ManiFiesta 2025 was: great vibes, talented musicians and artists, exciting speakers from all over the world, Belgium's biggest left-wing book fair, an international trade union village, a sparkling PioFiesta for our youngest revellers, the best food from different countries, MundoFiesta bringing together all those who stand up for international solidarity and against imperialism and also sports and games for young and old. But above all, ManiFiesta is the festival with the best festival-goers!

After Venezuela, Trump, Rubio and the US government are turning to their next target: Cuba.

Thirteen days of nationwide action took place against the 'Arizona' government named after the colours of the Arizona state flag, symbolising the 5 parties in the coalition government: N-VA (Flemish right-wing nationalist party), CD&V (Flemish Christian democrat party), Vooruit (Flemish socialist party), MR (French-speaking liberal party) and Les Engagés (French-speaking Christian democrat party). At the heart of many of these mobilisations is the fight against plans to dismantle our pension scheme. Under pressure from below, the government had to review its reform. The pension malus1 and the tougher conditions for early retirement have been mitigated. As a result, the impact of these measures has been reduced by around a quarter. The figures we requested from Pensions Minister Jan Jambon clearly show that the social struggle is paying off.

Washington snatched a president from his palace - no, this didn't happen on a movie set, but in a sovereign country. A brutality that betrays both fear and weakness. Fear: they are afraid China is strengthening its control over Latin America. Weakness: those who can no longer impose their will through diplomatic measures, resort to kidnapping as a geopolitical tool.

Peter Mertens, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PVDA-PTB), tells Peoples Dispatch that 2026 brings opportunities for class struggle – if the left is ready to act boldly. December 25, 2025 by Ana Vračar

Here's to a heartwarming and rebellious 2026!

From November 23th to 26th, Belgium saw successful action against the austerity measures and budget cuts of the ‘Arizona’ rightist government, culminating in a general strike. The PVDA-PTB, present at 700 picket lines, had a clear message: “Listen to the workers, listen to those who keep the country running every day: Hands off our pensions, hands off the indexation of our wages or our night shift bonuses.”

On October 14th, the trade unions organised a demonstration in Brussels against the anti-social plans of the so called 'Arizona' government. It marked a turning point. 140,000 people took to the streets. That number was immediately downplayed by the right, but reveals the scale of the popular resistance. Benjamin Pestieau, deputy general secretary of the PVDA-PTB, explains the reasons for this massive mobilisation, the government's strategy of division and repression, and the essential conditions for pushing back this government of social destruction.

At the 2025 European Forum in Vienna, David Pestieau, Political Director of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PVDA–PTB), delivered the following speech during the plenary “Austerity and the War Economy: Our Opposition to the EU ReArm Initiative. Fighting War Means Fighting Austerity“.

At COP30, States are required to update their climate plans, ten years after the Paris Agreement, and after the failure of COP29 in Baku. Meanwhile, the UN’s latest climate report, “No More Hot Air… Please!” makes it clear: global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising despite all declared commitments. The world continues to face an average rise of global temperature whose impacts are already felt in the lives of the peoples.