Camilo Lazo | National Chair of the American Party of Labor—

Comrades,

As we enter the year 2026, I extend to each of you not merely a greeting, but a pledge: That we will meet the coming trials with clarity, discipline, and unbreakable solidarity.

Millions of working people are entering this new year burdened by fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty. The second Trump presidency has brought ICE raids into our communities, open threats against immigrants, trans people, and people of color, and a steady tightening of repression against anyone who dares to resist. Abroad, reckless threats of war against Greenland and Venezuela, the continuing bloodshed in Ukraine, and a dangerous rivalry with China have brought the world closer to catastrophe. At home, Trump’s tariffs and economic blunders have driven the cost of living to unbearable heights, while the Epstein scandal has exposed once again the rot and hypocrisy at the very top of American power.

At the same time, Trump’s increasingly unhinged attempt to build a personal leadership cult around himself, elevating loyalty to one man above law, fact, or even reality, has accelerated the fascistization of American political life. We are watching, in real time, a system shedding its democratic pretenses and revealing its true authoritarian core.

In moments like this, errors flourish. Some respond with despair and passivity, retreating into the same empty routines that failed to stop Trump’s rise and failed to prevent his return. Others, disgusted by the brutality of the system, are tempted by impulsive, unstrategic reactions that mistake rage for power. One error is paralysis; the other is recklessness. Both lead away from victory.

We reject both.

We affirm, instead, the principle that struggle must be intelligently conceived and designed to get results. As Marxist-Leninists, we approach politics as scientists. We analyze conditions, identify contradictions, and select tactics that maximize our ability to build power among the working class and the oppressed. We do not confuse noise with movement, or spectacle with organization.

We are not pacifists, but neither are we romantics. We understand that social change is won through mass participation, disciplined organization, and relentless pressure. History teaches us that the power of the people grows when it is rooted in workplaces, neighborhoods, unions, community groups, and political formations capable of withstanding repression and advancing clear demands.

The year ahead will be hard. ICE raids will continue to terrorize families. Trans people will be targeted by reactionary laws and propaganda. Communities of color will bear the brunt of police repression and economic hardship. Prices will rise while wages lag behind. Meanwhile, a corrupt and degenerate ruling class, exposed by scandal yet insulated by wealth, will attempt to distract, divide, and intimidate.

But we have faced dark times before.

Armed with Marxism-Leninism, guided by collective experience, and strengthened by our comradeship, we possess something more powerful than any demagogue: A clear understanding of who produces the wealth of society and who steals it.

Our task in 2026 is not simply to protest, but to organize. We must bring together workers, immigrants, the unhoused, the precariously employed, trans and queer people, and all those discarded by this system. We must provide not only outrage, but direction; not only anger, but strategy; not only resistance, but a vision of a society built for human need instead of profit.

Now is the time when words become commitments and commitments become action. Now is the time to prove that we are more than critics, that we are the builders of a new future.

Here’s to a year of struggle and danger. But, also to the hope, the expectation, and the determination that we, our loved ones, our comrades, our Party, our class, and our cause emerge safe… And victorious!

Forward, comrades!

The future belongs to the bold and the organized!

Camilo Lazo

National Chair

American Party of Labor

Categories: American Party of Labor, Statements