¡Siempre Pa’lante!
DPC Quarterly Newsletter
December 2025
MAKE OUR AMERICAS A ZONE OF PEACE!
As we approach the beginning of a new year, Washington’s global war on humanity continues to expand with ever-increasing danger to all life on Earth. At home and abroad, our enemy is committed to re-colonizing the entirety of Our Americas: as a projection of force and intimidation in its escalating war on Venezuela, more than one hundred lives have been taken by US airstrikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Yankee imperialism has made clear, in both word and deed, its commitment to suffocating our Venezuelan sisters and brothers to bring about the complete collapse of the Bolivarian Republic. We refuse to stand idle as Washington moves to crush the valiant spirit of the Bolivarian process and impose itself on the state and territory of the Venezuelan people. Given the global reach of imperialism and its intent to protect its hegemonic dominance by any means necessary, all peoples and nations of the Americas are affected by such a grotesque display of unilateral, militaristic force.
Simultaneously, the genocidal terror and widespread deprivation visited upon the Palestinians of Gaza continues unabated, further undermining the credibility of the US-led international community, as well as the moral foundations of western civilization altogether. But so too does the resistance to Israel’s daily crimes against humanity and its determination to normalize and expand its illegitimate colonial project across the region. In Palestine we see both the catastrophic potential of humanity’s future, and the endurance of armed struggle which has preserved the dignity of the Palestinian people and ensured that its dedication to liberation, return, and the reclamation of their land will never be defeated.
In all corners of the world, our collective power must be brought to bear upon those who stand in the way of peace. In the new year, let us commit ourselves to the difficulties and endless possibilities of uncompromising struggle for land, independence, and socialism. The fate of our future generations depends upon our ability to recognize and embrace this historic task.
Build, Grow, and Defend a Zone of Peace in Our Americas!
Defend Venezuelan Sovereignty and the Bolivarian Revolution!
Glory to the Heroic Palestinian Resistance!
¡Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre y Socialista!
Recent Events
Brigada Filiberto Ojeda Ríos
In September, DPC members traveled to Puerto Rico for Brigada Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, our fourth brigade to the archipelago. Joined by Boricuas from both the diaspora and archipelago, we strengthened our united front against U.S. imperialism while deepening our understanding of militarization, repression, and privatization, and how our communities continue to resist these forces. In Boquerón, we met with ¡Defiende a Cabo Rojo! to learn about community resistance to the proposed Project Esencia and its threats to our land and water. Together, we affirmed the essential role of the diaspora in defeating this project and defending our land.
With the Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR), we discussed the union’s nearly 60-year history, their fight against privatization and the growth of charter schools, and the victories and ongoing challenges organizing educators across the archipelago.
In Río Piedras, Comuna Caribe shared their work in solidarity with Dominican and Haitian migrants, their opposition to imperialist intervention in Haiti, and their organizing against ICE raids impacting communities across San Juan. These conversations underscored the need for Puerto Ricans in the diaspora to connect our own history of forced migration to present-day struggles.
On September 23rd, we joined hundreds of independentistas at Plaza de la Revolución to commemorate El Grito de Lares, honoring the 1868 uprising that sought to abolish slavery and declare Puerto Rico’s independence. That evening, we marched in Hormigueros to the home of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, marking 20 years since his assassination by the FBI.
Through collective ceremony, we honored generations of resistance and reaffirmed our commitment to liberation. We left the archipelago with a clear understanding of the urgency of this moment and the necessity to dedicate our lives to the struggle for independence and socialism. Thank you to everyone whose support has helped our organization grow over the past three years. We are just getting started!
See our statement, The Road to Lares: For Liberation in Our Lifetime, published on September 23, 2025.
WEEK OF ACTION FOR VENEZUELA
The Diaspora Pa’lante Collective took part in an International Week of Action in Defense of Venezuela, joining a growing international response to U.S. militarism in the region. Across cities including New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Portland, and elsewhere, communities mobilized through rallies, protests, and public actions calling for peace and respect for the national sovereignty of the Venezuelan people. In total, more than 50 actions unfolded during the week of November 15-23, backed by over 200 endorsing organizations, and driven by international solidarity networks, worker formations, and student groups acting in rapid coordination. Through our participation, DPC amplified collective demands to halt the U.S. war on Venezuela, remove U.S. military forces from the Caribbean, and establish a Zone of Peace rooted in self-determination and regional unity.
Learn more about the militarization of Puerto Rico and the war on Venezuela in our statement, In the Line of Fire: Occupied Puerto Rico and the War on Venezuela, published on October 6th, 2025.
We’ve created a downloadable poster to help spread the message. Click here to access the graphic. We encourage you to print copies and share it in your community on bulletin boards, storefronts, campuses, and public spaces. Every post helps us amplify the call for an end to U.S. militarism in our hemisphere.
Atlanta
During the 2025 Week of Action in Defense of Venezuela, DPC, alongside the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), Community Movement Builders, and Friends of the Congo, hosted a teach-in exploring the connections between the African liberation struggle in the imperial core and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. The event transitioned into an art build, where we created a banner that was used during our rally for Venezuela in Freedom Park.
Florida
In collaboration with the Students for Justice in Palestine, DPC members in Central Florida recently hosted a teach-in exploring the deep historical connections and parallels between the Palestinian and Puerto Rican struggles titled Parallel Paths to Liberation. We connected the current day militarization with the history of the military occupation of Vieques and the bomb testing that occurred in the island. Both lands have faced extreme economic dependency and exploitation as a result of having no political or economic power. From shared experiences of hybrid warfare, to political prisoners, and culture as resistance, we clearly see the effects of U.S. colonialism in our Americas and beyond.
Our South Florida members participated in a direct action against the visit of Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer González Colón at Florida International University’s Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom. González Colón was invited to speak on “Powering Puerto Rico’s Future” through investment and infrastructure. This direct action was in coordination with our comrades from BAP, Party for Socialism and Liberation Miami, Florida International University’s Young Democratic Socialists of America, and Caribe Pouvwa.
What we witnessed was the open auctioning off of Puerto Rico, packaged as “opportunity” and tied to the ongoing push for statehood. The intervention drew strong interest from students, many of whom joined the action in real time after learning about the mass gentrification displacing Boricuas, the harmful collaboration with ICE (including the reported transfer of confidential data of thousands of Dominican immigrants, many of whom were trafficked to the Everglades Concentration Camp, aka “ Alligator Alcatraz”), and the remilitarization of our islands. Collectively, we demanded an end to the militarization occupation in Puerto Rico, an end to the U.S. escalating aggression against Venezuela, and that our region become recognized as a Zone of Peace. Outside the venue, we continued engaging with attendees and community members, exchanging contact information and building new relationships with people eager to stay connected and involved in future organizing efforts.
DMV
The DPC DC, Maryland, and Virginia Chapter held a movie screening of “Venezuela Rising” and panel discussion in collaboration with African Medical and Political Solidarity (AMPS) and Pan-African Community Action (PACA). Venezuela Rising is a documentary that highlights the Bolivarian Revolution through the experiences of everyday Venezuelans. The film follows Gladys Bolívar, a grandmother and community organizer, in the days leading up to a pivotal 2004 referendum on President Hugo Chávez’s leadership. By focusing on neighborhood-level activism and citizen participation, the documentary shows how ordinary people engage in shaping democracy, while navigating political tensions, media influence, and social change. It offers an intimate look at the challenges and hopes of Venezuelans striving for justice and empowerment.
Chapter Updates
DC, Maryland, Virginia (DMV)
We have remained active across the region as the occupation and militarization of our cities by federal law enforcement continues to increase, including heightened activity across the district and the announcement of hundreds of additional troops in the city. In response, we’ve joined partner organizations in multiple actions supporting Venezuela, Palestine, the Caribbean, the Philippines, and migrant communities in our cities. Our work included a high-visibility rally in DC where we canvassed the community and uplifted messages of sovereignty and peace, as well as a teach-in at Howard University that brought students into deeper conversations about the histories of Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Haiti, and Equatorial Guinea. Additionally, we tabled at local events to strengthen collaboration, continue to distribute community resource guides to expand access to essential information, and are coordinating Hurricane Melissa relief for Jamaica and Cuba. With the Black Alliance for Peace, we have also been hosting weekly Strategy Sunday meetings for inter-organizational coordination and the building of collective power. We remain committed to confronting imperialism at home and abroad while deepening relationships across communities and movements.
New York City/New Jersey (NYC/NJ)
Our chapter has been deeply engaged in anti-imperialist organizing across New York, joining comrades in Manhattan and the Bronx for a coordinated Regional Day of Action for Venezuela alongside Black Alliance for Peace, JUPI BX, and other organizations. We delivered speeches connecting Puerto Rico, U.S. militarization, and our demands for a Zone of Peace, strengthening shared analysis across struggles. We also hosted our first public panel discussion, “Militarization in Our Americas,” featuring speakers from Caribbean solidarity organizations who explored how U.S. militarism shapes conditions across Puerto Rico, Haiti, Venezuela, and the region. Our work extended into cultural spaces as well; chapter members joined JUPI for a plena and parranda workshop in preparation for the season. In addition, we advanced our ongoing political education by studying the Zone of Peace campaign and continuing our end-of-year sessions on building organizations for national liberation. Through action, cultural work, and shared study, we continue strengthening solidarity and resistance across our communities.
The Web of Zionism in Puerto Rico
Written by Brianna Alvarado Ramos
For more than two years, the United States government has used the armed forces of its Zionist settler colony, “Israel,” to carry out a brutal genocide in Palestine. As protests erupted across the world to visibly resist the ongoing genocide, Puerto Rico answered the call. As a colony since 1493, we understand the reality of having no control over your land and daily life. We have been held by the unrelenting grip of US colonial rule for more than 127 years. Forced displacement, sterilization, bombings, arrests, and assassinations are some of the overlapping features of colonial domination in Puerto Rico and Palestine. Driven by imperialism, Zionism, and settler colonialism, the occupation of land, displacement of the native population, and enactment of genocidal warfare are intentional tactics designed to repress resistance.
Zionism is deeply entrenched in Puerto Rico and it begins with the land. Read more here.
Tourism Can Never Be Revolutionary; or How We Route a Caribbean Front
Written by Isabel Guzzardo
If the legacy of slavery shapes every facet of contemporary Caribbean society, tourism is one aspect where it is especially stark; tourism forms part of a racialized capitalist structure that maintains working-class Caribbean people serving foreigners, through the low-wage exploitation of their labor, both sexual and otherwise. In Puerto Rico, the violence of a visitor economy is being felt in new, devastating ways. In 2019, Laws 20 and 22 were consolidated as Act 60, called the Puerto Rico Incentive Codes. This policy lures foreigners to settle in Puerto Rico by offering 100% tax exemption on capital gains, dividends, and interest income.
Incentive regimes are not a new model in Puerto Rico. In the past, the government has offered industries tax exemptions. Two of the most visible benefactors were manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies. In both cases, once the tax haven expired, the industries left. And, in turn, they left devastation, joblessness, and economic insecurity in their wake. Despite the evident failure of this model of dependence on foreign capital, the neoliberal government is trying this again, this time targeting wealthy individuals, mainly investors and crypto bros.
The results have been massively felt. As a colony, Puerto Rico does not have laws to protect its land and its patrimony, and does not prioritize the well-being of its native people. Native, here meaning natives of the Caribbean archipelago, as well as all those diasporic communities who came through forced labor and through the displacement provoked by capitalism. Instead, in the context of the debt crisis—a debt that “repays” Wall Street with school closures, and food and housing insecurity—it is foreign lives that are cared for and nurtured.
Since 2024, 30,000 new Airbnbs have been registered in Puerto Rico. People with more than one property own 69% of the properties. Puerto Ricans are being displaced at alarming rates, and the ones who stay are finding their lives and possibilities increasingly threatened and their spaces encroached by visitors. Continue reading here.
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