The weekly newsletter of the Mexico Solidarity Project

Every issue archived online at mexicosolidarityproject.org/archives/

January 14, 2026

Does “All that is Solid Melt into Air?”

Meizhu Lui, for the editorial team

Image by makabera from Pixabay

In 1848, in The Communist Manifesto, Marx warned us about the effects of capitalism. "All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned.”

Today, that couldn’t feel more true. With the invasion of Venezuela, principles of international law crumble into dust. With the “ethnic cleansing” of immigrants, the Statue of Liberty dissolves into a mirage on the water. With the bloodthirsty use of US military force turned against its own people, Uncle Sam morphs into a fanged vampire.

Or was what melted never solid — just lipstick on a pig? Trump’s horse whisperer, Stephen Miller, said point blank in a CNN interview, “We live in a world, in the real world, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world…”

No longer are convoluted rationales needed to justify the use of brutal force to grab whatever those with the biggest guns want, no legal facades to hide the favoring of property over people, no “free” trade packages wrapped up in bows to conceal how rich nations steal resources from poor ones and no pretense that women or people of color are included in “all men are created equal.” Emperor Trump took off capitalism’s clothes and exposed naked greed. No humanity, only the profanity of the Dollar god.

In the face of melted hopes and dreams, a person is indeed “compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind," as Marx continued.

With our sober senses, we know only one thing solid enough to hold: international solidarity among workers of all races, genders, nationalities and nations. Without that, we will melt into air, one by one.

Why a Mexico Solidarity Project? 

Bruce Hobson has spent half his life in Mexico and now lives in the city of Guanajuato. He bears the distinction of being a "deportado" — deported from Mexico for his support of the Zapatista movement in 1994. In 2019 Bruce was a founder of the Mexico Solidarity Project and continues as its co-coordinator. He's a member of the socialist organization Liberation Road.

What is solidarity?

Fundamentally, it means to identify with others’ struggles and to follow up with action. Mexican and US progressives have organized in solidarity with oppressed peoples around the world for far longer than I’ve been alive.

Mexican forces and Saint Patrick’s Battalion battling against US invaders

/ John Cameron (artist), Nathaniel Currier (lithographer and publisher)/Library of Congress/Public Domain

A historical example in Mexico was the Saint Patrick’s Battalion during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. Irish immigrant conscripts in the US Army deserted and fought against the US alongside Mexican forces. The Irish saw that the Mexicans were poor Catholics like them and that their struggle against the US was similar to theirs against British colonial rule. Under Captain John Riley’s leadership, the soldiers stripped off their uniforms and switched sides. In solidarity, many sacrificed their lives. The San Patricios have always inspired me profoundly.

What makes you so passionate about Mexico?

As a teenager in 1968, I hitchhiked for six months throughout Mexico and, by chance, was in Mexico City not long after the October 2nd government massacre of 400 students in Tlatelolco Square. Among soldiers and tanks, I met three student survivors who didn’t know whether to trust me; they asked if I supported Vietnam and the Black Panthers. Based on my answers, they knew I was ok. These young students, barely older than me, inspired me to see that Mexico’s struggles were linked to other struggles throughout the world.

In the early 90s, I organized a health and rehab program for Guatemalan Indigenous refugees in Chiapas. At one point I joined a collective of socialist health workers. Following the 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, army incursions aimed to stamp out Zapatismo; less than a year later, Mexico’s national security ministry deported me and 100 other non-citizens. International solidarity with the Zapatistas scared the hell out of the government. As eyes and ears on the ground, we internacionalistas were seen as a threat.

You co-founded the US-based Mexico Solidarity Project — the MSP — in 2019. Why that date?

In 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, was elected in a landslide as Mexico’s president; progressive social movements had provided the base for his new party, Morena. This was a watershed moment for Mexico, a rupture with its history of oligarchic rule.

I’m a longtime member of the US socialist organization Liberation Road, and, in 2019, several of us proposed a project to build solidarity with the people of Mexico. We wanted to support AMLO’s monumental task of transforming Mexico’s political, economic and social systems.

The US left has often not understood or has simply ignored Mexico’s significance, given that 150 years ago over a third of the country was taken by military force and annexed to the United States. We recognized that the past, present and future of both our countries are inextricably linked, and Mexico’s electoral victory and ongoing social experiment can provide vital lessons for progressives in the US. Mexico needed our solidarity to defend it from US attempts to derail the new progressive government, as it often has in Latin America and the Caribbean.

As a key player on the world’s stage, particularly in Latin America, but also in the broader global South, Mexico serves as a first line of defense against US imperialism.

How does the MSP promote solidarity?

Our first task was to fill the void of reliable news and analysis for an English-speaking audience. US and Mexican corporate media bombard the public with “fake news,” and without sources that reflect Mexican working-class perspectives, many US leftists adopted the view that AMLO was another corrupt authoritarian president who manipulated the people. Even NACLA, the longtime go-to source on Latin America, has published “left” criticisms of Morena’s major projects such as the Tren Maya, echoing right-wing assertions that the military controls Mexico. These reports aren’t rooted in Mexico’s history and culture, so different from the US.

In 2018 we sponsored Morena activist Javier Bravo on US speaking tours to set the record straight, but COVID ended that. Sam Pizzigati, retired as a long-time editor for the National Education Association, said, “Let’s do a bulletin that features the actual voices of activists in Mexico!” Since 2021 we’ve featured more than 100 interviews in the Mexico Solidarity Bulletin.

Because the Bulletin doesn’t provide comprehensive coverage of current events, in 2023, we launched the Mexico Solidarity Media website, which offers news, analysis and vibrant images and photographs by Jay Watts. Our translations of Spanish-language articles offer English speakers access to what Mexicans read.

Through our media work, two remarkable journalists met each other.  Kurt Hackbarth and José Luis Granados Ceja were infuriated when US media tried to influence Mexico’s 2024 election against Morena. In response, they began their weekly podcast, Soberanía, which for two years has given English speakers hard-hitting, entertaining and fact-based analyses that counter mainstream media’s biased reporting.

Besides information, we also wanted to provide practical support to Mexican workers fighting for union democracy and social change.

We raised money to buy a printer for their nearby worker center, the Casa Obrera del Bajío, which supports auto worker organizing. The MSP then joined forces with Labor Notes, which had connections to workers around the world. The Mexico Labor Solidarity Committee was born!

Since 2020, the Committee, which is binational and bilingual, has supported several organizing campaigns, always at the request of the workers, including those from GM, VU auto upholstery workers, Camino Rojo miners and truckers transporting Hyundai parts across the border. We’ve written support letters to the Department of Labor, demonstrated at company headquarters in Detroit to protest VU’s interference with their workers right to organize, passed support resolutions at labor councils, written articles in Labor Notes, raised funds, and pressured the Mexican Department of Labor.

In March of 2025, we organized our first face-to-face MSP conference in Guanajuato, a terrific step forward in building unity and trust. Casa Obrera del Bajío invited us to meet with them and learn in detail about their work. On the following day, International Women’s Day, we participated in the massive annual march in Guanajuato — and afterward we all ate and drank together out on the town!

What are the principles of the MSP?

First and foremost, we defend Mexican sovereignty and oppose all forms of US intervention; our media work provides in-depth information to convince others of the imperative to support Mexico.

Secondly, through our labor work we promote solidarity between the working classes of Mexico and the US. 

Third, while not an arm of the Morena party, we give it our critical support. Given that 70% of the people of Mexico approve of President Claudia Sheinbaum, we follow their lead. However, we also give voice to groups, such as women and union organizers, who feel that progress has been frustratingly slow.

Another principle is humility. US activists sometimes go to Mexico believing that their role is to teach and to lead; that attitude can seriously fuck things up! Mexico is far ahead of the US in many ways, as their building the 4th Transformation and governing a huge, diverse country shows. Solidarity means respect for and following Mexican leadership.

What are the tasks of Mexico solidarity activists in 2026?

The first task is to oppose US intervention, particularly against increasing military threats. In these first days of 2026, new dangers hang over Mexico. Trump’s invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president is a wake-up call. The invasion puts into practice Trump’s “Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, which had already codified the US imperialist agenda in Latin America. Is Mexico next? Trump explicitly stated that cartels govern Mexico and that the US needs to do something about it.

Today, solidarity with Mexico is more important than ever. Its revolutionary transformational project must survive and deepen. We see that Mexico is showing how neoliberalism has failed and that another road is possible. As the St. Patrick’s Battalion demonstrated, solidarity means above all the unwavering defense of Mexico’s sovereignty.

The US War on Latin America and the Caribbean

Protesters burn Trump's head in effigy/ photo by Jay Watts

The first bombs have fallen. The US war on Latin America and the Caribbean has begun, and only the organized peoples of this hemisphere will save us from the US’s genocidal empire.

International law won’t protect us, marching won’t be enough. The invasion of Venezuela and the subsequent kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3 is a watershed moment: either we get organized, or we’ll perish.

This isn’t about Donald Trump; he’s only a more vulgar expression of the imperialist logic underpinning our world system. Since the criminal kidnapping of Maduro, the White House has already threatened Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico.

This is imperialism manifest, and they’re coming for all of us Latin Americans. It isn’t a question of what they want to do; that much is clear — dominate the entire hemisphere. Rather, it’s a question of what we will do to stop them.

The US displayed its overwhelming power and technology that fateful morning when it attacked Venezuela, a crime of crimes. But the US isn’t invincible. When the sounds of bombs rang out, the organized peoples of Venezuela didn’t cower; they ran to get their guns. That the US didn’t attempt to occupy the country is a testament to the armed,  organized working class in Venezuela the Pentagon fears.

When the world can watch a genocide unfold in real time, when the empire brazenly kidnaps a head of state, when multilateral institutions only muster mealy-mouthed statements in response, it becomes undeniable that only the people save the people. The Palestinian armed resistance understands this, President Maduro understands this, and it’s time the peoples of this hemisphere understand this too.

Here in Mexico, we need to abandon this notion that peaceful coexistence with US imperialism is possible — a clash is coming. The late Hugo Chávez learned this lesson early on.

“The Venezuelan oligarchy and the American empire will never accept us; they will always be plotting schemes to try to remove us from power, unless we change and surrender to them. But that is not going to happen here. Here we say: Homeland, Socialism, or Death!” 

Hugo Chavez, 11-04-2007

Don’t miss an issue! Sign up for a free Mexico Solidarity Bulletin subscription.

For a deeper dive into current news and analysis in English,

check out our media website and the podcast ¡Soberanía! (Sovereignty) with José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth.

New episodes will now arrive weekly on Wednesdays, not Tuesdays.

Sin Muros from José Luis and Kurt is a weekly Spanish language Mexican TV show on Canal Once that analyzes Mexico-US relations. It's also on YouTube, with English subtitles.

And those of you with mad skills and/or interests we want to hear from you! Get in touch to find ways to plug in to the work. Drop a line to meizhului@gmail.com.

Recent news reports and commentaries, from progressive and mainstream media,
on life and struggles on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Compiled by Jay Watts.

Arturo Sánchez Jiménez, Respeto a soberanía de Venezuela, exigen miles en la CDMX La Jornada. Asimismo, llamaron a fortalecer la unidad regional: “Es hora de avanzar en la formación de una gran unidad latinoamericana para enfrentar al imperialismo”.

Mexico City protesters march against US intervention in Venezuela Reuters

Trump Threatens Military Action in Mexico Under the Pretext of a War on Drugs, Telesur. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday, January 8, to launch a land military operation against Mexico over what he alleges is a war on drug cartels.

Donald Trump anuncia que iniciará ataques terrestres en territorio mexicano Telesur. Después de la operación militar estadounidense contra Venezuela, Donald Trump afirmó que México, así como Cuba y Colombia, podrían ser los próximos objetivos de Washington.

Anne Vigna, Mexico's president downplays Trump's threats Le Monde. Does keeping a cool head require burying it in the sand?

Gonzalo Ortuño López, Desafíos ambientales de México en 2026: proteger a defensores, cumplir metas climáticas y aumentar el presupuesto Desinformémonos. Este año, las expectativas de expertos y activistas se centran en vigilar las acciones del Gobierno para resolver la crisis de violencia que amenaza a las personas defensoras del territorio.

Frank Morris, Deportations are set to explode — a huge worry for farmers already facing a labor shortage Wisconsin Public Radio. Washington will pump an extra $170 billion into Immigration Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and the Border Patrol between now and September 2029. With a massive budget behind the effort, the goal is to ramp up deportations to at least 1 million immigrants a year.

Jorge Zepeda Patterson, Manual para Sobrevivir a un Ataque de Trump Sin Embargo. Desafortunadamente, este tipo de pensamiento mágico es muy común en la prensa mexicana. Una idea que solo tiene sentido si tienes una agencia de publicidad.

Megan Messerly, ‘Mexico should indeed be concerned’: Trump’s threats rattle Mexican officials, businesses Politico. A U.S. strike inside Mexico would only “embolden hardliners within Morena,” said Gerónimo Gutiérrez. From his mouth to God’s ears.

Rocío Moreno, Cherán K’eri: Luchar desde las necesidades colectivas Resumen Latinoamericano. Cherán K´eri significa Cherán el grande, pero su grandeza va más allá de la enorme extensión de su territorio y población. Creo que su grandeza está en las cosas que hacen esas personas en su territorio y fuera de él.

The Mexico Solidarity Project brings together activists from various socialist and left organizations and individuals committed to worker and global justice. We see the 2018 election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as president of Mexico as a watershed moment. AMLO and his progressive Morena party aim to end generations of corruption, impoverishment, and subservience to US interests. Our Project supports not just Morena, but all Mexicans struggling for basic rights, and opposes US efforts to undermine organizing and Mexico’s national sovereignty.

Editorial committee: Meizhu Lui, Bruce Hobson, Agatha Hinman, Victoria Hamlin, Courtney Childs, Pedro Gellert.  To give feedback or get involved yourself, please email us!

Web page and application support for the Mexico Solidarity Project from NOVA Web Development, a democratically run, worker-owned and operated cooperative focused on developing free software tools for progressive organizations.