Wow, what a year it has been!  Much more bad news than good for Latin America – and for Latinos living in the U.S.  The Trump administration has taken the gloves off with its aggressive intervention in Latin America, coinciding with active U.S. complicity with ongoing genocide in Palestine and racist attacks on immigrants in the U.S.

The pendulum is once again swinging to the right in Latin America. The so-called “Angry Tide” has seen the governments of Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras and El Salvador captured by – or remaining in the hands of – far right forces, with blatant intervention by the U.S. Decades of economic warfare against Cuba have taken a cumulative toll. Cuba’s vaunted universal healthcare system is so challenged that nearly a third of Cubans are currently suffering from otherwise preventable mosquito-borne viruses. Super-exploited Haiti has become a living hell ruled by competing armed gangs for whom rape is a common weapon.

As 2025 comes to a close, the Trump administration has escalated its war on Venezuela. A regime-change war that has really been going on for several decades – with punishing economic sanctions that have killed over 100,000 Venezuelans in recent years – has now escalated into a naval blockade, the illegal seizure of oil tankers, the extra-judicial murder of over 100 fishermen and alleged smugglers, and the threat of a U.S. invasion that would become a disaster for the entire region.

Bright spots in the Americas include Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, whose leaders are standing strong against the escalating U.S. war on Venezuela, and Nicaragua, which continues to make great strides in reducing poverty while successfully defending its sovereignty. You would never know that, however, from U.S. and international mainstream media, which constantly attack the Nicaraguan revolution and demonize its longtime leader, President Daniel Ortega.

The Task Force on the Americas (TFA) has been doing more than just watching these disturbing developments.  We have been actively engaged in truth-telling and solidarity.

David Paul is a retired nurse and a member of the Immigration Rights and International Solidarity Committees of Democratic Socialists of America. He recently returned from Venezuela where he has been closely observing the remarkable grassroots democracy of the commune movement. David is also actively involved with the Cuba solidarity efforts – in the SF Bay Area, nationally and internationally. He is currently visiting Cuba.

Roger Harris is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and longtime peace and solidarity activist, He is a founding member of the Venezuela Solidarity Network and serves on the Secretariat of the US Peace Council. Roger’s in-depth reporting on U.S. regime change wars are regularly published in progressive media.

Laura Wells is active in the state leadership of the Green Party and puts out a monthly newsletter on solidarity with Latin America and other subjects. She focuses especially on countries that represent the “threat of a good example” and are targeted for US intervention, such as Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Laura recently chaired TFA’s annual panel at the Zinn Book Fair in San Francisco.

Rick Sterling, a longtime peace and solidarity activist originally from British Columbia, traveled to Mexico recently and wrote about the huge positive changes which have taken place under the MORENA leadership of Presidents AMLO and now Sheinbaum. Rick organizes forums with well-informed speakers at the Mount Diablo Peace and Justice Center and the Rossmoor community in Walnut Creek.

Theresa Cameranesi recently retired from nursing, and she spends half of her free time at San Francisco Immigration courthouses, supporting immigrants who are being targeted for deportation. Theresa works with the SHARE Foundation and recently returned from a visit to El Mozote, El Salvador with the Leadership Council of Religious Women. She is also a member of Democratic Socialists of America.

Karl Kramer Karl Kramer has been the campaign co-director of the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition since its founding in 1998. He works with the Committee In Solidarity with El Salvador (CISPES) and is active with the NorCal TPS Coalition, an immigrant rights organization that defends Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for refugees who face persecution in their home countries.

Marilyn Langlois is a volunteer community organizer and a co-founder of the Richmond Progressive Alliance. She is a member of Haiti Action Committee and a Board member of Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. Marilyn keeps TFA up-to-date on actions we can take in solidarity with Haitians who are struggling for survival in the face of extreme violence and deprivation, the result of many decades of colonial exploitation and neglect.

Carolina Dutton is active in the Chiapas Support Network and she helped organize the Bay Area urgent response network for Indigenous in Mexico. Carolina shows up regularly at Bay Area protests against US intervention in Latin America, racist ICE attacks on our own communities, and more.

Carol Costa is a retired teacher of ESL (English as a second language) at a local college where she worked with immigrants for many years. She regularly visits Mexico and Spain, where she has family, along with going on many of the Task Force’s international delegations. Carol has served as TFA’s treasurer for many years, processing your generous donations and carefully stewarding our limited resources.

Alice Loaiza lived most of her adult life in Colombia where she was an activist for many years. Since living in the Bay Area she works with Marcha Patriotica Colombia, California Chapter, supporting the Peace Process as well as educating about the imperialist presence of the US in that country.

Karen Spring, who lives part-time in Honduras and part-time in Canada, is Co-Coordinator of the Honduras Solidarity Network. She attended and reported on the trial of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted in a US Federal Court of shipping 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S., and sentenced to 45 years in prison, only to be pardoned by President Trump. Karen also led a Congressional delegation to Mexico and reported on the recent Honduran election.

John Philpot is a criminal defense attorney in Québec and an expert in International Criminal Law.  He has thirty-eight years of experience as a lawyer, activist, and speaker in the international peace movement in Canada, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Gerry Condon serves on the Board of Veterans For Peace and organized a veterans delegation to Nicaragua in March. The US Peace Memorial Foundation honored Gerry with the 2025 US Peace Prize, presented at a November 23 No War on Venezuela rally in San Francisco, organized by TFA and Veterans For Peace. He is currently working as part-time staff for Task Force on the Americas.

TFA organized a Cuba Heart Pacemaker Fundraiser in August 2024 (pictured above) and continues to donate material aid to Cuba, which is suffering greatly from six decades of the Yankee blockade.

We meet together twice a month – for our regular business meeting and for our TFA Cafés – internal discussion on timely subjects for members and friends.  TFA Board members regularly appear on webinars and podcasts, and we send out timely Action Alerts, in coordination with national and international partners.

Task Force on the Americas will hit the ground running in 2026. We are organizing an emergency series of webinars in conjunction with Helena Cobban and Just World Education.  The webinar series, Venezuela in Washington’s Crosshairs: Breaking the Information Blockade, will begin next week – Tuesday, January 6 and Thursday, January 8, and will continue on Tuesday, January 13. See more info about the webinars below.

Thank you for your generous support and involvement with Task Force on the Americas over many years. Your continuing support will allow us to proactively meet the very real challenges of 2026.

Peace at Home and Peace Abroad in the New Year!

Donation info is here:
https://taskforceamericas.org/donate/

Webinar Series
Venezuela in Washington’s Crosshairs:
Breaking the Information Blockade

sponsored by:
Just World Education and Task Force on the Americas

Tuesday, January 6, 2026, 1:00 pm PST/4:00 pm EST
Why the US Is Attacking Venezuela
Drugs, Democracy, Oil or Empire

Speakers:
· María Páez Victor, Venezuelan-Canadian sociologist
· Marjorie Cohn, former president of the National Lawyers Guild
· Leonardo Flores, Venezuelan-American with the Venezuela Solidarity Network

Thursday, January 8, 2026, 1:00 pm PST/4:00 pm EST
Geopolitics & Double Standards – Caracas to Gaza
Global solidarity and the politics of impunity

Speakers:
· Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza, from Venezuela, Orinoco Tribune editor and former diplomat
· Richard Falk, professor of international law and former UN special rapporteur for Palestine
· Corinna Mullin, US Peace Council and Anti-imperialist Scholars Collective

Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 1:00 pm PST/4:00 pm EST
Exposing the “Donroe” Doctrine
How US attacks are reshaping the Americas

Speakers:
· Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace and US Peace Council
· Dan Kovalik, international human rights lawyer and author on Palestine, Iran, Venezuela, and Colombia
· Michelle Ellner, Venezuelan-American with CODEPINK and Venezuela Solidarity Network

(All organizational affiliations for identification purposes only.)

Donation info is here:
https://taskforceamericas.org/donate/

Check out recent articles by TFA members at www.taskforceamericas.org

Task Force on the Americas
P.O. Box 925
Larkspur, CA 94977     Email: taskforceontheamericas@gmail.com