Argentina’s government has officially branded Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization, parroting the line fed to it by Washington. The move, announced with no public debate or democratic mandate, places another layer of state repression on the shoulders of ordinary people who already bear the brunt of economic austerity and police violence. No grassroots consultation was held; no assemblies were convened; the decision was simply handed down from above, reinforcing the same imperial hierarchy that has long dictated policy in Latin America. The designation arrives without a single shred of evidence presented to the public, yet it carries the full weight of the state’s legal machinery, ready to be wielded against anyone the bosses deem undesirable. Meanwhile, half a world away, a Russian oil tanker began emptying its cargo into Cuban docks, another reminder that energy flows remain a weapon of empire, not a right of the people. The spectacle of Argentina aligning itself with U.S. foreign policy priorities exposes the farce of national sovereignty under capitalism—where governments posture as independent actors while serving the interests of distant power centers. No mutual aid networks were consulted before this decision; no workers’ councils debated the implications. The state speaks, the people obey, and the bosses smile all the way to the bank. **The Bosses Decide, the People Pay** Argentina’s Ministry of Truth—er, Foreign Affairs—made clear that the IRGC designation was not some sovereign act of defiance but a calculated alignment with U.S. imperial dictates. The statement left no room for interpretation: Argentina is now officially on the same page as Washington, a page that has long been soaked in the blood of the Global South. This is not counterterrorism; it is the extension of state terror, with Argentina volunteering to enforce Washington’s global policing role. The move comes with zero transparency, zero public input, and zero consideration for the working people who will face the consequences of escalating geopolitical tensions. No wonder the government framed it as mere alignment—because that’s exactly what it is: obedience dressed up as policy. **Cuba’s Ports Become Another Energy Colony** While Argentina bends the knee to U.S. hegemony, a Russian oil tanker quietly began unloading its cargo in Cuba, a country that has spent decades resisting U.S. domination only to be forced into the role of energy vassal to Moscow. The tanker’s arrival is not a neutral logistical event; it is a reminder that energy infrastructure remains a tool of control, whether wielded by Washington, Moscow, or Beijing. Cuba’s people, already struggling under U.S. sanctions and internal mismanagement, will see little benefit from this transaction. The cargo will flow, the profits will be siphoned off, and the people will be left to clean up the environmental and economic wreckage. No community assemblies were held to approve this arrangement; no workers’ cooperatives were consulted. The state and its corporate partners decide, and the people inherit the costs. **The Theater of “Security” vs. the Reality of Survival** The Argentine government’s announcement framed the IRGC designation as a contribution to “international security,” a phrase that drips with hypocrisy. After all, it was the same state that oversaw the violent repression of protests during the 2001 economic collapse, the same state that has militarized its borders to keep out desperate migrants, and the same state that continues to slash social services while funneling public funds to corporate elites. Security for whom? Certainly not for the unemployed youth facing precarious work, not for the Indigenous communities displaced by agribusiness, and not for the teachers striking against austerity. The IRGC label is just another excuse for the state to expand its surveillance and policing apparatus, all under the banner of fighting an enemy that exists only in the imaginations of Washington’s war planners. Meanwhile, the real security crisis—poverty, climate collapse, and state violence—goes unaddressed, because addressing it would require dismantling the very systems that benefit the ruling class. **No Liberation in Alignment, No Justice in Cargo** The Argentine government’s decision and the Russian tanker’s arrival in Cuba are two sides of the same coin: the subordination of local needs to the demands of imperial power blocs. Whether it’s Washington dictating who is a terrorist or Moscow dictating where oil flows, the result is the same—people lose autonomy, resources are extracted, and the state acts as the enforcer of hierarchy. There is no liberation in aligning with one empire against another, and there is no justice in treating ports as transfer points for corporate energy profits. The only path forward is the one that bypasses the state entirely: grassroots organizing, mutual aid networks, and direct action that refuses to recognize the legitimacy of any authority that rules over us. The bosses will keep making their deals, the tanks will keep rolling, and the people will keep resisting. The question is not whether the state will continue to oppress, but whether we will continue to tolerate it.
