The rally will feature Argentinean socialist congresswoman Myriam Bregman; former presidential candidate Anasse Kazib, who is currently being persecuted for protesting in solidarity with Palestine; anti-racist activist and socialist from the U.S. Julia Wallace; Inés Heider from Germany; and Elsa Marcel and Sasha Yaropolskaya from France.
The rally will take place as Europe’s major powers increasingly lean toward militarism. Amid a historic crisis in transatlantic relations, all European heads of state are preparing to accelerate their military rearmament. In Germany, the new government has announced a monumental plan worth 900 billion euros. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has pledged 800 billion euros for the EU. These announcements are resonating throughout every country in the European Union.
While this militaristic shift is justified with war propaganda about the “Russian threat” and speeches about “European values” and “democracy,” the reality is starkly different. Despite their criticism of Trump’s brutality, the European powers, which support the genocide in Gaza, share the same imperialist compass as the U.S. leader: they aim to reclaim their share of the spoils in Ukraine and prepare to protect their interests and those of their corporations with military force in the coming years.
Militarism is paving the way for catastrophe, already threatening significant suffering for workers, youth, women, children, and the working class abroad. In Denmark the government plans to raise the retirement age to 70 to finance military spending. In Poland, Donald Tusk has announced the reintroduction of “compulsory military training.” In France, Prime Minister Bayrou, Macron, and the MEDEF (the French employers’ organization) are preparing to increase the pace of work and raise the retirement age even as inflation threatens to rise again and layoffs multiply across Europe.
So that they can fund the rearmament and impose their militaristic agenda, these leaders will likely attack our living conditions and democratic rights. In this context, the Far Right is becoming increasingly appealing to the ruling classes, from Trump and Musk in the U.S. to Meloni in Italy, Milei in Argentina, and Le Pen in France. A genuine reactionary international is emerging, rooted in racist and anti-worker policies.
In the face of this intensifying capitalist barbarism — evident in the full-scale resumption of genocide in Gaza, Trump’s mass deportations, and the racist and Islamophobic campaigns of French interior minister Bruno Retailleau — it is urgent to amplify the voice of the socialist Left and the working class. For this reason, Révolution Permanente is holding an internationalist and revolutionary rally on May 24.
This international gathering of socialists from various countries is a call to action against the militarism and rearmament of imperialist states: Not one life, not one dime for their wars!
The rally will also send a clear message that socialists worldwide should stand with the working class and the oppressed, including those in countries subjugated by imperialist and capitalist powers such as France, the U.S., Germany, and Russia. The ruling classes and the Far Right are organizing internationally; workers must do the same!
The rally will provide a platform for us to emphasize that only the working class and the oppressed have the strength to halt militarism. While militarism has led to massacres in the past, what the ruling class fears far more than tanks or nuclear missiles are struggles and revolutions.
The best contribution to peace is to fight our governments, our bosses, our own imperialism, and its war plans, from an internationalist, working-class, and revolutionary perspective. Reviving these perspectives is the goal of this rally organized by Révolution Permanente and our international organization, the Trotskyist Faction, which promotes the International Network La Izquierda Diario.
Speakers at the event will include Myriam Bregman, national deputy of the PTS and candidate of the Left Front (FITU) in the recent presidential elections in Argentina; Anasse Kazib, railway worker and spokesperson for Révolution Permanente; Inés Heider, activist with the Revolutionary Workers Organization (RIO) and candidate in Germany’s federal elections; Sasha Yaropolskaya, feminist activist and spokesperson for Pan y Rosas; Julia Wallace, activist with Left Voice in Los Angeles, United States; and Elsa Marcel, lawyer and activist with Révolution Permanente.