As the US withdraws from Afghanistan and declares an end to its ‘longest’ war, omitted from this is its decades-long war on Cuba and Korea. From the CIA-led Bay of Pigs invasion on 17 April 1961 to ongoing economic sanctions and information warfare, the Cuban people have resisted six decades of hybrid war against their sovereign revolutionary processes. Determined to grow the national economy and political project to meet the needs of their people and expanding international cooperation during the pandemic, defeat is not in their vocabulary. Hope comes from the warm sun of Cuba.

In 2009, the US government actively participated in and egged on the oligarchy to undertake a coup d’état against the left-leaning government of Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. Since then, a climate of impunity for class violence by the elites has been unleashed against brave people who defend the dignity and land of all the Honduran people.

On 12 August 2021, the people of Zambia will vote to elect a new president. The incumbent, President Edgar Lungu, is facing a strong challenge from Fred M’membe, the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party. As Zambia, a country rich in minerals, stands at the brink of a major social catastrophe, a socialist agenda could push back against the surrender of the Zambian political elite to multinational corporations and foreign bondholders.

As the world nears three million reported deaths from COVID-19 and almost 130 million infections, the call for free vaccines for all people rings louder than ever. There is no alternative to a people’s vaccine, no alternative to life over profit. This week’s newsletter is dedicated to our Red Alert no.10, A People’s Vaccine. Guided by inputs of scientists and doctors, we look at the medical, social, and political basis that undergirds the demand for the production, distribution, and administration of a people’s vaccine.

Women form the majority of those performing the physical and emotional labour that holds together the fabric of society. Despite the worsening of the ‘care crisis’ during the pandemic, social movements continue to lead processes of politicising, socialising, and addressing the structural basis of existing care work that makes the world work. From initiatives led by Minister Elizabeth Gómez  Alcorta that are creating a comprehensive care system in Argentina to Kerala’s Left Democratic Front advocating for pensions for housewives in India, the foundations of patriarchy are slowly being shaken.