Image: Remix from a photo by David Geitgey Sierralupe
Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
It’s been an astonishing week. In Serbia, Hungary, Turkey, Argentina and the United States, immense protests against authoritarians, corruption, privatization, and other economic issues are taking place. In Serbia, the anti-corruption movement mobilized 100,000 people to converge on Belgrade, leading to the resignation of the government (though not President Vučić). Tens of thousands demonstrated in Hungary against corruption, inflation, and right-wing authoritarian Prime Minister Orban; another set of protests opposed his recent ban on LGBTQ+ Pride marches. In Turkey, thousands of people defied the ban on protests to demonstrate against the undemocratic detention of the mayor of Istanbul who is the leading opposition candidate to President Erdogan. Argentina’s retirees and soccer/football players faced brutal repression from right-wing Milei’s government while demonstrating for their social rights for health and retirement issues.
In the United States, judges continue to reverse and rule against Trump edicts, including reinstating 1,000 National Parks employees in a decision that will also impact many other probationary workers who have been fired. The administration is also being forced by the courts to rehire nearly 25,000 federal workers that were unlawfully fired. Another judge ordered USAID reopened and stated that Musk ‘likely violated the constitution’ in terminating its funding. The ban on transgender persons serving in the US military service was overturned. In addition, public backlash forced the Trump-controlled Department of Defense to reinstate content on Black baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the Tuskegee Airmen, and the Navajo Code Talkers after they were removed from DOD websites and military trainings in an anti-DEI purge. A U.S. District Judge also ruled against Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act and ordered immigrant deportation planes to be turned around. And the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that the Trump administration must pay USAID funds to projects that have already completed the work.
However, the Trump administration is ignoring parts – and sometimes all – of the conditions of these legal rulings. They put thousands of rehired federal workers on administrative leave and refused to obey the order to stop planes and immigrant deportations to El Salvador. It seems that a showdown between this administration’s lawlessness and the courts is heightening. The fate of things like rule of law and the separation of powers might depend on what the rest of civil society is willing to do to make sure Trump complies with the courts – or what people will do if he continues to flout their orders. Stay tuned.
Other nonviolent actions against Trump, Musk and this administration’s policies happened around the world: Greenland peacefully surrounded the US embassy. The Danes have joined international boycotts of US products. A French politician eloquently explained his provocative – and symbolic – demand that Trump return the Statue of Liberty if he won’t uphold the values of freedom and democracy. Vancouver banned Tesla from their International Auto Show. Venezuelans rallied for the Venezuelan immigrants being detained in El Salvadoran prisons. A UK church rang out We Shall Overcome to give people hope. Canadians made a hilarious parody of the I Will Survive song (you know, the one that starts with “first I was afraid, I was petrified …”) that now has over a million views. A former Tesla owner in Wales made a sandwriting message big enough to be seen from space (especially by SpaceX). Continuing reading on nonviolencenews.org.