USA

Round Up on the 3rd No Kings Day

Friday 10 April 2026, by Against the Current Editors

Eight million people took to the streets across the United States on 28 March, marching, rallying and picketing in over 3,300 sites. They came out to support their neighbors and coworkers who are threatened by masked and armed men. They opposed the authoritarianism of the Trump team with humor in their signs and costumes, but at the same time they can joke, they are willing to stand firm.

How did the March demonstrations differ from the two held last year? They were larger and more diverse, but still uneven. In some places there were union contingents but in other areas, only visible in a handful of union hats. Minneapolis, where the crowd was somewhere beyond 100,000, and perhaps as many as 200,000 the union presence was strong. But in the downriver Detroit area, where ICE has purchased a warehouse to house more than 1500 immigrants, UAW Local 900 sponsored a No Kings event. Their members are part of the movement to prevent ICE from opening a concentration camp right on their doorstep.

Montpelier, Vermont rally.
Just as there is unevenness in who shows up to participate, there is unevenness in how different constituents and different issues are welcomed. In general, demonstrators are able to raise a broad range of demands against both the war at home and the war abroad, in a few cases a tight-fisted organizing committee has banished some issues or failed to reach out to the most vulnerable communities.

Whatever the difficulties, it is good to see how people manage to find a way to raise their issues!

The bullies in Washington, backed by the bullies of Wall Street, think they are playing a video game in which there are no rules. They believe in citizenship of the elite.

With May Day just a month away, it’s clear that the task is to build for an even broader mobilization around the celebration of the historic fight for the eight-hour workday (1886). From Minneapolis, the call is “No work, no school, no shopping!” Let’s do what we can to move toward that call.

Austin, Texas:

Tens of thousands rallied in Austin, although estimates varied widely from 5,000 (NPR affiliate) to 40,000 (CBS affiliate). I’m not sure it was quite that much, but 5,000 is a gross underestimate. The stage was far more interesting than at the previous two No Kings rally. Instead of being dominated by tedious Democrats and mostly bland local politicians, there was a lot of music including a fantastic Spanish language ska band called Los Kurados. Speeches were pleasantly short.

The crowd, as with the others, was colorful with mostly homemade signs. Also like the others, the racial demographics were a bit weak. I saw few Black folks and not too many more Latinos. The organizers did ok up front though — the stage was a better representation than the crowd. Women comprised the majority of attendees. There was a good mix of ages as well.

Chicago: a personal note.
On the explicit political front, the stage was uninteresting, to no one’s surprise. A few leftist groups were in attendance. DSA had two booths; PSL had a large one; and FRSO had one.

There was some anti-war sentiment, but not as much as we would hope for.

The local CLC had a booth, and I also saw banners or t-shirts from NALC, AFSCME and the IBEW.

On the fringes of the demonstration, literally and metaphorically, were three or four people under an “Iron Front” banner. I assumed from their appearance that they were fascists, but it seems the Iron Front was an SDP outfit in the Weimar years geared at fighting Communists and Nazis.

Bay Area, California:
San Francisco had a No Kings Day turnout of 100,000 with a labor and anti-war contingents. David Bacon, photographing the march, reported that it took an hour to walk from the front of the march to the end!

Attended a demonstration in Napa (50 miles northeast of San Francisco) that had 4,000 people. There was a rally and then a visibility march downtown which stretched for blocks with many cars honking in support. There were dozens of different actions all over the Bay Area.

Union City: poking fun at a dick.
Lots of student and Chicano participation in this Union City, a smaller city in the East Bay. This one was organized by “Union City Resists!” Other East Bay demos were in nearby Fremont and Hayward. In Oakland, after a kickoff rally, about 20,000 marched from City Hall to Lake Merritt.

Chicago, Illinois:
Multiple No Kings Day rallies and marches occurred in the Chicago region, including a main rally and march at the city center along Lake Michigan, events in city neighborhoods, and others in towns and suburban centers in the six-county Northeastern Illinois region (a population more than 9 million). A labor rally and feeder march which began around 11:30 AM, preceded the main rally/march, which started after 1 PM and wound up around 4:30.

In the city center, a small (75-100 folks) but noisy labor rally and feeder march called by the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) took place within eyeball distance of five large hotel towers, to highlight Unite Here’s call for workplace actions this fall. (Chicago’s tourist and conference industry is enormous, and a large employer, and now more than 50 large hotels are Unite Here shops.)

The rally featured a Unite Here speaker, a local AFGE official from TSA, and reps from other unions, and included a mention of planned May Day actions. Though few CTU members attended, the half-mile march to the main No King rally grew larger (more than doubling in size) and noisier as others spontaneously joined.

The main event featured speeches by official supporters (ACLU, Indivisible, Latina community leaders, Trans activists), and youth activists, and was chaired by official reps from Mayor Johnson’s administration. The mayor was one of only two elected officials to speak — his remarks included a mention of planned May Day events. The other was the DP senate candidate Stratton, who is to replace the powerful but now retiring Dick Durbin, who appeared on stage (but did not speak) along with many local and state party officials. (Stratton loudly claimed not to take PAC money, but in reality, was elected with millions donated by billionaire IL governor Pritzker.) No labor leaders spoke, and no speaker was identified from the stage as DSA.

The rally included no mention of Palestine, Israel/AIPAC, or Cuba; only a brief generic mention of labor, a slightly less generic opposition to Iran and war spending; and many angry references to health care inequalities and ICE and Trans repressions. Small socialist contingents and tabling crews were evident, mainly PSL and DSA — Indivisible had the largest visibility. Attendees were predominantly white, some Hispanic, very few African Americans, and skewed older. Crowd size safely exceeded 25,000, with many unverified claims of 100,000 participants. The march circled the eastern edge of the Chicago City center on a crisp sunny photogenic day.

NK day was an official event, made evident by the organized DP stage presence, the mayor’s speech and rally chairs from city hall, and the police-friendly march route. Consequently, some local left liberals and socialists made the what-was-the-point argument, perhaps a useful sentiment when organizing for May Day 2026.

Detroit, Michigan:

Thousands flooded Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit on a sunny but cold Saturday afternoon and spilled over to nearby streets. With eight rallies from downriver to downtown Detroit, it is estimated that about 25,000 people were demonstrating against the war abroad and the war at home.

Since Detroit is a border town, ICE and Border Patrol are ever present in the city. Through People’s Assembly many whistle kits and mutual aid has been distributed. Several teenagers have been picked up by ICE, even those who have work permits.

Teachers have been particularly concerned about the well-being of their students, who have been picked up by ICE and sent to the nation’s only family detention center, Dilley Immigration Processing Center, in South Texas. Although federal regulations recognize that children should not be detailed, the Trump administration is seeking to end that restriction. Meanwhile the agreement is being violated and children, including teenagers, are harmed.

Houston, Texas:

According to the Houston Chronicle over 20,000 people participated in the march following the No Kings demo in front of City Hall. I did not stay until the march but spent several hours at the demo, where I saw probably about 3k+ people, but there could have been feeder marches later that I was not aware of. As for the last No Kings, there were a number of smaller events in Katy, Cypress, Sugarland and other suburbs of Houston.

The weather was perfect for an outdoor event and people were spirited. Speakers focused on local themes such as holding the mayor and city council members responsible for continued cooperation between Houston Police Department and ICE. and exerting more pressure on them. However, some took a much broader view and condemned the war with Iran, for example. As at previous No Kings, there were a number of stalls present, ranging from Indivisible to the local Food not Bombs chapter. PSL, YCL and local mutual aid groups were also represented. A local Socialist Alternative leader spoke.

Tabled for the local DSA chapter and got to know some YDSA folks who had their own stall right next to us. We were circulating a pro-immigrant rights petition for signatures that also seeks to hold local city council members accountable when it comes to immigrant rights.

Manhattan, New York:

Since the march is just a phrase “No Kings” and no specific demands like “End the War” or “Medicare for All,” people made up their own slogans and posters — very creative.

This march was a qualitative change from prior demonstrations. Many more people of color and many more young people. A friend says it was the same in the Brooklyn march. I don’t know about the marches in the other parts of the city.

A march organizer told me the estimate was 200,000. I think it was at least that. I’ve never been to a march where it went down two avenues — 7th Avenue and Broadway–at the same time. (Broadway combined with 7th avenue after marching 11 blocks from 59 to 48th street).

Manhattan: war crimes and sex crimes, part of the same matrix.
ICE was clearly the main issue. I was surprised how few signs about the war in Iran. Many about Epstein.

I didn’t see the whole march and couldn’t even hope to report on who was there and who wasn’t, but it did strike me that there was a lot less labor participation than in the past. I saw the NY nurses, two locals of SEIU (1199 and 32BJ), Teamsters 804, Laborers (didn’t catch the local) and UFT. Missed others, like Teamsters, UAW, AFSCME, who could have been there. Time for the labor movement to get moving!

Actually, all five boroughs held No Kings marches and rallies. It was a great day. TV news reports demos in all 50 states! Let’s hope the growing involvement of Black and Brown folks continues.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

Milwaukee: before the march.
It was reported in the press there were over 100 “No Kings” demonstrations in Wisconsin on March 28th. The largest may have been in Madison. In Milwaukee there at least six protests, the largest of which drew over 5000 participants. Speakers at that event included the vice president of the Milwaukee teachers’ union and a national board member of the NAACP.

Several socialist groups had organized contingents behind banners in the two-mile march through the community that followed the rally, including Democratic Socialists of America, Solidarity, Party for Socialism and Liberation and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Ohio:

Mansfield: — 10 AM: I traveled here with three others and was excited to see what we estimated to be 300 people (organizers estimated to be 400) at the peak of the event. For a city of less than 50,000, that was more than the last No Kings in Mansfield. Though I was happy to see so many people, the speeches left me underwhelmed.

The speakers included a community member who wrote a letter to the paper after the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and an Ohio Democrat who was also a union leader. It seemed very much a Democratic party event, not a coalition with multiple organizations and issues coming together for a change kind of event.

The crowd was all different ages, although mostly white people in attendance, it was nice to see that some folks of color felt safe enough to be out demonstrating with us!

War monuments in the location we met in and the thin blue line memorial across the street really gave the whole thing a sort of eerie feeling to me.

Galion: noon: The smallest demonstration of the day, but perhaps the most impactful. About 20 of us gathered in the square for the first ever No Kings event in rural Galion. Except for two Black men, it was an all white group of different ages.

Reactions were mostly neutral from passers-by, but far more positive responses than negative ones. However, almost as soon as we gathered, police drove by in cruisers and kept up observing us.

This wasn’t an officially registered event and had no rally, but we listened to antiwar music and talked. The sentiment was mostly anti-Trump sentiment, but the few were interested in deepening the conversation and talked about the problem being systemic. We also talked about the possibility of building a May 1st event.

Statehouse Rally in Columbus, Ohio — 4 PM: organizers of this protest are reporting 20,000 people in attendance, it felt like standing room only!

The best part of this event was meeting a gay couple from the Galion and Mansfield area. They said they fled to Columbus years ago due to political safety concerns. They were ecstatic to hear of the work we’re doing there now, and it felt like a full circle moment.

We exchanged contact information and connected on social media, so I’m looking forward to the connection that blossoms from this encounter. I think this is the kind of human moment that demonstrates the power of No Kings.

Overall, I have concerns that the No Kings movement may be co-opted by establishment Democrats. But this fear does not outweigh my willingness to capitalize on No Kings momentum as a revolutionary socialist, and I hope other comrades feel similarly. No Kings is a step in the right direction. We flexed our muscles on Saturday, and now it’s time to commit to building the better world we know is possible. I’m looking forward to May 1st.

Olympia, Washington:

About 7,000 turned out in Olympia. Great spirit, great cross section of ages, cultures, interests. A great many homemade signs like ” Not enough cardboard to list the reasons I’m here today.”

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:

Over 15,000 people gathered at the city-County building for a “No Kings” rally in downtown Pittsburgh on a sunny but very cold day. Ghadah Makoshi, a community organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union, summarized the rally’s central message as being “no to authoritarianism in all of its forms.”

While many issues were raised by the signs and speakers, there was a focus on ICE, evident by the number of people who came equipped with whistles. Matthew Jordan, a representative from Casa San José, called for an end to police cooperation with ICE. Recently, two young men, aged 18 and 20, were stopped by police for a traffic violation on their way to work and turned over to ICE.

About a dozen other No Kings rallies took place in nearby towns, including McCandless, Penn Hills, Sewickley, Mt. Lebanon and more distant such as Clarion and Zelienople.

Romulus, Michigan:

ICE warehouse (in background) with State Representative Dylan Wegela speaking.
Around 350-400 people came to Romulus, Michigan on No Kings Day. Many had been to demonstrations at nearby sites, including UAW Local 900.

On the sunny afternoon a crushed ice station provided snow cones to demonstrators, and if they were like me, they too relished what sunshine melted the ice.

We gathered at 7525 Cogswell St., home to an idle warehouse that has been purchased by DHS for $34.7 million — 57% more than the previous sale price — and purchased without the knowledge of city officials. ICE is planning a detention center housing hundreds and one that is close to the Detroit airport. We call it a concentration camp and are organizing to make sure it never opens.

Demonstrators occupied the grassy area between the sidewalk outside the facility and the road, holding up signs that creatively expressed discontent with the current situation. Cars and trucks passing by honked their support of the action.

Given the logistics, the parking operation alone was a feat: roughly 260 cars packed tightly into a grassy area with a narrow entry point across the street from the facility.

In Romulus, the rumor is circulating that opponents of the ICE plan are paid to leaflet and demonstrate.
When Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib arrived, noticing the warehouse entry was blocked by cones, her security got out to move a cone — only to be quickly stopped by federal agents who keep continuous watch on the property. After that ordeal, Rashida then proceeded to lead chants in tandem with a young boy in attendance, “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!”

Other rally speakers included Dylan Wegela, State Representative for Romulus and surrounding areas and member of DSA and Alyssa Loucks, a Romulus Middle School teacher who eloquently spoke to the particularities of U.S. authoritarianism. The Resistance Singers taught the crowd group songs from Minneapolis, and a Solidarity member and long-time union activist addressed union members, pointing out that this struggle can build union power.

The Coalition to Shut the Camps organized the Romulus No Kings event. It has garnered the support of 33 organizations in a “regulatory punch list” targeting Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), Wayne County, City of Romulus, DTE, and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), demanding full disclosure of all proposals and the opportunity for public meetings before any approval of ICE plans.

The coalition plans to continue meeting at 3 pm at 7525 Cogswell every Saturday.

Salt Lake City, Utah:
The “No Kings” demonstration in Salt Lake City began with a rally of 8,000 at downtown Washington Square Park before participants marched a mile+ uphill to the State Capitol for the main rally. Several thousand more went directly to the Capitol. The March demonstration was larger than the 10,000 who rallied last October, and more diverse.

St. Paul:
The turnout exceeded the organizers expectations!
In fact, the first speaker at the Capitol rally was Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake NAACP. There were 18 No Kings’ rallies and marches in the state.

St. Paul, Minnesota:
The turnout at the Capitol in St. Paul was somewhere between 100,000-200,000 people and included impressive union contingents.

Traverse City. Michigan:
No Kings 3 march. I’d say 2,000-3,000 people.

Vermont:
At the 50 NKD sites that we know of in Vermont we’ve counted 29,441 participants so far. DSA and the Vermont May Day Strong coalition distributed some 3000 May Day fliers plus another 1500 of our Solidarity School fliers at 10 of the larger sites.

Politically it was a mixed bag. For example, in Montpelier Migrant Justice spoke and I was asked to speak to an Indivisible meeting about the May Day Strong organizing. While in Burlington Indivisible is run by liberal Democratic Party Zionists who refused to allow Migrant Justice, labor, or Palestinian solidarity activists to speak. There we had our own May Day Strong feeder march with some 1000+ participating, and held our own rally with Migrant Justice, labor and Palestinian voices speaking before we joined Indivisible’s rally.

Thanks to Alex, Chris, Dawn, Dianne, Eric F, Eric S, Folko, Giselle, Heidi, Jody, Johanna, Linda, Paul, Peter, Randy, Traven and Wendy.

Source: Soldarity

Attached documents

• round-up-on-the-3rd-no-kings-day_a9488-2.pdf (PDF - 1.2 MiB)
  Extraction PDF [->article9488]

• Against the Current Editors

  Against the Current is published by Solidarity, USA, a sympathizing organization of the Fourth International. It is a bi-monthly analytical journal explaining its goal: as part of our larger project of regroupment and dialogue within the U.S. Left, the journal presents varying points of view on a wide variety of issues. As such, debates are frequent and informative, with the goal of promoting discussion among activists, organizers, and scholars on the Left.

The Anti-Fascist and Anti-Imperialist Conference in Porto Alegre: Great achievements, challenges and opportunities (plus statements)

By Manuel Rodríguez Banchs, Penelope Duggan, Israel Dutra, Antoine Larrache, João Machado, Reymund de Silva, Eric Toussaint, Fourth International & European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine

Published 10 April, 2026

First published at Fourth International.

The First Anti-Fascist Conference for the Sovereignty of Peoples was a unique experience, nowhere else on the planet has anything like this been achieved. It represented a broad anti-fascist and anti-imperialist front, going far beyond revolutionary organizations. ⁠Nevertheless, it had limitations, stemming from the difficulties faced by internationalist resistance movements.

Nearly 7,000 people took part in the opening demonstration, with a significant presence of Fourth International organizations. We witnessed the militant fervour of the World Social Forums of the heyday and of the 2003 anti-war movement, in which thousands of people from very different backgrounds come together and discuss everything. These are the kind of militant moments in which shared understandings and common objectives are forged, and in which the consciousness of the militant vanguard is shaped.

From outside Brazil, the Argentine delegation was the largest, with 200 people, many of whom had travelled by coach, including our comrades from Marabunta. Comrades came from Africa (South Africa, Mali, Congo, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Morocco) and Asia (India, Pakistan, the Philippines, etc), particularly through the CADTM (the Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt, which played a central role in organizing along with the Local Organizing Committee of the conference). 

Delegations from imperialist countries (the United States, Canada, Australia and European countries such as Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy) were, of course, present. There were important delegations of Ukrainian and Russian activists.

The conference proceedings

Following a “parliamentarians’ panel” and an “elected representatives’ panel” which highlighted an essential link with actions taken within institutions, several thousand people took part in numerous debates on a variety of topics: analysis of the rise of the far right, the struggle against Milei, the resistance to Trump in the US centring on Minneapolis, the specific nature of struggles in the world of work, the situation in Brazil, the Palestinian resistance, the climate crisis, feminism, education, and many different forms of international solidarity.

In addition to taking part in the eleven plenary sessions of the “official” programme, organizations and activists of the Fourth International proposed a number of self-organized activities, among the 150 scheduled. Our comrades played a significant role in these, particularly through a presentation of our Manifesto for an Ecosocialist Revolution — Break with Capitalist Growth, which was attended by over 600 people. This meeting was led notably by Michael Löwy, one of the main drafters of the Manifesto, and Penelope Duggan, who represented the Fourth International.

We also organized or contributed significantly to debates on the anti-racist and anti-capitalist struggle, solidarity with Ukraine, with Russian prisoners, the situation in France and solidarity with migrants. The first of these in particular brought together several hundred people.

Important activities were organized by CADTM on immigration, Gen Z mobilizations, the hoarding of wealth, the grabbing of natural resources of Ukraine, DRC and Venezuela, the situation in Africa, and others.

The Fourth International distributed a statement, “Against Neo-Fascist Authoritarianism and All Forms of Imperialism”, (see statement below) to the conference participants in four languages.

The final declaration

The conference’s final declaration summarizes the broad agreements that made its organization possible: a reminder of the major mobilizations against Milei, against the far right in Britain, the No Kings! mobilizations in the United States, and solidarity with Cuba. 

It also sets out a series of social, environmental, anti-racist, feminist, and LGBTIQ+ demands, and of course demands against imperialism. It states clearly: “We oppose all imperialisms and support the struggle of peoples for their self-determination, by all necessary means.” In particular, the declaration opposes the genocide in Palestine, the attacks on Lebanon and Iran, as well as the invasion of Venezuela and the threats against Cuba. 

This broad consensus brought together extremely diverse organizations, which contributed to the conference’s success.

Limited mobilization by mass workers’ organizations

The great success of the conference does not blind us to some significant limitations. These were apparent during the preparation of the conference, and we tried, with limited success, to address them.

One was the lack of active participation from traditional mass organizations both in Brazil and elsewhere. While the conference secured the formal participation of both the Workers’ Party, and of the majority of the PSOL nationally, as well as the CUT Brazil, CTB Brazil, and other teachers and trade unions, these contributed little to the building of the mobilization outside the state of Rio Grande do Sul where Porto Alegre is situated. The Andes teachers’ union and the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) had a larger militant presence. 

In fact, our organizations — in particular the MES, a tendency within the PSOL that is particularly strong in Rio Grande do Sul — made up a large part of the attendance: on the one hand, this is something to be proud of, but on the other, it reflects the fact that the struggle for unity, for building a mass movement alongside reformist organizations and the trade unions, still lies ahead of us.

From outside Brazil the conference was also supported by La France Insoumise (LFI), and a series of trade-union organizations notably from the Spanish state and Latin America.1 In the run-up to the conference, repeated attempts were made to convince many other organizations of the conference’s importance for their movements, but this struggle for the broadest possible unity within the movement must continue to be waged with the utmost determination.

Opposing all imperialisms

Another was the almost exclusive focus in practice on imperialism as US imperialism alone, despite the final statement’s opposition to “all imperialisms”. Thus, under the influence of the “campist” sectors of the conference, there was no condemnation of Putin’s Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nor a clear stance on the nature of the dictatorial regime in Russia. 

This is a serious problem and potential obstacle to joint activity with anti-fascists from Russia and Ukraine. Russia is undoubtedly one of the regimes that most closely resembles fascism, whilst the Ukrainian people — and the Russian people too! — are suffering under this regime through deprivation and hundreds of thousands of deaths.

The presence of Russian and Ukrainian comrades, and the workshops organized with the support of the Fourth Internationalists giving a voice to Russian oppositionists, and a Ukrainian delegation of two leading trade unionists and a representative of Sotsialnyi Rukh, was an important counterweight. This was welcomed by the delegations concerned and in the words of the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) representative: 

The presence of Ukrainian comrades, as well as that of Russian socialist opposition figures, was highlighted […] particularly during the conference’s closing session led by Roberto Robaina. They were also able to speak with activists from Brazil and other countries. And they gave interviews and filmed videos which are currently being circulated amongst left-wing organizations. 

They hope to build on this to broaden solidarity for their struggles, notably in Latin America. (See ENSU statement to conference below).

In several plenaries, Fourth International comrades (Penelope Duggan from the FI leadership, Rafael Bernabe from Puerto Rico, Sushovan Dhar from India,...) and others (Patricia Pol from ATTAC France and LFI) also spoke against these positions, defending Russian prisoners and oppositionists in exile, the right to self-determination of Ukraine and the battle of the Ukrainian people against the Russian invasion and the neoliberal and anti-democratic policies of their own government, and in support of the Iranian women’s and democratic movement. 

Our stance is for the right to self-determination of all the peoples of the world by their own action and not by aligning with any government, but it is clear that this fundamental battle was not fully resolved at the conference. In the self-organized workshops several FI comrades speaking (André Frappier from Canada, Eric Toussaint from Belgium, Bruno Magalhães from Brazil) also condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supported the right of Ukraine self-determination.

Mixed message on Iran

Although the final statement “upholds the self-determination of the Iranian people”, an unofficial representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran was present and justified — in very moderated tones — the regime’s policies. 

While we defend the Islamic Republic’s right to defend itself against imperialist aggression, and wish for the defeat of this attack, we fully support the social movements in Iran, particularly the feminist movements, which have nothing to do with the representatives of the Shah sponsored by the United States and Israel.

Strengthening democracy in the movement

It was undoubtedly inevitable in a conference of thousands of activists that there was the lack of real forums of debate among the participants, both on the political topics discussed in the central plenary sessions (the self-organized workshops were different), and in particular on the final statement and what it proposed. 

While we all agree with building the initiatives enumerated and the Fourth International will be present at them all, the organizing nucleus must be broadened and develop mechanisms of democratic accountability. This is important both in terms of political representativity but also — as had been pointed out in the international organizing committee — gender parity. 

Moreover, while we can note a presence of women speakers in all the panels, the problematics of feminism were largely absent from the official panels, although of course present in a number of self-organized workshops.

Let us continue the struggle

In conclusion, the conference is an extremely important step forward in the battle against fascism and imperialism: let us not forget that it has been years since any social forum brought together so many people.

The practices of building international and internationalist movements have been lost and must be rebuilt.

The decision to seek a united anti-fascist and anti-imperialist front entailed some loss of clarity in the common statements, given that understanding on the left and among popular sectors regarding such basic questions as who are the fascists or neo-fascists, or who are the imperialists, vary greatly. 

Thus, the decision that guided the organization of the Conference — and which was also the position of the Fourth International — was that it was important to hold the conference, even at the cost of a significant loss of clarity. The only alternative would have been not to hold the Conference, to renounce the possibility of bringing together thousands of activists to discuss points of agreement and disagreement and commit to the ongoing struggle against fascism and imperialism.

Political battles are fought in practice, by participating in the movements that actually exist; we can only exert influence if we participate fully. The organization of this conference, and the series of pre-conferences notably in Brazil that were an important aspect of mobilizing for the conference, relied largely on activists from the Fourth International, particularly our organizations in Brazil — notably the MES, Centelhas and Ecossocialistas — our comrades involved in broad-based organizations and associations, and other internationalist, anti-colonial and anti-imperialist organizations.

There is no doubt that the debates and struggles will continue, and the next events are already set: the G7 counter-summit in France and Switzerland in June 2026, the anti-NATO gathering in Turkey in July 2026, and the World Social Forum in Benin in August 2026. Also proposed are continental conferences, notably in North and South America, as well as the Ecosocialist Encounters in May in Belgium.

It is through all these events that the alliances necessary to counter fascism and imperialism are being forged. It is up to us to involve the trade unions, human rights organizations, feminist and LGBTQI+ movements, anti-racist organizations, those campaigning for Palestine, and those standing in solidarity with the Ukrainian and the Iranian people. It is in this way — and by defending our eco-socialist revolutionary perspectives — that we will build the movement needed to change the world.

Manuel Rodriguez Banchs, Penelope Duggan, Israel Dutra, Antoine Larrache, João Machado, Reymund de Silva and Eric Toussaint are members of the Fourth International Bureau and International Committee.

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Against neo-fascist authoritarianism and all forms of imperialism

Declaration of the Fourth International at the 1st International Anti-Fascist Conference for the Sovereignty of Peoples

Unite the anti-fascist struggle throughout Latin America! For a global anti-fascist and anti-imperialist front! 

Donald Trump's second term, with its far-right agenda, has brought about a shift in the international situation. In his eagerness to reaffirm a hegemony as weakened as his economy, he tramples on the United Nations Charter and the sovereignty of peoples with a foreign policy of recolonization and war.

Together with his partner in massacres, Netanyahu, Trump is bombing Iran to ensure complete domination of the oil and gas market. This comes after the genocide of the people of Gaza, the invasion of Venezuela, the attempt to strangle Cuba, and threats to annex Greenland.

The tyrant is striving to normalize genocidal language, blackmail, and interventionism, as well as racism, misogyny, and hatred of migrants — attempting to expel millions of workers from the United States. He supports Bolsonaro, Milei, Bukele, and the "patriotic" (read: far-right) European parties.

Bloody authoritarianism is the central instrument of imperialism in our time, because it needs to impose policies of hunger, the proliferation of ecocidal technologies and practices, the excessive power of Big Tech, the dispossession of natural and energy resources from all peoples, and increased military spending. If it is not defeated, Yankee imperialism will embark on a blind march toward ecological disaster.

The peoples of the US, Argentina, and India show the way

But imperialism's march is already beginning to encounter tremendous obstacles. The victorious struggle of the people of Minneapolis/Saint Paul and of all the community and popular resistance in the United States to the persecution of migrants points the way to defeating the extreme right. Only the combination of the international struggle of the peoples with a defeat of Trump on his own turf can stop their joint project.

The same is true of the working classes in Argentina against Milei and the peasants in India against Modi's policies. In Argentina, Milei faced the fourth general strike, now against labour reform, in an example of unified struggle that has the left as one of its pillars, with 90% of the population opposed to this measure. In Brazil, the victory of the indigenous resistance struggle against Cargill and the privatization of large Amazonian rivers points to hope and paths forward.

A united front of the exploited and oppressed!

There is an urgent need for a united front of the exploited and oppressed, free from subordination to governments and parties, capable of acting with full independence to confront the new faces of fascism with mobilization and coordination among the oppressed.

This 1st International Anti-Fascist Conference for the Sovereignty of Peoples is an extraordinary opportunity to deploy across the globe, starting with the American continent, a strong united action by the forces present here against hegemonic imperialism. New conferences and meetings must be held on other continents and in other major regions: the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia. Let us make this meeting a modest but strong starting point for an international campaign that serves the struggles and, at the same time, the construction of an alternative program to that presented to us by the representatives of capital.

The far right is growing by presenting itself as a radical alternative to the status quo, its elites, and its parties. We know that it does so demagogically to defend the system it claims to challenge, but there is a key lesson here: in order to grow, resistance must also be a radical alternative to the crisis of the prevailing system, its policies of hunger and repression, its worn-out institutions, and its parties.

The crisis of capitalist civilization (economic, political, ecological, climatic) raises the possibility and necessity of linking immediate concerns, including the anti-fascist struggle, with the need to overcome capitalism. A set of demands is needed that, based on the most urgent popular concerns, leads to the questioning of private control of production and to an understanding of the need to place it under the democratic control of working people and their communities.

No illusions in capitalist ‘models’

Trump's national security strategy states: 

The disproportionate influence of the largest, richest, and strongest nations is an immemorial truth of international relations. 

It is, quite simply, an invitation to divide the world among the most powerful.

There is no room for illusions here. Neither the European Union or its components, nor the governments of Russia or China represent an alternative or a wall of defense against US imperialism — as their sterile actions in the face of US attacks on Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran have shown us.

China has become a capitalist power more interested in consolidating its business and its own areas of military (in Asia) and economic (Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America) influence. More regional in nature, Putin's Russia seeks to reestablish what was once the Tsarist empire, with a militarized economy and an increasingly authoritarian regime. In this context of tensions between old and new or aspiring powers, the task of the left cannot be to celebrate the multipolarity resulting from the confrontation between capitalist projects.

Solidarity with the oppressed of the world!

To Trump's supposed "immemorial truth" of the domination of the powerful, we oppose three orientations: the defense of the right of all peoples to self-determination, solidarity with the exploited and oppressed in all countries, and therefore opposition to all forms of imperialism.

We reject the United States' aggression against Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president and former deputy, and we also reject the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine. We recognize the right of Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, and any country attacked by the United States to defend itself, including militarily, and to seek the material means necessary for that resistance wherever they can find them, and we recognize the same right for Ukraine, which is under attack by Russian imperialism.

We denounce and combat anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and Islamophobic policies in the United States and Western Europe. We take the same stance toward the Chinese government's repression of various peoples and ethnic groups.

We repudiate the persecution, repression, and censorship in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries of protests against the genocide in Palestine, and we also denounce the repression and imprisonment in Russia of opponents of the war of aggression against Ukraine.

We do not support the Maduro government. We denounce its anti-democratic and anti-worker actions. But no objectionable action by the Maduro government can validate the United States' aggression against Venezuela. We therefore demand the withdrawal of the US from Venezuela and the release of former deputy Cilia and President Maduro.

We propose the dissolution of NATO, as well as the Collective Security Treaty Organization. We do not support the Zelensky government in Ukraine. We denounce its anti-worker, corrupt, anti-democratic, and chauvinist policies. But no questionable policy of this government justifies the Russian invasion and bombing. Therefore, we organize our solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

Reject intervention, support the struggles

Bourgeois governments refuse to recognize that popular mobilizations against them are the result of deep social contradictions. Typically, they attribute them to the action of internal or external “agents”. We cannot accept this conspiracy conception of history. Undoubtedly, imperialism and its agencies try to take advantage of struggles, such as that of the Iranian people against authoritarian theocracy, but that does not reduce those struggles to an operation of imperialism. We must oppose such intervention, while continuing to support those struggles.

Preaching to the people that they must accept dictatorships that oppress and mistreat them as the “lesser evil” turns those who do so into promoters of resignation and submission. Oppressed peoples will have little interest in anti-imperialism or geopolitical analysis that excludes their most pressing democratic and economic demands. It is up to us to ensure that activists see our anti-imperialism as their ally, or that, tragically, they will find encouragement and support only in the camp of imperialism that seeks to exploit them.

Universal demands of the working class

Historically, US and NATO imperialism have acted in the name of freedom, democracy, etc. The left is not fooled by these proclamations. But we must be consistent. The same is true of rival imperialisms: we must explain how, in the name of multipolarity, anti-hegemony, rejection of the hypocritical model of Western democracy and Eurocentrism, attempts are made to justify the denial of democratic rights to the working class, women, religious minorities and LGBTTQI+ people.

In the face of cultural relativism tailored to authoritarian governments (in Russia and China, among others), we affirm that trade-union rights, women’s rights, freedom of expression, assembly, and association, and the election and recall of rulers are not “Western values” or “liberal models” or Eurocentric ideas that imperialism seeks to impose: they are historical demands of the international working class. That is why we defend them throughout the world, in all countries, without exception.

We reject the blackmail that any criticism or demand made of progressive governments, or those that proclaim themselves progressive, is destructive and favorable to imperialism. What weakens the struggle is not criticism and debate, but their suppression.

The hypocrisy of the West and consistent anti-imperialism

We are familiar with the hypocrisy of Western imperialism when it denounces repression in Iran or the invasion of Ukraine. What moral authority can the accomplices of genocide in Gaza claim? What respect can those who have just kidnapped the president of Venezuela deserve? But denouncing the hypocrisy of the West and its crimes cannot become our silence on the abuses of the governments of Putin or Xi Jinping, or the idea that these abuses are “inventions of imperialism.”

We do not oppose the double standards of Western imperialism with another double standard, but with the rejection of all those who exploit and oppress.

Today more than ever, we must practice consistent internationalism, a solidarity without borders that encompasses the struggles of workers, the oppressed, and for self-determination in all countries of the world, without exception. It is a policy that opposes all forms of imperialism. It does not subordinate the struggle in any country to that of another country. It is the policy that corresponds to the slogan Workers of the world, unite!

For solidarity without borders! For internationalism without exceptions! 

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Antifascism must fight all tyrannies

Statement by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine for the 1st International Anti-Fascist Conference for the Sovereignty of Peoples.

The European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) strongly supports the goal of this conference, namely “to confront the expressions of the far right and fascism and put into practice solidarity among resisting people.”

In championing the national and social rights of the Ukrainian people, our network of social movements, trade unions, solidarity groups and political parties from Eastern and Western Europe also shares the internationalism and anti-imperialism this goal expresses. As ENSU’s founding statement says, 

we fight for peace and equality, democratic freedoms, social and climate justice through cooperation and solidarity between peoples.

We believe that antifascism must oppose every violation of human rights by regimes and rulers that elevate maintaining their own power above everything else, including the rights of peoples to determine their future. For ENSU, “from Ukraine to Palestine, occupation is a crime” and the Ukrainian people must be recognised as a resisting people fully deserving of solidarity in the face of terrible aggression.

Over the last four years, the Russian armed forces implementing the Kremlin’s “special military operation” against Ukraine have: illegally occupied 20% of internationally recognised Ukrainian territory; unleashed a murderous campaign to destroy Ukraine’s energy and water supply infrastructure and freeze the population into submission; bombarded the country’s schools, hospitals and residential districts; deported thousands of Ukrainian children from the territories occupied by Russia (a crime for which Vladimir Putin has been charged by the International Criminal Court); imposed a campaign of compulsory Russification in these regions; targeted cultural sites as part of a deliberate policy of erasing Ukrainian culture and language; imprisoned tens of thousands of non-combatant Ukrainian citizens, and used assassination, torture and sexual violence to compel obedience from an occupied population. All this after years of abuses against the Crimean Tatars, including forced disappearances.

But despite this wave of genocidal crimes, Ukraine survives, and not only through the efforts of its armed forces but because of the persistent self-organisation of its civil society — the trade unions, community, neighbourhood and veterans’ organisations, women’s and LGBTIQ+ collectives and environmental and civil liberties associations.

Putin’s ‘antifascist’ holy war

There is, however, a feature of Ukraine’s resistance that differs from that of other peoples fighting for freedom: the Russian aggressor brands Ukraine’s defensive struggle as itself “fascist” and defines its own goal as “eliminating the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv” (Putin). In short, the Kremlin invokes antifascism … to justify its own war crimes.

This cynical manipulation of the concepts of “antifascism” and “anti-Nazism” is best analysed in the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s publication Putin’s Four Antifascist Myths — How Russia Uses ‘Antifascism’ to Justify the War in Ukraine, by Anastasia Spartak

It explains how the present rulers in the Kremlin converted the original antifascism, born of the heroic anti-Nazi resistance of the peoples of the Soviet Union, into exaltation of Russia as a historic power destined to “embrace” the peoples around its borders. Those like the Ukrainians who opposed this imperial project became “fascists” and “Nazis” — irrespective of the real presence of the far right within their societies.

As for those brave people inside Putin’s Russia who have denounced his criminal invasion of Ukraine and sought to maintain genuinely democratic and antifascist values — they have been murdered, jailed, locked up in psychiatric “hospitals”, exiled or ostracised as “foreign agents” and “undesirables”.

Behind the smokescreen of its annual UN General Assembly motherhood resolution against Nazism, the Russian Federation has implemented a domestic policy of setting far-right gangs against democrats and leftists and a foreign policy of giving lavish support to xenophobic outfits like the French National Front (now National Rally).

Russia has become central to a reactionary international alliance that includes Trump’s USA, Orban's Hungary, Le Pen’s National Rally, the Alternative For Germany and Reform UK. This league of ethno-nationalist, anti-democratic authoritarians is opposed to everything this conference stands for. All of them seek to deflect responsibility for Putin’s invasion onto Ukraine or “the collective West”, an alert to anti-fascists as to the true nature of the Russian imperial project.

No to an imperialist ‘peace’

The “antifascism” of a regime dedicated to Making Russia Great Again has many sinister parallels with the operations of Putin’s “partner” (his term) Trump. The bomber of Iran endlessly pressures Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire on Russia’s terms, cynically cancels agreed embargoes on Russian oil and gas exports, and has his envoys check out opportunities for “deals” with Putin and his oligarch mates.

If forced on Ukraine, the outcome of this sort of imperial “peace”, would be to perpetuate the cruel injustice and suffering the country has experienced, with no guarantee that Putin would not restart hostilities when he judges he could get away with it. The only acceptable ceasefire is one Ukraine itself can negotiate and its people support.

Support Ukraine as a sovereign nation, its people and its working class

Let’s never forget that the only way the concept of antifascism can strengthen the interests of oppressed peoples is if it is applied without exception. If a blind eye is turned to the oppression of any people or nation it will serve the interests of their oppressor — even if unintentionally. Moreover, if the antifascist movement neglects the rights, suffering and struggles of any one people, its action in support of other oppressed peoples will lose credibility and the power that comes from mutual solidarity.

Give unreserved support to Ukraine’s resistance struggle! This does not in any way entail supporting the undemocratic neoliberal policies of the Ukrainian government. Indeed, ENSU has supported all the struggles of Ukraine’s workers, students, feminists, LGBTI+ collectives and civil rights organisations against the government’s attempts to impose a radically pro-corporate economic policy, cut back the rights of workers and their unions, and protect the corrupt within its own ranks from investigation by the country’s independent anticorruption agencies.

Again, if you want to understand this experience, please take time to speak with the representatives of Ukrainian trade unionism and the Ukrainian left present at this conference. Their fight should also be yours.

For the European Network in Solidarity with Ukraine, the only possible position for a consistent antifascism is to support Ukraine’s right to self-determination and self-defence; to demand the removal of all Russian forces from its internationally recognised territory; to support the return of its kidnapped children and other civilian prisoners; and to call for full reparation for the damage inflicted by the Russian invasion and accountability in international law for those who initiated it.

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  Including the two main Basque trade unions ELA and LAB, the Intersindicals of Valencia, Galicia and Catalunya, CTA A Argentina, CTA TT Argentina, PIT CNT Uruguay, SME Mexico, CUT Chile, CUT Colombia.