The Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are joining the call to end the Trump Administration’s war against Venezuela after U.S. forces launched an attack against Caracas overnight, bombing the city and kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. This war, which is illegal under both U.S. law and international law, is the latest imperialist provocation by the U.S., and Milwaukee DSA demands an end to this and all U.S. military aggression throughout the world.

“There is no democracy for Venezuelans found at the barrels of American guns,” Milwaukee DSA Co-Chair Autumn Pickett said. “To target narcos, all we have to do is look inward to pharmaceutical giants like Purdue that pushed opiates on working people and get off with slaps on the wrist. If Trump were to have his way, our one planet would be left a barren husk for billionaires. The only path out is organizing hand-in-hand for the better world that we and our children deserve.” 

Despite the Trump Administration’s claims that the attacks were a response to Venezuelan drug trafficking, the unilateral actions of the U.S. reflect a long history of regime change in nations where the U.S. capitalist class has sought material or political resources, leaving millions dead in the post-9/11 war zones alone.

“It’s time to end foreign aggression and work towards peace,” DSA-endorsed City of Milwaukee Alderman Alex Brower said. “Communities across this country could be lifted up—instead, we’re wasting money on wars that help no one. It’s time for the war spending to end and the American government to fund cities like Milwaukee.”

If the U.S. continues this war, millions more people in Venezuela and beyond could face death and disaster at the hands of the imperialist war machine.

“America’s thirst for the forceful extraction of resources from countries like Venezuela must come to an end,” Milwaukee DSA Co-Chair Andy Barbour said. “The only way to combat Trump’s belligerent, bloodthirsty behavior is to organize our working class against the system that allows such violence to take place on behalf of oil corporations and weapons manufacturers.”

Milwaukee DSA is asking the public to join their call and demand that their representatives in Congress pass a War Powers Resolution blocking further military aggression.Milwaukee DSA is Milwaukee’s largest socialist organization fighting against imperialism for a democratic economy, a just society, and a sustainable environment. Join today at dsausa.org/join.

Overnight, the United States imperialist forces launched airstrikes in Venezuela. This marks a dangerous escalation in the United States’ continued illegal war on the Venezuelan people. DSA San Francisco condemns the Trump regime’s latest act of imperialist aggression against the Latin American Left. 

The kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores marks another chapter in the long history of U.S. efforts to undermine the Bolivarian process and the sovereignty of Latin American states. As the DOJ releases new indictments of Maduro and Flores on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, the Trump regime conveniently gains a foothold in this oil-rich country.

Once again, the U.S. government has weaponized its military might to secure the riches of a sovereign nation. This campaign isn’t about democracy, human rights, or even in support of its failed “war on drugs.” It is about seizing control of Venezuela’s oil, gold, rare earths, and mineral wealth for the benefit of corporations and the billionaire class. 

Working class people in this country gain nothing from this war. Our tax dollars are spent on bombs instead of healthcare, food assistance, housing the homeless, or any of the social programs currently being slashed under this administration. Just as our lives didn’t improve with bombings in Syria, Nigeria, Iran, Yemen, and Somalia, carried out under this Trump regime with bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans alike, the only winners here are war profiteers, oil industry giants, the U.S. war machine, and the companies that profit off of human suffering. 

DSA SF calls on all revolutionaries, workers, and oppressed people to take to the streets and demand an immediate end to U.S. imperialist intervention in Venezuela and its efforts to build socialism! We condemn Congress’ participation and enabling of unilateral executive war powers and their faithful service to the military industrial complex and those who profit from it. We stand in unwavering solidarity with the Venezuelan people and reject all imperialist wars waged in our name!

STATEMENT IN CONDEMNATION OF ONGOING, REGIONAL, US MILITARY ACTION

Since this statement was written, late on the night of January 2nd, the US bombed military and civilian facilities in Caracas, culminating in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. This act is a violation of International Law, as well as the stated goals of occupation prior to regime change. It signals an alarming precedent that US law enforcement are willing to conduct illegal military operations on sovereign soil.

The West Sound chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America recognizes that the United States of America is currently engaged in remote, unlawful and inhumane military action in and around the sovereign space of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and condemns the Trump administration as well as any Republican or Democratic lawmaker who voted to reject two resolutions, brought forward in 2025 under the War Powers Act of 1973. These measures would have limited executive authority to carry out such actions and required congressional approval for both military action taken against Venezuela, and military action in the Caribbean Sea. The failure of these congressional measures signal the continued concentration of war-making power within the US state, and the erosion of democratic control on the use of military force.

These military actions primarily involved the striking of suspected drug traffickers off the Caribbean coast of Venezuela. As of reporting from December 29th, 2025, strikes on a boat in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and a Venezuelan port have occurred, marking the first land strike of a facility by the US military in Venezuela since the operation began. These actions are a part of the US Counter-Narco-Terrorism campaign, Operation Southern Spear. Rather than detain individuals through any credible judicial process, the Trump administration is relying on terrorist designations that have long been used to circumvent accountability for extrajudicial violence.

It is through this distinction of “fighting terrorism” that the Trump administration justifies the use of deadly force against declared “non-state groups,” seemingly acting as executioner with impunity. These Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) are identified as Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as well as Cartel de los Soles, and were initially used to distinguish the action taken militarily as not being directed at the Venezuelan government itself; in December 2025, this too would change when President Trump declared Venezuela as an FTO. This has been a common strategy utilized by previous US administrations to take military action without democratic consent, especially when it came to many military operations in the Middle East.

A US military operation on September 2nd, 2025, observed and directed by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and US Naval Admiral Mitch Bradley, resulted in the death of 11 people. This was prior to the FTO designation being applied to Venezuela itself. The initial drone strike destroyed the vessel and presumably killed 9 individuals onboard. From captured aerial footage, 2 individuals survived the strike and are seen swimming towards the wreckage. A subsequent strike would kill these two people. The events as described constitute a war crime and violation of the Geneva Convention.

According to Common Article III of the Geneva Conventions of 1949:
In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
   1. violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
   2. taking of hostages;
   3. outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
   4. the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for. An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict. The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention. The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.

Additionally, the summary of the United States War Crimes Act of 1996 (H.R. 3680) states: War Crimes Act of 1996 – Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that anyone, whether inside or outside the United States, who commits a grave breach of the Geneva conventions, where the person who commits such breach or the victim of such breach is a member of the U.S. armed forces or a U.S. national, shall be fined or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, or, if death results to the victim, be subject to the death penalty.

It is by these standards that all involved in the September 2nd operation, in which survivors of an initial kinetic strike were killed in a subsequent strike after confirmation of survivors was known, are potentially guilty of both violating the Geneva Convention as well as federal law under the War Crimes Act of 1996, and should be immediately tried accordingly. As of the 29th of December, and from the beginning of military action in the Caribbean, 30 boat strikes and at least 107 people have been killed by US strikes, according to the Associated Press.

It should also not be left unsaid that this is not the first instance of the US violating the Geneva Convention in this way, as multiple instances of these “double-taps” and killing the wounded have been reported across multiple conflicts, including conflicts under President George Bush Sr. during the First Gulf War, President George W. Bush during the Iraq War (Second Gulf War), and President Barack Obama in Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen (among other countries). This tactic of “double-taps” is usually compounded with the targeting of individuals seeking to aid the wounded, and has only been becoming more prolific of a “strategy” over the last few decades.

It is with great urgency that we as a nation must address these grievances enacted on the foreign persons of Venezuela by this administration, as not only is it in violation of international law, but it is in violation of federal law as well. President Trump and his administration, notably Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Vice President J.D. Vance, tout drug trafficking as tantamount to terrorism, placing significant emphasis on the transportation of fentanyl within repurposed fishing vessels. According to an executive order signed December 15th, 2025, fentanyl is “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic” and “illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals” are thus classified Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD); this supposedly necessitates the need for extreme military action.

We must recognize similarities between the urgent calls to wage war and calls to incite regime change abroad by the Trump administration with nearly identical calls for action in Iraq at the turn of the millennium:

[…] our belief is that the international community wants to see Saddam Hussein reverse course and that Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction are a threat to everybody in the region.

– Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu; Joint Press Availability, Royal Garden Hotel; London, United Kingdom, November 14, 1997.

The US would later begin military operations in Iraq in 2003, and by January 2004 the Bush administration would concede to there being no “Weapons of Mass Destruction” in Iraq.

Similarly, there is no evidence that fentanyl is produced or distributed through or within Venezuela. For the drug trafficking of Schedule 1 and 2 substances, which includes cocaine, fentanyl, and fentanyl analogs, the punishment ranges from 5- 40 years in for a first offense, with life imprisonment being the maximum sentence for multiple offences or when loss of life is involved. None of the killed have so far been proven to be drug traffickers, let alone tried in a court of law.

The actual motivations for the Trump administration and US military violating domestic and international law are likely in part due to control over perceived valuable resources, with President Trump having stated: “They took all of our oil not that long ago. And we want it back.” He has also advocated explicitly for regime change in Venezuela, and they have enacted, concurrently with the administration’s military actions, a total blockade of sanctioned oil tankers leaving Venezuela, resulting in two such tankers being intercepted and acquired by the US military. Another key motivation for regime change is due to Venezuela’s status as a socialist country, a justification used for US military intervention globally since the start of the Cold War.

We must also be wary of the capital forces behind continued military action anywhere. For reference, Dick Cheney, as Vice President of the US, helped ensure the company Haliburton received 36.9 billion dollars in military contracts. Dick Cheney was a former Halliburton CEO and continued to receive “deferred compensation” of 1 million dollars annually while the company executives participated in discussions within the administration over potential oil production in post-war Iraq. Today in Venezuela, fentanyl is the media spin, but there is little mistaking capital as a primary driver of this military action.

Land, resources, and weapons manufacturing are the primary drivers of US military spending, especially since the second World War, and it props up an economy dependent on constant conflict.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

– President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address (1961).

It is this feature of wartime profiteering that is a hallmark of US imperialism, and is perpetuated through capital influences on our politics from the defence lobby.

This echoes the motivation for US interventionism and imperialism in Latin America throughout our nation’s history. From the land theft of indigenous peoples by settlers all over the country, culminating in war with Mexico to seize land from California to Texas, to President Theodore Roosevelt’s Roosevelt Corollary, which began directing US military operations throughout Central and South America as a way to protect US and European colonial interests throughout the 20th century. The resources and capital extracted by US companies from Latin American banana republics was the primary motivator for continuous military interventionism and multiple campaigns of regime change.

After World War II and during the Cold War with the USSR, leftist and socialist campaigns to uplift the peasantry and decouple the governments from colonialism were brutally suppressed by the United States, either through direct military action or the training and funding of US-friendly authoritarian regimes, in the name of fighting communism. Even nations somewhat successful in establishing leftist governments found their situations sabotaged by crippling sanctions imposed by the US, and internal corruption exacerbated by CIA operations.

Throughout the 20th century in Latin America, the US was involved directly in the “successful” regime change of 17 governments, and of 24 others indirectly, through training and military funding. As noted in a Harvard Review of Latin America paper from 2005, if spread out evenly over the whole of the 20th century, this would amount to US policy having been consequential in instituting largely right-wing authoritarians in a different country every 28 months. This does not include less-than successful attempts at regime change such as US involvement in Cuba defined by the Cuban Missile Crisis and the rise of Fidel Castro, nor the amount of times the US has directly or indirectly supported pro-US dictatorships in the region from regime change. Notable examples include:

• The use of Cuban liberation as an excuse to wage war on Spain at the turn of the 20thcentury, after which the US directly occupied Cuba before installing a US-friendly dictator.
• Intervention promoting Panamanian secession from Colombia, using US troops to occupy and secure land which would be used to begin construction of the Panama Canal in 1904, which would not fall under ownership of Panama until December 31st 1999.
• Occupation of the Dominican Republic under President Lyndon B. Johnson a few years after the assassination of DR President Trujillo as a way to exert political power in the face of internal US political threats by Republicans in congress.
• Contra war, in which US backed opposition to the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, with Henry Kissinger and Ronald Reagan having circumvented congressional law that prevented the arming of rebel groups by first selling weapons to Iran to then sell to rebels in Nicaragua.
• Heavy involvement in Chile in the early 1970s by Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon, culminating in the brutal coup d’état and assassination of the democratically elected President of Chile, Marxist-socialist Salavador Allende, by military general Pinochet.
• US funding and training of death squads in El Salvador after backing the establishment of a military junta in the country. They supported the right-wing authoritarian regime against leftist guerilla groups during the over-decade long civil war from 1979 to 1992.

Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly indigenous folks and the peasantry, would lose their lives to conflicts funded and at times directed by the United States. The echoes of colonialism, violence, and bloodshed in the name of US imperialism can still be felt in these countries. As people in Latin America continue to fight for self-determination and an end to the perpetual poverty necessitated by US capital interests, our government continues the inhumane treatment of refugees and persons seeking solace within our own borders. In many ways, the immigration crisis we face now has been manufactured over decades of US imperialism, and our dependence on an economically-depressed Latin America prolongs the conditions which cause them to flee.

War profiteering, human rights abuses, and a bipartisan legacy of undemocratic military intervention are on full display in these operations. Please join West Sound DSA in saying no to perpetuating US imperialism, and no to war on Venezuela.

Military Action:

1. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-carries-out-30th-strike-on-alleged-drug-boat
2. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-us-knocked-big-facility-venezuela/story?id=128750795
3. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-boat-strike-kills-2-eastern-pacific-december-2025/
4. https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4346303/pentagon-provides-update-on-operation-southern-spear-reaffirms-socom-called-for/
5. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c773de38p2go
6. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/5/us-military-kills-four-in-latest-strike-on-boat-in-the-caribbean
7. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93n4nx5yqro
8. https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2016/vol1/253323.htm
9. https://www.axios.com/2025/12/17/trump-venezuela-oil-blockade-maduro-regime-te rrorist-designation

Fentanyl as WMD

1. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/designating-fentanyl-as-a-weapon-of-mass-destruction/

Eisenhower, Military Industrial Complex

1. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-dwight-d-eisenhowers-farewell-address

Congressional Reaction:

1. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/house-rejects-resolutions-limit-trumps-campaign-venezuela-drug-128499816
2. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-rejects-resolution-block-trump-military-action-venezuela-rcna242485

Iraq:

1. https://www.cfr.org/timeline/iraq-war
2. https://1997-2001.state.gov/statements/971114b.html
3. https://www.corpwatch.org/article/cheney-halliburton-and-spoils-war

Oil:

1. https://fortune.com/2025/12/18/venezuela-oil-trump-chevron-seized-assets-blockade/
2. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-might-keep-or-might-sell-oil-seized-near-venezuela-trump-says-2025-12-22/
3. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/22/politics/oil-tanker-pursuit-trump-maduro

Law:

1. Common Article III of the Geneva Conventions of 1949
   1. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.32_GC-III-EN.pdf
2. US War Crimes Act of 1996
   1. https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/3680
3. https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol69/iss1/7/
4. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6176&context=wvlr
5. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byuplr/vol39/iss1/6/
6. https://www.fordham.edu/student-life/deans-of-students-and-student-life/student-handbook/university-regulations/drug-free-campus-guidelines/federal-trafficking-penalties-for-schedules-i-ii-iii-iv-and-v-except-marijuana/
7. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/monroe-doctrine

Latin America Interventionism

1. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/30/henry-kissinger-chile-argentina-south-america
2. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/united-states-interventions/
3. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/26/a-timeline-of-cia-operations-in-latin-a merica
4. https://www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1193755188/chile-coup-50-years-pinochet-kissinger-human-rights-allende

Key Contributors

Original Statement

Written by

Carlos Yosten

Copyediting by

Sage Westfall

Amendment 1

Written by

Nick Schmitt

Acknowledgement of Contribution

Daniel Baca

Approval Signatories

West Sound Democratic Socialists of America – Steering Committee (2025-2026)

Daniel Baca – Co-Chair

Approved

Carlos Yosten – Co-Chair Approved

Nick Schmitt – Secretary Approved

Kristin Lillegard – Membership Coordinator Approved

Jared Sterling – Treasurer Approved

Hope your new year is off to a great start! Us? We’re stoked to dive in and start the work of building socialism off right in 2026! Check out the first newsletter of the year — whether it’s flyering local apartment complexes, picketing in support of striking working, spreading political education, or holding a press conference to demand an end to SPPD’s ICE collaboration, our members are on the move 🔥🔥🔥 and we’ve got the details below ⬇⬇⬇

December Highlights

We started off the month with members of our Housing Working Group joining the St. Petersburg Tenants’ Union to flyer at The Morgan, an apartment complex in South St. Pete where residents are experiencing profound landlord neglect. We also hosted an organizing meeting with residents of The Morgan to discuss the severe issues facing their complex, from structural damage to unclean common spaces, and what we can do about them.

Next was our first-ever Tri-County Social, bringing together socialists from the Pinellas, Tampa, and Pasco-Hernando DSA chapters. As we continue to grow DSA’s national profile, communication and collaboration with nearby branches is going to be essential. That’s why members of the three participating chapters met at John Chesnut Park in Palm Harbor on December 6th for games, grilling, and some comradely camaraderie!

We also hosted Unions 101, the final installment of the four core education series for the year. At this workshop, we shared crucial political education for members and non-members alike about the centrality of organized labor to the socialist cause, and why the struggle for a fair workplace and the struggle for a fair society are one and the same.

We also held two events focused around St. Pete PD’s 287(g) agreement, which deputizes SPPD officers to act as part-time brownshirts for ICE. First was a volunteer and canvassing meeting to share info about the 287(g) agreement and gauge support for a canvassing initiative on the issue. Then, on December 23, we participated alongside the Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network, Tampa DSA, PSL Tampa Bay, Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee, and members of the clergy for a press conference demanding Chief Holloway and his boss in City Hall, Mayor Ken Welch, void the 287(g) agreement.

Are we missing anything? Oh right… we also elected a new Steering Committee at our December General Body Meeting! The new Steering Committee includes Co-Chairs Karla C. and Shane M., Treasurer Sarah C., Secretary Tyler G., Organizer Chaize H., and Social Media Coordinator David D. Huge props to the outgoing Steering Committee for all their hard work and dedication in 2025!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Dump Duke

The temperature outside is dropping, but we’re turning up the heat on Duke Energy! Our Dump Duke campaign is entering its second year, and the tide is turning against the power conglomerate, which is why they’re throwing money into propaganda to sway residents against their best interests.

Duke is already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV and social media ads through the lobbying group Edison Electric Institute, as well as their own newly formed dark-money 501(c)(6) organizations, the Clearwater Energy Alliance and Pinellas Energy Alliance. This, while Duke Energy announces massive rate hikes. They expect Pinellas residents to finance a propaganda campaign that cuts against the peoples’ best interest? We say we’re going to beat dark money with grassroots power!

The City of St. Petersburg is expected to send out requests for proposals in January to conduct a feasibility study on a municipally owned power utility. Meanwhile, we’re continuing our outreach efforts, with our next canvas scheduled for January 10. Come on out and get involved in this effort!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: End 287(g)

Pinellas DSA, as a member organization of the Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network, joined Tampa DSA, PSL Tampa Bay, Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee, and members of the clergy for a press conference on December 23 in front of the headquarters of the St. Petersburg Police Department. We demanded that Chief Holloway and his boss in City Hall, Mayor Ken Welch, void the 287(g) agreement signed back in February, which authorizes local police to collaborate with ICE and serve as enforcers of fascism.

287(g) is a voluntary agreement. And, while Chief Holloway alleges that there’s been no direct collaboration as of yet with ICE, this agreement sets a dangerous precedent, and leaves the door open for local cops to be deputized stormtroopers at any time. That’s why we say “No more collaboration! End 287(g) now!”

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: SBWU Strike

Members of Pinellas DSA hit the picket lines this month in support of baristas fighting for a fair contract as part of the first-ever nationwide Starbucks Workers United strike. We joined striking workers at the Cleveland Street Starbucks in downtown Clearwater to say “No contract? No coffee!”

While workers at some stores across the country have since returned to work, the unprecedented strike wave continues. More than 250 new union baristas at 13 stores have won their union elections since the national ULP strike began on November 13, and just last week, SBWU announced that hundreds more baristas across 18 cities in 15 states have joined the struggle. This fight is far from over!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Organizing at The Morgan

Our organizing efforts at The Morgan Apartments in South St. Pete are paying off! The PDSA Housing Working Group and the St. Petersburg Tenants’ Union held a joint meeting on December 5 with over a dozen residents from The Morgan. These residents are fed up, passionate, and determined to take on their greedy, exploitative landlord.

Tenants at the meeting voted in favor of establishing a tenants union at The Morgan — a landmark achievement! Attendees also voted to hold another meeting to press for further action!

We’ll be hosting a joint assembly between the St. Petersburg Tenants’ Union & the Pinellas DSA Housing Working Group on January 6, with the aim of getting more people acclimated to the fight for housing justice.

Upcoming Events

Boycott Chevron Picket
Saturday, January 3·from 10:00–11:30am. Meet us at 855 Tyrone Blvd N in St. Petersburg! Water and sunscreen provided.

The Morgan Door-Knocking
Sunday, January 4 from 4:00–5:30pm. Knocking doors at The Morgan to inform tenants of the next tenants union meeting and urge them to get involved. Meet at The Morgan (5473 27th St S. in St. Petersburg).

Health Justice Working Group Meeting
Monday, January 5·from 7:00–8:00pm. This will be a virtual meeting.
RSVP Here

DSA & SPTU Housing Assembly
Tuesday, January 6·from 7:00–8:30pm at Allendale United Methodist Church (3803 Haines Rd N. in St. Petersburg). Discuss and take action on the housing crisis in St. Pete at this joint assembly between the St. Pete Tenants Union and Pinellas DSA.
RSVP Here

Venezuela Educational Forum
Wednesday, January 7 from 6:00–7:30pm at Barbara S. Ponce Public Library (7770 52nd St N. in Pinellas Park).
RSVP Here

Dump Duke Canvass
Saturday, January 10 from·10:30am–12:30pm. Meet at Lake Maggiore Park (3601 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S. in St. Petersburg).

General Body Meeting
Sunday, January 11 from 2:00–3:30pm at Allendale United Methodist Church (3803 Haines Rd N. in St. Petersburg).

Educational/Social Working Group Meeting
Wednesday, January 14 from·6:30–8:00pm. Join us at Bula Kava Bar & Coffee House (2500 5th Ave N. in St. Petersburg) to help plan the upcoming year’s events!

Housing Working Group + St. Pete Tenants’ Union Joint Meeting
Tuesday, January 20 from·7:00–8:30pm at Allendale United Methodist Church (3803 Haines Rd N. in St. Petersburg). We will meet in the Wesley Room; reach out to Boshko for more details!

Self-Managed Abortion Info Session
Jan 24, 2026 at 01:00pm. People across the world are using abortion pills to end their pregnancies at home. The pills are safe and effective with accurate information and appropriate support. This will be a virtual event.
RSVP Here

Richie Floyd Campaign Kickoff
Saturday, January 24 from·7:00–9:00pm. Location details are TBA, but stay posted — you won’t want to miss this!

Cuba: An American History Reading Group
Saturday, January 31 from·4:00–5:30pm at Allendale United Methodist Church (3803 Haines Rd N. in St. Petersburg). We’ll be reading up to page 299 — there’s still time to get caught up!

We hope to see you at some upcoming events!

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @pinellasdsa
Twitter: @pinellasdsa
Bluesky: @pinellasdsa.bsky.social
Facebook: facebook.com/pinellasdsa
YouTube: @pinellasdsa

By a Comrade

This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. 

Welcome to Vol. 5 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/

MADSA Adds a New Branch

The chapter reported at our December General Membership Meeting that MADSA has nearly doubled in size since October 2024 – from 368 members then, to 643 members now! In last month’s round-up, I shared a bit about how this growth is impacting the internal policies and structure of our organization. This month, I’m pleased to share another example of structural changes, as our chapter voted to add a new branch – the Southern Dane County Branch! 

This branch will still be a part of MADSA, but will have the power to host their own meetings and to coordinate local efforts to support the chapter’s goals. They will host regular meetings around Fitchburg/Verona to increase accessibility for current MADSA members and potential new joiners. They plan to work with MADSA’s existing committees and working groups, while also acting as an organizing hub for people who live in more suburban and rural parts of Southern Dane County, with a strong emphasis on electoral, organizing, and educational initiatives. 

Our Electoral Work is Expanding

The nation has witnessed an increase in candidates running openly as socialists – often very successfully! With this development, we’ve seen more and more candidates on the local level. To meet the evolving political landscape, MADSA’s Electoral Working Group has updated our candidate endorsement process and published corresponding materials. The WG has added an endorsement deadline for 2026 elections, clarified the number of signatures required on endorsement petitions, and clarified interview questions for candidates. They also developed a sample questionnaire to demonstrate what types of answers candidates will need to provide during the process.

MADSA Endorses Candidate Bobby Gronert

The first candidate endorsed with this updated process is Bobby Gronert running for Common Council District 8! Bobby is a UW-Madison student and a member of the university’s YDSA chapter. His student-led campaign aims to work on affordable housing issues, tenants’ rights, and challenging fascism via local policies. Bobby was successfully endorsed by MADSA on December 13th, and the endorsement resolution included a pledge of 20-80 hours per month of volunteer support from the December date through election day, April 7, 2026. Bobby’s campaign is exciting news for the city of Madison, and it means new ties developing between UW’s YDSA and our MADSA chapter.

The chapter expects to work on endorsement considerations for the following candidates this season:

• Heidi Wegleitner, re-running for County Board District 2, and re-applying for MADSA endorsement;
• Juliana Bennett and Zoe Sullivan running for State Assembly District 76;
• Francesca Hong running for Wisconsin governor. 

New Working Group Chartered: Platform/Program Development

Lastly in this area, members at the December GMM approved a new working group dedicated to developing a clear platform for our chapter. The goal of the working group, slated to last 4 months, is to create a “comprehensive chapter program and/or platform” based on research and discussions with chapter members and with the broader Madison community. This will provide a more solid basis for organizing work, deciding on political endorsements, developing and supporting leadership in the chapter, and more. 

Additional Organizing

Some chapter members have been supporting the Starbucks union strike in November and December. Members signed up for picketing shifts and showed out with signs and warm coffee in the cold winter weather. 

Starbucks Workers United began striking on November 13th nationwide, and continue to do so in many locations, including State Street in Madison. If you’d like to support striking workers, here are some actions you can take:

• Boycott all Starbucks locations and products while the workers are striking; talk to people around you about joining the boycott – check out and sign the “No Contract, No Coffee” pledge;
• Turn people away from non-striking / non-union Starbucks locations in the area;
• Show up to the picket line and participate;
• Bring treats (especially hot drinks) to the picket line for morale!

MADSA also hosted some talks and discussions this month, including:

• A members-only debate on electoralism – what is the extent to which socialists should be engaging in electoral politics within our current capitalist system? What are the costs and benefits around the increase in electoral work this year?
• Hosting a guest speaker from Brazil’s PSOL, who gave a talk on internationalism and resisting fascism;
• Strategy discussion on supporting immigrants’ safety in Madison;
• Check-in discussion on MADSA’s coalition work around housing issues and the Homeless Justice Initiative; 
• Planning around the 2026 Chapter Convention;
• Internal debate on several bylaws as the chapter continues to grow.

We also shared our Madison DSA Wrapped with highlights from this year!

Social Events

We continue hosting recurring social events, including New Member Orientations, DSA 101, Coffee with Comrades, and the Rosebuddies program. Comrades also rang in the new year with a members-only New Year’s Eve party.

Protest Song of the Month

For a December protest song, I share The Homeless Wassail. Wassailing is an old English tradition of Pagan/non-Christian origin that now takes place during the countdown to Christmas. It originally involved the blessing of fruit-producing trees – especially in apple orchards – by singing, drinking, and making merriment. It changed over time to include house-visiting, and eventually the Christmas caroling we know today. The linked song highlights the deep pain, inequity, and injustice that continue in our communities.

And that concludes our monthly round-up!

Monthly Newsletter of the Rochester Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America

Welcome to the January issue of Rochester Red Star. In this issue, read about the proceedings of ROC DSA’s 2025 Chapter Convention, remarks on the County Legislature’s decision to opt out of the short-term rental registry, and words of hope for the coming year. You’ll also find details on upcoming events, and coverage of chapter activities over the past month.

Interested in contributing? Send submissions to bit.ly/SubmitRedStar, or get involved with our Communications Committee. Reach out to steering@rocdsa.org and join DSA today!

The post Rochester Red Star | January 2026 | (Issue 21) first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

Come join our Socialist sing-along after the General meeting on January 7th! 

We build solidarity by singing songs that unite us and bring attention to issues within our communities. Currently Kira is in charge of the Socialist Sing-along, if you have suggestions reach out to her on Signal or by email at kirasorensen@gmail.com. Read on to learn about the songs we’ll be singing in January. 

Workingman Unite, written 1918 by E.S. Nelson and recorded 1977 by Joe Glazer

Workingman Unite was written in 1918 by IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) member E. S. Nelson. The IWW formed in 1905, and was the only American Union at the time that included immigrants, women, and African Americans. The IWW is still active across the globe. This particular recording was released in 1977 on the album I Will Win: Songs of the Wobblies by Joe Glazer (1918-2006). A member of the Textile Workers Union of America, Joe focused his music on workers’ songs including albums about coal mining, newspaper printing, steel and woodworking and eventually started his own record company.

Make America Great Again, Pussy Riot, 2016

In 2015 the Russian feminist protest band Pussy Riot released their first English song I can’t Breathe. This song was based on the police killing of Eric Garner in New York City. Pussy Riot released Make America Great Again in October 2016, before Trump’s first presidential election. Their music videos are banned in Russia where the group is listed as an extremist organization as of December 2025.

Imagine, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1971

Released in 1971, Imagine rose to #3 of the Billboard Hot 100 and has climbed the charts several times since. The song was inspired by pieces in Yoko Ono’s book Grapefruit (1964) and has been controversial because of its denunciation of religion, starting with “Imagine there’s no heaven”. It is considered by many to be one of the best songs of the 20th century.

by Kira Sorensen