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The Quiet Plot To End Progressive Government In Honduras

Trump’s gunboat diplomacy in the Caribbean grabs the headlines, while quieter moves to destabilize other progressive Latin American governments go unnoticed by corporate media. A key case is a plot that would create chaos enabling a neoliberal candidate to be declared victor, with Washington’s connivance, in Honduras’s elections on November 30. At stake is four more years of progressive government or – otherwise – returning to the neoliberalism that prevailed after the US-backed military coup in 2009. The electoral defeat of progressive parties in Ecuador and Bolivia earlier this year, and the uncertain chances of progressive candidate Jeannette Jara in Chile’s elections this month and next, mean that Honduras is a crucial test.

Five Myths About The Crisis Of The Left In Bolivia

I have read with great attention many comrades, people whom I love and respect a lot, simplifying the situation of the crisis of the left in Bolivia. I know that these criticisms come from honest people, born out of genuine concerns and solidarity with the Bolivian people. However, a series of common points emerge that deserve an explanation, given the unique characteristics of Bolivia, its social movements, and its left. It is not egos, lack of generosity, or meanness that marked the break between the social movements and the government of Luis Arce. This is a reductionism that hides a lack of understanding of what the MAS, the political instrument of the social organizations that came to conquer political power in Bolivia in December 2005, means.

US Counterinsurgency Wins In Bolivia

On Sunday August 17, 2025, the first round of presidential elections in the Plurinational State of Bolivia were held in the small Andean nation of 12 million people. Now the country is headed to an October 19 run-off between centrist Christian Democratic Party Senator Rodrigo Paz, the son of a former president, and former right wing President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga of the Libre Party. The election results on Sunday ended twenty years of MAS-IPSP (Movement Towards Socialism - Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the People) in power with MAS candidate and current Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo polling at between 1-2%, effectively completing the objectives of the 2019 coup. 

The Bolivian Left’s Self-Destructive Path

The Bolivian political landscape is currently characterized by a deep, self-inflicted crisis within the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) which has culminated in a devastating electoral defeat yesterday. As the country approached the crucial presidential elections of August 17, 2025, the party’s leaders—specifically former President Evo Morales and President Luis Arce Catacora—engaged in a series of personal attacks and internal conflicts that paved the way for their own defeat. This political irresponsibility, driven by ambitions and factionalism, has enabled the return to power of the very right-wing forces that the MAS struggled for years to overcome.

Bolivia Turns To The Right

With more than 95.41% of the votes counted, Bolivia’s Plurinational Electoral Body reported that, according to the preliminary results, Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and former president Jorge Quiroga of the Free Alliance (AL) emerged as the big winners on election day. Paz obtained more than 32% of the valid votes, while Quiroga obtained almost 27%. Bolivia’s current president, Luis Arce, said in a speech to the nation: “We have made every effort to ensure a peaceful and transparent electoral process.” For Arce, who decided to withdraw his election campaign in May, the election result was a severe blow, as his party, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), came in sixth place, its worst electoral performance in decades.

Speak, Claudia!

Lago de Chapala, Mexico—Watching that procession of hapless European supplicants passing through the Oval Office this week, my mind wandered briefly and came back with an imaginary scene I found pleasurable and instructive all at once: What if Claudia Sheinbaum went to see President Trump right after Andrzej Duda, the ineffectual Polish president, Emmanuel Macron, the ineffectual French president, and Keir Starmer, the hopelessly ineffectual British prime minister? What a kick. The spirited, self-possessed Mexican president, who took office but five months ago, would have put on full display—I am sure of this—the dynamism of an emergent generation of non–Western leaders right next to three exemplars of the wilting, wandering West.

Left Party Makes Comeback In German Election

Early projections put the socialist Left Party at over 8%, nearly twice as much as they garnered in the last election in 2021, when they won only 4.9% of the vote. Last year was a political nightmare for the Left Party: In January 2024, their former parliamentary group leader, Sahra Wagenknecht, founded her own eponymous party, then they saw their European Union representation cut in half to just 2.7%. The 2024 state elections were also a disaster, with the party losing its traditional foothold in eastern Germany. Their only state premier failed to hang on in Thuringia, while the party barely made it into Saxony's state parliament and was kicked out of Brandenburg entirely.

Lessons On Building Independent Progressive Power In A City

In 2006 Richmond, California became the largest city in the U.S. to elect a Green Party member as its mayor (a record it still holds). The successful candidate, who served eight years in that office, was Gayle McLaughlin, a leading critic of Chevron Corporation, the city’s largest employer and biggest polluter. McLaughlin co-founded the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) and is now an East Bay DSA member as well.  In 2004, she was the sole RPA representative on the council, long dominated by friends of Big Oil. In January 2025, that seven-member body will have a progressive-majority of four, including DSA-backed Vice-Mayor Claudia Jimenez, who was re-elected to the council this fall.  Richmond’s current mayor is Eduardo Martinez, one of just seven city hall leaders in the country who belong to DSA.

A Letter To My Liberal Friend Who Campaigned For Harris

We always agreed that a second Trump presidency was nightmarish to contemplate. Yet these ghastly results should lead you to question putting your energies behind a candidate that did not bother to promise solutions to any of the main problems Americans are going through, and thus left the field open for Trump to score a triumphant comeback. So no, it’s not time to blame third-party spoilers, principled leftists, the Muslim community, or anyone who did not have the stomach to support a genocide-enabler. It is time, instead, to pause and reflect, so that next time you direct your efforts toward building a political alternative to the dead-end, two-party system.

France Protests Against Macron’s Coup, Calls For Impeachment

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of several French cities on Saturday, September 7 to protest against what has been dubbed as “electoral theft” committed by President Emmanuel Macron who appointed far-right Michel Barnier as the prime minister of the country despite the fact that Barnier’s party won on;y 5% of the vote in the latest general elections. The protests were called by the center-left coalition New Popular Front (NFP) in more than 150 cities across France. The protests were organized in opposition to Macron ‘s appointment of Les Républiques party’s Michel Barnier as prime minister, a decision that has been widely criticized by the French left, which has called it a coup against the people’s will, as it was the NFP that had received the maximum number of seats in the July 7 parliamentary elections but had failed to win an absolute majority.

The French Left Won The Election But Macron Is Blocking Them

The Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front) left-wing alliance won the most seats in France’s snap legislative election in early July. It took 182 seats, while president Emmanuel Macron’s ‘centrist’ coalition Ensemble took 168 and far right Rassemblement National (National Rally) won 143. The New Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon’s La France Insoumise (Unsubmissive France), social democrats, Greens, and communists, were short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. But they still won the most seats, with other coalitions even further off. Nonetheless, Macron, as president, has refused to appoint a prime minister from the left-wing coalition.

French Elections: Anti-Fascist Victory And Deep Political Crisis

Many thousands of anti-fascists celebrated all night in rallies around the country on July 7, as the news came through of the second round election results in France. It had been widely feared that the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National, RN), led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, would be forming a government this week. Instead they were beaten back into third place, with 143 MPs (including their close allies). The left electoral alliance, New Popular Front (NFP), came first with 182 MPs (and they can count on the 13 "other Lefts" to vote with them). Macron’s group got 168. A parliamentary majority is 289.

New Popular Front Poised To Win Second Round Of Elections In France

The New Popular Front (NFP) is projected to secure the most seats following the conclusion of the second round of the general election in France on July 7. Exit polls predict the NFP could win around 200 seats in parliament, surpassing Emmanuel Macron’s liberal coalition, expected to take up to 170 seats, and the far-right National Rally, initially projected as the victor, which is polling around 150 seats. Shortly after the first post-election polls were announced, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed, called on President Macron to invite the NFP to form a government. Although the projected number of seats does not guarantee the alliance an absolute majority, left and progressive candidates emphasized their readiness to implement their program.

The Intersection Of Vulnerability And Power: The Case Of Francia Márquez

On June 16, during Father’s Day celebrations, Sigifredo Márquez, father of Colombia's Vice President Francia Márquez Mina, was attacked, also affecting a 6-year-old minor. This incident underscores the precarious position and constant threats that endanger the lives of Black leaders and communities in Latin America, where systemic oppression persists despite advances toward equality. Francia Márquez's political ascent has represented hope for social justice in ethnic communities, peasantry, and popular sectors. However, it has also been an affront to political and economic elites, serving as a catalyst for intensified violence not only against her but also against her community in Northern Cauca and other Afro-descendant communities in the country and region.

Network In Defense Of Humanity: Current Challenges After Two Decades

Within the framework of the II International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Leftist Parties and Movements this morning at the Havana Convention Palace, the Network in Defense of Humanity (REDH) held a forum which brought together 92 leading intellectuals, and academics from 35 countries, the meeting of the Network in Defense of Humanity – REDH at the Palace of the Conventions here in Havana. The REDH, as explained by José Ernesto Novaez, Coordinator of the Cuban Chapter, is based on ten principles initiated and approved in 2004 in how to act in defense of the planet, the integration of peoples, the building of solidarity,  sovereignty and international legality, unity in diversity and of culture for all, access to knowledge for all, popular participation, truthfulness and plurality of information, memory and peace; under which certain lines were drawn on how to act within the scenario of the resurgence of current neo-fascism.
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