By: Jane Slaughter

I spent time in Chile in January, where a right-wing admirer of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, José Antonio Kast, was elected president by 58% in a December run-off, extending the wave of right-wingers elected in our hemisphere.

Kast, whose father was a Nazi in Germany, ousts the leftish government of Gabriel Boric, a leader of student protests in 2011–13 and a beneficiary of the militant estallido uprising of 2019–2020. Boric was elected in 2021 with high hopes for a new constitution — which was then rejected by the populace by 62% in 2022. (A new right-wing constitution was also rejected, by 56% in 2023.)

I chose Chile in part because of its historic attempt, 50 years ago, at an electoral road to socialism. I wanted to see what lessons could be learned. Socialist Party member Salvador Allende was elected president in 1970 with 36% of the vote (you could win with a plurality at that time), with the expressed goal of moving Chile to socialism.

I studied up, and particularly recommend “The Coup in Chile,” by Ralph Miliband, and the movies Machuca and Chile 1976. To go deeper, watch the three-part The Battle of Chile. I got contacts in the country through Labor Notes and through a DSA comrade with a Chileno background. I met with an American who had been a translator for Allende and had to flee the country when the military made its coup on September 11, 1973.

IMMIGRATION AND CRIME

Immigration and crime were big issues in this fall’s campaign. Right-wingers blame Venezuelan immigrants for everything. I asked a few comrades why the voters chose Kast over Boric’s coalition. Obvious factors are right-wing control of the media and the fact that voting is now mandatory, bringing in many low-information voters. Comrades were also critical of Boric for immediately modifying his goals and for not having a long-term plan that his supporters could explain to the people. It appears that government representatives did the usual politician thing of trying to make themselves look good rather than telling the truth.

For example, the new government wanted a pension reform that would do away with the privatization of the system that was initiated under Pinochet. It’s as if Social Security were turned over to private investors, with each individual having their own account. Instead, they got an increase in public pensions for the very poorest people but cemented in place private control of the pension investments — “for 30 years,” according to one comrade. Boric’s supporters tried to spin this as a victory.

Seeing insufficient results on this or on other concrete gains from the government, voters turned to the opposition, just as they turned away from Kamala Harris to Trump. My hope is that if Zohran Mamdani fails to win a piece of his agenda, he’ll say so and say why, calling out the villains that blocked it. People can tell when you’re putting a happy face on a defeat or a compromise.

STARBUCKS UNION

I saw one small bright spot: Chile’s Starbucks union, the first in the world and the only one to have a union contract.

Chilean Starbucks workers formed their union in 2009 and finally won a real contract in 2022. (In the U.S., workers at 550 stores finally brought Starbucks to the bargaining table in 2024 and in November last year they began a boycott and strike, in which more than 50 stores are now holding out, and some are walking out in short strikes, like seven stores that struck in Minneapolis for the ICE Out day January 23. Now 666 U.S. stores are unionized, but they still don’t have a contract.)

Asked the secret of his union’s unique success, past president Andres Giordano said, “This is not something that could be done in one or two years.” They did it through many ups and downs and without any full-time paid leaders.

Giordano started working at Starbucks while a student activist, in 2007, knowing nothing of unions. In 2009 he and others began the process to form a union, with only 16 of 2,500 workers officially on board. They recruited quickly, and Starbucks was obliged by Chilean law to negotiate — but “I imagine they imported their manual from the U.S.,” Giordano said, and management refused to bargain in any way. Between 2009 and 2012 Starbucks broke every single labor law, spelling out its illegal policies in internal documents. It is the most fined company in Chile, Giordano said.

MOTIVES FOR UNIONIZING

Meanwhile, workers were hurt by the 2009 financial crisis, with some stores closed down and heavy layoffs. Remaining workers were expected to work harder. Starbucks refused to give the usual annual cost-of-living raise that unionized workers expected. And in Giordano’s store in Santiago, rats were a big motivator. “We were required to clean up dead rats,” he said.

In 2011 a minority of workers struck, for 30 days. Union leaders held a noisy hunger strike for 12 days in front of Starbucks headquarters, twice putting padlocks on the doors (until the police showed up). They eventually had to call off the strike with no progress made. They got some help from government labor agencies. “They weren’t proactive but they didn’t like to see a multinational violating Chile’s laws,” Giordano said. “If it had been a mine, it might have been a different story.” (Copper is Chile’s number one export, and it is a big producer of lithium.)

But being right on the law went only so far. “We won our suits but not a contract,” Giordano said. Starbucks preferred to pay the fines.

At one point, Starbucks enlisted the help of a pro-employer union in Mexico, which sent a spy to learn the Chilean union’s strategy and report back to management.

In 2015 the union finally won a “contratito” — a little contract without a lot of content. Another change came when a Mexican holding company, ALSEA, took over management of Starbucks stores in much of Latin America. In 2021 Argentinian ALSEA managers — more used to dealing with unions — took over. In February 2022 the union signed a contract that extended the benefits of union membership, including raises, to new hires, a right that had not existed before.

CONTRACT GAINS

Twenty-six-year-old Romanett Belmar, a Starbucks veteran of nine years, is now the union’s president. I talked with her in a Santiago Starbucks that looked familiar. Signs said, “Pistachio returns” and “Reuse your cup and get 15% off.”

Belmar says that Starbucks in Chile now has 176 stores with usually ten workers per store. Of the 1800 workers nationally, two-thirds are in the union, and they make 40,000 pesos per month more than nonunion workers (about $44).

The contract clause she’s proudest of is the ability for customers to give tips electronically — credit cards are universal in Chile. Tips, she says, increased from 3,000 pesos a month to 30,000 a week ($3.30 to $33, and the store pays them in cash). The contract’s weakest point is that it allows Starbucks to hire all workers part-time.

Both Giordano and Belmar pointed out how Chilean labor law was somewhat helpful in their struggle and in securing workers’ rights — when the union enforced them. The opposite of the U.S., employers in Chile are literally not allowed to run an anti-union campaign against workers who are organizing. And tired baristas appreciate la ley de la silla (“the law of the chair”): every two hours, workers are entitled to a ten-minute break, sitting down. In Belmar’s eight-hour shift, she’s entitled to 50 minutes of break, including lunch.

But it was organizing that made the difference. Last year, they struck again, for 25 days.

In the end, Giordano says, it was patience and persistence that paid off. “I worked at Starbucks 15 years,” he said. “Antonio [the next president] worked there 18 years.”

[A version of the Starbucks portion of this article appears in Labor Notes.]

The Country Where Starbucks Workers Have a National Contract was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Events & Actions

Tuesday, March 3 (5:30 PM – 7:00 PM): Social Housing Meeting  (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Tuesday, March 3 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM):  Public Transit Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Thursday, March 5 (6:00 PM – 7:00 PM):  Social Committee (zoom)

Thursday, March 5 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM): Public Bank Project Meeting (zoom)

Thursday, March 5 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Immigrant Justice regular meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday, March 6 (9:30 AM – 10:30 AM):  District 1 Coffee with Comrades (Breck’s, 2 Clement St)

Saturday, March 7 (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM):  No Appetite for Apartheid Training and Outreach (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Saturday, March 7 (11:30 AM – 2:00 PM):  Organizing Mindset Training (1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, March 8 (10:00 AM – 11:00 AM):  D9 Coffee with Comrades (Temos Coffee, 3000 24th St)

Sunday, March 8 (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM):  Physical Education + Self Defense Training (Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Sunday, March 8 (5:00 PM – 6:00 PM):  Tenderloin Healing Circle Working Group (zoom)

Monday, March 9 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM):  Tenderloin Healing Circle (Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Monday, March 9 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM):  DSA Run Club (McClaren Lodge, eastern end of JFK Drive)

Monday, March 9 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board – New Union Organizing (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Tuesday, March 10 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Wednesday, March 11 (6:45 PM – 9:00 PM):  DSA SF General Meeting

(zoom and in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Thursday, March 12 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM):  New Member Happy Hour

(Standard Deviant Brewing, 280 14th St)

Thursday, March 12 (6:00 PM – 7:00 PM):  Education Board Open Meeting 

(zoom)

Friday, March 13 (9:30 AM – 10:30 AM):  District 1 Coffee with Comrades (Breck’s, 2 Clement St)

Saturday, March 14 (1:00 PM – 3:00 PM):  Immigrant Justice KYR Canvassing (Buena Vista Ave W & Haight St)

Sunday, March 15 (3:30 PM – 5:00 PM): Haiti and Neocolonialism (1916 McAllister St)

Monday, March 16 (6:30 PM – 8:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting

(zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, March 16 (6:30 PM – 7:30 PM):  DSA Run Club (McClaren Lodge, eastern end of JFK Drive)

Monday, March 16 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board – Existing Union Support (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events for more events and updates.

No Appetite for Apartheid: Outreach Training & Canvassing

No Appetite for Apartheid is a campaign aimed at reducing economic support for Israeli apartheid by canvassing local businesses to boycott Israeli goods. Come and canvass local businesses with the Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialist Working Group!

Our next canvass will be on March 7 from 10am to 2pm. We will be meeting at 1916 McAllister St to get trained on how to talk to stores in your neighborhood, then going out and talking with stores together!

RSVP here

Organizing Mindset Training

Organizing is at the core of what we do as socialists — and it’s a skill that can be developed and practiced. Come join fellow comrades as we learn and discuss how we can incorporate organizing fundamentals into our day-to-day actions so that we can build stronger, more cohesive, and more active communities that can rally together against the unjust capitalist systems we are fighting against. Whether it’s our neighbors, coworkers, friend groups, fellow transit-riders, or any other communities we interact with daily, we will always be stronger when we are organized, aligned on the most critical issues we are facing, and ready to act in unison and put our collective people power behind our demands. This March event is the first iteration in what we hope will become a recurring, multi-part Organizing Mindset training.

All are invited and encouraged to attend, whether you are a new DSA member/organizer or a more seasoned organizer! This first session in particular is a great one to attend if you are interested in helping shape future iterations of this training.

RSVP here

Saturday, March 7 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM at 1916 McAllister St

Haiti and Neocolonialism

Come join DSA SF and the Haiti Action Committee to learn more about Haiti’s history, the role of the United States and France in it’s exploitation, and what is happening in Haiti today. After winning independence from their former enslavers in 1804, Haitians found themselves ensnared in a new form of colonialism and economic exploitation which extracted billions of dollars of wealth, unleashed generations of violence, and violated their national sovereignty. This exploitation continues to this day.

French and US finance capital developed new methods of forcing economic dependency which was used as a model 100 years later throughout the post-colonial era of the 20th century. We will learn about the Haiti’s specific history as well as explore the broader dynamics of neocolonialism in an interactive, discussion-based event at the DSA SF office at 1916 McAllister St on Sunday March 15th from 3:30-5pm.

Write to City Hall: NO on Lurie’s tax cuts for the rich!

Billionaire Mayor Daniel Lurie and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood announced legislation that would slash real estate transfer taxes on the wealthiest corporate landlords. This directly undermines 2020’s Prop I, which has generated more than $500 million in revenue for housing that working San Franciscans can actually afford.

Send a letter to City Hall demanding that they reject this blatant attempt to cut taxes on the richest corporate real estate owners at the expense of working San Franciscans: dsasf.org/protectpropi

Reportback from the first PSAI Working Group x Maker Friday

Friday (2/27) was the first PSAI working group x Maker Friday! A group of us sketched design ideas for our working group’s logo as well as with making new ones for the Divestment priority targeted at companies like Caterpillar, which profit from Israeli apartheid and genocide. Others helped with zine folding and used the space as a working zone for their activist projects, but overall PSAI appreciates all those that came out to share in this creative space!

Read more at Memphis-Midsouth

The ultimate goal is to obtain a union contract or collective bargaining agreement that mandates and protects the workplace improvements you’ve won.

The post What happens after you win the union? appeared first on EWOC.

February Chapter and Verse: Where DSA is growing, new organizing committees, and more chapter news.

The post Chapters Prepare for a Busy Election Season in 2026 appeared first on Democratic Left.

By Dylan

The fundamental case for corporate accountability rests on the principle that significant power—whether political or economic—must be subject to ethical scrutiny. In a globalized economy, the actions of large-scale enterprises have profound consequences for the communities and environments in which they operate. Consider the devastating impact that corporations like Union Carbide, Nestlé, Monsanto, and Halliburton have had on the environment and human lives.¹ When a corporation’s pursuit of profit intersects with regions marked by conflict, repressive governance, economic injustice, or social inequality, the company ceases to be a neutral bystander and instead becomes an active participant in the local landscape. If an organization benefits from or reinforces systems that result in human suffering or environmental harm, it incurs a moral responsibility that transcends simple legal compliance. Therefore, corporate accountability is not merely a regulatory preference but a necessary safeguard to ensure that private interests do not supersede human rights and dignity. In the absence of a unified global authority to govern these interactions, public awareness and ethical pressure serve as essential tools for aligning corporate behavior with the broader interests of humanity.

One of the most troubling, contemporary, examples of a lack of corporate accountability involves the Chevron Corporation. While its economic power and technological capacity are often framed as engines of development, Chevron’s operations in Israel and Venezuela reveal a more troubling dimension of corporate involvement in human rights abuses. In both cases, Chevron’s activities raise serious concerns regarding complicity, accountability, and the exploitation of people in politically volatile environments by non-state actors.

In Israel, Chevron’s involvement in the Tamar and Leviathan offshore natural gas fields has positioned the company as a critical contributor to the country’s energy infrastructure.² These gas fields supply a substantial portion of Israel’s electricity, thereby reinforcing the operational capacity of the Israeli state. While energy development is frequently presented as politically neutral, such claims become untenable when corporate profits are closely intertwined with prolonged military occupation and structural inequality. Revenues generated from Chevron-operated gas fields flow directly into the Israeli economy and, by extension, support state institutions that administer and enforce policies in the occupied Palestinian territories. As a result, Chevron’s presence cannot be separated from the broader political context in which systematic restrictions on Palestinian movement, economic activity, and self-determination persist.

Furthermore, Chevron’s stake in regional energy infrastructure, including gas pipelines operating in the eastern Mediterranean, intersects with security policies that have restricted Gazan’s maritime access. According to Investor Advocates for Social Justice:

• “The Company holds a partial stake in the East Mediterranean Gas pipeline, which transports gas from Israel to Egypt along the coast of the Gaza Strip. Under international law, including the Hague Regulations and Geneva Conventions, economic activity in occupied territory without the agreement of the affected population is considered unlawful and may constitute “pillage,” a war crime. The pipeline is also closely linked to Israel’s longstanding naval blockade of Gaza, which restricts Palestinian maritime access and has had a devastating impact on the region’s economy since 2009.”³

Although Chevron does not directly administer these policies, its operations benefit from and reinforce a system sustained through coercive state power. In this respect, Chevron exemplifies how corporations become embedded within structures of control and repression while maintaining formal distance from their consequences.

Chevron’s role in Venezuela also raises concerns about corporate ethics and humanitarian responsibility. The oil giant continues to operate in Venezuela even as the United States government has sanctioned the Caribbean nation’s economy. According to a report last year by EuroNews,

• “Chevron’s operations are structured so that cash flows and profits do not directly benefit PDVSA (Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company) or the Venezuelan state under current sanctions licences….The Venezuelan government does not receive fresh revenue from these operations — no dividends, no budget income, no direct cash transfers….US officials argue that Chevron’s continued presence actually strengthens sanctions enforcement rather than undermining it.”⁴

Basically, Chevron functions as the sanctions arm of the US government by not having to pay taxes or royalties to the Venezuelan government. Add in that Venezuela must sell its oil abroad for debt relief and it becomes clear that the country and its people are being exploited by state and non-state actors.⁵

This means that Chevron’s ongoing oil production in Venezuela has not translated into meaningful improvements in living conditions for Venezuelans experiencing shortages of food, medicine, and basic services due to U.S. sanctions. As two economists at the Center for Economic and Policy Research noted:

• “It is important to emphasize that nearly all of the foreign exchange that is needed to import medicine, food, medical equipment, spare parts and equipment needed for electricity generation, water systems, or transportation, is received by the Venezuelan economy through the government’s revenue from the export of oil. Thus, any sanctions that reduce export earnings, and therefore government revenue, thereby reduce the imports of these essential and, in many cases, life-saving goods.”⁶

Chevron has also faced numerous allegations of failing to comply with mandated cleanups, leading everyday, working-class people to bear the social and economic costs.⁷ Their privileged status highlights a recurring pattern in global energy politics: corporations maintain access to strategic resources while civilian populations suffer.

With the Trump administration’s recent coup against Venezuela’s government, Chevron stands first in line to profit from Trump’s oil grab as the only U.S. company currently operating in Venezuela.⁸ This has ramifications for Americans as well. If Venezuelan oil production is increased, it is likely that more Venezuelan heavy crude oil would be imported by U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, largely located where Black, Latino, Indigenous, and low-income communities are already exposed to fossil fuel pollution.^9,10

Boycotting Chevron should therefore be understood not as an isolated consumer choice, but as part of a broader effort to impose ethical constraints on corporate behavior within the international system. Historically, boycotts have functioned as tools to expose moral contradictions, mobilize public awareness, and pressure powerful institutions resistant to reform. Consider the progressive, humanitarian, impacts of the Montgomery bus boycott or international divestment from South Africa’s apartheid regime.¹¹ In the absence of effective international regulation of corporations, public accountability becomes one of the few remaining mechanisms for challenging corporate complicity in systemic injustice.

Ultimately, Chevron’s involvement in Israel and Venezuela illustrates a wider failure to reconcile profit-driven enterprise with ethical responsibility. A boycott, while limited in scope, signals a refusal to normalize corporate practices that benefit from occupation, repression, inequality, and human suffering. In doing so, it affirms the principle that economic—like political—power, must be subject to moral scrutiny.

Footnotes:

1. CorpWatch: The 14 Worst Corporate Evildoers

2. AFSC: Chevron Fuels Israeli Apartheid and War Crimes Additionally

3. Investor Advocates for Social Justice: Proposed Human Rights Policy Implementation

4. EuroNews: Why Chevron still operates in Venezuela despite US sanctions

5. Venezuelanalysis: Chevron Back in Venezuela, A Tale of US Imperialist Arrogance

6. CEPR: Economics Sanctions as Collective Punishment: The Case of Venezuela

7. AmazonWatch: Chevron’s Global Record of Denial and Destruction

8. USPCR: From Palestine to Venezuela, Chevron Profits From U.S. Imperialism

9. S&P Global: US Gulf Coast refiners seen benefiting from increased use of heavy Venezuelan crude

10. PBS/NPR: Oil refineries release lots of water pollution near communities of color, data show

11. Ethical Consumer: History of Successful Boycotts

At the end of January, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Chicago Cuba Coalition’s event titled “War in the Americas, Cuba, Colombia, Immigrants in the Crosshairs, What’s Next? What Can We Do?” During this event, I spoke about my experience on the DSA Cuba delegation. This event took place days after Trump’s new executive order, which seeks to further limit fuel going into Cuba. Trump’s executive order on Cuba, paired with the toppling of Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro, exacerbates the humanitarian crises unfolding in Latin America. My goal was to capture the beauty and resilience of the Cuban people despite every attempt to cut them down. I hope to carry that spirit of revolutionary struggle – which is still alive and well in Cuba today – into our local work, which takes place within the belly of the imperialist beast that is the United States of America.

***

Transcript of speech by Lyra Spencer, delivered January 31, 2026 at Chicago Teachers Union Headquarters. Text edited for clarity.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Lyra Spencer, and I am one of the two co-chairs of Chicago DSA. It is such a privilege and an honor to share the stage with such scholars, experts, and fighters who have been working to end the blockade for many years. 

I come to bring my experience and perspective as someone who had the privilege to travel to the island in October along with my DSA comrades in solidarity with Cuba. Thank you for giving me this space to share my experience. Cuba, interestingly enough, was my first trip abroad. It was a life changing experience for many reasons. 

I want to start by foregrounding the humanitarian crises unfolding in Cuba inflicted upon that nation by the United States. While I was there in October, Cuba was really struggling. Older buildings in Havana’s city center were crumbling and trash started piling up in places due to the lack of fuel for trash collection. There was actually a moment when we were passing a field on our bus where two 12-year-old boys carrying a trash can emptied it into a nearby lot. The hospitals are in desperate need of supplies, and they experience frequent power outages.

Cuba is facing a currency crisis. The Cuban peso has taken such a hit that many of the smaller peso units of currency are worthless now. Cuba, despite its robust public healthcare program, has a shortage of doctors now because the median wage is paid in pesos at $25 dollars per month. Cuban residents can find much more lucrative wages working in tourism, where currency and tips are often exchanged in U.S. dollars. A restaurant server often makes far more money than doctors.

A local Cuban journalist described the situation, stating that there used to be a baseline in Cuba where everyone had their basic needs met. No one was particularly wealthy, but no one was forced to live in extreme poverty either. However, because of the blockade, many of Cuba’s residents are falling into a type of destitution that few have experienced before. All of this was prior to the illegal kidnapping of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela, and before the executive order on Cuba. 

I can only imagine how hard things must be for the people of Cuba now. I wanted to ground us in this place upfront to acknowledge the rough spot that Cuba is in as a result of U.S. imperialism. The reason why I chose to foreground this is because I do not believe that the full story is one of sadness and sorrow, but one of beauty, resilience, and liberation.

***

The most shocking thing about Cuba wasn’t the problems that ail its society today. For me as an American, it was seeing a society centered around the wellbeing of humans and not the maximization of shareholder value.

While in Cuba, we visited three main places that I want to highlight. The first being one of the main hospitals in Cuba, where we learned from some of the top doctors about the Cuban healthcare system. In Cuba, everyone has access to free healthcare, and it is considered a fundamental right. Healthcare was one of the main tenants of the Cuban revolution, and Fidel Castro demanded equal access to healthcare for all Cubans as a part of his two-hour denunciation of the Batista regime following his arrest for his involvement in the failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba on the 26th of July, 1953.

Immediately after the revolution, doctors were sent to every corner of Cuba which had been previously neglected to survey the population and find out the needs of the public. They immediately set up a primary care system and started treating the most common ailments of the day. Cuba has historically had lower infant mortality rates than the United States, as well as a similar life expectancy and more equal health outcomes along race and income lines. The people of Cuba enjoy far better access to primary care, with doctors and nursing teams located at the neighborhood level, and residents having access to frequent preventative screenings. Even with Cuba’s current doctor shortage, they still have a higher doctor-to-population ratio than the U.S. 

Not only does Cuba provide excellent healthcare for its citizens, it also exports its doctors around the world to help other Global South countries in need. The only limitation to the Cuban healthcare system are the restrictions placed upon it by the U.S. embargo. It is ironic, despite its immense wealth, that the U.S. government is doing everything in its power to remove access to healthcare for millions of Americans. Despite the hardships imposed on them by the blockade, the people of Cuba are doing everything it can to keep quality care and expand it to other countries in need. 

During the trip to this hospital, I noticed something that I rarely see here in Chicago: Black doctors in prominent leadership positions within Cuba. In fact, Cuban society was fairly integrated, at least in Havana. Not only doctors, but professors, museum curators, lawyers, and countless other professions had their fair share of Afro-Cubans working together in Cuban civil society.

This was one of the first stark differences I noticed, as a Black woman residing in a northern neighborhood in Chicago. Back home, I could go days without seeing someone who looks like me, despite Chicago being 30% Black. Furthermore, professions are often unofficially segregated by race in the U.S., just as the neighborhoods in Chicago are. On our way out of the hospital, one of the doctors revealed that she was in her seventies, which was a shock to all of us. On the trip someone asked how she manages to look so youthful, she replied, “The revolution keeps me beautiful.”

***

The second place I want to talk about is the Latin America School of Medicine in Havana. There, we learned that Cuba sends doctors to other Global South countries around the world as a humanitarian service to the poor. The country takes in students, houses them, and trains them to return to practice medicine in their own countries free of charge. The head instructor told us that they share what they have with the community, including educational instruction, supplies, and temporary housing. But in exchange they also share some of Cuba’s problems, such as blackouts and limited access to food. The head instructor told us that recently fresh water hadn’t been available at the school for twenty days, and the students operated to distribute water pipes sent to them in equitable ways. In some communities in Latin America, over 70% of the doctors came from the Latin American School of Medicine. I also found it interesting that this school has also trained doctors from poor communities within the U.S., having hosted over 244 U.S.-American students since the academy’s founding. Eight U.S. students will be graduating this year.

The last place I want to cover is Cenesex. Cenesex is the Cuban National Center for Sex Education. It handles most of the country’s sex education, along with advocacy and essential services for queer people. The organization works to educate the population on all things related to queer and trans people, domestic violence, and sexual abuse. 

Cenesex was one of the main institutions responsible for the update to the family code that was passed through a nationwide referendum in 2022. It legalized same-sex marriage and adoption and recognized non-traditional family structures outside of the nuclear family, focusing on the rights and wellbeing of children over parental authority, mandating equal sharing of domestic responsibilities and gender equality, banning corporal punishment for children, and setting the minimum age for marriage in the country to eighteen. Cenesex was one of the main drivers of the advocacy campaign in favor of the new code, hosting public input and educational forums all across the country. It also helps trans individuals navigate transitioning, preparing them for surgeries, offering them and their families counseling, and connecting them to much-needed resources.

One moment that was the cornerstone of this trip was leaving Cenesex. There were three trans people on this trip, and we all cried after the visit. It was truly shocking to see a government institution actively care about our wellbeing instead of trying to erase our identity, call us “groomers,” and eradicate us from existence. We are told by our government that Cuba is a danger to the United States, yet each and every one of us trans women on this trip felt far safer in Havana than we did crossing through the Miami airport to get there.

***

The reality of Cuba that I experienced is one of resilience. Despite our government’s best efforts, Cuba has created a society that centers around the wellbeing of its population. While I was there, I saw very little military and police. I saw integration. I saw a government and people trying as hard as they could to get by in spite of the situation. Like any government, it makes mistakes. However, the central point of Cuba’s state planning is to center human wellbeing. 

The only danger that Cuba presents to the United States is the danger of U.S. citizens seeing what a government with a fraction of our country’s resources can do to take care of its people and its struggling neighbors. That is why our imperialist government is fighting so hard to finish the job of its predecessors and destroy the revolution once and for all.

I left Cuba with a renewed sense of responsibility. The only people that have the power to stop what our government is doing is us. We must carry the strength, beauty, and resilience of the Cuban people in our struggles against this fascist Trump regime. We must stand united in the belly of the beast.

Thank you.

The post The Revolution Keeps Me Beautiful: A Report-Back of the DSA Cuba Delegation appeared first on Midwest Socialist.

It is that time of year again, time for Vermont’s annual Town Meting Day tradition. 

The last two years have seen schools and school budgets become the focus on local as well as state politics. As in every year, Green Mountain DSA (GMDSA) recommends voting yes on your local school budget. 

GMDSA only chose to endorse one candidate for a local race this year, but there are elections in every town, city and village, some of which are more exciting than others. The rest of this voter guide will be a town-by-town breakdown of local races in areas where there is an active GMDSA presence, of both elections and ballot questions. 

Burlington

Green Mountain DSA has only endorsed one candidate this TMD, being Marek Broderick, for re-election to the city council in Ward 8. Before first being elected in 2024, Marek was co-chair and an organizer with the UVM chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, DSA’s youth section. As a councilor, Marek has fought for tenants’ rights on and off campus, including notably organizing with UVM's Student Tenant Union to win unanimous support for a resolution holding UVM accountable for poor housing conditions. Marek was unanimously endorsed for re-election by the chapter because the fight is not over. If Marek wins on March 3, he will continue to fight for housing for all, tenant rights, and a city that everyone can call home.

However, Marek’s advocacy for renters, students and the broader working class has not made him any friends within Burlington’s establishment. This year, the Democrat Party chose to nominate only one candidate to run against an incumbent: the landlord Ryan Nick, scion of commercial real estate tycoon Jeff Nick, is running to unseat Marek. 

Nick has been able to raise considerable cash through his connections to the city’s monied interests, mostly from other landlords and real estate moguls. This is fitting, as Nick has made a name for himself as a vocal opponent of essential harm reduction services like the Howard Center’s needle exchange, and an opponent of mutual aid groups like Food Not Cops. Ryan himself works for his father’s real estate company, JL Davis Realty, on “tenant relations,” according to his CCTV candidate forum. Between his status as one of Burlington’s landlords and his antagonism of community groups, Green Mountain DSA believes that Nick cannot be trusted to hold police accountable and exactly represents the elites’ status quo that is crushing us workers. 

If you live in Ward 8, please vote to re-elect Marek Broderick!

Green Mountain DSA recommends voting for all other Progressive candidates, including in Ward 7, where Bill Standen is running to unseat Democrat Even Litwin.  Green Mountain DSA also recommends voting yes on question three, which would enshrine the city’s Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Office in the city charter. 

Lastly, the coalition that put Proposition 0 on the ballot in 2023 is at it again, aiming to get the direct democracy charter change on the ballot again in time for the November midterms. We recommend signing the petition to get Proposition 0 on the ballot. 

Winooski

In Winooski, there are no contested races for city council or the mayor. Green Mountain DSA offers no recommendations for this election, other than a yes vote for both the city and school budgets, particularly article six which would allow the school to purchase a nearby home to the school with surplus funds. The property will be used by the school for specialized educational settings for students who need it. Currently, the school system does not have something like this and students who need a specialized education setting are required to travel out of district. We would also like to note that an added benefit of this purchase is removing a known Zionist's pro Israel propaganda from the property being purchased.

GMDSA also recommends Katie Livermore, who is running for re-election to the School Board. Many Winooski GMDSAers know her from her work on the Winooski AFC campaign which passed last year with over 70% approval. Katie played an integral role in that campaign and continues to organize in her community both in the school and outside.

South Burlington

Unlike Burlington, and like Winooski and the rest of Vermont municipalities, South Burlington elections are officially non-partisan. However, this does not stop them from being competitive. For the two-year seat this year, the two candidates running are Amy Allen and Beth Zigmund. Allen seems to be a typical pro-business, establishment candidate, while Zigmund is running with the support of progressive non-profits like Run on Climate (which also endorsed Marek Broderick). Green Mountain DSA offers no recommendation in this race, but leans toward favoring Zigmund. 

Montpelier

Montpelier residents will again vote on the Apartheid-Free Communities (AFC) pledge, after it was voted down last year. The pledge, which passed last year in Winooski and various other towns across Vermont, condemns Israel’s system of Apartheid, settler colonialism and occupation, and commits the signer to fighting for liberation in Palestine. Green Mountain DSA endorses AFC, and urges Montpelier residents to vote yes. 

Waterbury

On Waterburry’s ballot this year, there are three seats up for election: one three-year seat, and two one-year. For the three-year seat, Republican Chris Viens is the only candidate to have made it onto the ballot. Fortunately, former Selectboard member Don Schneider has announced a write-in campaign, and we recommend writing in his name. The chapter offers no recommendation for the one-year seat, but recommends voting yes on the Randall Meadow bond question .

Randolph

Randolph residents of the police district again face an increased police budget, this time to $893,357. Despite the district containing less than half the town’s total population of just 4,774 people, the police budget is approximately a sixth of the town’s budget. Green Mountain DSA recommends residents vote no on the police budget.

Randolph also has two selectboard elections this year. The three-year seat race is between Ashley Lincoln and Emery Mattheis, and the two-year seat is between Bethany Silloway and Dustin Adams. Mattheis and Adams are running with the newly-formed “Committee for a Cooler ‘Dolf,” organized by a GMDSA member. Adams is also a GMDSA member himself, although he did not seek the chapter’s endorsement. GMDSA recommends voting for Emery Mattheis and Dustin Adams.

St Albans

St. Albans has a relatively slim election this year. Three city seats are open – two city counselors and the Mayor – all of which are uncontested. 

Article three continues a seven year project to upgrade and update the city's 1953 water system. The current ask is for St. Albans residents to permit the borrowing of $800,000 to refurbish the existing town water tank; this accounts for half the total cost (project total of $1.6M) with the remaining $800,000 covered by a no-interest 40 year loan. Completion of the project will ensure that St. Albans continues to provide safe, clean water to residents without service interruption caused by maintenance: GMDSA recommends voting yes on Article three. 

Article two is a proposed budget for FY2027. Effort has been made to keep expenses low for residents with a modest property tax increase of 2.2% (estimated to be $50 more per resident throughout the year), and the budget includes capital improvements for the Welden Theater, new breathing apparatuses for fire responders, a lawn mower for city parks and properties, an increase in services provided by the Restorative Justice Center, and a new snow plow. The budget also includes a substantial increase for Police and Dispatch wages, as well as two new vehicles (one marked, one unmarked) for the St. Albans Police Department. Because the FY27 budget devotes nearly 50% of its total projected $15.5M expenditure to Dispatch and Police service, GMDSA recommends voting no on Article 2 unless the police budget is disentangled from other budgetary needs or the increase in police spending explicates integration of support/social service resources into law enforcement services. 

Town Meeting Day is Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Please email us at hello@greenmountaindsa.org if you’d like to join a canvass between now and then, or if you’d like to see an item on your town’s ballot included in this guide. 

You can check your voter registration here.