The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejects, in the strongest terms, the Executive Order issued by the White House on May 1, 2026, which intensifies, to extreme and unprecedented levels, the economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba.

Likewise, it condemns the decision of the United States Treasury Department of May 7, 2026, which added the Cuban entities Gaesa and MoaNickel SA to the List of Specially Designated Nationals, this being the first coercive measure derived from the order signed on May 1.

This is a ruthless act of economic aggression that amplifies the extraterritorial effects of the blockade, with the potential application of secondary sanctions against foreign companies, banks, and entities, even if their business in the United States has no connection to Cuba. This measure will further hinder the functioning of the national economy, which has already been facing the devastating effects of the oil blockade imposed on January 29, 2026, paralyzing fuel exports to the country.

Acting as the world's policeman and in blatant violation of international law and the fundamental principles of free trade in goods and services, the sovereign right of all states that have or wish to maintain economic, commercial, and financial relations with Cuba is being explicitly, blatantly, and directly attacked. The highest U.S. authorities, particularly the Secretary of State, are attempting to force the international community, through blackmail and intimidation, to submit to and comply with the blockade.

No country is exempt from this threat of extending genocide against the Cuban people, attempting to force Cuba's isolation from the international economic and financial scene.

We warn that this aggression against the Cuban economy and people will only achieve its intended destructive effect if sovereign and independent nations allow themselves to be intimidated and coerced by the United States government. We know that the world will never meekly accept illegal regulations, will not relinquish sovereign equality, nor will it leave its citizens, businesses, corporations, and financial institutions unprotected. The international community has historically opposed and condemned the genocide being perpetrated against the Cuban people by the United States government, a genocide that has lasted for almost seven decades.

We denounce the criminal nature of these aggressive measures aimed at starving and desperationing the entire Cuban population and attempting to generate a social, economic, and political catastrophe on a national scale. We also reject the intention of the United States government to create a humanitarian crisis to justify more dangerous actions, including military aggression against Cuba.

In all international forums, Cuba will continue to denounce the blockade. Likewise, we urge the international community to confront this onslaught, which constitutes a dangerous escalation in the United States' desire to exercise domination and control over Cuba's destiny, violating the independence and sovereignty of all states.

Havana, May 7, 2026

Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, led the massive May Day rally at the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune, attended by more than half a million Havana residents, representing the entire island. There, two books containing the signatures of the Cuban people for the Homeland and a plaque displaying the total number of signatures were symbolically presented: 6,230,973.

(Photos: Granma)

All Out to Defend Revolutionary Cuba!
Hands Off Cuba!

– Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), May 5, 2026 –

Ottawa picket stands with Cuba against U.S. imperialist threats, May 1, 2026

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) vehemently condemns the new sanctions U.S. President Trump ordered against Cuba on May 1. On May 1 the White House issued the new sanctions by Executive Order, using emergency powers of the President. The order imposes new sanctions on entities, persons or affiliates that support Cuba, declaring that "the President is addressing the national security threats posed by communist Cuba." The irrational justification includes that Cuba "aligns itself with countries and malicious actors hostile to the United States." It repeats numerous U.S. imperialist lies that Cuba facilitates military and intelligence operations of "hostile" countries; that "Cuba maintains close ties to other major state sponsors of terrorism, including the Government of Iran, and provides safe haven for transnational terrorist groups, including Hezbollah." It claims that "Cuba provides a permissive environment for hostile foreign intelligence, military, and terrorist operations less than 100 miles from the American homeland." This last point alludes to U.S. claims about China using Cuban territory to spy on the U.S., a claim that is unsubstantiated and denied by both Cuba and China.

Furthermore, the U.S., the country that operates the torture detention centre in Guantanamo, absurdly justifies its illegal sanctions regime by accusing Cuba of persecuting and torturing political opponents and actively spreading communist ideology across the region while repressing its people. As of January 2025, the U.S. had detained at least 780 people from 48 countries at its Guantanamo prison and torture camp, without charge or trial. At least nine detainees have died while in custody, outside the bounds of U.S. laws and beyond the reach of media or rule of law of any kind.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in an attempt to divert from U.S. failure to take over Iran and prevail in the Strait of Hormuz, has also once again threatened military action against Cuba. As the U.S. aircraft carrier the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest in the world, is limping back from deployment in the Persian Gulf, incapable of carrying out its mission as part of the attempted U.S. naval blockade of Iran, Trump declared it could be redeployed to "taking over [Cuba] almost immediately." Trump made the following absurd statement: "Now Cuba's got problems [...] on the way back from Iran, we'll have one of our big, maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln [sic] aircraft carrier -- the biggest in the world, will have that come in. Stop about 100 yards offshore, and they'll say, 'thank you very much. We give up.'"

It is a typical Trump statement, as absurd as it is meaningless. The answer to his threat was given over a century ago, in 1885, when Antonio Maceo, the "Bronze Titan" and hero of the Cuban wars of independence, said, "Whoever tries to take power over Cuba will only get the dust of its soil, drenched in blood, if he doesn't perish in the struggle." It has been reiterated time and time again up to today. In a recent interview with NBC News, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel repeated that he won't resign (as demanded by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio). In the face of constant U.S. threats of "taking over" Cuba and forcing the President's resignation, Díaz-Canel said, "I have no fear. I am willing to give my life for the Revolution." He also said that his government is able to resist pressure from the cut-off of oil supplies and to defend Cuba from a U.S. military attack. He reiterated that Cuba wants a dialogue with the United States, peace and an agreement to "move away from confrontation."

As concerns Trump's reference to the USS Abraham Lincoln, it is known that the aircraft carrier had to be withdrawn from the naval blockade of Iran due to operating systems failures. Nonetheless, CPC(M-L) calls on Canadians and Quebeckers to take the U.S. threat of military aggression against Cuba seriously. Besides the lawless actions of the U.S. administration, Marco Rubio himself is driven by a savage spirit of revenge to make Cuba pay for refusing to submit to U.S. dictate. The U.S. continues to escalate its hostile blockade and illegal sanctions regime against Cuba under the most preposterous unsubstantiated claim that Cuba's socialist system is a threat to U.S. national security and it is important to unite Canadians and Quebeckers behind the demand that the government of Canada not conciliate with the sanctions in any way, shape or form or reiterate the U.S. fabricated justifications which it claims warrant the sanctions and aggression against Cuba.

All Out to Defend Revolutionary Cuba!

Hands Off Cuba! End the Blockade Now!

Defend Canadian Sovereignty!
Ottawa Must Reject Washington's Illegal
Economic War Against Cuba!

– Canadian Network on Cuba, May 7, 2026 –

Edmonton, April 19, 2026

Statement of the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) in the wake of Sherrit International suspending operations in Cuba.

The Government of Canada must take immediate and decisive action in defence of Canadian sovereignty, international law, and the right of Canadian companies to conduct lawful business free from foreign coercion and intimidation.

The latest escalation of the United States' decades-long economic war against Cuba by the Trump administration – through its May 1, 2026 Executive Order – constitutes yet another illegal attempt to extend U.S. domestic law beyond its borders and impose Washington's unilateral sanctions regime on the entire world. This represents not merely an attack on Cuba, but a direct assault on Canada's sovereignty, on international trade law, and on the principle that no state has the right to dictate the economic relations of other nations. The consequences are already evident.

In the wake of the Executive Order, Canadian-based Sherritt International Corporation – one of the most important Canadian investors in Cuba and a key player in Canada's critical minerals sector – announced the suspension of its direct participation in joint venture activities in Cuba, the repatriation of personnel, and warned that financial and operational pressures stemming from U.S. sanctions may cripple its activities. The resignation of board members and the uncertainty now facing the corporation underscore the chilling effect of Washington's campaign of economic intimidation. This is economic coercion of the highest order.

The United Nations General Assembly has condemned the U.S. blockade against Cuba overwhelmingly and repeatedly for more than three decades. The blockade and its extraterritorial application violate the UN Charter, international law, freedom of navigation and trade, and the sovereign equality of states. Yet Washington continues to intensify this economic siege, now seeking to punish not only Cuba, but also Canadian companies, Canadian workers, and Canadian economic interests.

The current escalation is rooted in the infamous Helms-Burton Act of 1996, legislation designed explicitly to internationalize the U.S. blockade by threatening foreign corporations and governments that engage in lawful commerce with Cuba. At the time, Canada recognized the grave danger posed by this unprecedented assertion of extraterritorial jurisdiction and amended the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA) precisely to counteract Helms-Burton and protect Canadian sovereignty.

The question now is simple and unavoidable: Will Ottawa finally enforce the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act?

Canada cannot continue to proclaim opposition to the blockade rhetorically at the United Nations while effectively capitulating to Washington's illegal dictates in practice. The purpose of FEMA was not symbolic. It was enacted to shield Canadian corporations and citizens from precisely this type of U.S. interference.

If the Canadian government fails to act now, FEMA becomes little more than a hollow gesture, and Canada effectively concedes that U.S. law supersedes Canadian law on Canadian soil.

Ottawa must therefore:

- Publicly denounce the Trump administration's Executive Order as an illegal extraterritorial measure that violates international law and Canadian sovereignty;

- Immediately invoke and enforce the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act to protect Canadian corporations operating lawfully in Cuba;

- Provide legal, diplomatic, and financial protections to Canadian firms targeted by U.S. sanctions;

- Coordinate with Mexico, the European Union, CARICOM nations, and other states opposing the blockade to resist Washington's unlawful coercive measures; and

- Reaffirm Canada's long-standing opposition to the U.S. blockade and demand its complete and unconditional end.

This issue extends beyond Cuba. If Canada accepts Washington's ability to punish Canadian enterprises for engaging in lawful commerce with a third country, then Canada ceases to exercise meaningful economic sovereignty. Today it is Cuba. Tomorrow it could be any country or sector that falls afoul of U.S. geopolitical objectives.

Moreover, the attack on Sherritt is particularly revealing. Sherritt operates strategically important nickel and cobalt refining capacity in Alberta – critical minerals essential to the global energy transition and North American industrial supply chains. The irony is staggering: while Washington speaks endlessly about securing critical mineral independence, its policies are actively undermining one of North America's key refining operations because of its relationship with Cuba.

This demonstrates once again that the U.S. blockade is not driven by "human rights" or "democracy," but by the long-standing policy and campaign of economic warfare, sabotage and destabilization aimed at strangling Cuba regardless of the collateral damage inflicted internationally.

Canada must choose whether it will defend its sovereignty and uphold international law, or whether it will permit itself to be subordinated to the extraterritorial dictates of a foreign power: whether to join empire or challenge it.

Silence and inaction are not neutrality. They amount to acquiescence.

Executive Committee,
Canadian Network on Cuba

Samantha Hislop
Co-Chair, Canadian Network on Cuba

United States

Workers Playing Vital Role in Anti-War,
Pro-Social Actions

– Kathleen Chandler –

New York City, May 1, 2026

In addition to the many actions held in the U.S. on May 1 taking the stand No Work, No School, No Shopping, in hundreds of cities across the country there were actions calling to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and close all the detention centers, with workers in the forefront. Demonstrations took place at detention centers as well as Home Depots where day laborers often gather to get work and where ICE targets them with the aid of Home Depot. Support was also given to the hundreds of hunger strikers at the Baldwin, Michigan detention camp, privately owned by GEO Group and one of the largest in the region with 1,800 beds. The people being held are protesting the unsafe and rotten conditions, lack of medical care, lawyers and families being blocked from visits, and their unjust detention.

The federal government is not only using ICE and Border Patrol for brutal and openly racist attacks on workers, their families and communities, they are also organizing to increase the number of detention camps: buying up old warehouses and making plans to use military sites. Both local and state authorities are taking stands against ICE, in part in response to the outrage expressed by the people through actions of various kinds, and as part of asserting their authority against that of the federal government.

This includes the Conference of Mayors, which brings all the mayors of the country together. They passed two emergency resolutions at their recent meeting, condemning ICE and demanding they not use masks; end the use of stops, questioning and searches based only on an individual's presence at certain locations, their job, their spoken language and accent or their race and ethnicity; prohibiting immigration actions at schools, hospitals, institutions of worship, courts, polling locations on election day, and other such locations; and requiring that they always obtain and present a judicial warrant before entering publicly owned facilities or private property to pursue individuals.

The increasing conflicts between state and federal authorities can also be seen in the efforts in Minnesota to charge ICE agents and their top leaders with crimes, including murder and kidnapping. The federal government is blocking access to evidence and claiming only they can prosecute federal agents but state officials are persisting.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 30, 2026

Significant is that the executive continues to openly destroy existing arrangements and any rule of law, inside and outside of the country, including regularly going counter to court rulings concerning ICE and building these detention centers. The danger of civil war remains. There is also growing consciousness that the widespread demand Not in Our Name! Not in Our Community! must be and is being implemented by the people themselves, organizing to abolish ICE and strengthening their self-reliant actions.

In addition, on April 15, tax day in the U.S. when income taxes to be paid came due, there were hundreds of actions demanding No Taxes for War! Abolish ICE and Fund Our Rights! There was a broad stand against war on Iran as criminal, and rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump's demands for yet another $200 billion in war funding. The first week of war alone cost more than $11 billion and daily costs are close to $1 billion.

There is a long-standing tradition in the U.S. reflected in the slogan No Taxation Without Representation. The current situation, where Congress refuses to use its authority to stop the wars and stop the funding, is again bringing home that Congress and the President in no way represent the people and that there can be no reliance on these outdated and failed institutions, including the upcoming November elections.

While already there are efforts to divert people into election campaigns, these many demonstrations and meetings, rapid response and mutual aid organizing, show that the peoples are persisting in their own independent efforts with workers playing a vital role. Nurses, teachers, public sector workers, farm workers, day laborers, construction workers, and their unions are all part of these growing efforts to block the drive of the executive, in service to the oligarchs, to overwhelm and defeat resistance. They are organizing to keep the initiative in their hands and to strengthen and broaden the organizing, including persisting with weekly demonstrations in various cities against war and for rights.

Philadelphia, PA, May 1, 2026

Another part of resistance is that among the soldiers. With the start of the war on Iran, with its open bombing of children and schools, there has been a significant increase in efforts to declare conscientious objector status, which immediately removes the person from combat. The organizations that assist soldiers in doing so have had a huge increase in calls and requests. Most say they do not want to bomb and terrorize children and schools. Consciousness that these are war crimes and crimes against humanity and that the war itself is aggression and criminal is growing among both soldiers and higher military ranks as well.

As part of preparing for future ground invasions, so far being avoided by Trump, the Pentagon funding bill that passed, means all 18-year-old men will be automatically registered with the Army, with the military securing data from social security, schools, etc. to create a national database. Up until now it has been voluntary.

In addition, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth continues to fire top generals, the most recent being the Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, and two other senior military leaders. George is a life-long military man who served numerous combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Given the executive cannot use war to unite the military bureaucracy, as occurred in the past, now the executive is creating its own force of loyalists and those ready to carry out the crimes demanded, whether against Iran, in Gaza, the Caribbean, or anywhere the executive dictates. At this point all the top generals and admirals in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are the most experienced and knowledgeable about military standards and laws of war, including protecting civilians, have been removed, except the head of the Marine Corps.

The executive seems to think that putting in place loyalists will solve any problems of resistance within the military. However, the military does not pledge allegiance to the president, but to the Constitution, and to protecting it from enemies, foreign and domestic. These actions are causing difficulties within the ranks of the military and among soldiers, in that they have no confidence in the integrity and abilities of those being put in command.

Hegseth and Trump still seem to think eliminating top forces will solve their problems but they leave out that the youth targeted to be soldiers are increasingly finding ways to resist, including as conscientious objectors, or not volunteering at all. The anti-war and pro-social stands of the people are firm and growing stronger, as May Day actions showed.

Trump's efforts to portray himself as a peacemaker and top negotiator have also failed. He brags about negotiating from a position of strength and that his threats to obliterate Iran give him such a position. Meanwhile, the current joke promoted by the monopoly media and among what is called his social media "base" is "here goes another TACO Tuesday," TACO being Trump Always Chickens Out! The view that Iran has the upper hand and, as it is commonly put here, has just begun to fight, is widespread.

Dallas, TX, May 1, 2026

(Photos: @liunaeastern, fibonnacciblue.bsky.social, AFL-CIO, AFSCME)

Google Employees Speak Out Against Use of Artificial Intelligence by U.S. Department of War

In an open letter, Google employees working on artificial intelligence (AI) projects expressed concerns about the company's ongoing discussions with the U.S. Department of War, arguing that the technology is not suitable for "classified workloads." The letter urged CEO Sundar Pichai not to allow the company's AI tools to be used by the Department of War in classified settings. "We feel that our proximity to this technology creates a responsibility to highlight and prevent its most unethical and dangerous uses," the letter read. "Therefore, we ask you to refuse to make our AI systems available for classified workloads."

The employees stated that they want to see AI benefit humanity and not be used in "inhumane or extremely harmful ways." As people working directly with AI, they noted that these systems "do make mistakes."

Reports indicate that "the Department of War is seeking to preserve all flexibility in defense and not be limited by warnings from the technology's creators against powering weapons with unreliable AI. Google's agreement requires it to help in adjusting the company's AI safety settings and filters at the government's request."

Mexico

No to Military Integration with the United States

– Pablo Moctezuma Barragán –

Mexico is bound by its Constitution to oppose interventions. Today we are witnessing the U.S. attacking Iran, assassinating its leader Ayatollah Khamenei and members of his family, supporting the Zionist genocide in Palestine and Lebanon, attacking Venezuela, kidnapping President Maduro and Deputy Cilia, bombing ships in the Caribbean, and imposing an energy blockade on Cuba, implementing a genocidal policy. It brutally represses migrants within its own borders and those who support them, employing the utmost cruelty and even murder. Our country is obliged to clearly distance itself from these crimes committed by our northern neighbour.

Article 89, Section X of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States mandates the observance of "the self-determination of peoples; non-intervention; the peaceful settlement of disputes; the prohibition of the threat or use of force in international relations; the legal equality of states; international cooperation for development; the respect, protection, and promotion of human rights; and the struggle for international peace and security."

Mexico is a country that has been characterized by its solidarity with other peoples and has condemned fascists: Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Pinochet and the apartheid regime in South Africa. Historically, Mexico has raised its voice in defence of the peoples; that has been our tradition, including in 1961, when our country refused to sever ties with Cuba, as the U.S. had ordered.

During World War II, when we were allies of the United States, the U.S. military attempted to enter Mexican territory in 1941 and 1942 under the pretext of security and aid. In response, General Lázaro Cárdenas, who was then Secretary of National Defence, physically blocked U.S. troops from entering our country. They wanted to enter Bahía Magdalena and Santa Rosalía in Baja California, so he mobilized the population and courageously prevented it. Furthermore, he rejected U.S. technical aid for the construction of airfields, arguing that Mexico could do it on its own. He was well aware of the danger of allowing U.S. armed forces into our territory.

But decades later, a reversal came with neo-liberalism and neo-colonialism, implemented by Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who began the "integration" into North America. First came economic integration through the Free Trade Agreement; then political integration, by introducing "alternation" and the typical U.S. two-party model, where Democrats and Republicans take turns in power.

Subsequently, the PRI-PAN coalition began Mexico's military integration with the United States. On March 23, 2003, in Waco, Texas, the leaders of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada -- Fox, Bush and Martin -- signed the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). They merged the security forces of the three countries and began subjecting our armed forces to the provisions of the U.S. Northern Command, which seeks to place the armed forces from Alaska to southern Chiapas -- including Puerto Rico and the Bahamas -- under the Pentagon's control, according to its founding document.

This integration/subordination deepened under Felipe Calderón, who for the first time included Mexico in military exercises in Mayport, Florida, in 2009. The U.S. empire began its UNITAS military exercises on August 28, 1960, aimed at containing the Cuban Revolution and popular discontent in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since then, the U.S. Navy has conducted military exercises in Latin America with the support of countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile and others, which had long periods of dictatorship. Mexico never participated in these exercises until Obama asked Calderón to have the Mexican Navy take part in them. The illegitimate president agreed, violating the Mexican Constitution, which stipulates that the Mexican armed forces cannot participate in manoeuvres led by foreign military forces.

Furthermore, they established the Binational Office at 256 Reforma Avenue, where all U.S. military intelligence agencies -- the DIA, NSA, NRO, CIA, DEA, ATF, ICE and others -- began operating openly, with their armed agents moving about on our territory. Additionally, they authorized the overflight of drones in our skies.

During Enrique Peña Nieto's six-year term, military cooperation intensified through training, joint exercises, and U.S. military flights over Mexican territory, in addition to advisory and training activities. There was a U.S. military presence in the State of Mexico, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, and Jalisco. Approximately 1,200 U.S. military flights were recorded in Mexico during that period, under the pretext of intelligence and training activities.

Mexico continued to participate in UNITAS manoeuvres throughout Peña Nieto's six-year term and joined the exercises organized and funded by the U.S. Southern Command, known as "Tradewinds," focused on "Caribbean security." These exercises are funded through the U.S. Southern Command. And what is their objective? General Laura Richardson, Commander of U.S. Southern Command, stated in speeches and interviews that Latin America and the Caribbean are strategically important to the U.S. because of their natural resources: oil, gas, gold, critical minerals, 31 per cent of the world's freshwater, 30 per cent of agricultural land, and more than 50 per cent of the world's soybeans. Furthermore, 60 per cent of the world's lithium is located in the Bolivia-Argentina-Chile triangle. Thus, Richardson describes the region as strategic and essential to the national security and economy of the U.S.

Furthermore, the commander described Russia, China and Iran as a direct threat to the democracies of the region. In an interview with the Atlantic Council, she stated that they pose strategic threats to Latin America and the Caribbean, that they are adversaries, that they threaten stability in Latin America, and that they have the support of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, whose military alliances have exacerbated instability. Unfortunately, years later, the Mexican government authorized [participation in] the U.S. Southern Command's "Tradewinds 2022" military exercises not just abroad, but on Mexican territory!

In October 2021, Richardson highlighted the "protective" role her country will play in the region. This is because they are "good neighbours" and [we] must "look out for one another." This "obliges" the U.S. to take charge of the fight against its adversaries. They use the pretext of providing assistance to be able to intervene and control. Since then, we have been wondering: what is Mexico doing in exercises with the Southern Command?

Incidentally, on March 24, 2022, the head of the U.S. Northern Command, Glen VanHerck, stated during a hearing before a U.S. Senate committee that he was concerned about the threat posed by the destabilizing activities of China and Russia in Mexico, which put "U.S. national security at risk."

Peña Nieto also integrated us into exercises with U.S. Northern Command and the U.S. Coast Guard, in the NAMSI GOMEX exercises, to "protect the law of the sea." The agreement was signed by Vicente Fox within the framework of the SPP, but it was in 2017 that exercises were held in Tampico, in 2018 in Manzanillo, in 2020 in Puerto Chiapas and in 2022 in Cozumel. Shamefully, on April 21, 2024, military exercises were held in Texas to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the heroic defence of the port of Veracruz against the Yankee invader! What are they going to teach us about the law of the sea, when they blockade Cuba, riddle the crews of ships in the Caribbean with bullets, and hijack and steal oil tankers in international waters?

Before the end of his administration, in November 2018, Peña Nieto included Mexico in the Bilateral Military Cooperation Roundtable (BMCR) between Mexico and the United States in Colorado Springs -- the headquarters of U.S. Northern Command -- to align the Secretariats of National Defence and the Navy with U.S. Northern Command, under the pretext of combatting drug trafficking.

The so-called war on drugs throughout the region is an excuse for the U.S. to intervene in nations when it is the one responsible for drug trafficking: they purchase the drugs and distribute them across a territory five times larger than Mexico. Despite the fact that the U.S. has 19 intelligence agencies, the business continues, and there their banks launder more than $700 billion in drug money. They established the first cocaine laboratories in South America and crack laboratories in the United States.

The business continues with the complicity of the DEA, the CIA, the Pentagon and the FBI. The U.S. military fuelled the heroin market from Vietnam when they invaded it and the opium market from Afghanistan. The United States manufactures weapons and sells them to drug cartels. Over the course of 50 years of the so-called war on drugs, the drug trade has continued to grow, as it is one of the pillars of our neighbour's economy. Thus, the war on drugs is merely a pretext for intervention and control, as well as being a lucrative business.

North American military integration, driven by governments of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and National Action Party (PAN), which led us to participate abroad in military exercises with the United States, continued to advance, but now on Mexican soil. From May 7 to 21, 2022, the Tradewinds military exercises took place in Quintana Roo, led by U.S. Southern Command and the Mexican Navy. In 2024, the Mexican government authorized the entry of U.S. military personnel with weapons to train Mexican troops in Temamatla and San Miguel de los Jagüeyes, in Santa Gertrudis and Chihuahua, and later in Valle de Bravo.

In recent years, there have been training, exchanges, coordination, intelligence and logistics cooperation, and exercises in Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa and Veracruz. Now, in 2026, the plan is for Mexican military personnel to participate in three exercises in the U.S. -- in Mississippi, Virginia and New York -- in addition to the exercises led by U.S. Southern Command in Panama and Antigua and Barbuda.

The agreements are presented to us as a way to strengthen bilateral relations to consolidate friendship and cooperation between Mexico and the United States. Friendship? When they repress Mexicans on their own soil, labelling them as criminals and rapists. They also talk about human rights training -- they, who separate families and deny all human rights to millions of migrants. Security? When it is they who threaten to invade us.

They talk about training in combat tactics, rescue operations, shooting exercises, and free-fall infiltration drills, as well as air-to-ground bombing. Do they want to train us to bomb countries like Iran, kidnap presidents, assassinate leaders, bomb hospitals, homes and schools, or electrical facilities?

They also talk about intelligence sharing. For what purpose? So that the U.S. Army and Navy can know our territory, our military, its facilities, its capabilities and weaknesses, inside and out, in addition to having privileged information they will use against us.

And they talk about training in topics like "providing humanitarian assistance"-- when they block Cuba from receiving oil? And regarding gender rights, when the main victims of their wars and repressive policies in the U.S. are girls and women, what are those who bombed a girls' elementary school in Miyab, Iran, going to teach us about gender rights? What rights are they talking about when the U.S. president himself, Donald Trump, declares that he does not recognize international law?

We must open our eyes, remember history, and let this tragic present serve as a warning to us. Let us not get entangled in the war plans of the U.S., which constantly threatens to invade us. Mexico must defend, now more than ever, its sovereignty and its commitment to peace.

Are we going to open our doors to and collaborate with those who have invaded us 11 times? They took more than half of our territory and have been insisting on the option of invading us for the past five years. A country that from 1982 to 2019 has promoted 350 coups d'état, 150 of which were successful. A country that orchestrated the coup and assassination of President Francisco I. Madero, and later the assassination of President Venustiano Carranza, orchestrated by the oil companies. A country that for 200 years, since Joel Roberts Poinsett, its first ambassador, arrived in Mexico, has pursued a policy of interference, fomenting internal divisions that have had tragic consequences for the Mexican nation.

The U.S. objective over the past five decades has been to integrate -- or annex -- Canada and Mexico as part of its national security and as its own territorial base to serve as a platform in its struggle to maintain the hegemony of its empire. The long-term -- undeclared -- objective is to establish military bases and platforms for its missile program on our territory, to enlist our youth for the wars it is preparing across the globe, and, of course, to exploit our diverse resources, particularly our energy resources. The United States wants to subordinate us to its plans. This is cause for concern, especially in light of recent U.S. actions, which are bringing the world closer to a nuclear conflict.

The Mexican Constitution establishes that national sovereignty resides essentially and originally with the people. The armed forces are at the service of the Mexican nation, not of foreign interests. The Organic Law of the Mexican Army and Air Force mandates that their primary mission is to defend the integrity, independence, and sovereignty of the nation. According to Article 76, Section III, there can be no subordination to a foreign command without violating sovereignty.

We must not subordinate ourselves to the military actions of the United States or its war machine. The Constitution prohibits it. The people of Mexico want peace.

The time has come to reverse the neo-liberal and neo-colonial policies imposed on us by the PRI-PAN coalition, which must be eradicated in order to develop a new policy for the defence of national, economic, political and military sovereignty. We must break all treaties that prevent our full independence and place us in grave danger.

No, no, we do not want to be a U.S. colony! Yes, yes, yes, we do want to be a free and sovereign nation!

Philippines

National Democratic Front of the Philippines Calls for Stepped-Up Actions to Defeat U.S.-Backed Marcos II Dictatorship

Banner of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in demonstration in Manilla, March 29, 2026

During the brutal U.S. puppet dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and under conditions of martial law, on April 24, 1973, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) was founded with the aim "to arouse, organize and mobilize the broad masses of the Filipino people in their millions to advance the revolution and attain victory." The NDFP was established on the initiative of José María Sison, the founder and leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New People's Army (NPA).

Today, the NDFP has grown to be a broad alliance of some 24 revolutionary and democratic organizations of the people, which, along with the CPP and NPA, form the three pillars of revolutionary resistance against the brutal U.S. puppet dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (Marcos II), rallying the 117 million Filipinos under its 12-point nation-building program.

The NDFP is stepping up efforts to organize the people to establish local organs of political power at the neighbourhood, municipal, district and provincial levels in 73 of 81 provinces in the Philippines so that the people can exercise sovereign decision-making power over their lives. NDFP Secretary General Elias Dipasupil recently noted that the national democratic revolution "continues to advance nationwide," pointing to ongoing armed and mass struggles in both rural and urban areas. He noted that despite sustained counterinsurgency campaigns by the U.S.-Marcos II dictatorship, the NPA continues to grow and retains support in the countryside, while protest actions and organizing efforts have been stepped up in cities.

On the occasion of its 53rd anniversary, the NDFP reiterated its 12-point program as the framework guiding its political objectives, including calls for agrarian reform, national industrialization, expanded democratic rights, and an independent foreign policy

The NDFP has also persisted in calling for renewed peace negotiations with the current Philippine government in line with the aspirations of the Filipino people to secure a just peace to end the more than 50-year civil war pitting the Filipino people organized by the CPP, NPA and NDFP against successive U.S.-backed puppet governments. More than 10 important agreements have been concluded with the government, including the Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 which sets forth the need and mechanisms for addressing the roots of the armed conflict through basic economic, social and political reforms and which also laid out a framework for further negotiations.

However, at every turn the Philippine government, including the Marcos II regime in power now, has sabotaged these agreements. The current regime is following in the steps of its predecessor, that of the Rodrigo Duterte regime (2016-2022). It has rebuffed efforts to hold peace talks with the NDFP and is carrying out assassinations of NDFP personnel and continuing to target the NDFP as a terrorist organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

The current U.S.-Marcos II regime is trying to outdo the Duterte regime, intensifying the anti-communist military terror campaign aimed at wiping out the CPP, the NPA and the NDFP. However, this campaign has had the opposite effect as the Filipino people stand as one to face the U.S.-backed Philippine state in every arena of battle. They are standing firm in their aspiration to realize the ultimate political goal of establishing a democratic people's republic in their own image.

On this occasion, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) sends its heartfelt congratulations to the leadership of the NDFP and all its militants across the country and abroad whose sacrifice and struggle hold the promise of a life in the Philippines without the hardships imposed by the subservience of successive governments to the U.S. imperialists. The achievements of the NDFP are many, seen in the conditions of life in the areas where the people rule themselves, feed themselves, educate themselves and learn how to wage effective struggle to liberate the Philippines.

CPC(M-L) calls on the Canadian people to step up support for the fighting people of the Philippines who are making their contribution to a world free from U.S. imperialism, for peace and for the independence and self-determination of all nations and peoples.

(National Democratic Front of the Philippines. Photo: NDFP)

Filipinos Hold Month-Long Demonstrations Against U.S.-Led Balikatan 2026 War Exercises

Manila, May 7, 2026

Filipinos organized continuous actions against the Balikatan 2026 U.S.-Philippines Joint Military exercises, the largest to date, held from April 20 to May 8. Broad sections of the Filipino people condemned the deepening militarization of their country under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., opposing the Philippines being used as a forward launching pad for U.S. aggression and occupation in the region.

Balikatan 2026 involved more than 17,000 troops in aggressive war preparations under U.S. command. Besides U.S. and Filipino troops, armed forces from Australia, Japan, France, Canada, New Zealand and other countries participated in live drills near the South China Sea and in the north of the Philippine island Luzon.

The revolutionary mass organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) denounced the war exercises and particularly the displacement of fishers and farmers while the war exercises were going on. Bayan condemned the live-firing of a U.S. Tomahawk missile that travelled approximately 630 kilometres from Tacloban City to Nueva Ecija, noting that the missile carried a warhead weighing around 450 kilograms and passed over several civilian communities during the exercise.

"We reject war as an instrument of foreign policy," Bayan reiterated. "The increasing U.S. military presence and provocative war exercises seriously undermine efforts toward genuine peace and regional cooperation."

Progressive, workers', students' and environmental organizations also called for an end to joint military agreements. These include the Visiting Forces Agreements between the Philippines and the U.S., Canada and other countries and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which expand the presence of the U.S. military and other foreign forces in the Philippines, creating insecurity and instability for the people and causing destruction of the natural environment.

On May 7, outside Camp Aguinaldo, the general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, members of Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment and other progressive groups denounced Balikatan and the plunder of the country's natural resources to serve U.S. strategic interests.

They condemned the expansion of the military partnership between the Philippines and the U.S. and recent agreements on critical minerals and mining. Among these are the recent Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Philippine governments on cooperation on critical minerals and the Pax Silica initiative that would lead to the further plunder of the Philippines' natural resources, impoverishment of the people, displacement of the Indigenous Peoples from their lands and destruction of the natural environment.

They demanded that the Balikatan military exercises be scrapped and all U.S. and foreign military withdraw from the Philippines.

(With files from Bulatlat. Photos: Kilusang Uno Mayo, Bulatlat)

Ukraine

Mounting Resistance to Forced Conscription

– Peggy Morton –

Opposition in Ukraine to forced conscription is becoming more widespread, news agencies report, with state violence being met with equally forceful resistance. In the second half of April, the terror unleashed by military recruiters across Ukraine intensified sharply. It is a daily war by the Ukro-nazi regime against Ukrainians that is growing increasingly brutal with each passing month. Media reports indicate several military recruiters have been killed of late and there are many more cases of resistance to forcible detentions. Recruiters are now conducting "manhunts" in large, armed groups, concealing their faces in the manner of criminal attacks by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States.

Artem Dmitruk, a former member of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's party, recently posted on Telegram: "The recruiters are simply people trying to kill you, and it is your duty to defend yourself and survive. They have no rights or authority. They are simply Zelenskyy's killers, aiding and abetting a genocide against the Ukrainian people." He spoke of video clips showing women being beaten and gassed by "recruiters" for stepping in to resist forcible conscription of a man on the street and another of a man being beaten then detained by hoodlum "recruiters."

Military conscription in Ukraine has become a lucrative business. In April, Ukrainian media published the military commissariats' "price lists" for evading conscription, citing specific cases from different regions. The cheapest option is to have one's name removed from the recruiters' wanted list. The price ranges from a price equivalent to U.S.$2,000, while the most expensive is to purchase a fake disability authorization to leave Ukraine entirely. This can cost up to U.S.$50,000.

Bribery, protection money and outright theft by recruitment officers and agencies is widespread. One officer with the Bucha Territorial Military Commissariat in the Kiev region declared his wealth as including more than one kilogram of gold bullion, equivalent to U.S.$175,000 of wealth, plus currency, gold in jewelry, and expensive cars, acquired from what he called "savings."

Ukrainian Reactionaries and Promoters
of Nazi Collaborators Hold Triennial
Congress in Toronto

– Peggy Morton –

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) held its 28th triennial congress in Toronto from November 13 to 16, 2025. Founded in 1940 on an anti-communist basis in line with imperialist opposition to the Soviet Union, the UCC owes its current prominence to the Cold War efforts of the Canadian state to prop it up as the "official" voice of Ukrainian Canadians. This was done to displace the well-established organizations that were sympathetic to communism and social progress in Canada, such as the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians (AUUC) that grew out of the Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association (ULFTA) founded in Winnipeg in 1918. In 1940, the Canadian government banned the ULFTA, seized its assets and gave them to the pro-fascist Ukrainian National Federation.

6th Convention of the Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association (ULFTA), in front of the
Ukrainian Labour Temple in Winnipeg, January 1925.

The UCC was notably bolstered in 1950 when the Canadian state brought to Canada some 2,000 Ukrainian reactionaries and Nazi collaborators, allowing them to escape being brought to justice for their war crimes. Another 1,000 Nazi collaborators, mainly from the Baltic states were also permitted entry to Canada during the same period.

The official stamp of the Canadian government's approval of the UCC was also evident with the participation in its congress of various politicians, including former Senator Romeo Dallaire, Senator Stan Kutcher, then Minister of National Defence David McGuinty, and former cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland. Also taking part were a former Justice Minister of Alberta, a former deputy chief of staff for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, members of academia, journalists and business executives of Ukrainian background, as well as leaders from various Ukrainian Canadian organizations with a reactionary bent in keeping with that of the UCC.

The proceedings of the UCC congress put the anti-communist basis of the organization on full display.

For example, the first day of the congress, November 13, featured as its main event a town hall on "Canadian Leadership on Holodomor Awareness and Education" to promote this anti-communist falsification of history and attempts to spread it within Canada and abroad. Not surprisingly, the UCC took its cue for the town hall on "Canadian leadership" from special remarks delivered by U.S. "journalist and historian," Anne Applebaum, given over video. Billed as the author of the book Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, her other books display a similar morbid anti-communist obsession with spreading disinformation about the Soviet Union and the people's republics of eastern Europe.

The town hall had three sessions:

- The Canadian Experience: Building Capacity
- Education in Canada and Beyond: Mainstreaming the Holodomor
- The Global Experience: Forging Partnerships

A prominent participant in these sessions was the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC) that is part of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies based at the University of Alberta. Canada is one of the first of the small minority of countries that back the Holodomor myth as fact and promote it as official state policy. The CIUS was instrumental in reviving the Nazi and Hearst newspaper myths about a deliberate famine in the 1980's. .

On November 14, the main event featured Chrystia Freeland in what was then her new capacity as Canada's Special Representative for Reconstruction in Ukraine, in both a "fireside chat" and as a keynote speaker. Freeland was later caught in a conflict of interest for taking up a similar position for the neo-Nazi government headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine and had to resign her seat in January of this year, leading to the April 13 by-election in University--Rosedale.

The sessions with Freeland were followed by a lunch with Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine, Natalka Cmoc, and Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada, Andrii Plakhotniuk. The two were to "share insights on Canada--Ukraine relations, current priorities, and the role of our communities in strengthening ties between the two countries."

The afternoon's keynote speaker was Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer and head of the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv. She was billed as leading "efforts to advance democratic reforms, protect human rights, and document war crimes committed during Russia's aggression against Ukraine." The UCC notes that the Center for Civil Liberties was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2022 "in recognition of its work promoting civil society and justice." To anyone paying attention, such a plaudit puts this organization in the company of warmongers, reactionaries and counter-revolutionaries that the imperialists promote to advance their aims of aggression, war and regime change.

Some notable workshops on November 15 included one called "Navigating Disinformation," as if the U.S./NATO proxy war is not itself the product of imperialist disinformation aimed as justifying NATO expansion and aggression against Russia. The session claimed, "In today's information environment, disinformation threatens democracy and community trust. Join international experts Anatoliy Grudz [Director of Research, Ted Rogers School of Management], Justin Ling [journalist], Philip Mai [Senior Researcher and Co-Director, Social Media Lab, Toronto Metropolitan University], and Alexandra Pavliuc [researcher at Oxford and Senior Data Analyst at Global Affairs] as they explore how to recognize and respond to false narratives, strengthen media literacy, and build resilience against hostile influence campaigns. The discussion will highlight tools and strategies for protecting our community against manipulation both online and offline."

Another workshop called "Engaging Government" focused on promoting the UCC's narrow chauvinist aims within government. The workshop's description reads: "How can we build stronger relationships with policymakers and ensure our community's voice is heard? Hear from the experienced voices of Tyler Shandro [former Minister of Justice of Alberta], Danylo Korbabicz [Executive Director, Association of Manitoba Municipalities], Denis Volkov [Partner, Prospectus Public Affairs], and Marianna Tretiak [Chair, American Coalition for Ukraine] as they share strategies for engaging officials at all levels of government, strengthening advocacy, and driving meaningful change. Together, we will explore how to amplify Ukrainian Canadian priorities in today's complex political landscape."

The proceedings on the final day of the UCC congress, November 16, included a report on the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) from former UCC President Paul Grod, now UWC President. The UCC is a member of the UWC, which is the international body that advances the same reactionary aims as the UCC, including the veneration of Ukrainian fascists, war criminals and Nazi collaborators from World War II, as well as backing the descendants of these forces running amok in Ukraine today.

It is also important to note that the UCC is a promoter and funder of the vile anti-communist monument in Ottawa that seeks to glorify Nazism and portray Ukrainian collaborators with Nazi fascism and the "victims" of the imaginary Holodomor as victims of communism. Its membership and other participants in its congress have direct ties to the monument. For example, one speaker at the congress was Krystina Waler, Director of Ukrainian Initiatives at the Temerty Foundation. This foundation was established by James Temerty, a key UCC member whose family was listed in the category of those who contributed more than $100,000 to the monument as well as has purchased several "bricks" with the names of family members they claim were "victims of communism" that were to be displayed as part of the anti-communist monument. Of course, the proponents of the monument, which include the Government of Canada, have not been able to put up any names because they are rife with war criminals and Nazi collaborators. Meanwhile, the monument is falling into disrepair already, with maintenance costs, to be paid by Canadian taxpayers, expected to be far higher than projected.

It should also be recalled that the shady history of the UCC was brought to broad attention on September 22, 2023, when the Nazi collaborator Yaroslav Hunka was brought to the House of Commons on the initiative of the UCC. There, he received multiple ovations by parliamentarians for "fighting against Russia" during World War II. This was met by outrage from coast to coast to coast, as well as being decried internationally. Hunka is a longstanding member and contributor to the UCC. In a passing notice on its website, the UCC did not acknowledge why the incident was so offensive to so many people and refused to mention Hunka by name.

The activities of the UCC are of concern to Canadians and Quebeckers who honour the memory and sacrifice of all those who fought to defeat Nazi Germany and its collaborators in World War II. They reject how the UCC, with the backing of the Canadian state tramples on the historic verdict of World War II that fascism and Nazism must be vanquished to the dustbin of history.

The UCC's activities and the privileged positions the organization and its members have been given in Canadian society, including a seat at the cabinet table to set foreign policy according to their chauvinist and anti-Russian aims, are also of great concern. The reactionary aims of the UCC are used to give legitimacy to NATO's expansion and warmongering aims against Russia, in which Canada is becoming more and more embroiled, to the tune of tens of billions of dollars, either for funding that is said to be for Ukraine's reconstruction or increased war spending and the militarization of Canada's economy. These aims are anathema to the broad desire of working people that the social wealth they produce must go to funding social programs not be misappropriated and misspent on war, and for Canada to be a Zone for Peace. This will necessarily require getting Canada out of NATO and ending Canada's involvement in the U.S./NATO proxy war in Ukraine.

(With files from UCC)

Canadian Government Support for
Corruption in Ukraine

– Nick Lin –

The Government of Canada, first through the Trudeau Liberal government and now through the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney, continues to provide large sums of money to Ukraine in the name of all kinds of high ideals. Among these are helping Ukraine's reconstruction, helping it defeat Russia, supporting human rights and the like.

As of early 2026, Canada continues its strong support for Ukraine with over $25.5 billion in total aid committed since 2022. Key 2026 commitments include $2 billion in military aid for the 2026-27 fiscal year, $1.3 billion in loan guarantees for reconstruction, and over $396 million in ongoing humanitarian assistance. The military component includes the delivery of over 400 armoured vehicles, featuring 66 Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) 6s and 383 Senator armoured vehicles. It includes 2,000 additional 155mm ammunition rounds, smoke ammunition, gas masks and aircraft bombs while deliveries of motors for U.S. AIM-7 and AIM-9 air-to-air missiles and the Norwegian National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) continue into 2026. Canada's military training mission remains active, training Ukrainian forces in coordination with NATO.

Canada claims its investments are focused on long-term sustainability. It is counting on the so-called Coalition of the Willing -- cobbled together by Britain, France and Germany in 2025 -- to ensure security, while it also supports Ukraine's integration into the European Union.

In 2026, Canada is providing a $1.3 billion loan guarantee to the World Bank to aid Ukraine's reconstruction; a $322 million loan guarantee to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to support Ukrainian gas imports and energy security; additional aid channeled to allegedly maintain essential government services, such as pensions, and for the IMF program. In addition, the updated Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) is said to provide a framework for ongoing commercial investment.

Canada also claims to be providing the following "humanitarian and development assistance" in 2026:

- more than $396 million in humanitarian aid allegedly committed to aid displaced persons and emergency services;

- "energy and reconstruction" funding for repairing infrastructure, including significant contributions to the World Bank's Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF);

- funding from 2026 through to 2031 for what are called "small-scale projects targeting inclusive recovery, digital health solutions, and grassroots democracy."

After Carney's "surprise" trip to Ukraine in August 2025, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said that Canada was giving Ukraine more than $843 million to buy armoured vehicles, medical supplies and other "critical equipment"; $680 million to buy military equipment from the U.S. via NATO, about $225 million for drone, counter-drone and electronic warfare capabilities; $165 million to support Canada's work in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and $140 million to source ammunition and explosives through the Czech Ammunition Initiative.

Since 2022, Ukraine has received some U.S.$421 billion in military, financial and "humanitarian aid" from other countries. Canada itself has provided CA$13 billion in financial aid and CA$6.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine, with additional commitments bringing the total up to CA$25.5 billion. Besides this, the government fast tracked immigration to Canada from Ukraine and pledged CA$117 million to settle some 210,000 people who entered the country availing themselves of that privileged status. This is in sharp contrast to Canada's treatment of refugees from other countries, most notably various African countries, Haiti and Palestine, effectively barring entry to Canada to the people of the latter during a genocide.

Meanwhile, the Canadian-U.S. company Brookfield Asset Management, with over $1 trillion in assets under management, is involved in various infrastructure projects in Ukraine, including in the energy sector. Other Canadian companies include Aecon and Cameco in the construction and energy sectors respectively, Fairfax Financial Holdings in agriculture, Bombardier in railway manufacturing, and Roshel in armoured vehicles. Reports inform that many other firms are exploring opportunities in sectors such as energy, IT and mining through initiatives supported by organizations like UkraineInvest and the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce. UkraineInvest is a Ukrainian government agency that claims to "help investors navigate opportunities and access incentives and war-risk insurance." Natural Resources Canada led a "Rebuild Ukraine Conference," November 13-14, 2025 in Warsaw, Poland, with the aim of connecting Canadian companies "with Ukrainian decision-makers to facilitate reconstruction efforts."[1]

All of the sectors in which Canada is embroiled have been subject to corruption scandals, which are long-standing but have greatly increased since the U.S. and NATO staged the Maidan Coup in 2014, with considerable Canadian involvement.[2] A series of major corruption scandals in early 2023 involved several senior officials, governors, the Deputy Defense Minister Viacheslav Shapovalov and the deputy head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko.

Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2013 found that the police (49 per cent), medical and health services (41 per cent), and the education system (33 per cent) were the most common institutions where Ukrainians reported paying bribes. Political corruption is rampant. Politicians have been accused of using their positions for personal gain, including manipulating the privatization of state enterprises and engaging in corrupt practices related to land allocation. The lavish lifestyles of many politicians, often misaligned with their declared incomes, have generated public anger. While laws have been enacted to hold officials accountable for corruption, enforcement remains a challenge, and the perception persists that many corrupt officials remain unpunished.

As for Ukraine's judicial system, high-profile cases of corruption within the judiciary continue to emerge. Political influence, bribery and favouritism prevail as judges are subject to pressure to deliver specific verdicts, often benefiting those with political or financial power. The disparity in treatment between ordinary people and officials, with the latter often receiving lenient sentences is a notable feature of the judicial system.

In terms of business transactions, studies have shown a significant increase in bribery among top managers in recent years, with many companies willing to pay bribes to secure contracts or hide financial irregularities. Other forms of corruption are found in higher education, social security, health care and local politics, studies show.[3]

The problem of corruption goes right up to the presidency. An article from November 13, 2025 reports on a U.S.$100 million energy kickback scheme:

"Anti-corruption investigators allege a large kickback scheme of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of the value of supplier contracts, amounting to about U.S.$100 million (£76 million). Raids were carried out in 70 locations around the country on November 10. Seven people have been charged and five are in custody.

"The mastermind of the corrupt scheme is alleged to be Timur Mindich a businessman and film producer, who hastily fled Ukraine a day before the raids. What makes this very dangerous for Zelenskyy is that Mindich is the co-owner, with the Ukrainian president, of Kvartal 95 Studio. Kvartal is the media platform on which Zelenskyy established his pre-presidential fame as a comedian."[4]

Other reports indicate that the kickback operation made use of a regulation enacted during martial law (in place since February 2022) that prohibits contractors from claiming debts from companies deemed to be providing essential services, such as Energoatom. In July 2025, Zelenskyy's government was forced to repeal a law that stripped the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) of their independence. The law was introduced in the midst of the investigation into Energoatom. The government was forced to back down after widespread mass protests and pressure from the European Union.

As it stands, concerning the billions Canada has given to Ukraine, actual accounting to verify how all this money is really being used does not appear to exist. This is on top of the fact that much of the aid being sent by Canada and other countries is enriching arms manufacturers in an attempt to "win" the U.S./NATO proxy war being fought against Russia "to the last Ukrainian."

This lack of accounting and accountability runs parallel to the longstanding issue of corruption in Ukraine. Reports focusing on the Energoatom case pointedly overlook the fact that the U.S./NATO proxy war is a huge money pit. It involves the gross misappropriation and misuse of public funds by the Canadian government, which itself cannot be held to account and acts with impunity, as is the case in all the countries giving money hand over fist to Ukraine.

Canada's Ukraine spending spree is made even more objectionable given the various austerity measures imposed by the Carney government across the federal public service, including mass layoffs of workers. Its restructuring of the state includes privatization of aspects of health care and education. Its criminal irresponsibility, like that of other governments, includes refusing to guarantee that basic living conditions for Indigenous Peoples and their communities are looked after, including the provision of potable water and proper housing. The matter of accountability is a serious problem not only for Ukraine but for Canada as well.

One of these days, the truth about what has happened to the billions of dollars given by Canada to Ukraine is sure to be revealed.

Notes

1. According to various sources, the following are among the preferred areas of Canadian investment in Ukraine:

- Energy (including biogas and biomethane),

- Construction and infrastructure,

- Agribusiness,

- Mining and extractive industries,

- Information Technology (IT),

- Aerospace,

- Defence,

- Water and wastewater systems,

- Logistics and warehousing,

- Electronic communications,

- Health care, and

- Research and development.

2. This coup established the neo-Nazis in positions of power, following which a campaign to deprive Russian-speaking Ukrainians of basic rights, along with brutal murders and attacks were carried out in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, particularly the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts) and Crimea. The Zelenskyy government is a product of this coup d'état as is Russia's Special Military Operation launched to defend the Russian-speaking peoples in the face of the failure of the U.S., European Union, Canada and NATO to defend international rule of law and human rights.

3. "Corruption in Ukraine -- Corruption Index," Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto.

4. "Ukraine: energy corruption scandal threatens to derail Zelensky's government and undermine its war effort," Stefan Wolff and Tetyana Malyarenko, The Conversation, November 13, 2025.

Photo Review
May Day 2026

Working People Worldwide Militantly Affirm
Rights and Oppose U.S.-Led Imperialist
Aggression and War

Havana, Cuba

Working people around the world militantly affirmed their rights on May Day, the day of international working class unity and struggle. This includes not only their rights to decent living and working conditions, but their social and political rights so that they are the decision-makers in all the matters that affect their lives. Actions everywhere affirmed the unity of the international working class, especially in those countries and regions where working people are the most exploited by imperialist cartels and coalitions of oligopolies and supranational financial, military, political, cultural and social narrow private interests. Workers everywhere steadfastly opposed the brutal crimes, aggression, massacres, occupations and takeover organized by the U.S. imperialists and their Zionist accomplices and all those who aid and abet the commission of their crimes.

CANADA
Montreal

On May 1 and 2 in Montreal, more than 10,000 people took to the streets for marches organized for International Workers' Day.

On Friday, May 1, a crowd of over 3,000, mostly young people, including high school students, gathered in front of the Montreal Stock Exchange tower at Place Victoria to denounce the capitalist system of exploitation and affirm their aspirations for a future that defends the rights of all. Speakers took turns denouncing the Carney government's war preparations, its efforts to recruit young people into the army, the Zionist forces' attack the previous day on the Global Sumud Flotilla, and the genocide of the Palestinian people. Others spoke of the numerous injustices in society against young people, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and migrants; police harassment; the fact that many of them have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet; the housing crisis; attacks on health care workers and those in early childhood centres; and layoffs. They conveyed the strong desire among young people for change and to humanize the natural and social environment.

The heavy police presence -- on foot, horseback and bicycles, with numerous paddy wagons and their riot squad manoeuvres -- failed to intimidate the youth, who defied police attempts to confine the march and force it to go in circles. The young people managed to make their way from the Stock Exchange Tower to René-Lévesque Boulevard. The police used pepper spray and made arrests at the end of the march.

On Saturday, May 2, more than 7,000 people gathered in front of the Georges-Étienne Cartier statue near Jeanne-Mance Park, responding to the call of nine labour unions and federations, rights advocacy groups and student associations. Workers with flags, signs and banners arrived by bus from the Outaouais, Quebec City, Eastern Townships, Laurentians, Lanaudière and Chaudière-Appalaches regions, among others.

Construction workers were out in force, followed by various unions representing the health and education sectors, as well as workers who have been on strike or without a collective agreement for years. The issue of defending safe working and living conditions that reflect the level of responsibility of their jobs was central to their demands. Community organizations, part of the Community Organizations at the End of their Rope (Communautaire à boutte) movement, and student associations were also present.

This Quebec in motion to resist made its voice heard loud and clear with numerous signs opposing the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government's nation-wrecking, whether under former Premier Legault or current Premier Fréchette. Anti-worker laws and bills were condemned, as were all those aimed at silencing workers' voices.

The demonstrators marched along Park Avenue toward the downtown, rallying at Place des Festivals. Striking or locked out workers were warmly greeted and applauded. A union representative, a spokesperson for community organizations and a member of the Quebec Student Union each took turns defending the dignity of work and the key role of workers in society to block the destruction that is taking place. They denounced laws and economic measures that only serve to benefit wealthy private interests. Furthermore, they called for the withdrawal of Bill 1, the Quebec Constitution bill introduced by Justice Minister Jolin-Barrette, arguing that it aims to ensure the people have no say in decisions that affect them, which met with enthusiastic applause from the demonstrators.

Everyone present expressed their determination to step up the fight in defence of their interests, their dignity, their rights and the rights of all.

Quebec City

Ottawa

Gatineau

Toronto

May Day actions in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) highlighted struggles that workers are waging for their rights, for protection of public services and for an Ontario and Canada in which the rights of all are upheld. Besides other fights that the working people in Ontario are waging against the anti-social offensive of the Ford government, the struggle of postal workers to maintain the postal service across the country, to stand up to the concessions demanded by Canada Post and the attacks of the federal government and to achieve a collective agreement that is acceptable to them were on the minds of many. Likewise, health care and education workers presented their demands in street actions and social media posts to mark the day.

Education workers in Whitby organized an action at the office of the Member of the Provincial Parliament for Whitby to demand an end to the Ford government's attacks on education, teachers and education workers and the takeover of the duties of elected school trustees, and for increased investments in education. They were joined by the members of the Durham Region Labour Council, postal workers and others.

Activists of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) distributed close to 700 copies of the May Day statement of the Workers' Centre of CPC(M-L) to workers at three postal sorting stations -- in Toronto, Scarborough and Mississauga -- and to commuters in south Etobicoke at a militant picket at the Islington subway station. During the hour-long picket at the subway, dozens of people went out of their way to express their support for the action, particularly drawing attention to the banner calling for an anti-war government and flags in support of the Palestinian people. There were lively discussions and many passing drivers honked their horns in approval throughout.

Edmonton

May Day in Edmonton was celebrated with a militant march and rally with workers from many sectors of the economy, migrant workers, and many active in support of the worldwide resistance to imperialist war, aggression and genocide and in support of revolutionary Cuba, the resistance of the Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemeni and Iranian peoples, and all who are fighting for their right to be.

The evening’s events began at Gazebo Park where emcee Merryn Edwards greeted everyone and introduced the speakers. The first speaker was James Ball, President of Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Local 730. He explained the negative aspects of the collective agreement currently being voted on by postal workers, gave many examples of the destruction of the public post office by successive governments and the proposals CUPW has made which would contribute to nation-building.

Karen Kuprys, Vice-President of United Nurses of Alberta spoke about the drive by the United Conservative Party (UCP) government to dismantle the public health care system and the many anti-worker and anti-social acts of the Danielle Smith UCP government. "We the workers do not consent," she said, affirming that together workers will defend their rights and the rights of all.

Cynthia Palmaria from Migrante Alberta spoke about how the capitalist crisis is impacting workers in Alberta, the Philippines and around the world, with rising costs of living at the same time that attacks on workers intensify. She called for justice for the Negros 19, who were massacred by the Philippine Army on April 19. She implicated Canada for its aggressive role in Philippines amidst rising resistance by Filipino workers, while others are forced to migrate in order to feed their families. The massacre occurred in the context of the Canadian Armed Forces' first ever participation in the U.S.-led Balikatan 2026 war exercises near the Philippines, and Canada's Status of Visiting Forces Agreement signed in November 2025, to facilitate greater involvement of the Canadian military in the Philippines.

Everyone then took part in a lively and militant march with banners and flags of many organizations and unions flying, along Whyte Avenue and up 103 Street to the Strathcona Community Centre where there were more speakers, refreshments and discussion.

Karm Ryan from United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 401 sent greetings to the rally. She said that the workers have said enough is enough to staffing shortages, rising workloads, inflation, and lack of support when they experience abuse from customers. They are in negotiations and are preparing for a fight for the wages that reflect the real cost of living, and working conditions which uphold the right to safety and an end to harassment, abuse, intimidation and violence.

Jay Procktor, a member of the Alberta Teachers' Association Executive Council also sent a message. He spoke about the strike waged by Alberta teachers six months ago, how teachers smashed the silence on the conditions of teaching and learning, and thanked everyone for their steadfast support. His main message was the need to “stop looking up; continue to look across at each other and remember the power you have, because working people are fit to run their own affairs.”

Peggy Morton, a member of the May Day Committee, spoke about the conditions at this time when U.S. imperialism is using extreme violence and destruction, but cannot bring the people to their knees. She saluted revolutionary Cuba and the resistance movements of the people of Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen and the Iranian resistance and all the peoples of the world fighting for their right to be. It is the working class which is taking up its responsibility to keep the oligarchs in check, and it is the people who are decisive, she said.

Ramon Antipan, spokesperson for Edmonton Cuba Solidarity Committee spoke about the genocidal assault on the Cuban people by the Trump administration, the resistance of the Cuban people and the importance of uniting to not permit Canada to buckle under U.S. threats and dictate.

Calgary

International Workers' Day in Calgary was marked by a militant picket in front of the U.S. Consulate in the heart of downtown Calgary during evening rush hour. Banners and placards were held high boldly declaring that the people stand with all those across the globe fighting for their right to be. During the picket and throughout the streets of Calgary, chants defending the rights of workers and defending the rights of all rang out non-stop.

A spokesperson for May Day Calgary explained that the decision was taken to picket in front of the U.S. Consulate to highlight Canadians' opposition to U.S. crimes against humanity and imperialist aggression. He also condemned the Carney government's support for aggression and the restructuring of the Canadian economy to serve imperialist war. He spoke about the resistance of the peoples at home and abroad and the role of the working class in keeping the oligarchs in check and to build new human-centred arrangements. Others who spoke included education workers, teachers, an organizer of Palestinian solidarity actions, a speaker on the campaign to stop cuts to Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) and a member of the collective formed to honour veterans of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion from Calgary. The May Day statement of CPC(M-L)'s Workers' Centre was warmly received by all.