, to stop promoting conciliatory frameworks, and to stop treating the strategy of resistance as obsolete. Instead, we must align with the masses in their steadfast fight for liberation.

Translation of a statement by Palestinian and Arab thought leaders, including Ghassan Abu Sittah, Sbeih Sbeih, Wissam Al-Faqaawi, Salah Hammouri, and others.

As liberation movements in the Global South forged their new political language reflecting the perspective of colonized peoples, Amílcar Cabral was one of several leaders who identified the role of intellectuals and the educated elite as a critical vulnerability at the heart of popular revolutions.

Some intellectuals have sought to promote Western-friendly approaches while normalizing conciliatory, defeatist frameworks.

Cabral’s warning resurfaces sharply in the Palestinian and Arab context, after a brutal and unprecedented genocide met with a widespread silence and betrayal from the public, and complicity on the part of many Arab and Muslim regimes. A prevailing trend among “functionary” intellectuals has exchanged the trenches of resistance for the salons of liberalism and neoliberalism, preferring to retreat from the organic struggle of the masses in favor of academic cosplay from within the colonial core.

Arab intellectuals, and especially Palestinian intellectuals, can only fulfil their historic national role through organic alignment with the masses, who are the primary incubator of true resistance and its ultimate horizon. Intellectuals must devote their efforts to help organize and channel the immense potential energy and moral reserves of the masses, whose displays of steadfastness and sacrifice during the recent wars of extermination have rarely been equalled in contemporary history.

Some intellectuals have sought to promote Western-friendly approaches while normalizing conciliatory, defeatist frameworks. They introduce terms such as “weapons regulation” – rather than calling it by the proper term, “disarmament” – to strip the armed struggle of its liberational character and recast it as a procedural or security matter.

This echoes the “security chaos” discourse of the Oslo Authority, which framed any weapon held outside imperial or Zionist control as a threat. Weapons were transferred from the domain of popular resistance into the embrace of bureaucratic institutions bound by international obligations. In effect this domesticates the weapons and neutralises their role in resistance, which is what has happened before under conditions of surrender.

This “Day-After” thinking relies on the distortion of concepts with deep existential significance and reduces them to artificial, shallow contexts.

It comes as part of a wider strategy. Those supporting “weapons regulation” invariably fail to address any comprehensive strategic framework for resistance. Global solidarity is held up as an alternative to struggle in the field; resistance is declared dead; and the Palestinian people are relegated to passive victims awaiting a global awakening that has been promised for decades but has never materialized. It represents an inversion of reality: field resistance is the primary force, and solidarity follows in its wake. Replacing resistance with solidarity undermines popular agency and scorns the bloodshed of countless sacrifices.

At its core, this trend aligns with systems of dependency and the liberal frameworks which seek to confine Palestinian and Arab resistance within modes deemed acceptable to the West and the Zionist entity. It reframes the struggle as a human rights issue to be settled with negotiation and recasts disarmament and surrender as intellectual positions under the guise of “weapons regulation”. Such narratives exploit humanitarian crises, while promoting political liquidation and absolving cultural elites from confronting the structural nature of colonial oppression.

These voices theorise a “new era” which is an imposed ideological construct designed to reshape national aspirations in the service of dominant powers, highlighting the close connection between cultural decline and political failure.

For decades, certain Arab regimes have branded Palestinian resistance as “terrorism”. Today, some intellectuals appear to echo that position, using the suffering of Gaza to argue that the historic conflict has ended and Palestinians must accept defeat. Respect for the blood that has been shed demands we remain faithful to the national project, and do everything we can to consolidate popular steadfastness, rather than abandoning it. Zionist settler-colonialism continues to pursue a strategy of a final solution, banking on exhausting the resistance and support from the masses. Promoting such defeatist theses strengthens such a strategy ideologically at the very moment we need maximum political and cultural steadfastness.

Recent publications, conferences and literature have failed to grasp the genocidal and settler-colonialist nature of the Zionist entity and its links to Arab regimes. Key terms are misused, producing a superficial and misleading discourse. These voices theorise a “new era” which is an imposed ideological construct designed to reshape national aspirations in the service of dominant powers, highlighting the close connection between cultural decline and political failure.

This “Day-After” thinking relies on the distortion of concepts with deep existential significance and reduces them to artificial, shallow contexts. Political decay inevitably produces intellectual and cultural decline, a pattern familiar in liberation movements across the Global South. Comparative studies of colonialism and genocide are distorted to serve agendas hostile to resistance, making conceptual clarity essential.

These writings reveal more than a cultural decline. By attempting to write the obituary of resistance movements in order to justify future arrangements dictated by Zionist, American, and compliant Arab authorities, such thinking in fact sounds the death knell of Arab intellectuals themselves, and the cultural currents they espouse, in an act of profound submission and fragmentation.

The term “apartheid” is often invoked by Palestinian intellectuals and politicians, but they understand the concept superficially at best. It is nothing new—even a former US president used the term. While it might be useful as a diagnosis, the description is limited, partial, and potentially misleading. Most settler-colonial regimes have practiced segregation. What they have not followed is the structural logic of mass extermination, which defines the Zionist project, as many experts agree.

This simplification obscures the genocidal nature of Zionist settler-colonialism, misrepresents erstwhile solidarity movements, and criminalizes resistance.

The existential threat posed by Zionist settler-colonialism lies in its fundamentally genocidal structure, not merely its practice of segregation. It is not a copy of South Africa’s apartheid and invoking South Africa as a model is misleading. Segregationist systems have been seen from North America to Australia. What distinguishes Zionism is its mechanisms of structural extermination. Reducing the conflict to a kind of apartheid ignores this reality and risks the promotion of solutions based on unrelated historical contexts.

Viewing Zionism through the lens of apartheid isolates the outcome while erasing three centuries of colonial causes in South Africa. It normalizes long-term colonial domination, and presents international solidarity, legal action, and boycotts as the only “solution”. This simplification obscures the genocidal nature of Zionist settler-colonialism, misrepresents erstwhile solidarity movements, and criminalizes resistance.

By contrast, the Algeria model is analytically closer to Palestine. Instead of settling for rhetorical lamentation, the cause openly advocated for armed revolution; it identified structural colonialism as the cause of the problem; and insisted on its removal as the path to liberation. Algeria’s example challenges the dominant discourse by emphasizing resistance as the means to achieve freedom, not negotiation within imposed limits.

Repeatedly invoking apartheid offers Western audiences a simplified view that focuses on individual criminals or extremist settlers while ignoring the settler-colonial state itself. It also serves Palestinians and Arabs who lack the political courage to confront the core issue. Limiting criticism to apartheid reproduces the legalistic mindset of international human rights frameworks, which inadvertently justify the system by condemning “repression” while leaving colonial sovereignty intact.

Return to the Masses: A Call for Revolutionary Intellectual Alignment
Amílcar Cabral, founder of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, coined the concept of “returning to the source” as a call to re-root liberation in the lived reality of the people. It was not a nostalgic gesture, but a strategic imperative: for Cabral, the popular masses—their authentic culture and extraordinary willingness to sacrifice—formed the first and most essential line of resistance.

Central to Cabral’s vision was a challenge to the intellectual elite. In colonized societies, the petit bourgeoisie occupies a precarious position: possessing the knowledge and tools to manage society, while being socially and culturally conditioned to serve as intermediaries for the colonial system. Cabral left them with a stark choice: betray the revolution or undergo a radical intellectual and class realignment, embedding themselves in the struggles of the masses.

In the Palestinian context, this dilemma is plain for all to see. Many intellectuals have aligned themselves with comprador regimes and imperial centers, shaping the national project to suit external interests rather than reconnecting with the grassroots struggle. Our proposal for a “Charter for Comprehensive Revolutionary Liberation” calls on Palestinian and Arab intellectuals—academics, NGO workers, researchers, and political and military bureaucrats—to confront this historic moment with courage and ethical commitment. The call is clear: return to the source—to the environments that sustain resistance, where ordinary people create extraordinary acts of sacrifice, as witnessed in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen. This contrasts sharply with intellectuals who compete for personal gain at the expense of their people.

Global South intellectuals are constrained by the dominance of “colonial enlightenment”. Many interpret resistance through a Western lens, shaped by class and personal priorities, while fearing—or even opposing—the revolutionary potential of the masses. For them, liberation becomes a request for insignificant concessions rather than the dismantling of colonial structures. Returning to the grassroots—the refugee camps, villages, cities, traditional social networks, and local resistant practices—is treated as a burden, something to be jettisoned in pursuit of a false promise of colonial modernity and individual advancement.

Their discourse is deliberately convoluted, indirect, and donor-friendly, creating a knowledge gap that separates them from the frontline actors paying the ultimate price.

The harmful role of compliant intellectuals emerges in their attempts to “modernize” and “civilize” resistance to suit colonial sensitivities. They strip liberation movements of their struggle-driven content and recast them within liberal institutional frameworks. Many deliberately ignore—or deride—the revolutionary potential of local grounding, and prefer to import liberal fantasies, such as treating victims and occupiers as “equal citizens”, while the reality is one of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and systemic destruction.

When these intellectuals promote ideas like a “state for all its citizens”, institutional reform, liberal democracy, or national unity within such frameworks, they exclude the popular masses whose sacrifices sustain the struggle. After decades of failed settlements, such proposals are pathways to diplomatic fixes rather than liberation. Cultural authority is weaponized to mask the structural brutality of the settler-colonial and imperialist project, transforming it into a tool for negotiation rather than resistance.

Their discourse is deliberately convoluted, indirect, and donor-friendly, creating a knowledge gap that separates them from the frontline actors paying the ultimate price. It serves as a class disguise, concealing ties between compliant elites, allied Arab regimes, and the colonial core. This results in the exclusion of the masses as drivers of their own liberation struggles, and reduces existential conflicts to academic exercises.

Any national project loses its revolutionary core if it ignores historical actors and actors in the field, particularly armed resistance fighters, and becomes merely an instrument for elite authority. True ideology, in contrast, is a practical force which enables the masses to decode layers of exploitation imposed by complicit cultural stewards. The problem is not merely academic abstraction—it is a fundamentally opposed class and political position, stripping liberation movements of popular momentum and reducing them to intellectual exercises favouring colonial and comprador states.

For Palestine, success requires structural rejection of dependent state apparatuses and colonial systems. Every revolutionary, every fighter, and every intellectual must sever intellectual, political, and cultural ties with the instruments of compradorship—from the colonial core to allied functionary regimes—to restore popular agency and pursue genuine liberation.

Charter for Comprehensive Liberation
We, as members of the Palestinian Arab people and the wider Arab nation, and as academics, researchers and workers in intellectual and cultural fields, recognize the profound existential predicament brought about by class structures, functionary positions and cultural backgrounds under a genocidal settler-colonial system.

We therefore declare our full and unwavering alignment with the choice of our popular masses, their historic struggle and their comprehensive resistance in all arenas. Without hesitation, we affirm our readiness to bear any cost that may arise from this position, regardless of how great it may be.

This statement calls on Arab intellectuals to stand with us in declaring an end to the intermediary intellectual and the functionary agent, and the birth of the resistant, organic and engaged intellectual who views knowledge and culture not as a luxury or a profession but as a central weapon in the struggle of our people and our nation toward comprehensive liberation and unity.

Accordingly, we affirm the following:

First: Concepts of liberation and the national project must be formulated from the real material conditions of resistance environments: the refugee camp, the village, the prison cell, the trench and the tunnel. We reject imported liberal frameworks and ready-made formulas designed according to the preferences and interests of comprador forces and the colonial core. These models are used as tools for social engineering to freeze and neutralize Arab social and political forces from the real struggle, while the enemy continues to pursue its goals ruthlessly to their conclusion. True liberation begins with dismantling epistemic colonialism as a prerequisite for full liberation.

Second: We reject all forms of comprador-based funding, regardless of its source. Such funding is politically conditioned and aims to domesticate Palestinian and Arab consciousness under different labels. It is essential to dismantle the authority of intermediaries and to reject the rent-seeking structures of Arab intellectuals and bureaucracies tied to donors and financiers if we are to achieve a genuine and revolutionary understanding of the national project. Turning national and resistance work into employment within NGOs, government bodies or research centers funded by imperial powers or comprador regimes constitutes the most dangerous structural breach of the national project that will inevitably lead to defeat and ruin.

Therefore, we call for complete revolutionary transparency and rejection of all outside funding. The sole criterion for any activity or program must be its value towards resistance, without conditions imposed by funders or donors. This charter also rejects any false claim of neutrality by Arab intellectuals. The intellectual is neither mediator nor neutral bystander. One either stands with the people in the trenches of confrontation and resistance or one finds oneself in the camp of the enemy. Any discourse that ignores the genocide and the necessity of comprehensive resistance in favor of reformist language is complicit.

Third: Actors in the field must be reinstated as the sole and ultimate reference. The national project cannot be directed remotely from imperial capitals or the capitals of comprador regimes. Legitimate political authority is seized by those who carry arms and by the supporting environments that directly confront the colonial machine on the ground without pause. They offer daily sacrifices and blood, and their authentic local culture forms the moral and existential shield of the national project.

Fourth: Comprador bourgeois cultural identity must be dismantled. Intellectuals must consciously abandon the pursuit of academic prestige or career advancement tied to the approval of international institutions and subordinate functionary organizations. Knowledge and its production should instead serve resisting social structures such as refugee camps, villages and popular resistance communities.

Fifth: A strategy of class alignment and transforming knowledge into material force. We call on every Arab academic and intellectual to end their submission to the privileges granted by the colonial core and comprador regimes. Their research tools and technical knowledge must become ammunition in the hands of the resistance. Knowledge that is neither understood nor used in trenches and battlefields is sterile and historically hostile to the national project. A true intellectual committed to the liberation of their people must move from observation to participation, placing technical and intellectual expertise in all fields at the disposal of the resistance’s popular base without conditions.

Sixth: We call for exposing and boycotting intellectuals and academics who persist in acting as functionary agents of the colonial core and its Arab instruments of compradorship. This is not a matter of personal reprisal. It is a necessary structural purification of the liberation path from the impurities of compradorship in a national project that is greater than any individual.

After the recent wars of extermination, in which our people paid with hundreds of thousands of martyrs and wounded, after the total destruction of Gaza, and amid ongoing aggression in the West Bank, across Palestine, Lebanon and the Arab region, silence has become a betrayal of this blood.

We call for the intellectual and political unmasking of all who refuse to relinquish their roles as intermediaries and agents. Committed intellectuals should monitor and document any discourse that adopts the language of the colonizer and publicize it as an example of cultural betrayal. We also call for the exposing of conditional funding received by organizations and research centers that imposes agendas of normalization or pacification on Arab societies, particularly on Palestinian society.

We also call for the isolation and boycotting of elites that choose to align with the colonial core and comprador regimes, and the rejection of their representation of the national project in any forum. The principle that must be established is clear: no representation without resistance, and no mandate except revolutionary legitimacy. Its sole source is the social geography that sustains resistance, the trenches, the tunnels and the prison cells.

On this basis, we call for establishing an Observatory for Liberation Culture as an independent popular body composed of committed and engaged intellectuals dedicated to the national project and its requirements. Its mission will be to evaluate the performance of cultural and political institutions according to their adherence to, or distance from, the Charter of Comprehensive Liberation.

The Academic Racists Behind Iranian Monarchism

The Cultural Alternative of Resistance
The purpose of this charter is not limited to criticism. It also seeks to propose an existential and intellectual alternative as a moral, national and historical responsibility. From this perspective, we affirm our commitment to building a cultural alternative of resistance that emerges from the collapse of epistemic domination. This requires adopting the epistemology of resistance as an engaged field of knowledge rooted in the lived environment of popular resistance and collective struggle.

Accordingly, we affirm the following principles:

First: Rooting knowledge in lived reality
Localizing knowledge means recognizing the living field and material conditions of popular resistance environments as the primary laboratory for intellectual work and knowledge production. The organic intellectual committed to national and Arab liberation cannot remain a neutral observer or retreat into academic isolation. Instead, methodological tools must become practical instruments that serve the historical sources of resistance – the fighter, the farmer, the worker and the refugee. The central role of academics and intellectuals is to bridge specialized knowledge gaps in ways that strengthen the durability and effectiveness of the resistance project.

Second: Intellectual sovereignty and dismantling the colonial lexicon
We call for genuine intellectual independence by breaking decisively from the lexicon of colonialism and developing unified conceptual tools for resistance. Purging our language of terms and frameworks shaped within imperial centers and aligned with their interests is an existential necessity. Concepts such as disarmament, terrorism, governance and neoliberal reform are frequently deployed to fragment national structures and dilute the struggle. Confronting this requires dismantling Westernized linguistic frameworks within Arab academia and replacing them with a vocabulary rooted in the popular language of resistance.

The value of any academic thesis or intellectual position should be measured on the basis of whether it can be understood and used in the trench, the refugee camp, the tunnel and the prison cell. The task of the intellectual committed to resistance is to help provide a strategic compass for the masses, not to produce abstract knowledge that entrenches political alienation. We also reject Western centrality as the sole reference for truth, particularly in writing the historical narrative and value system of our people and their resistance.

Third: Democratizing knowledge and turning ideology into material force
Revolutionary ideology is not a collection of slogans. It is a framework that clarifies the geopolitical dimensions of the struggle and exposes structural exploitation, including the intersecting interests that link sectors of Arab society with imperial powers and the Zionist settler project. At the same time, resistance environments provide intellectuals with lived experience, practical knowledge and concrete facts that prevent theory from drifting into the abstractions of liberal discourse.

The shared destiny of the fighter and the intellectual transforms knowledge from an intellectual luxury into symbolic weapons that operate side-by-side with material weapons. This connection grants resistance action its historical meaning, its existential horizon and its moral legitimacy.

This charter calls for reclaiming national decision-making from elites accustomed to acting as intermediaries and agents, and returning it to the masses and the social environments that sustain resistance and shape history through their sacrifices. It is a call to move beyond the politics of begging towards the dismantling of colonial structures.

In light of the immense sacrifices of the masses, the minimum ethical responsibility of the Arab intellectual is to abandon elite privilege and narrow self-interest and to fully align with the act of resistance. We affirm our pride in belonging to the resilient Palestinian people, to our Arab national identity, and to our intellectual roots in the Global South. From these foundations we derive our human and international outlook and seek to reclaim the history that colonialism has attempted to erase.

We reject the hierarchies of Western centrality and the illusion of chasing its defective model of modernity. We refuse the role of the subordinate mimic. Resistance knowledge alone can help shape the emergence of a free Arab human being who not only removes the colonizer from our land but uproots its influence from our consciousness.

Our will cannot accept accommodating the existing order, but on dismantling its foundations, regardless of the balance of power.

Let us break the chains of knowledge until victory.

Long live an Arab Palestine.

(al-akhbar)

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This article by Alejandro Calvillo originally appeared in the March 14, 2026 edition of Sin Embargo.

Imagine the lucrative business of producing a drug to combat obesity in a population where obesity has become an epidemic. On the one hand, a group of large transnational corporations have altered the population’s eating habits through foods designed to be addictive, displacing the consumption of natural foods and traditional diets, thus generating a massive obesity epidemic. On the other hand, large transnational pharmaceutical companies have also developed new drugs to combat this obesity. The business is as lucrative as obesity itself, and everything remains within the purview of the transnational corporations that make us sick and then offer to cure us.

Currently, in the American hyper-consumer society, one of the most heavily advertised products on television is weight-loss medication like Ozempic. Years ago, advertising to combat obesity, which was already becoming a serious problem in the American population, offered various diets, exercise routines, or programs that combined both. In the 1960s, Weight Watchers, a program that offered a weight-loss method based on behavioural guidelines, became world-famous by establishing a “points system, group support, and nutritional education.”

Now, obesity is treated with medication, not with dietary changes or lifestyle modifications. Like any new product, these medications have been introduced to the market with assurances that they pose no risk. Like many other products, they are marketed to a specific population—in this case, people with advanced obesity and/or comorbidities. Ultimately, what pharmaceutical companies want is for these medications to be purchased and consumed by people whose level of obesity doesn’t justify their use and…their risks.

Those who take these medications must do so for life, at least according to scientific research. The pharmaceutical industry’s dream isn’t to cure, but to have lifelong patients. And bad habits are combated not by changing those habits, but by introducing new products. A recent study published in the British Medical Journal confirms that the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists , which help control blood sugar and reduce appetite, such as Ozempic (Semaglutide), Wegovy, Saxenda (Liraglutide), and Mounjaro (Tirzepatide), results in a greater rebound effect upon discontinuation than the effect of stopping a weight-loss diet. In other words, weight is regained, and more quickly than when a weight-loss diet is stopped.

A few days ago, on February 27, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization published an epidemiological alert on the use of these medications, calling on governments to: “implement risk communication actions directed both at the general population—to promote the appropriate use of these medications—and at health personnel, in order to ensure that their prescription is carried out strictly in accordance with the indications approved by national regulatory authorities, based on an individual clinical evaluation and with continuous medical follow-up.” It added that the expert committee for the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines “clearly did not recommend the use of these products in patients with obesity and without type 2 diabetes and comorbidities.”

The point is clear: these medications can only be recommended in cases of obesity with comorbidities. They are not medications for cosmetic purposes; they are medicines that can present risks.

Thus, faced with evidence of the harm caused by smoking, the tobacco industry has introduced e-cigarettes to the market, presenting them as a healthier or lower-risk option for smokers to quit. In reality, the design and marketing of e-cigarettes were intended to attract children and adolescents, encouraging them to start using these products at a younger age than they previously did when smoking tobacco, as is now happening. At the same time, there is growing evidence of the harm caused by the e-cigarettes now being used by these children in their early secondary school years. The same thing is happening with these obesity medications; it is argued that they are for extreme cases of obesity, for morbid obesity, for obesity with comorbidities.

Another example is the sugary beverage and ultra-processed food industry. The evidence of sugar’s harmful effects could no longer be denied, and the industry developed various low- or no-calorie sweeteners, presenting them as healthier options. Products have become filled with these ingredients, especially those aimed at children. They remain sweet to entice them, but without sugar. Unfortunately, in this case as well, the evidence regarding the risks of these sweeteners is growing and becoming more compelling every day.

In the United States, under the Trump administration, the pharmaceutical industry’s business has boomed by including these medications in official health programs, and pharmaceutical companies are seeking to replicate this trend in Mexico. There, these medications must be prescribed and monitored by a healthcare professional. The requirement of a prescription is no guarantee that they will only be prescribed in recommended cases and under medical supervision. We are well aware of the immense disaster the opioid market caused in the United States, stemming from its uncontrolled prescription and how, consequently, hundreds of thousands of Americans became addicted to opioids, creating a large population ripe for the introduction of fentanyl.

Alejandro Calvillo is director ofEl Poder del Consumidor*, a non-profit civil association that works to defend the rights of the Mexican consumer*,as well as a sociologist with degrees in philosophy from the University of Barcelona and environment and sustainable development from El Colegio de México

• 

  Analysis

  Business & Obesity

  March 16, 2026

  The weight-loss drug business is as lucrative as obesity itself, and everything remains within the purview of the transnational corporations that make us sick and then offer to cure us.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexican Government Allocates 37.452 Billion Pesos to Scholarships for People with Disabilities

  March 16, 2026March 16, 2026

  The federal government is funding scholarships for 1,596,000 people with disabilities.

• 

  News Briefs

  AMLO: “It hurts me that they seek to exterminate our fraternal people of Cuba”; Former President Calls for Donation to Buy Aid & Oil

  March 14, 2026March 14, 2026

  This was only the second political statement Mexico’s former President has made since leaving office, the first was on the occasion of the US’ kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The post Business & Obesity appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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This article by Alonso Urrutia and Emir Olivares originally appeared in the March 16, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

With an allocation of 37.452 billion pesos, the federal government is funding scholarships for 1.596 million people with disabilities. In 24 states (governed by Morena), the scholarship is universal, while in 8 states it is granted to people aged 0 to 29 and over, as well as to those with disabilities in Indigenous communities, reported the Secretary of Welfare, Ariadna Montiel, during the presidential press conference.

She reported that there is also a collaboration agreement with the Teletón organization to jointly provide care to 27,897 children who attend rehabilitation therapies at the 23 centers that this organization has throughout the country. Currently 4,723,000 children under 18 years of age require this care.

The secretary highlighted that in the case of children with disabilities who suffer from cancer, they are given an extraordinary support of two thousand 698 pesos which is delivered in the health institutions where they are treated for this condition.

On the other hand, Montiel indicated that in the House-to-House Health program, 1,537,000 home visits have been conducted for senior citizens, noting that there is currently a registry of 1,281,000.

• 

  Analysis

  Business & Obesity

  March 16, 2026

  The weight-loss drug business is as lucrative as obesity itself, and everything remains within the purview of the transnational corporations that make us sick and then offer to cure us.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexican Government Allocates 37.452 Billion Pesos to Scholarships for People with Disabilities

  March 16, 2026March 16, 2026

  The federal government is funding scholarships for 1,596,000 people with disabilities.

• 

  News Briefs

  AMLO: “It hurts me that they seek to exterminate our fraternal people of Cuba”; Former President Calls for Donation to Buy Aid & Oil

  March 14, 2026March 14, 2026

  This was only the second political statement Mexico’s former President has made since leaving office, the first was on the occasion of the US’ kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The post Mexican Government Allocates 37.452 Billion Pesos to Scholarships for People with Disabilities appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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By John Perry – Mar 13, 2026

Ten years ago Berta Cáceres, a campaigner against dams and mining projects that were displacing rural communities in Honduras, said that death threats had forced her to lead a “fugitive existence.” Most of the threats came from a company, Desarrollos Energeticos SA (DESA), that was planning a hydroelectric project on the Gualcarque River, sacred to Cáceres’s Indigenous Lenca community.

Hired killers were tracking her movements. An attempt to assassinate her on 5 February 2016 was aborted. On 1 March, Cáceres said goodbye to her youngest daughter, who was returning to college. “This country is fucked,” she said, “but if anything happens to me, don’t be afraid.” The next evening she drove back to her house with a Mexican environmentalist, Gustavo Castro, who was staying the night. Castro was woken near midnight by armed men bursting into the house. They shot him, left him for dead, found Cáceres in another room and shot her three times. Castro crawled to assist her and she died in his arms as he called for help.

At first the police treated the attack as a failed burglary. They then arrested a member of Cáceres’s organisation for supposedly killing her in a “crime of passion.” The seven actual culprits were arrested two months later, found guilty of the murder in November 2018 and given long prison sentences.

They were just the hired killers: who had hired them? Two years after Cáceres’s death, a former president of DESA, David Castillo, was arrested as he tried to leave Honduras. In 2021 he was sentenced to thirty years in prison for plotting the murder. DESA is owned by the Atala Zablah family. There is a warrant out for the arrest of one of them, Daniel Atala, but he remains at large.

If Cáceres’s murder is still unresolved, so is the question of how ordinary Hondurans can wrest control of their country from the dozen families, like the Atala Zablahs, that control much of the media and many large businesses, and have close ties with both the Honduran military and politicians in the United States.

Before her murder, Cáceres told the reporter Nina Lakhani (who later wrote the book Who Killed Berta Cáceres?): “I want to live. I love my country, and we must rebuild it so that young people are not forced to emigrate.”

After a succession of manipulated elections that kept the oligarchs in power, the progressive Libre party finally won the presidency in 2021. This proved to be temporary. Neoliberals are already back in charge, looking to reverse the modest gains from four years of Libre rule. President Nasry Asfura’s first foreign visits were to Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago and Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. He broke ties with Venezuela and promised to reset relations with Taiwan. Cuban doctors working in Honduras were told to leave, even as Honduran medics say their health system is close to collapse.

Who Governs Honduras?

Environmental defenders face new threats. Draft legislation would outlaw protests against the kind of large-scale agroindustrial projects that threaten communities such as Cáceres’s. The Libre government tried to halt the worst of these projects, including the libertarian charter cities now known as ZEDEs (“zones for employment and economic development”), backed by entrepreneurs including Peter Thiel and other Silicon Valley billionaires. Through the investor-state dispute settlement system, disappointed investors brought claims against Honduras that total nearly $10 billion, roughly a quarter of the country’s GDP. Asfura has signalled his intention to back down and allow the projects to continue.

During the eight years of President Juan Orlando Hernández’s narcostate (2014-22), Global Witness documented the murders of 81 environmental defenders, of whom Cáceres was one of the first. As mayor of Tegucigalpa, Asfura was close to Hernández throughout that period. In 2020 he was accused of diverting public funds, money laundering and fraud. The Honduras Supreme Court annulled the charges after he won the presidential election last November.

Trump not only intervened in the election to ensure Asfura’s victory but pardoned Hernández, who was serving a 45-year sentence for trafficking hundreds of tonnes of cocaine to the United States. There was immediate speculation that Hernández would soon be back. Honduras’s brief respite from extreme neoliberalism is at an end.

(London Review of Books)

JP/OT

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