January 2026 saw some of the most significant developments in the recent history of the American class struggle. The ICE murder of Renee Good set off an explosive anti-ICE movement, culminating in a de facto political general strike. The subsequent murder of Alex Pretti threatened to spread the movement nationally, forcing Trump to back off, at least temporarily. What conclusions can we draw from this experience?

The sequence of events triggered by the imperialist aggression against Venezuela led to the Venezuelan National Assembly’s approval, on 29 January, of a partial reform of the country’s Chávez-era hydrocarbons law. Immediately afterwards, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is responsible for sanctions, published General License 46, partially lifting sanctions on Venezuelan oil, albeit with very strict restrictions. 

In a rambling Executive Order signed on 29 January, US President Trump has declared that: “The policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

Minneapolis has yet again become the epicenter of the class struggle in the United States. The city that sparked the 2020 George Floyd uprising has seized the attention of class-conscious workers and youth across the country for three weeks—and at present, there’s no sign of things slowing down.

Where is Donald Trump’s wild ride taking the world? Has the spectacle of Maduro’s kidnapping dealt a significant blow to Chinese influence and power in Latin America? Are the Yanks at the beginning of a successful drive to kick out ‘non-hemispheric actors’ in the Western Hemisphere? And if so, will the result be a world carved up into neatly defined spheres of influence, with East and South East Asia left to China?

This article was originally published on 14 January, 2026. The situation between the USA and Greenland has developed very quickly, and so parts of this article may have been superseded by events. And yet, in analysing Trump’s reasons for wanting Greenland, and the hypocrisy of the Danish ruling class – who fear losing their colonial possession – this article remains useful in understanding the general processes that are now unfolding at pace.

2026 began with a bang. More precisely, it began with bombs exploding in Caracas and the kidnapping of Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro. In case you weren’t aware, that’s not supposed to happen in the “rules based international order.” 

Two weeks since ICE agents in Minneapolis murdered protester Renee Good, the movement that erupted in response to her killing continues to gain momentum. In the epicenter of 2020’s George Floyd uprising, protesters have clashed with police and ICE thugs. Ordinary workers are organizing and strategizing to safeguard their neighbors and coworkers, and the idea of a citywide general strike has seized the imagination of a growing layer of the population. This speaks volumes about the mood of class rage permeating US society as the “war on terror” is turned directly

Donald Trump’s desire to seize control of Greenland and its resources has brought US imperialism into conflict with Europe. This puts Starmer in a quandary, as he and the British establishment attempt a delicate, unsustainable balancing act.

Every day that passes since the imperialist aggression of 3 January, and the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president and his wife, brings new information that clarifies the picture and needs to be analysed.

Press reports on January 14 revealed that the United States is already proceeding with the sale of Venezuelan oil and will control the money raised. This is an outrageous semi-colonial arrangement which gives Trump control over the resources of a formally sovereign country. What is the Venezuelan government’s response to this blackmail?

Since 3 January and US imperialism’s criminal assault on Venezuela, comrades of the Revolutionary Communist International have been out on the streets and in the media, emphasising that only the organised resistance of the working class has the power to put an end to imperialism.

Events in Venezuela are unfolding at breakneck speed following the attack on 3 January and the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores. The US is moving very quickly to assert control over Venezuela and its natural resources, while the Venezuelan government seems unwilling or unable to push back. Naturally, there are many questions which are being asked.

The arrival of the year 2026 was greeted not by the popping of champagne bottles, but by the merry sound of high explosives and bright lights that lit up the sleeping streets of the Venezuelan capital that provided its lucky inhabitants with a spectacular, and absolutely free, fireworks display in the dead of night.

On January 7, Renee Nicole Good was murdered by an ICE agent in the streets of South Minneapolis. She was a mother of three and lived just a few blocks from where she was gunned down.