“Our solidarity with the resistance against the far-right and the US Empire in Bolivia, and across the region, is more important than ever.”
By Vincent Conquest
Kicking off the fringe at TUC 2026 was the ¡Viva La Solidaridad! No to Trump’s war on Latin America event with a mix of delegates and local activists hearing from leading trade unionists on the importance of solidarity with Latin America to the labour movement at this critical time for the region.
Chairing the Sunday lunchtime event Gawain Little, GFTU General Secretary, opened with the observation that “We must stand with these movements and governments that are offering a better way forward in Latin America – an alternative to that US-dominated, imperialist system” and support all those fighting for self-determination of their nations.
Sarah Woolley, BFAWU General Secretary, thoughtfully outlined the links between workers internationally and how it means that “International solidarity isn’t something that sits on the edge of our trade unions, it has to be something at the heart of what we do.” In the context of the US asserting its power in Latin America not just through military force but also sanctions, tariffs, and political interventions, she emphasised the importance to Latin American workers of those countries owning their resources l, concluding that “If Trump gets away with normalising intervention in Latin America, we know it doesn’t stop there”.
Detailing the latest US interventions into Latin America, Francisco Dominguez of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign gave the example of how Trump has sanctioned a Supreme Court judge in Brazil for “Having had the audacity to send to prison the fascist Bolsonaro”. Drawing on the history of US intervention in the region, Francisco made the point that a switch to far-right government in Latin America is not only ‘regime change’ but means “executing, imprisoning, torturing thousands of individuals”, with progressive forces currently in a period of defensiveness, working out how to resist the US onslaught. The outcome of the Brazilian Presidential election next month will be an important test of this.
Fran Heathcote, PCS General Secretary, spoke about how, as part of a delegation to Colombia last year, she had heard “from trade unionists who risked their lives to build working-class organisations,” and welcomed the event as an opportunity to “affirm our solidarity with the working class across Latin America, who must be free to determine their own path, free from domestic oppression, and free from US imperialism”.
Natasha Witham, an NEU member who had visited Nicaragua as part of a teachers’ trade union delegation, reported how she was inspired by the participative and free-at-all-levels education system she had witnessed. Natasha also outlined how Nicaragua had prioritised achieving food sovereignty and security and used that to ensure that children received a healthy diet, which helped them grow and learn. She also raised the threats to Nicaragua and their achievements from the actions of the US, which recently expanded its aggressive sanctions against the country.
Claudia Turbet Deloff, from the Bolivian organisation Wiphalas Across the World, outlined how “Bolivia had a historic revolutionary constitution introduced in 2009, which protects land, environment and workers,” but now with the far-right in power, a range of different methods and mechanisms are being used to aggressively drive back those protections and social programmes, alongside draconian attacks on democratic rights.
Our solidarity with the resistance against the far-right and the US Empire in Bolivia, and across the region, is more important than ever.
- Vincent Conquest is an Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas Volunteer and Young Labour member. You can follow him on Twitter/X here.
- You can sign VSC’s petition calling for Venezuela’s gold to be returned here.
- ¡Viva la solidaridad! No to Trump’s War on Latin America event: Sunday September 27, 1pm, Ziba Restaurant (Ground Floor,) Racquet Club Hotel, 5 Chapel Street, L3 9AG. Register here.
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