At the start of February, as Trump was amassing his armada in the Persian Gulf, as the people of Minnesota engaged in head on struggle with ICE, as the crimes of the ruling class in the Epstein files left the world aghast—90 leading revolutionary communists from around the world gathered in Italy.

[Originally published on Marxist.com]

We gathered to take stock not only of the avalanche of major world events, but of the strides the communists are making on every front, as our ideas connect with an ever-growing layer. In the words of Alan Woods, leader and theoretician of the RCI:

I cannot remember a period where our tendency, the genuine Trotskyist, Marxist tendency, was so strong and so successful and so confident as we are now.

Our strength comes from the fact that we recognized early the depth of the radicalization taking place globally, as a new situation opens up around the world. We responded with a complete internal revolution in 2023, culminating in the foundation of the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI).

When we began that revolution, our International had 4,400 members. That represented 85% growth since the pandemic. At this meeting of the RCI’s leadership, it was reported that we have over 8,000 members worldwide—another 80% growth. However, in Alan’s words, “And this—it’s early days. Yes, it’s early days.”

The communists are continuing to advance everywhere, quantitatively and qualitatively.

And now, we are approaching a situation where we will soon have 10,000 organized revolutionaries across the globe and not one, but many national groups with more than 1,000 members.

The end of the American century

We have been able to take these strides because we have recognized something that none of the professional pessimists of the “Left” have recognized. Beneath the surface, a deep process of radicalization is taking place. And it is being driven by this avalanche of events that are hammering consciousness.

That avalanche is a result of the crisis of capitalism—and above all a result of the convulsions of the main world imperialist power, the United States, which is now in an accelerating state of relative decline.

Jorge Martín opened the meeting with a survey of Trump’s actions since just the beginning of 2026: the kidnapping of Maduro in Venezuela, the threat to invade Greenland, the blockade of Cuba, and now the threats against Iran.

It’s easy to imagine that all this chaos is the product of madness on Trump’s part. Jorge Martín quoted Shakespeare’s words: “though this be madness, yet there is method in’t!”

Certainly there’s an element of madness in Trump’s actions, but there is also a certain logic to them. US imperialism is in decline. It is wracked with social crises—the latest social explosion occurring in Minnesota as the comrades discussed in Italy. Trump wants to fortify US imperialism by recognizing that it cannot dominate the whole globe. He is thus attempting to pivot towards the main centers of US imperialist interests: first the western hemisphere, and then the Pacific.

This has enormous implications for every continent.

Latin America

In Latin America, brazen bullying—not just of Venezuela, but Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, etc.—is becoming the norm under Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine.”

In this context, we have seen important advances of the forces of communism across the continent in the last period. The meeting heard how, in Mexico, our section has grown almost fivefold since April 2023, and has now surpassed 500 members.

Meanwhile, the leadership placed a special item on the agenda to draw the important lessons from the split in our old Brazilian section last year. In fact, out of that split has emerged, for the first time, a real section of the RCI in Brazil, sharing the ideas and perspectives of the International.

The meeting heard how the RCI in Brazil has grown by 30% in just the few months since its foundation. This is a testament to their enthusiasm for the ideas of our International, which are now coursing unimpeded through the section for the first time. The work of our Brazilian comrades is a source of pride and enthusiasm across the International.

Between them, these important developments for the RCI in Latin America place us in a prime position to advance the ideas of communism in the stormy period now opening.

This autumn, we will be holding a landmark Pan-American school for communists across the continent—which for the first time will be held in three languages, Spanish, Portuguese, and English.

Left reformism

The manner in which Trump has trashed the hypocritical “rules-based” world order in favor of brazen imperialist bullying is combining with a thousand other sources of discontent aroused by inflation, by stagnant and declining living conditions, by scandals of the Epstein-type, which are stoking up enormous anger.

And this anger, above all among the youth, has given evidence of itself in a whole series of explosions: in the Gen Z revolutions, in the general strikes for Palestine in October, and most recently in Minneapolis. What it lacks, on the whole, is leadership.

It has been struggling to find a point of reference. From 2008 onward, a number of parties and figures have attempted to channel this mood, parties that we would describe as reformist—in the sense that they eschew revolution and want to create a kind of “capitalism with a human face.” But this capitalism with a human face is a chimera.

In the end, their reformist politics forced them to bend to the dictates of the system. They rose and they fell: Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain, the Corbyn movement in Britain, Sanders in the US, and so on. All failed.

Subsequently, a layer of the youth has leap-frogged these older leaders to the left, many embracing “communism.” We must connect with this layer. But we are too small to completely fill the vacuum of leadership that exists.

As such, far from having been tested once and for all time, the reformists can and will make a comeback for want of any alternative. We see it now: in Mamdani in New York, in Gustavo Petro in Colombia, in the leftward shift of the Green Party in Britain.

In an important theoretical discussion on left reformism, we discussed how to approach these phenomena. As Trotsky said, “The principal task of a revolutionary party consists in freeing the working class from the influence of reformism.”

But this requires thought. It cannot be achieved through denunciations or by ignoring such phenomena. There is no “one size fits all” approach. As was explained in the discussion, our tasks require that “we resist the repetition of old formulas and we prepare ourselves politically, organizationally and psychologically for the opportunities and tests that lie ahead.”

Advancing everywhere

The week ended with an appraisal of what we have achieved so far and the steps that lie before us. Almost everywhere, the revolutionary communists are growing and advancing with confidence.

We are selling three and a half times more books now than in 2020. The sales of In Defence of Marxism magazine are up 26% year on year. Our finances are stronger. Our apparatus is stronger. Our website hits, social media reach, the number of listeners to our podcasts—all paint the same picture.

And we are making strides forward in country after country.

In Britain, we have grown from 1,200 to 1,350. In a special commission, an overview was given of how these strides have been achieved. It was explained how the leadership has tightened up on every aspect of the work, from the national center to the finances to the student work, where we have doubled our base among students since September alone.

A similar picture can be seen everywhere. In Denmark, Switzerland, and France, the RCI has grown by 30% in the last year. In the US, by nearly 40%. In Ireland and Mexico by 100% and 125%! There are many other such figures, all telling the same story.

The secret, if it can be called such, boils down to three things.

Firstly, we have turned boldly towards the youth everywhere.

We must give the youth we recruit initiative, give them ownership of the work. The best among them must be responsibly pushed forward, to play a role in leading the work locally, regionally, even nationally. Space must be made for them.

As was asked in the closing remarks by Alan Woods:

Think honestly about yourself and ask yourself honestly, do I still possess today, at the great grand old age of 32, do I honestly still possess the same fire, the same spirit, the same spark that I had when I was 16, 17, 18 years of age?

 

We must base ourselves on this live element. The young people, the very young people, and as has been stated by many comrades, we must have faith in them, confidence in them.

The second factor is theory, ideas—we must infuse the organization with the all-powerful ideas of Marxism.

The leadership must pay meticulous attention to the education of the youth above all. If we are asking a young communist to come to a branch meeting or reading group for two hours, ensure those two hours include a thoughtful, exciting, well-prepared political discussion. If we ask young comrades to give a day to attending a day school, make sure they leave that day school inspired, with fire in their eyes, because serious attention has been given to the ideas, the content, the discussion.

This is the key to ensuring we have the third factor: enthusiasm, which is key to building. In Alan’s words:

I know our comrades, I know this International, I know this organization very well. I’ll tell you: once the comrades are motivated and understand what they have to do, they will do anything. That’s the secret. There is no other secret. That depends on you.

 

Therefore, I go back to what I said. You must never lose this spark, this energy, this spirit. You do that, then you’re lost. You’re dead men and women.

As we take stock of what we have achieved; as we take stock of the disturbed world situation and the limitless opportunities it is creating for communists; as we consider what more we will be able to do as we approach the important milestone of not just 10,000 members worldwide, but 10,000 steeled, theoretically-trained cadres prepared to make any sacrifice, how can we not be filled with enthusiasm and optimism?

This is not false optimism. It is well-grounded optimism, firm in the knowledge that as world history rises to a critical juncture, we are rising too. Through our patient work, conducted day in day out, we are assembling the forces and erecting the scaffolding of a powerful communist force that, in the future, will intervene decisively to alter the course of human history.