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A progressive wave in the United States has brought dozens of politicians who identify as democratic socialists or as part of the left to local, state, and some federal offices this year in various parts of the country. They are winning not because of their approach to ideology—in fact, there is no consensus among them on the definition of “socialism” or “the left”—but because of their proposals to improve the living conditions of the majority, from the cost of basic necessities to affordable housing, support for working families, and resistance to the anti-immigrant policies of Donald Trump’s administration.
“Working families are fed up with status quo policies and the same old establishment politics that have failed them for decades,” writes independent socialist Senator Bernie Sanders in an article in La Jornada. “They want change, real change, and they support progressive candidates who are fighting for that change”.
More than 250 democratic socialists have been elected to local and state offices and to Congress in recent years, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Seattle Mayor Katie B. Wilson, joining other progressives elected in recent years in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Boston, and Austin, among other cities. This year, progressives are running in the November midterm elections in Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida, and the nation’s capital, among many other places. As a result, the progressive presence is expanding at the local and national political levels, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which has more than 100 federal lawmakers—nearly a quarter of the House—and is raising alarm among the leadership of both parties, and even a revival of McCarthyist rhetoric among Republicans.
This progressive wave is not limited to the electoral arena. After decades of neoliberalism that portrayed unions as enemies of modernization, a new Gallup poll shows that 71 percent of Americans support unions, the highest level in 60 years.
“Union Now was founded in April with the goal of increasing union density by expanding the pool of resources available to workers who are organizing or going on strike to win recognition or collective bargaining agreements,” writes Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. “It is time for the 70 percent of Americans who approve of unions to have one, and to write a new chapter for democracy, both in the workplace and in the public square.” Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, calls in La Jornada for workers in both the United States and Mexico to prepare to go on strike on May 1, 2028.
Actress and activist Jane Fonda reflects on her life of fighting for justice and makes it clear that the key is collective action. “Every major victory in the history of this country—and of this world—has been set in motion by people who stand up and say ‘no,’ in whatever form makes sense at that moment... Alone, they can defeat us or buy us off. Together, we have power.”
In these times, veteran activist Angela Davis, a leading figure in abolitionist and anti-racist feminism, explains that the primary task is to “convince people that a better world is truly possible. We generate hope when we organize. What has given me hope throughout the years are the movements I have been part of since I was 11 years old.”
As always, Bernie Sanders offers a clear analysis: “Despite what the media will have you believe, progressives are winning across this country for a simple reason: the ideas they are running on are extremely popular. It’s time for the political establishment to stop telling the American people what they should believe and start listening to what they actually want.”
The Quote:
“Wherever someone is fighting to be free, look into their eyes, ma’, and you’ll see me.”
The Ghost of Tom Joad, Bruce Springsteen
In Case You Missed It
◻️ Petro: his first interview after leaving the presidency. Gustavo Petro, the former president of Colombia and longtime leader of the Colombian political left, warns that the region’s new political reality includes systematic interference in Latin American electoral processes by digital networks directed from Washington . Petro’s warnings carry weight because they explain a central factor in the shift toward the far right that Latin America is experiencing and provide the testimony of someone who personally experienced the attacks of transnational disinformation and manipulation networks, La Jornada argues.
◻️ Correa: technofascism is leading the world into barbarism. “The new world order that has been established is that there is no order. In the past, the powerful would break the rules; today, there are no rules. It’s the law of the strongest—that is called barbarism,” asserts former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. On the challenges and responsibilities facing the left in this landscape, Correa says: “Of course we have made mistakes (…) we need to be more self-critical and demand more of ourselves. But we also need to improve our political culture. We have to be more rational, less emotional, so that we know how to vote and choose.”
◻️ A MAGA network in Latin America. A transnational network of consultants, technologies, media outlets, and operatives linked to the MAGA ecosystem is adapting and amplifying political frameworks that emerged or gained strength in the United States, presenting them as seemingly homegrown expressions of each country’s own political reality.
◻️ The left looking in the mirror. The growth of the right in Latin America is not simply the result of new right-wing networks, writes Imanol Ordorika. “The major historic left-wing parties of Latin America have eroded. The Latin American left needs to understand why our parties are shrinking, why our leadership is not being renewed, why organizations and many of their leaders become corrupt when they reach government, and why our discourse sounds administrative rather than a project for the future.”
◻️ Venezuela’s oil. U.S. President Donald Trump seized control of 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan crude. Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed eight multimillion-dollar agreements with Chevron, ENI, Aspect, Primavera, and General Electric Vernova aimed at doubling crude production, exploring new oil fields, and rebuilding the country’s deteriorating power grid.
◻️ Lack of protection and regulation puts agave culture at risk. The explosive growth of the commercial tequila and mezcal market, together with a lack of effective protections and regulations, is distorting the cultivation of these ancestral beverages, failing to benefit the skilled farmers responsible for preserving the wisdom of their ancestors, and corrupting production to such an extent that the future of agave-based beverages in Mexico is under threat, warn David Suro Piñera and Gary Paul Nabhan, authors of a book on the subject, during a presentation at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington.
◻️ A Chicano view of Los Angeles. Artists who emerged during the Chicano Liberation Movement of the 1960s offer five perspectives on Los Angeles in a new exhibition at the Getty Museum.
🎥 What We Are Watching
25th anniversary of 9/11 in the United States: David Brooks on El Pulso de La Jornada
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Edited by David Brooks and Jim Cason in the United States, Tania Molina Ramírez in Mexico City, of La Jornada, and Elizabeth Coll in Tokyo, under the direction of Carmen Lira Saade and Guillermina Álvarez. More information.