The representative of China’s billionaire capitalist oligarchs, Xi Jinping, and the representative of the world’s billionaire capitalist oligarchs, Donald Trump, met at a summit between May 13 and 15, 2026, in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi Jinping rolled out a red carpet surrounded by children with cheering batons to welcome the leader of global imperialism, while Trump declared, referring to Xi: “He’s a great leader, I always say that… he’s my friend… he’s a very smart man… We’re going to have a fantastic future together.” Xi reciprocated the praise: “I’m happy… President Trump wants to make America great again, and I am committed to leading the Chinese people toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. By strengthening cooperation, China and the United States can contribute to each other’s development and rejuvenation.”

During their private meeting at the Zhongnanhai complex, Trump and Xi signed agreements and commitments, including the creation of a Board of Trade and bilateral trade and investment committees composed of senior officials from both countries. Xi pledged to purchase 200 commercial aircraft, agricultural products such as beef and soybeans, and U.S. oil. Trump, in turn, authorized a group of Chinese technology companies to purchase advanced artificial intelligence chips, specifically NVIDIA’s H200 series, and renewed cooperation agreements for the supply of rare earth elements and a joint effort to block the export of fentanyl precursor chemicals.

Beyond the mutual praise, the summit and the agreements reached by Trump and Xi pose a danger to the workers and peoples of the world. Not because they are “all-powerful ” governments, as the capitalist media portrays them, but because they are two governments experiencing profound crises. Both governments preside over countries facing severe crises, besieged by popular discontent, and are attempting to keep afloat the imperialist capitalist system they both defend, a system that is collapsing, as you can read by clicking here. The agreements between these two governments seek to overcome their current crises and attempt to pull capitalism out of them by attacking the rights and achievements of workers and peoples worldwide.

A Summit with the Wall Street Mafia

The government of Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China (CPC) are anything but communist. They are an exploitative, anti-worker, mafia-like, and corrupt capitalist oligarchy that brutally represses the Chinese people and indigenous communities in service of the profits of the world’s largest capitalists. They have imposed wages of between $100 and $147 and banned all opposition, demonstrations, and protests, all in service of the profits of large imperialist multinationals. This has turned China into a sub-metropolis of imperialist capital that outsources massive amounts of capital to oppress smaller, poorer nations. However, China is no longer the “engine of the world,” it is in recession, inflation has begun, and a serious crisis is unfolding, as you can read by clicking here.

But the summit wasn’t only comprised of Xi Jinping’s corrupt and dangerous capitalist mafia; it also included the mafia that dominates the world, the corrupt oligarchy of the 1% on Wall Street. The business delegation that accompanied President Donald Trump included top executives and magnates from global corporations such as Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock; Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone; David Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs; and Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup, as well as Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX; Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; and the CEOs of Apple, Qualcomm, Meta, Boeing, Aerospace, Mastercard, Visa, Cargill, and others.

A veritable “colonial” delegation from the 1% oligarchy that dominates the world, for a China in crisis and in need of imperialist investment. Xi Jinping himself organized a special meeting with this group of businesspeople, guaranteeing them that China would continue to expand the opening of its markets and offer them a “receptive business environment” —that is, allowing imperialist capital to exploit cheap Chinese labor and seize the country’s most important assets, the role the CCP dictatorship has been playing for 30 years.

And what about World War III?

The Trump-Xi summit is also a slap in the face to the pundits, charlatans, and political scientists who defend the “Decoupling Theory” and keep saying that China is about to dethrone the US from its global dominance, and that the confrontation between these two “imperialisms” is leading the world toward the inexorable prospect of World War III. This prediction that we are heading toward WWIII is one of the oldest predictions in history that never comes true. Ninety-nine percent of the global left, which broke with Marxism and has become reformist, Stalinist, and camp-like, has adopted the Decoupling Theory as its own and disguises it as Marxism. To read about the Marxist response to the Decoupling Theory, click here.

But the Trump-Xi summit shows that there is no struggle between China and the US; on the contrary, Xi and the Communist Party are rolling out the red carpet for imperialism to enter China. Xi says he is “happy” with Trump, and Trump says Xi is his “friend .” They are not enemies, but partners who jointly defend the imperialist capitalist system: the US as the hegemonic imperial power that dominates the world economy from Wall Street, and China as a subordinate sub-metropolis. The US is coming to China’s rescue with this summit because a central component of China’s crisis is that imperialist investments are leaving China. The struggle of the Chinese workers and people for better living conditions is scaring away multinationals and capitalist corporations.

Trump is coming to China’s rescue. They need capitalist China, which provides cheap labor, the great global factory that generates enormous profits for imperialist global corporations. That’s why the CEOs are going there with Trump, to signal to the world that imperialist investments are returning to China. This is the basis of the agreements they have signed, and they are a danger to the workers and people of the world, and first and foremost, to the workers and people of China.

The charlatan pundits and bourgeois journalists analyze the summit between Trump and Xi and ask, “Did Trump win? Did Xi win?” They present their nonsense and charlatanism as “geopolitical expertise .” We Marxists laugh at the “geopolitical” analyses of these bourgeois charlatans and the reformist left. ” Geopolitics” doesn’t exist. Their analyses are a fantasy; they are not reality because the reality of the world situation is not a struggle between “countries” but between social classes. It is the reality of the struggle between revolution and counter-revolution, between the workers and peoples of the world against the global counter-revolutionary front comprised of Trump and his junior partner, Xi, against the peoples of the world. From the Marx International, we call for a struggle to defeat the agreements made between Trump and Xi on the path to the defeat of capitalism and the imposition of global socialism.

THE MARX INTERNATIONAL

By Hernán Corbalán – The Marx Brazil

On May 7, 2026, at the White House, Lula and the representative of global imperialism, Donald Trump, established economic and political agreements that were sealed under strict secrecy and behind the backs of our people, who know nothing about what was discussed there. We repudiate the agreements reached in that meeting of more than three hours between Lula and the representative of global imperialism, which are a real danger to the workers and the people. And we also repudiate the treacherous and pro-imperialist policies of 99% of the left in our country who are part of and support Lula’s government, or demand that he “confront imperialism,” a lie that is beginning to be exposed .

A meeting and agreements against the people of Brazil

After the meeting with Trump, Lula spoke to reporters at the Brazilian embassy in Washington and said: “I’m happy. I’m returning to Brazil more optimistic. I think Trump was too, and I hope things will start to move forward ,” said the PT leader. What “things” does Lula want to “move forward” after his meeting with Trump? But Lula’s subsequent statement to the press made a mockery of 99% of the Brazilian left, which is subservient to Lula, with shameful leaders like Guilherme Boulos, or parties like the PSOL that now provides officials to the capitalist government, or parties like the PSTU that proposed to Lula the formation of “an anti-imperialist front” when Trump imposed tariffs on Brazil and the world.

Lula told reporters after the meeting with Trump: “I leave here with the idea that we have taken an important step to consolidate the democratic and historic relationship with the United States . “ And when asked if he feared that the United States would impose new tariffs on Brazil after the end of an investigation under Section 301, Lula replied: “Look at me: Do I look optimistic or pessimistic? I am very optimistic.” In other words, while the traitorous leaders of the Brazilian left—the PSOL, the Stalinists of the PCdoB, the MES, and the PSTU—call on Lula to form “an anti-imperialist front” with him, Lula responds that Brazil has had a ” democratic and historic” relationship with the U.S.

Lula is lying when he says the US has a democratic and historical relationship with Brazil. It’s a lie to cover up the agreements made with Trump. Imperialism has never been “democratic” with Brazil, nor will it ever be. As you can read in the article we wrote here, we have always maintained that Lula’s government is a bourgeois and pro-imperialist government, which is why it’s absurd to call it an “anti-imperialist front,” as 99% of the Brazilian left has been proposing. This subservient policy toward Lula’s capitalist government has led to the failure of events like COP30, the São Paulo Forum, and the Porto Alegre Conference—events that were reduced to mere bureaucrats and repudiated by activists, as in the case of Indigenous peoples.

Lula and Trump cornered by the crisis of capitalism

Lula also emphasized the importance of the United States opening investment opportunities in Brazil. “We are going to make things happen.” But Lula is lying because the crisis of global capitalism is increasingly severe, and no capitalist government can make promises or grant concessions to the people. The “investments” promised by Trump only serve to enrich the wealthy 1% of the country’s ruling class. The reality is that both presidents arrived at the meeting at a time of internal political weakness: While Trump faces the highest disapproval ratings of his second term due to the failure of his aggression against Iran, the defeat suffered at the hands of the people that forced him to backtrack on his immigration policy in Minnesota, and with only six months until the midterm elections, he is headed for defeat.

On the other hand, Lula’s capitalist government recently suffered a series of defeats in Congress and is not gaining traction in the polls ahead of the presidential elections next October, in which it will face Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The PT is also concerned about allegations of corruption schemes involving Lula’s family. Unchecked inflation, part of the global inflationary surge caused by the capitalist crisis, is leading to a significant wage lag for workers, which benefits the country’s business owners and the ruling classes because it ensures the maintenance of the rate of exploitation. While decimating our wages, Lula’s capitalist government offers the “6×1” pay scale, a complete fabrication that Lula and the union bureaucracy in our country want us to believe will improve our situation amidst the wage collapse, rising inflation, and unemployment, as if Lula were the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

For a revolutionary organization that fights for class independence

From Marx Brazil, we call upon all honest activists and revolutionaries to build an organization with class independence. Far removed from the shameful policy of submission to Lula by the Brazilian left, we must fight for a workers’ and people’s government in Brazil. Lula told reporters about his relationship with Donald Trump: “Our relationship is very good, something many doubted could happen. You know that thing about love at first sight?” he remarked, emphasizing that the bond between them “evolved.” “I have reason to believe that Trump likes Brazil ,” said the PT leader. The surprising “sympathy” between Trump and Lula is easy to understand: Both defend capitalism.

And these capitalist leaders, who already met last October at a summit in Kuala Lumpur, are seeking agreements to save the horrific system their governments defend. Lula is going to Washington to ask for support for the upcoming presidential elections, seeking the bargaining chip of regulating export tariffs. And Trump, one of the most unpopular presidents in history, needs the photo op with Lula. They support each other. We Marxists call for the defeat of these governments that defend capitalism, and we invite you to join us in this effort.

THE MARX BRAZIL

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By The Marx China

In this report, we Marxists attempt to explain how China’s economic crisis developed under the impact of the global capitalist crisis and how it has been exacerbated by the recent surge in global energy prices, triggered by the 2026 war with Iran. The economic catastrophe under Xi Jinping’s government and the Chinese Communist Party is generating waves of protests, attributed to the continued devaluation of the yuan (CNY) and a wave of layoffs. Faced with this situation, the Chinese proletariat is confronting its greatest challenge to survival since the beginning of the 21st century. Several recent, exemplary protests mark a shift within the Chinese working class, moving from purely economic protests to collective action with political demands, characterized primarily by opposition to an “unscrupulous government” whose sole purpose is to maintain the privileges of the ruling classes.

1. Industrial downsizing and “relocation and abandonment” of production: Strike at Ideal Auto Parts in Ningbo

From April 7 to 8, hundreds of workers at the Ideal Auto Parts factory in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, went on strike to protest the company’s relocation and the lack of compensation for losses suffered due to layoffs. The workers spontaneously gathered to demand that the company’s management protect their interests in accordance with the Labor Law. Police intervened to communicate with the workers and attempted to identify several “workers’ representatives” at the site, but one worker refused, stating, “There are no representatives; everyone’s demands are different.”

The instability in the automotive supply chain reflects the dire situation of China’s manufacturing industry, which is under the double pressure of rising costs (electricity, raw materials) and export disruptions (disruptions to maritime transport caused by the war). Capitalists are attempting to shift the costs of industrial transformation onto workers, leaving them with nothing, while the workers are fighting back with collective strikes.

2. Thousands of people protested for days after a supermarket chain in Nanyang, Henan, went bankrupt.

Between April 7 and 8, the Lukangyuan supermarket chain, located in Nanyang, Henan province, went bankrupt. More than ten stores closed overnight, and their owners fled. This sparked days of protests by thousands of employees, suppliers, and partners, who demanded back pay, refunds for outstanding purchases, and the remaining balance on their membership cards. On April 8, some employees attempted to draw attention to the incident by blocking traffic.

Lukangyuan, a supermarket chain in Nanyang, Henan Province, was a regional retail giant with a near-monopoly. Before its bankruptcy, Lukangyuan was among the leading supermarket chains in Nanyang City, with dozens of large stores in the city center and surrounding counties (notably those on Chezhan Road, Dushan Avenue, and Binhe Road). This dense network of stores allowed it to penetrate the most basic social circles of Nanyang residents.

Lukangyuan (commonly known as Nanyang Lukangyuan Trading Co., Ltd.) exhibits typical characteristics of local bureaucratic capitalism in China:

① Family control : Decision-making power is highly concentrated in the hands of a few family members and transparency in management is extremely low.

2. Close ties between government and business : As a major contributor to and participant in the “vegetable basket project,” the company had long enjoyed the backing and support of local authorities. This context fostered the illusion among ordinary people that “with government support, it will never fail,” leading them to confidently invest large sums of money in the company.

Lukangyuan’s expansion does not depend entirely on retail profits, but rather on a highly leveraged cash flow strategy:

① Dependence on prepaid cards : The company relies heavily on the “member recharge” model. Through frequent “recharge 1000 and get 100 free” promotions, it has absorbed hundreds of millions of yuan in interest-free working capital from tens of thousands of members.

2. Supplier exploitation : Lukangyuan imposes extremely long payment terms (generally 3 to 6 months) on its suppliers. In reality, it uses supplier payments and member advances as “interest-free loans” for other investments in its own projects (such as real estate, microloans, etc.).

3. The withdrawal of multinational capital: A Russian company unilaterally breached a contract, and thousands of Chinese workers took to the streets to demand payment of their back wages.

On April 12, more than 1,000 Chinese workers from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur oil refinery in Russia took to the streets. Dressed in their work uniforms, they braved the bitter cold to display banners in Chinese and Russian, protesting five months of unpaid wages from the company that owns the project.

The trigger for this crisis was Rosneft, the Russian state-owned oil company. At a critical juncture, when the hydrocracking project was 90% complete, Rosneft abruptly announced the termination of its contract with the general contractor, a subsidiary of the Beijing Haihua Group, citing “quality and deadline” issues. Rosneft refused to provide funds to pay the Chinese workers’ wages, prompting thousands of Chinese workers in Russia to take to the streets to demand their back pay.

The Komsomolsk-on-Amur hydrocracking project is a key project in Sino-Russian energy cooperation, aimed at processing Russian crude oil for export to China. Its construction was carried out under the guarantee of a series of “strategic cooperation agreements” signed by both countries. Initially, to attract Chinese capital (Haihua Group) and cheap labor, the Russian side offered generous terms.

However, for workers sent to the international labor market, wages were completely unstable. This cooperation was, from the outset, a speculative venture between Chinese bureaucratic capital and Russian state capital. Due to the impact of the Iran-Iraq War and the international revolutionary wave, the exchange rate between the renminbi (CNY) and the ruble (RUB) experienced significant fluctuations. These “strategic projects” quickly lost their investment value, and the legitimate remuneration of workers abroad became free capital used by defaulting capital to maintain its own cash flow and protect itself against losses from bad debts.

4. The exploitation of platform capitalism and the resistance of the working class: the Xi’an taxi drivers’ demonstration

In recent years, traditional taxis have suffered multiple setbacks, including the algorithmic digital exploitation by online ordering platforms and the widespread adoption of bike-sharing systems. The market has shrunk, drivers’ earnings have plummeted, but contractual fares (i.e., the pursuit of monopoly rents) remain high. A large portion of their profits goes to taxi companies (which are, in reality, fronts for the authorities), while the drivers who actually do the work struggle to make a living.

On April 13, hundreds of taxi drivers in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, protested outside the Xi’an Taxi Management Bureau, demanding a reduction in their contracted fares. During the protest, led by a union leader, the drivers chanted slogans such as “The government is corrupt,” “Down with the management bureau!”, “We need to survive,” and “We need to eat.” Later, the director of the Xi’an Taxi Management Bureau intervened and spoke with the taxi drivers.

When someone shouted the slogan “Bankrupt the taxi company!”, the company representative stated that they could not allow the company to go bankrupt outright, but that they could resolve other issues raised within the limits permitted by the government. Subsequently, the secretary of the Lianhu District Committee from Xi’an City arrived and temporarily calmed the taxi drivers through administrative channels, taking some of them to a meeting room for negotiations. However, the solution proposed by the government lacked compensation, and the implementation timeframe was unacceptable to the taxi drivers, resulting in no progress in their efforts to protect their rights.

Taxi drivers and rideshare drivers are extremely sensitive to rising fuel prices and platform commissions. Their taking to the streets and pointing the finger at the “unscrupulous government” demonstrates that public discontent with the current economic situation has escalated from economic demands to political challenges.

5. The Iran war devastates the Chinese economy: companies went bankrupt and wages plummeted to levels similar to those of 30 years ago.

(1) Systemic collapse of the manufacturing industry

① The textile and plastics industries are in crisis : The video mentions that the soaring rise in oil prices has led to an increase in the cost of raw materials for synthetic fibers (such as polyester and nylon) and plastics, which has caused many factories to close due to their inability to cope with the costs.

Many factories have ceased production due to unsustainable costs. One shop owner mentioned that a third of textile factories are expected to close by the end of the month.

②The wave of closures of established factories : This record shows that many factories that had been operating for decades were dissolved due to the deteriorating business environment, including Dongguan Xingming Plastic Mold Company, which had a 20-year history, and Ting Shan Li Hua Toy Factory, which had been operating for 32 years and in which Hong Kong had invested.

(2) The desolate scene of the shopping center

The desolation of Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen : A video shows the current state of Huaqiangbei, once known as “China’s number one electronics street .” Numerous shops have closed and relocated, some even renting premises for as little as 300 yuan a month (US$44), but without finding tenants. One shop owner lamented, “The most prosperous area of ​​Shenzhen has become this… more desolate than the countryside.”

(3) Sharp wage decline and employment crisis

① The “1,000 yuan salary” (US$147) becomes the norm : In the video, many young people (including graduate students and employees of state-owned enterprises) reported that their monthly income after insurance deductions was only about 1,000 yuan (US$147). A student teacher in a small county in Shaanxi province earned only 800 yuan a month (US$117), and even after becoming a full-time teacher, her salary was just over 1,000 yuan (US$147).

2. Highly educated people forced to change careers : This document includes cases of graduates in broadcasting and voice-over who, unable to find work, turned to selling dumplings at street stalls.

③ Graduation equals unemployment : In 2026, the number of university graduates in China is expected to reach 12.7 million, but job opportunities have declined drastically, forcing many young people to deliver food or stay at home and depend on their parents.

(4) The difficulties that people face in subsisting at the community level.

① Extremely low living budget : A monthly income of 1,000 yuan (US$147) means that daily expenses must be kept under control to avoid exceeding 33 yuan (US$5). One supermarket employee commented that her daily income is just over 20 yuan (US$3).

② Exploitation by intermediaries : The video points out that even in the informal labor market, due to layers of deductions by intermediaries, workers can only earn a few tens of yuan after a full day of sales and promotion.

6. The Great Depression hits China: 50 million homeless, desperate young people begin to rebel

(1) A large homeless population

① The homeless population is increasing : The video cites data showing that, as of August 2025, the number of homeless people in the country has reached approximately 47.5 million, of which 61% are young people under the age of 33.

2. Shelters in the City Streets : This documentary records the closure of the Luohu bus station in Shenzhen and the ubiquitous image of unemployed people sleeping on the streets of Guangzhou and Kunshan. Many day laborers were forced to settle in parks, train station underpasses, and even on second-story platforms in the rain.

(2) The dilemma of job searching and the survival crisis

① Difficulty finding work and widespread fraud : A young man from Shenzhen who had been without work for half a month said he had no money for food or a place to stay; a middle-aged man was scammed by an agency, losing his only savings, and could only drink tap water to fill his stomach.

2. A double blow to the body and mind : A middle-aged man from Sichuan who failed to find work in Xi’an suffered a heart attack and had to sell his mobile phone to buy medicine because he had no money for hospitalization and ended up sleeping on the street.

③ Extreme regression in basic positions : Young people are starting to compete with professional garbage collectors.

(3) The collective collapse of ordinary families

① Unemployed Family : The video shows a family of four who have lost their jobs and are facing the pressure of mortgage payments, car loans and raising children, plunging the family into despair.

2. Professionals’ salaries have been drastically reduced : A doctor at a hospital in Guangxi reported that, due to financial difficulties, he was only able to receive 60% of his salary, leaving him with just over 900 yuan (US$132) after deducting social security contributions.

(4) The awakening of consciousness and the resistance of the younger generation

1. Questioning the grand narratives : Increasingly, young people are beginning to question official propaganda, convinced that the “grand narratives” are too far removed from their reality. They are starting to ask themselves, “Who supports whom?” and reject the so-called “education of gratitude.”

2. Identifying the Real Enemy : Through the personal testimonies of several bloggers, the video analyzes the ruling class’s tactic of “creating a common enemy” to divert attention from internal conflicts. Young people begin to understand that the real enemy is someone who harms their interests, not a distant, officially designated target.

7. The Chinese economy hits rock bottom: thousands of hospitals close, doctors and nurses go on strike over unpaid wages

(1) The collapse of the health system and the protests

①Large- scale strike by medical staff : From April 8 to 9, hundreds of employees of the Hedong District People’s Hospital, Linyi, Shandong Province, began a large-scale strike in protest over two years of unpaid wages and a disruption in social security payments.

2. Wave of hospital closures : The video points out that more than 1,300 private hospitals have closed since 2022. Recently, hospitals such as Suichuan Taihe Hospital in Jiangxi and Chaoyang Kangtai Hospital in Shantou, Guangdong, have announced their closure and mass layoffs.

③ Main cause of closure : The fundamental reason is that the three-year pandemic lockdown depleted the health insurance fund, coupled with deteriorating local government finances, resulting in delays or reductions in hospital funding, putting medical institutions under tremendous pressure to survive.

(2) The “medical winter” at the community level

①Lack of access to medical care : Due to the decline in reimbursement from medical insurance and the shortage of rural pensions, many elderly people (especially in rural areas) are unable to seek medical treatment even when they are ill and can only wait to die at home.

2. Extremely unfair distribution : The video contrasts the enormous gap between the completely free, high-end medical care enjoyed by high-ranking CCP officials and the abysmal medical security available to ordinary people. This imbalance is becoming a source of social unrest.

(3) Chain reaction across multiple industries and wave of wage arrears

① Infrastructure and real estate crisis : Several large industrial park projects in Shanghai and Guangzhou have faced access blockages due to unpaid wages to migrant workers. Profits at major real estate companies like Gemdale Group have plummeted, and the number of employees in the sector faces a potential halving.

2. Disturbances in the manufacturing and service sectors : Auto parts factories, taxi drivers and food delivery workers in Shenzhen, Ningbo, Chongqing and other places went on strike to protest against disguised layoffs, low wages and exploitation by platforms.

③ Unpaid wages within the system : The wave of back wages has spread to teachers, sanitation workers, and even government-subcontracted workers. In Lishu County, Jilin Province, hundreds of retired teachers held a demonstration to protest the suspension of their pension payments.

(4) The dark side of business

① Extreme case of exploitation : An energy company in Guangxi was exposed for forcing battery production workers to take “lead removal agents” to pass physical exams, covering up the fact that workers’ blood lead levels were too high and not turning on environmental protection equipment to save electricity.

2. “Malicious closure” : Some testing companies in Shenzhen suddenly forced their employees to resign without offering them compensation and inspected their personal belongings.

Conclusions and statements

From La Marx China , we support all the demands of the workers and the masses. As a first step in this support, we are committed to dismantling the censorship and cover-up that the regime attempts to impose on all these struggles and demands, making them visible and known to the public through widespread dissemination.

THE MARX CHINA

La Marx International

The Global Sumud Flotilla, scheduled to depart from Barcelona on April 12, 2026, bound for Gaza with vessels from various countries, is a movement spearheaded by officials from capitalist governments and imperialist institutions like the UN. They advocate for a “two-state solution” for Palestine , recognize and defend Israel’s right to exist, and champion a “pacifist” policy , opposed to the struggle of Palestinian and Middle Eastern militias. This is the second flotilla, following the first one that took place a few months ago in mid-2025, and featured the renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg as its public face. This undertaking does not mobilize its forces and vast resources to fight for the liberation of Palestine from occupation, but rather has a “humanitarian” objective, focused on providing aid. As they themselves acknowledge on their website, which you can read here , the flotilla’s objective is to deliver supplies, food, and medicine to “alleviate” the situation of the oppressed Palestinians, not to end oppression, but to try to make it more sustainable and bearable.

In this article, we Marxists explain why we reject this policy, which we characterize as pro-imperialist and serving the interests of Zionism, even though the flotilla’s leaders loudly proclaim their opposition to Zionism. Disguised as “struggle” and ” protest,” it is a policy that educates and promotes the acceptance of subjugation, turning its back on the armed struggle that the Palestinian people and the peoples of the Middle East have been waging against Zionism and imperialism, as illustrated by the recent events in the Iran-Iraq War. At the end of the article, we dedicate a brief section to analyzing the shameful position of the social-democratic, Stalinist, ex-guerrilla, and ex-Trotskyist left-wing groups that comprise and promote the “flotilla ,” whose policy is part of the political course of class collaboration with the bourgeoisie that they have been pursuing in countries around the world.

Bourgeois and imperialist enterprise clashes with civil war

The flotilla is not an “independent” undertaking by ” activists,” as its organizers claim. While some activists are involved, it is an action driven by officials from imperialist organizations such as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, and the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, and supported by capitalist and imperialist organizations such as the World Health Organization and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), whose spokesperson, Jens Laerke, expressed support for the flotilla, stating that “we welcome any initiative that can provide aid… as long as it is distributed according to humanitarian principles and in a dignified manner.”

While food and medical aid are necessary, all the aid in the world cannot solve the Palestinian tragedy, which can only be truly resolved through the destruction of the Nazi state of Israel. As long as Palestinians remain under threat from the Zionist beast, medicine and food are merely palliative measures that do not solve any problems; on the contrary, they exacerbate them by increasing the population’s dependence on bourgeois and imperialist assistance for their survival. But the hypocritical ” two-state” policy of the imperialist institutions that claim to provide humanitarian aid clashes with the existence of the Nazi state of Israel, created by the UN itself, since Israel blocks all access to that humanitarian aid.

The occupying beast of Palestine desperately seeks to crush the 3rd Intifada by defeating the armed resistance of the joint chamber of Palestinian militias made up of the Al-Qassam Brigades that answer to Hamas, the Al-Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Nasse Salah Brigades of the Popular Resistance Committees, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades that answer to Fatah, the Ali Mustafa Brigades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , the Brigades of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Brigades of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement. Since the UN is unable to deliver humanitarian aid amidst the revolutionary war of the peoples of the Middle East, officials are attempting to pass off their welfare and pacifist policy of coexistence with the Zionist beast as a legitimate solution through “flotillas ,” which clashes with the reality of the people’s revolutionary civil war. The UN is trying to impose a “pacifist” policy that is neither serious nor applicable to the group of genocidal figures who govern Israel.

The flotilla seeks to divert the global shift towards “bourgeois pacifism”

The Third Intifada of the Palestinian militias defeated the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) attempt to seize control of Gaza through urban guerrilla warfare, inflicting 80,000 casualties on the IDF, including dead and wounded. This military drubbing was accompanied by a global mass mobilization in support of Palestine, plunging the Nazi state of Israel into global isolation and an unprecedented political, social, and economic crisis. This victory imposed a ceasefire in Gaza last October, but the Zionist beast is attempting to extricate itself from the crisis by rallying its population around the war with Iran or the aggression against Lebanon to resolve the serious problem of the million internally displaced people from northern Israeli cities who are sleeping in hotels. However, Netanyahu and Donald Trump have unleashed a new chapter of revolutionary war, in which they have suffered yet another defeat, resulting in severe destruction of Israeli cities and exacerbating the global crisis of capitalism, as you can read by clicking here.

The global mobilization of the 3rd Intifada, like the current war in Iran, is the epicenter of the 3rd global revolutionary wave sweeping the world with mass mobilizations against capitalist governments in Greece, Serbia, Turkey, South Korea, Georgia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, France, Venezuela, and Cuba. This wave also incorporated the emergence of Generation Z in Nepal, Morocco, Peru, and Paraguay, along with the battles of the Ukrainian National Liberation Army against Putin’s dictatorship, the “No Kings” movement , the mass uprising against immigration police in Minnesota in the USA, and general strikes in Italy, Portugal, and Belgium in Europe. The revolutionary wave is marked by political revolution, the radicalization of sectors of global activism, and the break of the masses with the old social-democratic, Stalinist, ex-guerrilla, and bourgeois nationalist leaderships. This led to the 3rd Intifada, where activism advanced through self-organization processes with mass actions outside the control of the old leaderships, and launched increasingly radicalized slogans such as “Death to the IDF” or “Free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

But while the reality of the class struggle is heading towards a violent confrontation between revolution and counter-revolution that strikes at the pillars of imperialist domination, such as Israel, the policy of the “flotilla” is heading in the opposite direction. It is heading towards “pacifism ,” the “rejection of armed struggle ,” paternalism, and “humanitarian” aid. The Flotilla’s Steering Committee seeks to divert the global activism mobilizing for Palestine towards a policy of “bourgeois pacifism,” and it has formed a Steering Committee of officials willing to promote this policy, as you can read by clicking here. They are officials of the Progressive International, the “international” oriented by the US State Department, who head the Steering Committee of the “flotilla” such as Thiago Ávila, deputy of the PSOL of Brazil who is part of the capitalist government of Lula, or Saif Abukeshek, general secretary of the “Popular Conference for Palestine” sponsored by sectors of the imperialist Democratic Party of the USA such as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and the Stalinist group Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).

The Progressive International’s alignment with the Democratic Party is hypocritical on the part of the “flotilla’s” leadership , given that Joe Biden’s Democratic administration deservedly earned the moniker “Genocide Joe” for promoting genocide in Gaza in defense of Israel. Another flotilla leader is Muhammad Nadir Al-Nuri, a Special Envoy for the Middle East at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the capitalist government of Malaysia. Also on the flotilla’s Steering Committee is Marouan Ben Guettaia, an official at the International Executive Office of IIFSO, the global youth organization with consultative status at the imperialist UN.

The flotilla works in coordination with the Palestinian humanitarian organization Al Mezan, which is funded by imperialist entities such as the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the French Consulate, and the Ford Foundation. Outside the Steering Committee are figures who support and participate in the flotilla, such as Mandla Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson and a member of parliament in the capitalist government of the African National Congress, and Ada Colau, the former mayor of Barcelona. The flotilla is also publicly supported by European capitalist and imperialist governments of opposing ideologies, such as the neoliberal government of Giorgia Meloni in Italy and the ” progressive” Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez, which sent frigates to support the first flotilla. Furthermore, the foreign ministers of 16 countries issued a joint statement declaring their support for the Globel Sumud Flotilla’s objectives.

It is these officials from capitalist and imperialist governments, imperialist global institutions, and NGOs funded by sectors of imperialism who are spearheading this costly and complex undertaking of launching 100 ships in the Mediterranean, all in an attempt to derail the revolutionary upsurge and mislead a significant sector of global activism toward “bourgeois pacifism.” To carry out this treacherous policy of deception, they rely on the invaluable support of leftist groups that follow the line of the Progressive International.

The left shows a shameful submission to imperialist politics

The capitalist governments announcing their support for the flotilla, in addition to those already mentioned, are Turkey, Bangladesh, Colombia, Slovenia, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, and Qatar. NGOs such as Greenpeace and Open Arms have also joined the flotilla, which has the support of other NGOs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Doctors Without Borders. These latter organizations are openly linked to and funded by global imperialist corporations on Wall Street, such as Bank of America and BlackRock, which are managed by businessmen like Larry Fink and George Soros. However, it is not so easy to deceive thousands of activists worldwide with this humanitarian policy.

The first flotilla was marred by a crisis involving activist Greta Thunberg, the leading figure who brought international visibility and impact to the initiative. Thunberg resigned from the flotilla ‘s board of directors due to disagreements, and it’s unclear whether she will participate in the second flotilla based on available reports. However, the Progressive International (PI), led by US Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders and Yanis Varoufakis of Syriza in Greece, is taking the lead in this second flotilla. IP’s political focus is “the fight against the right” and it brings together reformists from around the world, led by the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America), a US social democratic organization within the imperialist Democratic Party. This includes figures such as Jean-Luc Mélenchon of France and his organization “La France Insoumise,” Jeremy Corbyn of Great Britain , Gustavo Petro (current president of Colombia), Lula and the PT, as well as Guilherme Boulos of the PSOL in Brazil; Podemos, SUMAR, PSC , ERC , Comuns , and the CUP of Barcelona and Spain; former president of the capitalist government of Chile , Gabriel Boric; former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa; Álvaro García Linera of the MAS in Bolivia; and other officials from capitalist governments.

IP also includes intellectuals and personalities such as Noam Chomsky from the United States, Tony Negri from Italy, Silvia Federici from Italy, Baltasar Garzón, a judge from Spain, Naomi Klein from Canada, Slavoj Žižek from Slovenia, progressive think tanks like CLACSO (Latin American Council of Social Sciences), and the publication DSA, Jacobin Magazine, as well as various professors and pundits who pose as scholars but are outright enemies of Marxism. IP attempts to occupy the role that the Second International played in history as the central organizing force of global reformism, which proposes fighting for a “Humanized Capitalism” as a solution to the serious crisis facing global capitalism. As part of this policy, IP seeks to divert, contain, and channel the revolutions and uprisings developing around the world against capitalism, and lead them down the dead end of bourgeois democracy, based on which IP promotes the “flotilla” to Palestine.

To this whole horde of officials who are enemies of Marxism and the revolution, composed of social democrats, reformists, Stalinists and ex-guerrillas, have been added the ex-Trotskyists, among them the LIT-CI, which answers to the PSTU of Brazil, the LIS, which answers to the MST of Argentina, the Workers’ Party of Argentina, Izquierda Diario, which answers to the PTS of Argentina and the UIT, which answers to the Socialist Left of Argentina, all organizations that collaborate with the “flotilla” by placing militants and resources in it. Although they are smaller groups that have adopted the electoral reformist path, their strategy is the development of welfare NGOs, recovered factories, and they have a deep dependence on income from the bourgeois state, as in the case of the LIT due to the bureaucratization of its leaders at the head of unions. It is necessary to mention them because they lie, seeking to confuse unsuspecting activists by passing themselves off as “Trotskyists,” when in reality they broke with Marxism and Trotskyism a long time ago.

These groups have been pursuing a policy of class conciliation within the Marxist International, as exemplified by the FITU in Argentina, which has come out in support of the corrupt former capitalist president Cristina Kirchner. We Marxists do not support the Global Sumud flotilla, nor any of these imperialist ventures. The policy of the Marxist International is global mobilization for Palestine, support for the Third Intifada, and the armed struggle of Palestinian and Middle Eastern militias against Zionism and imperialism. At the same time, we support the relentless struggle of the Iranian people and Middle Eastern activism against all fundamentalist Islamic leaderships and the Ayatollah dictatorship in Iran. We denounce “bourgeois pacifism” and call for the construction of a revolutionary organization to sweep away Zionism and imperialism, uniting activists and honest, militant Marxists around orthodox Trotskyism—a project to which we invite you to join. 

SOURCE:

THE MARX INTERNATIONAL