Landslide Win for Kast Gives Chile its Most Right-wing President in Decades December 15, 2025
Introduction:
(AP via NBC News) Chile’s ultra-conservative former lawmaker José Antonio Kast secured a stunning victory in the presidential election Sunday, defeating the candidate of the center-left governing coalition and setting the stage for the country’s most right-wing government in 35 years of democracy.
Kast won 58.2% of the votes as Chileans overwhelmingly embraced his pledge to crack down on increased crime, deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status and revive the sluggish economy of one of Latin America’s most stable and prosperous nations. Kast’s supporters erupted into cheers in the street as results trickled in, shouting his name and honking horns.
His challenger, communist candidate Jeannette Jara, clinched 41.8% of the vote.
“Chile needs order — order in the streets, in the state, in the priorities that have been lost,” Kast bellowed in a lengthy victory speech that included his tough-on-crime talking points but lacked his usual vitriol. When his supporters interrupted him to boo Jara, he cut them off and snapped, “Respect!” — an about-face from his persona on the campaign trail.
Kast hailed his decisive margin of victory on Sunday, saying it provided him with a “broad mandate” that was also “a tremendous responsibility.”
Venuzalan Trade Unions Propose Plan to President Maduro December 28, 2025
Introduction:
(Popular Resistance.org) At Workers Congress.
Caracas, Venezuela – Dozens of Venezuelan trade unions representing public and private sectors ranging from national oil company workers to educators to motorcycle taxistas joined together in the Constituent Congress of the Working Class on December 15-17 in Caracas. They gathered as the culmination of over 22,000 assemblies of workers throughout the country involving nearly 67,000 elected delegates from October to December.
A spokeswoman, Maria Griman, from National Commission of Council of Productive Workers, the Hydro-carbons sector, presented to President Nicolas Maduro a list of four proposals. The first proposal is a president-appointed National Commission of Worker Transition (CENOT) that would have the power to direct the renovation of the methods, organization and leadership of all levels, sectors and structures of the federation of trade unions, Central Bolivariana Socialista de Trabajadores (CBST). The CBST, founded in 2008, represented nearly 1.5 million workers. The second proposal provides a timeline for the CENOT’s implementation so that a presentation of the plan for transition is presented within 20 days and the transition needs to happen within 18 months. Importantly, this plan also includes that the criteria for union leadership is that the member is active at the job site and there is a mechanism for recall.
The third proposal called for the re-launching of the Jesus Rivero Bolivarian University for Workers. The fourth proposal called for the creation of a National School for workers with a syllabus containing classes in production management, political economy, the history of Venezuela, science and technology and innovation.
Eduardo Pinate, minister of Popular Power, shared to President Maduro, that “those here are the expression of worker democracy, democracy at the base, direct democracy. These delegates were elected with working class methods by their base assemblies.”
As a former bus driver and union leader, President Maduro happily accepted the proposals from the workers. He declared the work on these proposals will begin the following day.
caltrek’s comment: It is hard to say whether all of this is just a show put on by a regime that is highly centralized in its command structure. Still, it hard to imagine a right-wing regime putting on such a show.
Venezuela's Supreme Court Constitutional Chamber announces that Vice President Delcy Rodrguez shall assume
Steve Herman
@newsguy.bsky.social
Venezuela's Supreme Court Constitutional Chamber announces that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez shall assume and exercise, in the capacity of an interim official, all the powers, duties, and faculties inherent to the office of president of the republic.
Venezuela’s Civil-military Alliance is Being Stretched — if it Breaks, Numerous Armed Groups May be Drawn into Messy Split By Rebecca Hanson and Verónica Zubillaga
January 6, 2026
Introduction:
(The Conversation) The immediate political void left in Venezuela by Nicolás Maduro’s abrupt removal from power has been filled by the former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as interim president on Jan. 5, 2026.
But the situation is far from stable. Rodríguez represents just one of multiple and competing interests within a Venezuela elite composed of a precarious civil-military alliance officially committed to a leftist populist ideology called Chavismo.
Delcy and her brother Jorge Rodríguez, the longtime right-hand man of Maduro, are the leading faces of the civilian factions. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, both members of the armed forces, represent its military interests.
Even this rough civilian-military split represents just the institutional dimensions of power in Venezuela. There are also numerous armed groups and organizations with distinct interests that will respond differently to what happens in the coming days and weeks.
As scholars who have spent decades researching these armed groups, we know that Chavista leadership now faces a stark dilemma: Does it acquiesce to U.S. pressure and coercion over domestic economic and policy decisions or does it resist? Both paths risk armed conflict of varying severity, with wide-ranging consequences for the country’s future stability.
Personally, I don't approve of many things Chavez did. However, I do understand why he was so loved by the population. Even then, however, I have doubts about his long-term success, and his dismantling of checks and balances eventually allowed Maduro to seize total control. Petrostate economy also isn't exactly sustainable, but oh well.
While Bombing Iran, Trump Sends U.S. Troops Into Ground War on Drugs in Ecuador By Brett Wilkins
March 4, 2026
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Just over two months after US forces bombed and invaded Venezuela and abducted its alleged drug-trafficking president, the Pentagon on Tuesday announced the launch of a joint campaign with Ecuador to combat “narco-terrorists” in the South American nation.
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced the operation, which, with the deployment of ground troops, opens a new front in the Trump administration’s Operation Southern Spear targeting alleged drug traffickers. The campaign had previously consisted of dozens of airstrikes against boats that the US military claimed were transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. More than 150 people have been killed in such bombings.
Right-wing Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa—a close ally of US President Donald Trump whose family shipping business is allegedly linked to cocaine trafficking—hailed the joint operation as “a new phase against narco-terrorism.”
However, many Ecuadorian leftists denounced the operation.
“How can our armed forces allow so much?” asked former President Rafael Correa, who expelled the US military from Ecuador and famously said that he would let the US renew a lease on a controversial air base in Manta only if “they let us put a base in Miami.”
Mass Protests Erupt in Argentina Over Milei’s Assault on Public Universities By Brad Reed
May 13, 2026
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against cuts to public universities championed by right-wing President Javier Milei.
As reported by The Associated Press, demonstrators in Buenos Aires marched on the Plaza de Mayo toward the Casa Rosada to demand the government implement funding for public universities that was passed by Congress last year but that Milei’s administration is challenging in court.
The AP reported that university professors’ salaries have declined by roughly one-third since Milei came to power in 2023 due to the rising cost of living in the country, and education unions have rejected the government’s proposals for marginal funding increases as woefully insufficient.
A report from DW noted that “public university budgets been slashed by 40% since 2023 when Milei took power.”
Sol Muñíz, a law student at the University of Buenos Aires, told the AP that Milei’s cuts to the education system aren’t about saving the government money, but are part of a broader ideological project.
Colombian Peasant Organizations Launch National Strike By Jim Byrne
May 22, 2026
Introduction:
(PopularResistance.org) Dozens of peasant organizations, unions and community organizations representing tens of thousands united for a national strike on May 20 to demand agrarian reform. Marches and street blockades in the countryside and major cities like Bogotá, Valledupar, Cartagena, Popayán, Montería and Sincelejo have shut down transportation and some services.
The demands are for the creation of a judicial body that would have the power to resolve land disputes, advance agrarian reform, and for the Colombian Congress not to sabotage debate on the matter.
There have been recent one-day national strikes by organized sectors in Colombia recently in April, and by educators in July 2025. Historic national strikes in 2020 and 2021 lasting days and weeks faced violent repression from the right-wing Ivan Duque government, military and police forces.
The massive mobilizations made it clear that the Colombian masses had enough of the oligarchy and held firm for change. These actions transformed the conditions in the country and made possible the election of Gustavo Petro and Gladys Marquez in 2022. Petro has been one of the leading outspoken elected officials in the world standing in resolute solidarity with Palestine. His recent statement about Bolivia’s mass movements’ strike being a “popular insurrection” against President Paz has caused the expulsion of the Colombian ambassador.
As Colombian presidential terms are limited to one four-year term, Petro’s time is up and the first round of elections will occur on May 31. Currently, there are three main candidates, with the leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda having support from much of the social movements. One of the armed guerrilla groups, the Ejército Liberación Nacional (ELN) vows to uphold a three-day ceasefire during the election window to allow as many voters to participate. The ELN has carried a number of attacks on military and police stations recently.
The Social Crisis in Bolivia Triggers Diplomatic Rifts May 23, 2026
Introduction:
(PopularResistance.org) The political and social crisis shows no signs of abating in Bolivia. Constant demonstrations by the country’s major labor unions, organizing agricultural workers, transport workers, and miners, as well as Indigenous movements, among others, have caused genuine social upheaval.
The protests erupted over the neoliberal government’s attempt to eliminate the historic right, won through peasant struggles, that prevents land from being seized for the repayment of debt. Paz proposed a law allowing peasants to use their land as collateral for payment, under penalty of losing it if the debt is not repaid – a measure that has been described by several critics as a perverse mechanism designed to exploit the needs of the poorest people in order to accumulate land for the benefit of the national and international economic groups currently supporting the Paz administration. Bolivia has significant natural reserves of gas and precious metals, as well as lithium, which is essential for new information technologies.
The protests soon began to garner support among workers, teachers, and Indigenous communities, who seized the opportunity to demand improvements to their living and working conditions. In response, Paz launched a harsh military and police counteroffensive. This led the protesters to begin calling, in an increasingly coordinated manner, for the president’s resignation.
Faced with a situation that quickly spiraled out of the executive branch’s control, Paz is now proposing a cabinet reshuffle to alleviate public discontent. Indeed, just a few hours ago, Labor Minister Edgar Morales announced his resignation from the post to “pacify the country.” Morales was one of the main opponents of the Bolivian Workers’ Union (COB) during the protests. Several more ministers are expected to leave the cabinet in the coming hours.
Diplomatic crisis
The situation has escalated to the diplomatic level. A few days ago, several right-wing presidents in Latin America signed a letter of support for Rodrigo Paz and condemned the protesters’ actions. This is the same line taken by Washington, which claims that the demonstrations are part of a premeditated plan to overthrow the government, which has been in power for less than a year.
