IVP617 - June 2026

The tightening of anti-LGBTI laws in West Africa continues in Niger. On 11 June 2026, the Niger government published its revised Penal Code, which had been initiated by Mohamed Bazoum, the country’s former president, overthrown in a coup in July 2023. The country is now led by General Abdourahamane Tiani.

For more than a week, the European media have been regularly relaying images of Albania, usually absent from the Western press: thousands of demonstrators, flags or placards in hand, can be seen in the streets of Tirana or elsewhere. They have been gathering incessantly since 30 May 2026 against planned tourism projects in Zvërnec, near the Narta Lagoon, as well as on the island of Sazan. Beyond the ecological issues, the barbed wire installed on the coast against which activists are pressing has become, for the people, the symbol of a major political issue: that of the progressive dispossession of their territory and future.

Despite a very large popular vote against her, Fujimori’s far-right party was declared the winner of the election. The mobilisation must be stepped up and turned into social struggles.

Albania rarely makes the headlines. In recent weeks, however, this small Balkan country has been the scene of a struggle against the ravages of capitalism, which sacrifices the environment for profits — in this case for the leisure of the richest.

“Those of us who live in Mexico know that the fall of a drug lord does not mean the end of violence. The “Narco war” has taught us that after the decapitation of a cartel, power struggles ensue between interim cadres for succession, as well as acts of revenge against the Mexican state and attacks on rival cartels that will take advantage of this moment of weakness to gain influence. And this is because, even though El Mencho has fallen, the transnational structures that produce, feed and exploit these drug lords are still in place.” [1]

More than 4,000 worker activists gathered in Chicago from June 12-14 for the Labor Notes Conference where they discussed the challenges facing unions and workers, shared experiences, and planned for the fights of the future. They came from across the United States and some from countries around the world. The conference began with and was permeated with a commitment to strengthen unions, to stand up to the corporations and the government, and to improve the lives of working people.

While we note the “ Sadistic Savagery on Display: Trump-Rubio’s Assault on Cuba” we also publish a report on a solidarity delegation to Cuba from the US. [IVP]

At the same time as Trump pursues his aggressive policies US citizens organize to show their solidarity with Cuba “Visiting Cuba 2026 — A Critical Point”.[IVP]

During popular insurrections like the one underway in Bolivia, which is calling for President Rodrigo Paz’s resignation after just six months in office, the experience of time and space changes, acquiring an extraordinary charge from day to day, even hour to hour. Indigenous campesino insurgents have long characterised such moments as belonging to ‘another time’.

Across continents, something is beginning to take shape again. It’s not yet a finished alignment, nor a settled strategy nor even a unified political perspective. But a movement, hesitant, uneven, and sometimes contradictory, toward renewed internationalism.