Lea La Jornada Internacional en español aquí.
The populist rebellion in the U.S. midterm elections, which gave Democrats decisive majorities in both chambers of Congress, was driven by a new generation of populist political candidates who made it clear that the economic system isn't working for the vast majority of people. “This election is about the people versus the billionaires,” declared James Talarico, Texas's newly elected senator. Candidates who won in Michigan, Maine, Kansas, and many other states echoed those words.
The phrase of the week was “blue wave” (blue being the color of the Democratic Party). Others used “tsunami” and “earthquake” to describe the outcome of the midterm elections. Although Trump said the defeat had nothing to do with him, the results represent a severe repudiation of President Donald Trump's agenda and of Trump himself, placing limits on what he can accomplish during the final two years of his presidency.
In interviews conducted in Texas, Maine, Michigan, and elsewhere, voters explained that immigration raids, the deaths of immigrants at the hands of immigration agents, and Trump's overall anti-immigrant policies had motivated Latinos, African Americans, Muslims, and white communities to oppose Republicans. In Texas, Ronaldo and Lorenzo Salgado Jr. turned their grief and anger over the senseless and brutal killing of their father, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who had worked in Houston for decades, into a movement which began when they urged their community to reject Trump's immigration policies at the ballot box. Everything indicates that their efforts worked.
The central issues for nearly all the candidates who won in this election were economic: high prices for gasoline, food, and housing, as well as tariffs that drive up prices and the economic consequences of the war against Iran. Trump himself acknowledged that most Americans oppose his war in Iran. These elections have also marked a decisive shift in the U.S. relationship with Israel, even forcing President Trump to acknowledge growing public opposition to U.S. military aid to Tel Aviv.
Senate candidates in Texas, Maine, Michigan, and Florida also framed their campaigns as battles against billionaires and their attempts to “buy” American democracy—a position not shared by Democratic Party leadership, which happily accepts donations from the wealthy. Other candidates did not portray their campaigns as part of a battle between the party establishments. The official slogan of Bobby Pulido, the Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives in Texas, was: “I'm not team red, not team blue. I'm team you.”
According to Jim Hightower, the veteran progressive populist leader, this week's electoral earthquake was not so much a victory for the Democrats as a victory for the people over the oligarchy.
“This is a very promising moment because it opens up the possibility of genuine populism. That doesn’t mean anything will necessarily come of it, but we don’t usually have this kind of opportunity. People are already aware of the plutocrats, autocrats, and kleptocrats who govern our country and control our economy, politics, and culture—and they’ve had enough,” he explained in an interview. But Hightower isn’t sure that leaders in Washington from either party are willing to break with their wealthy backers. “Is there a willingness to put together a genuine populist program that responds to people’s needs?”
Although the current political leadership of both parties is unlikely to welcome the populist message of these new members of Congress, their arrival comes at a time when figures such as Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar are pushing for deeper changes.
“The Democratic Party must undergo fundamental and immediate reform,” Sanders said in a statement released on Election Day. “The status quo in politics and policy is no longer good enough. The Democratic Party must respond to the urgent needs of working people in this country, not wealthy campaign donors. Now that it has returned to power, it can no longer ignore the major economic and political crises facing the majority of our people.” He warned that if it fails to address these issues, “its return to power will be short-lived.”
“This is a mandate for major change. Tonight marks the beginning of the end of the Trump era; tomorrow, we begin building the better world that comes next,” declared Democratic Representative Greg Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
The Quote:
“Building democracy is the work of many minds, talents, efforts, writers, and activists who have made it possible for us to sustain, build, and renew institutions and opportunities.”
-Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, in a 2024 speech.
In Case You Missed It
◻️ Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Mexico's electoral insurgent, dismantled the dominant political party. “The death of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, who died Wednesday night in Mexico City at the age of 92, calls for reflection on his legacy in the democratization of the country,” writes La Jornada in an editorial. “The best way to honor Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas is to keep his legacy alive by deepening the country's peaceful transformation and ensuring that Mexico never again falls under a government that turns its back on the people or surrenders the country to the predatory interests of foreign powers.”
◻️ Allies and adversaries recognize his contributions. President Claudia Sheinbaum, political figures who joined him in his long struggle for democracy, and even former adversaries gathered at Cárdenas's funeral. In a video message, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said: “I have rarely known a man so principled, so serious, so decent, and so honest in his commitment to democracy and to the quality of life of humanity.” In the newspaper, Elena Poniatowska, Hermann Bellinghausen, Luis Hernández Navarro, and others reflected on his contributions and legacy. El Palacio de Bellas Artes, the country's most prestigious cultural institution, opened its doors for a public memorial service honoring the pioneer of the democratic movement in modern Mexico. A “brave man,” whose remains will be laid to rest in the Rotonda de Personas Ilustres.
◻️ Treasures from the archives: Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano. We continue presenting our new archive, featuring a selection of articles by some of our distinguished contributors, including writings by Cárdenas in this edition. The Archivo de Articulistas now includes works by six contributors.
◻️ A Changing Climate. Nearly all of Mexico's children—90.5 percent—are simultaneously exposed to two or more climate-related risks, with droughts and heat waves posing the greatest threats, according to a United Nations report. Furthermore, Mexico ranks among the 20 countries where children face the greatest exposure to these climate hazards. A strategy to protect them is therefore urgently needed. Meanwhile, Mexico has reaffirmed its environmental goals at COP 17 and its commitment to ecosystem conservation and restoration, the sustainable use of biodiversity, and environmental justice. As part of this commitment, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and Pemex continue pursuing clean energy sources, increasing investment in the energy transition by 29 percent.
◻️ At least 34 journalists were killed worldwide over the past year, the UN secretary-general has lamented. “Across the world, journalists continue to pay an outrageous price for telling the truth,” writes António Guterres. “When journalists are targeted & their reporting is extinguished, it makes victims of us all.” In Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico leads the list, with 17 journalists killed during 2024 and 2025, according to UNESCO.
◻️ Lula's victory, a defeat for the hemisphere's far right. But Bolsonaro's defeat does not necessarily represent a victory for the left, since “the Brazilian left still has a problem: it lacks an inspiring political project capable of challenging the structures of domination and exploitation under capitalism. Its abandonment of that project partly explains people's growing disillusionment,” comments Marcos Roitman Rosenmann. Even so, he argues that, against all expectations, following his defeat in the election, Flávio Bolsonaro is fleeing to the United States. The right will not govern Brazil, and Lula will form the government. However, the right still controls the legislature and remains a threat to Lula. At the same time, popular rejection of the far right cannot be explained from the top down, writes Raúl Zibechi. “I believe that those who explain everything in terms of political strongmen and social media networks have a profound distrust of people's ability to find their own paths,” he argues.
🎥 What We Are Watching
James Talarico’s victory speech following his election as the first Democratic senator from Texas since 1988
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.