Bulletin N°64 2026 The NATO summit was held in Ankara on July 7 and 8. It brought together key leaders, including the President of the United States, and 32 European and North American member countries of the alliance. Rather than speculate on the statements made by various participants, and especially those of Trump, which themediaare eager to exploit, it is safer to stick to the facts and the final declaration issued from this summit . This declaration summarizes the core of NATO's strategy in six points. It is worth noting that the first point underscores the shared commitment of NATO members to implementing Article 5 of the treaty and their dedication to the transatlantic bond: "We, the Heads of State and Government of the member countries of the Atlantic Alliance, have gathered in Ankara to reiterate our unwavering commitment to collective defense, enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, and our commitment to the transatlantic bond. An attack against one Ally is an attack against all." In other words, the tall tales surrounding the United States' disengagement from NATO are nothing more than bedtime stories. Not shying away from any kind of mystification, the communiqué justifies the alliance as a force for peace and prosperity: "from which the billion citizens of our alliance of free and democratic countries benefit."
Point 2 provides the key; it is not a question of disengagement by the USA but of an injunction from them to see the contribution of European countries increase significantly3 . An injunction that European leaders are slavishly implementing for the greater benefit of the US military-industrial complex: " By 2025, European Allies and Canada have increased their defense spending by more than $139 billion... Today in Ankara, we are announcing new purchases totaling more than $50 billion, and we are committing to boosting our collective production capacity and working with the private sector to accelerate innovation. " In his statement, the NATO Secretary General further emphasized this point, stressing that European Allies and Canada had already made significant progress toward the goal of increasing their defense spending to 5% of their GDP by 2035: " For this summit in Ankara, I expect countries to present clear, concrete, and realistic plans to support this 5% target." And So far, the progress is impressive... After just one year, the European Allies and Canada are already devoting approximately 4% of their GDP to defense and security . In a time of crisis in capital valuation and accumulation, this is excellent news for the US military-industrial complex and the major arms monopolies, and conversely, very bad news for workers and the people who will have to endure increased capitalist exploitation accompanied by austerity policies and intensified repression!
Point 3 seeks to strongly and structurally link the imperialist union that is the EU to NATO itself: " We are building the future and working towards a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO, for a modernized alliance. European Allies and Canada, in collaboration with the United States, are taking an increasingly large part in the defense of the Alliance. " All talk of EU autonomy evaporates here. The EU is indeed an imperialist alliance fully integrated into the US-dominated Western imperialist bloc.
The logical consequence of this integration and NATO's desire for expansion is reflected in point 4. This point emphasizes: " The Allies are united in their unwavering support for Ukraine, which contributes to transatlantic security and defends its freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The European Allies and Canada now finance the majority of security assistance provided to Ukraine, both bilaterally and multilaterally. The Alliance countries stress that this effort must be shared equitably and that aid must be predictable and sustained. "
In the same vein, the declaration takes a position on the imperialist aggression waged against Iran by the American-Zionist alliance, effectively echoing the demands of the USA without offering any criticism of the nature of the aggression: " Iran must never possess nuclear weapons and calls on this country to fully respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. "
NATO's choices, confirmed and validated by all its components, including France, which is not lagging behind in increasing war budgets, are therefore unambiguous. The aim is to fully participate in the conflicts within the imperialist system in an attempt to secure military and technological supremacy. The Indo-Pacific region is also a focus of the complementary alliance (AUKUS) forming around the USA and the UK, along with Japan, South Korea, and Australia 4 . From this perspective, it is worthwhile to consult the supplementary document entitled: " NATO's Role in Defense Industrial Production5 .This document highlights, among other things, a crucial issue concerning supply chains, implicitly underscoring the importance of raw materials in the struggle between capitalist powers and their monopolies to control access to these resources and the physical and digital channels of communication.
For our party, opposing NATO is a strategic dimension of the anti-imperialist struggle; it means opposing war, exploitation, occupation, and the imperialist order. It means defending work for the workers, the future of young people, freedom for women, and peace for all peoples.
1 https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_du_trait%C3%A9_de_l%27Atlantique_nord
2 https://www.nato.int/fr/about-us/official-texts-and-resources/official-texts/2026/07/08/the-ankara-summit-declaration
3 https://www.nato.int/fr/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/defence-expenditures-and-natos-5-commitment
4 https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/AUKUS
5 https://www.nato.int/fr/what-we-do/deterrence-and-defence/natos-role-in-defence-industry-production
Bulletin N°64 2026 The Revolutionary Communist Party has taken note of the repression carried out by the Turkish authorities against demonstrators protesting against the NATO summit in Ankara. We strongly condemn this repression and express our solidarity with the Communist Party of Turkey. Therefore, we have decided to sign the joint appeal of communist parties, which we publish below.
"We, the undersigned communist and workers' parties, strongly condemn the repression carried out by the Turkish authorities against the demonstration organized by the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) in Ankara to protest the NATO summit. The violent police intervention, the injuries inflicted on the demonstrators, and the arrest of 145 communists—including one member of the TKP Central Committee and eight members of the Party Council—constitute an unacceptable attack on the right to organize and demonstrate. The widespread bans on demonstrations and public gatherings, which have effectively turned the Turkish capital into a closed city in the run-up to the NATO summit, reveal once again that NATO's war agenda goes hand in hand with the restriction of political rights and freedoms. The attempt to silence communists cannot obscure the truth: NATO is an aggressive imperialist alliance that has sown war, occupation, destruction, and suffering among the peoples of the world. Those who raise their voices against militarization and interventions Imperialists and wars will not be intimidated by repression. We express our full solidarity with the Communist Party of Turkey, with all arrested TKP members, and with all those who opposed the NATO summit. We demand the immediate release of all detained communists, the dropping of all charges, and an end to all measures restricting political activities hostile to NATO. Hands off the TKP! Hands off all communist and anti-imperialist activists!
Bulletin N°64 2026 Key takeaways from Trump's speech: American identity in peril, communism, golden age...
He extolled an "exceptional" America, promising to restore the country's "identity." "Tomorrow, we will cross a historic threshold. After two and a half centuries, we know that this is not an end, but only the beginning of America's golden age ," he boasted, speaking from the guise of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, and delivering an optimistic vision for the country's future, defending American "culture ," and praising the power of the United States, "the most powerful country on the planet . " "By the grace of God, the United States of America is the most prosperous, accomplished, and exceptional nation that has ever existed in the history of humankind, and it is great to be your president ," he declared.
Communism portrayed as an "enemy"
The president then turned his attention to one of his recurring targets: communism, a label he has already applied to several Democrats, including the mayor of New York. "There is a resurgence of the communist threat on our soil today, including among newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success ," he denounced.
Donald Trump called communism a "mortal threat to American liberty ," comparing it to the 9/11 attacks, designating it as "the enemy of the Constitution , " "the enemy of July 4, 1776," and simply "the enemy." "On the eve of this 250th anniversary of American heritage, we decide and swear, for all to hear, that the citizens of the United States of America will swiftly defeat communism ." Thank you, Mr. Trump, for this tribute: as Karl Marx 's Communist Manifesto (1848) reminds us : " Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workers of the world, unite!"
Yes, tremble, Mr. Trump, because the theory of communism can be summed up in a single sentence: abolition of private property . Yes, the ruling classes tremble before a communist revolution! The proletariat has nothing to lose but their chains and the world to gain. Once again, he calls communism a "cancer" eating away at the "empire of freedom" (of exploitation). Thank you for this tribute from vice to the virtue of abolishing exploitation and private property. The future belongs to those who want to change the world: overthrowing capitalism and building socialism is exactly what we want.
A course has been set for the midterm elections.
Trump also used the opportunity to address the passage of his controversial voter registration reform: the SAVE America Act . This bill aims to restrict voter registration. If Congress passes this step, Donald Trump asserted, "then we won't lose another election for 100 years . "
Trump promises the Gilded Age:
The president concluded by referring to the Gilded Age , a period of rapid industrial expansion between 1860 and 1890. While this era of rapid economic growth saw an influx of millions of European immigrants, it was also an era of abject poverty and inequality as millions of immigrants from impoverished regions poured into the United States. The high concentration of wealth became more visible and controversial with the rise of millionaire industrialists and financiers dubbed the "robber barons" because of their abuse of power, shady financial practices, and disregard for working conditions. This period also saw the emergence of unionism, which was brutally suppressed. The South, after the Civil War, remained economically devastated; its economy became increasingly dependent on cotton and tobacco production. African American peoples in the South, descendants of slaves deported to America, were stripped of political power and voting rights and remained economically disadvantaged. Beginning in 1879, acts of racial violence increased, as did the forced displacement of Black populations to the central and southern states.
This period was followed by two major national depressions: the Panic of 1873 and that of 1893, which interrupted growth, caused misery, and precipitated the end of the Gilded Age .
Public opinion toward Washington and its president is far from positive. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 36 countries , polling more than 42,000 people between February 8 and May 13, found that only 37% of respondents had a favorable view of the United States. Less than half saw it as a reliable partner. Thirty-five percent believed that America contributes to world peace , while 32% said that it does not take the interests of other nations into account.
Bulletin N°64 2026 On July 4, police arrested Vicente Salazar, leader of the Tupac Katari Peasant Federation, following a complaint filed by the Paz government against the organizers of the roadblocks. The complaint against Vicente Salazar concerns " alleged offenses of public incitement to commit a crime, criminal conspiracy, " and . "
For more than 7 weeks in May and June, trade unions, mainly the COB (Centrale Ouvrière Bolivienne) as well as indigenous trade unions such as the Tupac Katari Peasant Federation , the National Confederation of Indigenous Peasant Women from Bolivia "Bartolina Sisa" , the self-convened organization , multiplied road blockades, strikes to demand the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, wage increases, the rejection of privatizations, the defense of public services and popular control of natural resources [1] .
Paz did not hesitate to militarize the repression and to integrate paramilitary groups such as the Union Juvenil cruceñistcia (inspired by the Francoist phalanxes) and the Resistancia juvenil Cochala which operated alongside the police and fired live ammunition.
These demonstrations led to violent clashes between protesters and riot police, resulting in more than 700 arrests, 37 injuries and at least 17 protesters killed.
The COB is divided between the opinion of the secretary general, Mario Argollo, calling for Paz's resignation and several departmental branches of the COB in favour of engaging in negotiations with the government.
The negotiations, which began on June 18, concluded with the signing of an agreement: the government pledged not to privatize public companies, to consult with social organizations in the drafting of structural laws, and to control the price index in the face of economic recession and soaring prices. The COB (Central Bank of Belgium) presented an eight-point plan, and the agreement, Mario Argollo explained, gave the government 90 days to make progress on several union demands.
The various organizations involved refused to negotiate with the Paz government. The indigenous federations reiterated their own demands: to fight against the privatization of electricity, water, telecommunications, natural resources, health, and education.
The uprising goes far beyond Paz's resignation; it is an uprising against the colonial state, for the return to the people of lands seized by agribusiness.
It is also a refusal to submit to the United States. Paz is a vassal of the US, whereas Bolivia had previously been hostile to US imperialism. Since his election, Paz has gone to submit to the far-right government in Washington and has fostered closer ties with Israel. Paz is part of Trump's plan to interfere in South America, aiming to make South America his backyard. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denounced the protests as "attempts to overthrow the legitimate government" and issued an unequivocal warning to those who, in his view, "profit from death and destruction in our hemisphere."
After signing the memorandum of understanding with the COB (Brigade Anti-Corruption), Paz promulgated Supreme Decree 1740, establishing a state of emergency that allowed the deployment of the army against demonstrations and blockades, and guaranteed legal protection for the military, granting them a "presumption of legality" in the event of gunfire. All organizations that did not sign the agreement would be "subject to the full force of the law." The state of emergency criminalized activists fighting against Paz's government, and they were threatened with the same legal consequences as Vicente Salazar. Even Mario Argollo, who had called for the immediate release of Vicente Salazar, was threatened.
The Revolutionary Communist Party's solidarity with the workers, the trade unions, and the people struggling against the policies of capital is unwavering. We demand the immediate release of Vicente Salazar and all those detained for their struggle against the capitalist system, a struggle that puts the fight against imperialism back at the forefront.
[1] Weekly No. 979 26/05/2026. In Bolivia, the proletariat is organizing! And it's class against class!