(Statement) International call to strengthen antifascist and anti-imperialist action

By Various

Published date 21 January, 2026

The extreme right and neo-fascist forces are advancing on every continent. 

While the threat manifests itself in different ways depending on the country or region, its common elements are readily identifiable: the goal of annihilating labor rights and protections, the suppression of workers’ organizations, the dismantling of social security and the imposition of a precarious existence for both employed and unemployed workers, the privatization of public services, the denial of climate change, the use of the high level of public debt as an excuse for intensifying austerity policies, the dispossession of peasants to clear the way for agribusiness, the displacement of indigenous peoples to promote unbridled extractivism, the tightening of inhumane migration policies, and an increase in military spending. 

Enforcing these policies requires restrictions on the right to strike, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of assembly; the silencing of the press and of critical voices in schools and universities; denying scientific findings that contradict these policies; and strengthening of the structures and mechanisms of repression and surveillance.

The extreme right is co-opting discontent with the disastrous consequences of neoliberalism to accelerate these policies. To achieve this, like classical fascism, it seeks to direct this discontent against oppressed and dispossessed groups: migrants, women, LGBTQ+ people, those who benefit from inclusion programs, racialized people, and national or religious minorities. National chauvinism, racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, incitement to hatred, and the normalization of cruelty accompany the advance of the radical right at every step, depending on the specific circumstances of each country.

The desire to accumulate wealth in the hands of capital and the relentless pursuit of maximum profit that underpins far-right policies are also manifested by the intensification of imperialist aggressions aimed at seizing resources and exploiting populations. This phenomenon is intertwined with the perpetuation of colonial situations, exemplified by the case of Palestine, where it takes the form of a genocide orchestrated by the State of Israel with the complicity of its imperialist allies.

Beyond its complicity with the Netanyahu government, the far right is forging international ties: congresses, think tanks, joint declarations, mutual support in electoral processes, collaboration among podcasters, propagandists, and specialists in disinformation. It is urgent that we advance the struggle against the right and imperialist aggression, and to be effective our struggle must be international.

The forces fighting against the rise of the far right, fascism, and imperialist aggression are neither monolithic nor homogeneous, nor have they ever been. They are diverse, and there are significant differences in analysis, strategy and tactics, programs, and alliance policy, as well as sensibilities and priorities. Experience teaches us that while it is important to recognize these differences, coordinating the struggle against increasingly menacing enemies is essential. This convergence can and must include all forces willing to defend the working class, farmers, migrants, women, LGBTQ+ people, racialized people, oppressed national or religious minorities, and indigenous peoples; to defend nature against ecocidal capitalism; to combat imperialist and colonial aggression, regardless of its origin; and to support the struggle of the peoples who resist, even when they are forced to take up arms.

It is urgent that we share analyses, strengthen ties, and agree on concrete actions. Those are the goals that inspired the convening of an International Antifascist and Anti-imperialist Conference in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, from March 26 to 29, 2026.

The Porto Alegre conference is an important step on a much longer path. The undersigned organizations and individuals commit to continue, tirelessly and in the most unified way possible, the struggle against the rising far right and imperialist aggressions, which is an essential dimension of our emancipatory, socialist, ecological, feminist, anti-racist, and internationalist project.

As Che Guevara wrote to his children: “Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.”

Sign the call here

Initial signatories:

Argentina
1. Atilio A. Boron, professor at the University of Buenos Aires and the National University of Avellaneda.
2. Verónica Gago, feminist activist and researcher at the University of Buenos Aires.
3. Julio Gambina, Corriente Politica de Izquierda - CPI (Left Political Current), ATTAC Argentina, CADTM AYNA.
4. Claudio Katz, professor at the University of Buenos Aires and researcher at CONICET.
5. Beverly Keene, Diálogo 2000-Jubileo Sur Argentina (Dialogue 2000-Jubilee South Argentina) and Autoconvocatoria por la Suspensión del Pago e Investigación de la Deuda (Coalition for the Suspension of Payment and Investigation of the Debt).
6. Claudio Lozano, President of the Instrumento Electoral por la Unidad Popular (Electoral Instrument for Popular Unity).
7. Jorgelina Matusevicius, representative of Vientos del Pueblo Frente por el Poder Popular (Winds of the People Front for Popular Power).
8. Felisa Miceli, Economist, Former Minister of Economy of Argentina 2005/2007.
9. Martín Mosquera, editor of Jacobin Latin America (Jacobinlat).
10. María Elena Saludas, member of ATTAC-CADTM Argentina, Corriente Politica de Izquierda - CPI (Left Political Current).

Australia
11. Federico Fuentes, editor of LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal.
12. Pip Hinman, Co-editor of Green Left.
13. Susan Price, Co-editor of Green Left.

Basque Country
14. Garbiñe Aranburu Irazusta, General Coordinator of the LAB Trade Union.
15. Igor Arroyo Leatxe, General Coordinator of the LAB Trade Union.
16. Josu Chueca, former professor at the UPV/EHU. Historical memory activist.
17. Irati Jiménez, parliamentarian in Navarre, EH Bildu.
18. Mitxel Lakuntza Vicario, general secretary of the ELA Sindikatua Trade Union.
19. Oskar Matute, deputy in the Congress of the Spanish state, EH Bildu.
20. Luisa Menendez Aguirre, anti-racist and feminist activist, Bilbao.
21. Amaia Muñoa Capron-Manieux, deputy general secretary of the ELA Sindikatua Trade Union.
22. Anabel Sanz Del Pozo, feminist activist, Bilbao.
23. Igor Zulaika, parliamentarian in the CAPV, EH Bildu.

Belgium
24. Vanessa Amboldi, Director of CEPAG popular education movement.
25. France Arets, retired history teacher, active in supporting undocumented people, CRACPE.
26. Eléonore Bronstein, federal secretary of the Mouvement Ouvrier Chrétien Brussels (Christian Labour Movement Brussels).
27. Céline Caudron, Gauche Anticapitaliste (Anticapitalist Left), union and feminist activist.
28. Giulia Contes, Co-president of the Coordination Nationale d’Action pour la Paix et la Démocratie – CNAPD (National Coordination for Action for Peace and Democracy).
29. Paul-Emile Dupret, jurist, former official of The Left in the European Parliament.
30. Pierre Galand, former senator, president of the Association Belgo-Palestinienne (Belgian-Palestinian Association), president of the Conférence européenne de coordination du soutien au peuple sahraoui – EUCOCO (European Conference on Coordination of Support for the Sahrawi People).
31. Corinne Gobin, professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles.
32. Henri Goldman, Union des progressistes juifs de Belgique (Union of Jewish Progressives of Belgium).
33. Jean-François Tamellini, general secretary of the trade union FGTB wallonne.
34. Éric Toussaint, spokesperson for CADTM international.
35. Felipe Van Keirsbilck, general secretary of the Centrale Nationale des Employés - CNE/CSC (National Employees’ Centre).
36. Arnaud Zacharie, lecturer at ULB and ULiège, general secretary of the Centre National de Coopération au Développement – CNCD (National Centre for Development Cooperation).

Benin
37. Émilie Atchaka, feminist, president of CADD Benin.

Bolivia
38. Gabriela Montaño, physician, former President of the Chamber of Deputies and Senators, former Minister of Health.

Brazil
39. Ricardo Abreu de Melo “Alemão”, FMG.
40. Luana Alves, black feminist, PSOL municipal councilor in São Paulo.
41. Frei Betto, writer.
42. Sâmia Bomfim, PSOL federal deputy.
43. Bianca Borges, president of UNE.
44. Ana Cristina Carvalhaes, Journalist, Inprecor magazine.
45. Raul Carrion, Historian, former deputy, member of the FMG and the Secretariat of International Relations of the PC of Brazil.
46. Rodrigo Dilelio, president of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Worker’s Party) of the city of Porto Alegre; Organizing Committee.
47. Israel Dutra, Secretary of Social Movements of PSOL, member of the National Directorate of PSOL.
48. Olívio Dutra, Former Governor of the State of Rio Grande do Sul; Former Minister of Cities (PT).
49. Luciana Genro, state deputy of Rio Grande do Sul and president of the Lauro Campos/Marielle Franco Foundation.
50. Tarso Genro, Former Governor of the State of Rio Grande do Sul; Former Minister of Justice (PT).
51. Socorro Gomes, CEBRAPAZ and the World Peace Council.
52. Amanda Harumy, International and Latin American affairs analyst.
53. Elias Jabbour, Geographer and China specialist.
54. Joao Machado, economist, PSOL.
55. Fernanda Melchionna, federal deputy of RS.
56. Maria do Rosário Nunes, Federal Deputy; Former Minister of Human Rights (PT).
57. Misiara Oliveira, assistant secretary of International Relations / National Executive Commission (PT).
58. Raul Pont, historian, former mayor of Porto Alegre, PT.
59. Ana Maria Prestes, historian, PhD in Political Science and secretary of International Relations of the CC of the PC of Brazil.
60. Edson Puchalski, president of PC do B Rio Grande do Sul.
61. Roberto Robaina, councilor and president of PSOL in Porto Alegre.
62. Miguel Rossetto, PT leader in the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul.
63. Juliana Souza, PT leader in the Municipal Council of Porto Alegre.
64. Joao Pedro Stedile, social activist, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – MST (Landless Rural Workers Movement).
65. Gabi Tolotti, president of PSOL Rio Grande do Sul.
66. Thiago Ávila, international coordination of the Global Sumud Flotilla for Gaza.

Catalonia
67. Ada Colau, social activist, former Mayor of Barcelona, President of the Sentit Comú Foundation.
68. Gerardo Pisarello, deputy in the Congress for Comuns. Professor of law. University of Barcelona.
69. Daniel Raventós, professor at the University of Barcelona. Editorial Board of the magazine Sin Permiso and President of the Red Renta Básica (Basic Income Network).
70. Carles Riera, sociologist, former deputy and member of the Board of the Parliament of Catalonia for the CUP (2016-2024), president of the FDC Foundation, president of the Global Network for the Collective Rights of Peoples.

Chile
71. Daniel Jadue, Communist Party of Chile.
72. Jorge Sharp Fajardo, former mayor of Valparaíso, member of Transformar Chile (Transform Chile).

Colombia
73. Wilson Arias, senator of the Republic.
74. Isabel Cristina Zuleta, senator of the Pacto Histórico (Historical Pact).

Congo, Democratic Republic of
75. Yvonne Ngoyi, feminist, president of the Union of Women for Human Dignity (UFDH).

Ivory Coast
76. Solange Kone Sanogo, President of the Forum national sur les stratégies économiques et sociales - FNSES (National Forum on Economic and Social Strategies), National Coordination of the World March of Women.

Cuba
77. Rafael Acosta, writer, academic and researcher.
78. Aurelio Alonso, deputy director of the magazine Casa de las Américas.
79. Katiuska Blanco, writer and journalist, RedEDH.
80. Olga Fernández Ríos, Institute of Philosophy and Vice President of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba.
81. Norma Goicochea, president of the Asociación Cubana de las Naciones Unidas (Cuban Association of the United Nations), member of the Red en Defensa de la Humanidad - REDH (Network in Defense of Humanit).
82. Georgina Alfonso González, Dr., Director of the Institute of Philosophy.
83. Rafael Hernández, political scientist and professor. Director, Temas magazine.
84. Marilín Peña Pérez, popular educator, Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Center (CMLK).
85. Pedro Prada, journalist, researcher and diplomat.
86. Abel Prieto, writer, former Minister of Culture, deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power, president of Casa de las Américas (House of the Americas).
87. Raul Suárez, Rev., pastor emeritus of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Founder of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center.
88. Marlene Vázquez Pérez, director of the Center for Martí Studies.

Denmark
89. Per Clausen, member of the European Parliament, GUE/NGL, Red-Green Alliance.
90. Søren Søndergaard, member of Parliament, Red-Green Alliance.

Ecuador
91. Alberto Acosta, former president of the Constituent Assembly in 2007-2008.

France
92. Manon Aubry (LFI), co-president of the Left group (The Left) in the European Parliament.
93. Ludivine Bantigny, historian.
94. Olivier Besancenot, NPA - l’Anticapitaliste.
95. Leila Chaibi, member of the European Parliament, La France Insoumise (LFI), The Left.
96. Fabien Cohen, General Secretary of France Amérique Latine-FAL.
97. Hendrik Davi, deputy in the National Assembly of the ecological and social group and member of APRES.
98. Penelope Duggan, member of the bureau of the Fourth International, editor-in-chief of International Viewpoint.
99. Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize in Literature 2022.
100. Angélique Grosmaire, General Secretary of the Fédération Sud PTT.
101. Rima Hassan, member of the European Parliament, LFI.
102. Michael Löwy, sociologist, ecosocialist.
103. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, La France Insoumise.
104. Ugo Palheta, editor of the Revue ContreTemps, author of “La nouvelle internationale fasciste”.
105. Patricia Pol, academic, representative of Attac France on the international Council of the World Social Forum.
106. Raymonde Poncet Monge, senator Les Écologistes (The Ecologists).
107. Thomas Portes, LFI deputy in the National Assembly.
108. Christine Poupin, Spokesperson for NPA - l’Anticapitaliste.
109. Denis Robert, founder and editorial director of Blast, independent media outlet.
110. Catherine Samary, researcher in political economy, specialist on the Balkans, member of the FI and the ENSU (European Network in Solidarity with Ukraine).
111. Aurélie Trouvé, deputy in the National Assembly, La France Insoumise (The Unsubmissive France).
112. Cem Yoldas, Spokesperson for the Jeune Garde Antifasciste (Young Anti-Fascist Guard).
113. Sophie Zafari, FSU trade unionist.

Galicia
114. Ana Miranda, member of the European Parliament, Bloque Nacionalista Galego – BNG (Galician Nationalist Bloc).

Germany
115. Angela Klein, chief editor in charge of the magazine SOZ.
116. Carola Rackete, biologist, activist, ship captain arrested in Italy in June 2019 for protecting refugees, former member of the European Parliament.

Greece
117. Zoe Konstantopoulou, lawyer, head of the Political Movement “Course to Freedom”, member of Parliament, former President of the Greek Parliament, initiator-president of the Truth Committee on Public Debt.
118. Nadia Valavani, economist and author, alternate finance minister in 2015 and former member of the Greek Parliament.
119. Yanis Varoufakis, leader of MeRA25, co-founder of DiEM25, professor of economics – University of Athens.

Haiti
120. Camille Chalmers, professor at the Université d’Etat d’Haiti (UEH), director of PAPDA, member of the regional executive committee of the Assemblée des Peuples de la Caraïbe – APC (Assembly of Caribbean Peoples), member of the Comité national haïtien pour la restitution et les réparations – CNHRR (Haitian National Committee for Restitution and Reparations).

India
121. Sushovan Dhar, Alternative Viewpoint magazine, member of the IC of the World Social Forum and of CADTM India.
122. Vijay Prashad, director, Tricontinental Institute for Social Research.
123. Achin Vanaik, retired professor from the University of Delhi and founding member of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP).

Indonesia
124. Rahmat Maulana Sidik, Executive Director, Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ).

.Iraq
125. Noor Salem, radio journalist.

Ireland
126. Paul Murphy, member of Parliament.

Italy
127. Eliana Como, member of the National Assembly of the CGIL union.
128. Nadia De Mond, feminist activist and researcher, Centro Studi per l’Autogestione (Center for Self-Management Studies).
129. Domenico Lucano, mayor of Riace in Calabria, member of the European Parliament (left group The Left), persecuted for his humanist policy of welcoming migrants and refugees by the Italian judicial system and the far-right Interior Minister Mr. Salvini, unjustly sentenced to 13 years in prison before winning his appeal after a long legal battle and thanks to solidarity.
130. Cristina Quintavalla, philosophy teacher, decolonial activist, against privatizations and public debt.
131. Ilaria Salis, anti-fascist activist, unjustly imprisoned in Budapest until her election in June 2024, member of the European Parliament (The Left).

Kenya
132. Ikal Angelei, Dr., academic activist for indigenous rights.
133. David Otieno, General Coordinator, Kenya Peasants League and Convening Chair of the Civil Society Reference Group, member of La Vía Campesina.

La Réunion/France
134. Françoise Vergès, author, decolonial feminist activist.

Lebanon
135. Sara Salloum, co-founder and president of AgriMovement in Lebanon.

Luxembourg
136. Justin Turpel, former deputy of ’déi Lénk – la Gauche’ (The Left) in the Chamber of Deputies.
137. David Wagner, member of déi Lénk (The Left) in the Chamber of Deputies.

Madagascar
138. Zo Randriamaro, President of the Movement of the Peoples of the Indian Ocean.

Malaysia
139. Jeyakumar Devaraj, President of the Socialist Party of Malaysia.

Mali
140. Massa Kone, from the organizing committee of the World Social Forum 2026 in Benin.

Martinique/France
141. Mireille Fanon-Mendes-France, co-president of the Frantz Fanon International Foundation.
142. Frantz Fanon Foundation

Mexico
143. Armando Bartra, writer, sociologist, philosopher and political analyst.
144. Verónica Carrillo Ortega, member of the Promotora Nacional para la Suspensión de la Deuda Pública en México (National Coalition for the Suspension of Public Debt in Mexico), CADTM AYNA.
145. Ana Esther Ceceña, coordinator of the Latin American Geopolitics Observatory and the Latin American Information Agency. National Autonomous University of Mexico.
146. Martín Esparza Flores, General Secretary of the Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas – SME (Mexican Electricians Union).
147. Diana Fuentes, philosopher and political analyst, full-time professor-researcher at the Metropolitan Autonomous University.
148. María Auxilio Heredia Anaya, trade unionist and feminist, Autonomous University of Mexico City (UACM).
149. Ana López Rodríguez, a founder of the PRT and peasant leader from Sonora, member of the MSP.
150. Sara Lovera Lopez, journalist/feminist.
151. Pablo Moctezuma Barragán, political scientist, historian and urban planner; researcher at the Metropolitan Autonomous University, spokesperson for the Congreso por la Soberanía (Congress for Sovereignty).
152. Massimo Modonesi, historian, sociologist and political scientist, Full Professor at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
153. Humberto Montes de Oca, secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas – SME (Mexican Electricians Union).
154. Magdalena Núñez Monreal, Federal Deputy in the Congress of Mexico.
155. César Enrique Pineda, sociologist and activist, teacher at the Faculty of Social Policies of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
156. Mónica Soto Elízaga, feminist and co-founder of the Promotora Nacional para la Suspensión de la Deuda Pública en México (National Coalition for the Suspension of Public Debt in Mexico), CADTM AYNA.
157. Paco Ignacio Taibo II, writer and Director of the Fondo de Cultura Económica.
158. Carolina Verduzco Ríos, anthropologist, professor at the National Polytechnic Institute, member of Comité 68 (Committee 68).

Morocco
159. Fatima Zahra El Belghiti, member of Attac CADTM Morocco.

Nigeria
160. Emem Okon, founder and director of the Kebetkache Women’s Development and Resource Centre.

Pakistan
161. Sheema Kermani, Performing Artist, human rights defender.

Palestine/France
162. Salah Hamouri, Franco-Palestinian lawyer, former political prisoner for 10 years in Israeli prisons, deported to France in 2022.

Peru
163. Evelyn Capchi Sotelo, Secretary of National Organization of NUEVO PERÚ POR EL BUEN VIVIR (New Peru for Good Living).
164. Jorge Escalante Echeandia, political responsible for the SÚMATE current, national leader of the organization NUEVO PERÚ POR EL BUEN VIVIR (New Peru for Good Living).
165. Yolanda Lara Cortez, Feminist and socio-environmental leader of the province of Santa Ancash.
166. Flavio Olortegui, Leader of the Federación Nacional de trabajadores textiles del Perú (National Federation of Textile Workers of Peru).

Philippines
167. Walden Bello, co-chair of the board of directors, Focus on the Global South.
168. Jen Cornelio, President of Inged Fintailan (IP/Women’s Organization of Mindanao).
169. Dorothy Guerrero, consultant, African Womin Alliance; Co-chair of the board of directors of the London Mining Network.
170. Reihana Mohideen, International Office, Partido Lakas ng Masa-PLM (Party of the Laboring Masses).
171. Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator of the Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development.
172. Reyna Joyce Villagomez, General Secretary of the Rural Poor Movement.

Portugal
173. Mamadou Ba, researcher, leader of SOS Racismo Portugal (SOS Racism Portugal).
174. Jorge Costa, journalist, member of the national leadership of Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc).
175. Mariana Mortágua, economist, Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc).
176. José Manuel Pureza, coordinator of Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc).
177. Alda Sousa, former MEP of Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc).

Puerto Rico
178. Manuel Rodríguez Banchs, spokesperson for the Instituto Internacional de Investigación y Formación Obrera y Sindical - iNFOS (International Institute for Labor and Trade Union Research and Training).
179. Rafael Bernabe, author and university professor; former member of the Puerto Rico Senate for the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (Citizen Victory Movement).

Senegal
180. Aly Sagne, founder and director of Lumière Synergies pour le Développement (Light Synergies for Development).

South Africa
181. Mercia Andrews, coordinator of the Assembly of Rural Women of Southern Africa, founding member of the Palestine solidarity campaign and active member of BDS South Africa.
182. Patrick Bond, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, where he directs the Centre for Social Change.
183. Samantha Hargreaves, founder and director of WoMin.
184. Trevor Ngwane, President, United Front, Johannesburg.

Spain
185. Fernanda Gadea, coordinator of ATTAC Spain.
186. Estrella Galán, Member of the European Parliament for SUMAR, The Left group.
187. Manuel Garí Ramos, ecosocialist economist, member of the Advisory Council of the magazine Viento Sur.
188. Vicent Marzà i Ibáñez, deputy in the European Parliament for Compromís, Valencian Country.
189. Fátima Martín, journalist, editor of the online newspaper FemeninoRural.com, member of CADTM.
190. Irene Montero, political secretary of PODEMOS, MEP and former Minister of Equality.
191. Jaime Pastor, editor of the magazine Viento Sur.
192. Manu Pineda, former deputy to the European Parliament and head of International Relations of the Communist Party of Spain.
193. Olga Rodríguez, journalist and writer.
194. Teresa Rodríguez, Spokesperson for Adelante Andalucía (Go ahead, Andalusia), secondary and high school teacher.
195. Isabel Serra Sánchez, Deputy in the European Parliament for Podemos/The Left.
196. Miguel Urban, former MEP, member of the editorial board of the magazine Viento Sur.
197. Koldobi Velasco Vázquez, participant in the Alternativa antimilitarista y del Movimiento Objetor de Conciencia/Acción Directa No Violenta (Anti-militarist Alternative and the Conscientious Objector Movement/Non-Violent Direct Action). University professor of Social Work, Canary Islands.

Sri Lanka
198. Swasthika Arulingam, President of the United Federation of Labour.
199. Kalpa Rajapaksha, Dr., senior lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Peradeniya.
200. Amali Wedagedara, Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies.

Switzerland
201. Sébastien Bertrand, Enseignant.e.s pour le climat (Teachers for the climate), Syndicat des Services Publics (Swiss Union of Public Service Personnel) and member of solidaritéS Geneva.
202. Hadrien Buclin, deputy of Ensemble à Gauche (Together on the Left) in the Parliament of the Canton of Vaud.
203. Marianne Ebel, World March of Women and solidaritéS Neuchâtel.
204. Jocelyne Haller, solidaritéS, former cantonal deputy of Geneva.
205. Gabriella Lima, member of CADTM Switzerland and the Ensemble à Gauche (Together on the Left) platform.
206. Mathilde Marendaz, deputy of Ensemble à Gauche (Together on the Left) in the Parliament of the Canton of Vaud.
207. Aude Martenot, researcher and associative coordinator.
208. Mathieu Menghini, historian of cultural action.
209. Françoise Nyffler, Feminist Strike Collective Switzerland.
210. Stefanie Prezioso, former deputy, Swiss Parliament.
211. Juan Tortosa, spokesperson for CADTM-Switzerland and member of SolidaritéS Switzerland.
212. María Wuillemin, ecofeminist activist, member of the Colectivo Jaguar (Jaguar Collective).
213. Jean Ziegler, writer, former parliamentarian, former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food.

Syria
214. Joseph Daher, academic and specialist in the political economy of the Middle East (resident in Switzerland).
215. Munif Mulhen, left-wing political activist. Former political prisoner for 16 years during the Hafez al-Assad regime (1970-2000).

Tunisia
216. Imen Louati, Tunisian activist, one of the founding members of the Arab food sovereignty network (Siyada).
217. Layla Riahi, member of the Siyada network for food sovereignty.

United Kingdom
218. Gilbert Achcar, professor emeritus, SOAS, University of London.
219. Jeremy Corbyn, member of Parliament, co-founder of Your Party.
220. Michael Roberts, economist and author.
221. Zarah Sultana, member of Parliament, co-founder of Your Party.

United States
222. David Adler, Deputy General Coordinator of the Progressive International.
223. Anthony Arnove, editor. Tempest Magazine and Haymarket Books.
224. Tithi Bhattacharya, professor of History, Purdue University, co-author of Feminism for the 99% : A Manifesto.
225. Robert Brenner, professor emeritus of history and director of the Center for Social Theory and Comparative History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
226. Vivek Chibber, professor of sociology at New York University. Editor of Catalyst.
227. Olivia DiNucci, anti-militarism and climate justice organizer based in Washington D.C. and writer, affiliated with Code Pink, a grassroots feminist organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism.
228. Dianne Feeley, retired auto worker (UAW Local 235), member of Solidarity, Metro Detroit DSA and editor of Against the Current magazine.
229. Nancy Fraser, professor emerita, New School for Social Research and member of the Editorial Committee of New Left Review, co-author of Feminism for the 99% : A Manifesto.
230. Michael Hudson, professor of economics, emeritus, UMKC, and author of Super Imperialism.
231. Neal Meyer, member of DSA and editor for Socialist Call.
232. Christian Parenti, investigative journalist, scholar, author and contributing editor at The Nation.
233. Jana Silverman, Professor of International Relations, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC) and co-chair, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) International Committee.
234. Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor of Jacobin, president of The Nation magazine.
235. Suzi Weissman, professor of Political Science at Saint Mary’s College of California.

Venezuela
236. Luis Bonilla-Molina, director of Otras Voces en Educación (Other Voices in Education).

 

PANNIER: Afghanistan’s increasingly unruly north a headache for Taliban and Central Asia

Fayzabad, capital of Badakhshan, a province of particular concern in the new instability besetting northern Afghanistan. / Julian-G. Albert, cc-by-sa 2.0

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By Bruce Pannier January 20, 2026

When they returned to power in August 2021, the Taliban promised that no group would use Afghan soil to plot or carry out an attack on any of Afghanistan’s neighbours.

Yet several attacks experienced in southern Tajikistan in recent months, which emanated from Afghanistan, suggest the Taliban cannot entirely uphold this guarantee.

Just as alarming is the fact that the Taliban are experiencing problems controlling the situation in areas of northern Afghanistan that border Central Asia, in great part due to their policies on ethnic groups that inhabit this region, such as the Tajiks and Uzbeks.

Fractious northern provinces

During the early morning of January 18, Tajik border guards shot dead four intruders who had crossed into Tajikistan from Afghanistan. Tajik authorities said the four were from an unspecified terrorist group.

They were discovered shortly after they entered Tajikistan’s Shamsiddin Shohin district. The district was the scene of several attacks in the second half of 2025, including an attack on a gold-mining operation in late November that killed three Chinese workers. The raid involved the use of a small drone armed with a grenade.

The district is also the same one where two Tajik border guards and three people, described as terrorist group members, were killed in a shootout on December 23, and where Tajik border guards and Taliban fighters exchanged fire on August 24 and then again in late October.

In the August clash, at least one Taliban fighter was killed and four were wounded. Reports on the October incident said only that there were casualties on both sides.

There have also been incidents in Darvoz district, which neighbours Shamsiddin Shohin to the east, including one on November 30 in which two Chinese roadworkers were shot dead and three were wounded by gunfire from the Afghan side of the border.

On the other side of the border from these districts in Tajikistan is Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province.

The Taliban are encountering more and more difficulties in controlling matters in areas of northern Afghanistan that border Central Asia (Credit: VOA (YouTube), public domain). 

On May 24 last year, Taliban forces arrived in the village of Farghamanch in Badakhshan’s Jurm district to destroy local farmers’ opium crops. Ethnic Tajik Taliban fighters in the area reportedly supported the farmers’ protest against the newly arrived ethnic Pashtun Taliban forces’ plans to eradicate the crop. Shooting started and at least one of the locals was killed, while six were wounded. The same day, a local Taliban commander, Mawlawi Zaidullah, recently returned from Iran, was killed along with his wife and child in Badakhshan’s Shuhada district during a clash between “rival” Taliban units.

On June 19, some residents of Badakhshan’s Khash district protested against the arrival of Taliban intent on destroying their opium poppy crop. The protesters burned three tractors that the Taliban intended to use to plough under the poppies. On June 30, the Taliban returned and fired on the protesters, killing eight people and wounding 27.

Five days later, a leading religious figure among the Shi’ite Ismaili Muslims, Fazi Ahmad Paoz, was assassinated in Badakhshan’s Zebak district. A report in December detailed the Taliban’s “organised discrimination, including arbitrary arrests, torture, and death threats aimed at forcing [Ismaili]) to renounce their faith.”

Across the border from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan there have also been problems.

On the first day of 2026, there was an attack on a court building in Maimana, the capital of Faryab Province that borders Turkmenistan. The Afghanistan Freedom Front claimed responsibility. The group said they were targeting a meeting of local officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and that four Taliban were killed and two wounded.

In Faryab Province in June last year, tensions broke out between the Taliban and the local ethnic Uzbek community after a group of Pashtun boys tossed fireworks at a group of Uzbek girls. Tempers flared and spread as the Uzbeks protested. Some reportedly attacked Taliban police posts. At least 165 Uzbeks were arrested during the next several days, though all were later released. Only two Pashtun boys were taken into custody.

In April 2025, there was an explosion in Mazar-i-Sharif, 75 kilometres (47 miles) south of the border with Uzbekistan. The target appeared to be a Shi’ite mosque.

The city of Mazar-i-Sharif is sometimes a flashpoint for ethnic tensions (Credit: AhmadElhan, cc-by-sa 4.0).

Uzbekistan’s government twice raised concerns about Taliban actions in northern Afghanistan that appeared to discriminate against ethnic Uzbeks. In August last year, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry contacted the Taliban after reports that a monument to revered Uzbek poet and scholar Alisher Navoi in Mazar-i-Sharif had been demolished, and again after reports in November that Uzbek and Persian were removed from signs at Afghanistan’s Samangan University.

In both cases the Taliban promised to address the issues. The signs with Uzbek and Persian were restored.

The Taliban said they were moving the monument of Alisher Navoi to a more dignified location (it was in front of a market), but there is no word of it reappearing in another location in Mazar-i-Sharif.

Disarmed and relocated

Another potential flashpoint in northern Afghanistan concerns the fate of ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks, some of them from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, who were part of, or allied to, the Taliban from 2001-2021.

Recent reports have said the Taliban is reducing the number of its fighters for budgetary reasons and that thousands of ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks have been discharged from the armed forces. Most of these personnel cuts took place in northern provinces where Tajiks and Uzbeks make up the majority of the population.

Militants from the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP, or ISIS-K) have been fighting the Taliban for a decade. For the last several years, ISKP propaganda has targeted ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks who have been evicted from their land or otherwise abused by ethnic Pashtun Taliban leaders and their policies.

ISKP continues to carry out attacks in northern Afghanistan and the group has found recruits, particularly among Tajiks in Tajikistan. Tajik nationals have carried out attacks in Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Russia, and have been detained for plotting attacks in European countries.

The Taliban, meanwhile, evacuated four villages in Panjshir Province to resettle militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and their families.

The IMU is a domestic terrorist organisation from Uzbekistan who staged attacks in southern Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in 1999 and 2000. The IMU were allies of the Taliban before the attacks of September 11, 2001 brought the United States and its allies into Afghanistan.

The IMU group being moved to Panjshir has been living in Baghlan Province. Their resettlement solves two problems. Firstly, it removes these veteran fighters from majority-Uzbek areas, and secondly, it transfers them to an area that has been a known stronghold of ethnic Tajik fighters who battled the Taliban in the late 1990s and have been fighting a guerrilla campaign in the area since the Taliban retook power in 2021.

The Taliban are facing increasing challenges to their rule in northern Afghanistan. Some of the resistance comes from ISKP. But in the cases of the villagers in Jurm or Faryab, it is from average Tajiks and Uzbeks, respectively, something the governments in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have surely noticed.

The Central Asian states have been trying to establish solid business ties with the Taliban with an eye toward using Afghanistan as a transit country to Pakistan and India. The unrest in northern Afghanistan involving Tajiks and Uzbeks threatens to derail the cautious but amicable relationship Central Asia is trying to establish with the Taliban.

World On Track To Breach 1.5C Target By 2030

January 19, 2026 
By Ben Deighton

Global average temperature increases could pass the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold outlined in the Paris Agreement by the end of the decade, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, putting the world at greater risk of never-seen-before extreme weather events.

Data released today (Wednesday) by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus on behalf of the EU, shows the average global surface air temperature in 2025 was 1.47 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times.

As 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded, it means the average temperature increase over the past three years exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the Copernicus analysis. In 2024, temperatures reached 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, compared to 1.48 degrees in 2023, the European data shows.

“These three years stand apart from those that came before,” Samantha Burgess, climate lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and deputy director of Copernicus, told a press briefing.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also confirmed today that 2025 was one of the three warmest years on record, releasing its consolidated analysis of eight datasets, including the one from Copernicus.



However, the WMO analysis put the 2025 global average surface temperature at 1.44 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 average, with a margin of uncertainty of 0.13 degrees. The consolidated three-year average for 2023 to 2025 was 1.48 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era, with the same margin of uncertainty.

The Copernicus data combines past observations, including satellite data, with computer models, while some of the other datasets are based on measurements made by weather stations, ships and buoys.

“The year 2025 started and ended with a cooling La Niña and yet it was still one of the warmest years on record globally because of the accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere,” said WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo.

She said extreme weather such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall and intense tropical cyclones, underlined a “vital need for early warning systems”.
2030 forecast

Under the terms of the Paris Agreement, countries agreed to pursue efforts to limit global average temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

At the time of the agreement, the Copernicus service predicted that the world would pass 1.5 degrees Celsius by March 2045. However, accelerating global warming means it is now forecasting that temperatures could pass this threshold as early as 2030, based on the current rate of warming.

“Overall, the globe has warmed by about 1.4 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, and if warming continues at the same average rate experienced over the last 15 years, then we will reach [the] 1.5 degree level by the end this decade,” said Burgess.

“Every fraction of a degree matters, particularly for worsening extreme weather events.”

Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said it was now “inevitable” that the world would pass the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold.

“Now we are effectively entering a phase where … [it] is basically inevitable that we will pass that threshold and it is up to us to decide how we want to deal with the enhanced and increased … risk that we face as a consequence of this,” he told the press briefing.
Unprecedented

Passing the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold will increase the chance of weather events that are “unprecedented in the observed record”, according to an assessment by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

“There are people in the Pacific that may not see this report, but they will definitely live its catastrophic reality,” said Fenton Lutunatabua, program manager for the Pacific and Caribbean region at the climate change group 350.org.

“This data proves that now, more than ever, we need to move beyond fossil fuels.”

Patrick Verkooijen, chief executive of the Netherlands-based Global Center on Adaptation, said: “Passing the 1.5-degree threshold is not a symbolic failure—for people in low- and middle-income countries, it would represent a material shift in daily life.

“It means more days of extreme heat that endanger outdoor workers, more volatile rainfall that undermines smallholder farmers, and more frequent floods and droughts that push vulnerable communities into poverty.”

Last year was marked by extreme weather events such as Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean, drought in Brazil, and flooding in Colombia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a report by the UK-based charity Christian Aid.

During the year, SciDev.Net reported on the destruction caused by cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka, deadly landslides in Sudan, and tidal flooding in India, as well as ongoing impacts of climate change on agriculture and health.

Harjeet Singh, of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, said the latest data was “an existential warning” for low- and middle-income countries.

“We are moving from the era of mitigation and adaptation into the era of unavoidable loss and damage,” he said.

“For the Global South, passing 1.5 degrees Celsius means that heatwaves in South Asia and floods in Southeast Asia will no longer be ‘extreme events’ but structural realities that dismantle decades of development progress overnight.”

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Global desk.

Ben Deighton

Ben Deighton is the Managing Editor of SciDev.Net.He is responsible for ensuring our editorial independence and the quality of our articles and multimedia products. Ben joined SciDev.Net in July 2017 after four years as editor of Horizon magazine.

CANADA IN A MULTIPOLAR WORLD

Trump's erratic trade policies are pushing US partners towards China


Key US trade partners are responding to President Donald Trump’s often belligerent and unpredictable policies by looking to take their business elsewhere. Canada's decision on Friday to cut tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles is the latest example of how Trump's erratic trade policies are pushing allies into the arms of America's greatest economic rival.


Issued on: 17/01/2026 
By: FRANCE 24

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney walks at Ritan Park, during the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to China since 2017, in Beijing, China, January 16, 2026. 

© Carlos Osorio, Reuters

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has overturned seven decades of US policy supporting ever-freer trade. He has imposed double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country on Earth as well as singling out specific industries, such as steel and autos, for levies of their own.

Critics warn raising tariffs to levels not seen since the Great Depression risks fuelling inflation and undermining US industries.

Canada broke with the United States on Friday by slashing its 100 percent import tax on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, particularly canola seeds.

“It’s a huge declaration of realignment in Canada’s economic relations,” said Edward Alden, who studies trade issues as senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.


“The economic threat from the United States is now perceived by Canadians as far bigger than the economic threat from China. So this is a big deal.’’

Canada has repeatedly been the target of Trump’s wrath. In October, for instance, he said he was imposing a 10 percent tariff on Canadian imports as a reprisal for Ontario’s provincial government airing an advertisement that criticised the president’s go-to diplomatic tariff tool. He didn’t follow through on the increase, but tariffs on on some key Canadian sectors like steel and aluminium remain.

The deal with China is a potentially perilous one for Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, who risks retribution from Trump ahead of negotiations over the renewal of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is crucial to Canadian businesses.

But Canada is not alone in looking for alternatives to America’s massive market as Trump slaps huge tariffs on imports in an attempt to strong-arm other countries into moving production to the United States.

China sees record $1.19 trillion trade surplus in 2025 in spite of US tariffs

BUSINESS © FRANCE 24
05:43

China's record surplus

The European Union is expected to formally sign a trade pact Saturday with the South American alliance known as Mercosur, which includes the region’s two biggest economies, Brazil and Argentina. The EU is also pursuing a trade deal with India.

China, pounded by US tariffs since Trump’s first term, has also diversified its exports away from the world’s biggest economy to markets such as Europe and Southeast Asia.

It seems to be working. China’s trade surplus with the rest of the world surged to a record $1.2 trillion in 2025, the Chinese government reported Wednesday, despite tumbling exports to the US.

Trump says tariffs will raise money for the US Treasury, protect American industries and bring investment into the United States. On Thursday, Taiwan agreed to invest $250 billion in the United States in return for Trump reducing the tariff on its products to 15 percent from 20 percent.

But the US president’s use of tariffs has often been arbitrary and unpredictable.

He targeted Brazil, for instance, for prosecuting his ally, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. On Friday, he again threatened to slap tariffs on countries that don’t support his efforts to wrest control of Greenland from Denmark.
Carney's gamble

Friday’s deal in Beijing marks a turnabout in Canadian policy.

In 2024, Canada had followed the US lead by imposing 100 percent tariffs on EVs from China, reflecting fears that inexpensive Chinese cars would overwhelm domestic North American automakers.

But the deal with China delivers benefits to Canada.

First, its canola farmers need export markets, and this pact lowers China’s tariff on canola from 84 percent to 15 percent. Canola farmers are hailing Canada’s new trade deal with China as great news that could restore exports for the major crop.

Second, the Trump administration, favouring fossil fuels over green energy, “is actively hostile to EV production in North America’’, said economist Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

America’s opposition “threatens to make the North American [auto] industry obsolete in the future, as China moves ahead with rapid quality improvements in batteries and electronics for EVs", she said.

“China’s strengths in electric vehicle sector are undeniable,” Carney said Friday. “China produces some of the most affordable and efficient energy-efficient vehicles in the world. And in order for Canada to build our own competitive EV sector, we need to learn from innovative partners, access their supply chains, and increase local demand.’’

READ MOREGlobal growth to slow in 2026 as tariffs and geopolitical tensions rise, UN says

But Carney’s economic rapprochement with Beijing amounts to a gamble.

“This was an extraordinarily difficult thing for Carney to do,’’ Alden said. “Relations between Canada and China have been extremely fraught.’’

In 2018, China detained two Canadians in retaliation for Canada arresting an executive of the Chinese tech firm Huawei at the request of the United States. All three were released in a 2021 swap. Canada also launched an investigation three years ago into whether the Chinese interfered in Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021.

The deal has drawn criticism already for exposing Canadian autoworkers to competition from low-price Chinese EVs. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, leading the province that is the centre of Canadian auto production, blasted the deal.

“Make no mistake: China now has a foothold in the Canadian market and will use it to their full advantage at the expense of Canadian workers,” Ford posted on social media. “Worse, by lowering tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles this lopsided deal risks closing the door on Canadian automakers to the American market, our largest export destination.”

In response to the criticism, Carney noted that the deal is limited. China can only export 49,000 EVs to Canada at the reduced 6.1 percent tariff rate, rising to about 70,000 in five years.

Other options

But the biggest risk to Canada comes from its prickly southern neighbour.

The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – a regional trade pact that allows many goods to cross North American borders duty free – comes up for renewal this year. Trump is almost sure to demand changes meant to shift manufacturing to the United States and might threaten to pull out of the deal altogether, especially if he is inclined to punish Carney for reversing his policy with China.

That’s a scary thought for Canada, which sends 75 percent of its goods exports to the United States.

The Canada-China deal Friday “will make the talks more complicated", said William Reinsch, a former US trade official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Trump will not be pleased with the Canadian action, will probably take some retaliatory measure, probably against the Canadian auto industry, and will certainly make it an issue in the USMCA talks.’’

On Friday anyway, Trump commended Carney: “If you can get a deal with China, you should do that.″ And Carney noted that the China deal is preliminary, potentially giving him flexibility to seek changes if necessary to head off a conflict with the US.

He also might be counting on getting a little help from US businesses.

American automakers depend on a network of plants across the US, Canada and Mexico and will fight hard to defend the USMCA. American farmers also rely on the pact for access to the Mexican and Canadian markets. And US tech companies like the way it liberalised digital trade in North America.

For now, Lovely said, Carney’s deal with China, sends “a big signal that Canada is looking to other partners and has options that would allow it to walk away from the USMCA before it makes humiliating compromises to serve only American interests".

(FRANCE 24 with AP)