$1,810 raised of $3,000 goal
Support our mission
Donate Yearly
Donate Monthly
One-Time Donation
Patreon
Venmo
With unions in Latin America fighting back against the US attack on Venezuela, it's crucial that we amplify the voices of trade unionists there, but these stories of rank-and-file workers aren’t reaching union members in the United States, who read publications like ours.
In three weeks, I will arrive in Brazil which borders Venezuela and has received more than 700,000 Venezuelan migrants. With Lula facing re-election in 2026 and leading efforts to fightback against Trump, Brazil will be a hotbed of debate.
I already planned to stay for more than a month as a result of a small $1,500 travel grant to write about the assassination of my college classmate Marielle Franco, a Rio City Councilwoman. My budget is tiny, and I’m saving money by staying with my old host family, who even promised to feed me to save our readers money.
However, I want to raise $3,000 additionally so that I can spend some time covering how workers and unions in Latin America are fighting back against Trump’s attack on Venezuela. Some of this money will also go to travel, hiring local "fixer" to help me in my reporting, and taking time off either assignments to focus on this.
At a time when international solidarity is sorely needed, reporting is essential to generate it and secure support, but we need to fund it.
Brazil and its President Lula, a former autoworkers union leader, plays a crucial role in pushing back against imperialism in Latin America. Last night, Payday Report covered how Lula has been tapped by Latin American leaders to serve as a mediator between the Trump Administration and Venezuela.
With Lula facing re-election this year, he is most certainly going to face protests calling on him to put pressure on Trump, with whom he has maintained a strangely good relationship. (See our article on how Trump became a “fanboy” of Lula)
At a time when many outlets don’t have enough budget to deploy reporters on the ground in Latin America, Payday coincidentally has a reporter with decades of experience in Brazil. More than 20 years ago, I attended college at PUC-Rio de Janeiro and still stay with my old host family to save money when reporting from Brazil.
I am fluent in Portuguese and have extensive experience covering both the Brazilian labor movement and Lula on the ground in Brasil. My reporting was recognized when I got invited by Lula’s staff to go inside the Oval Office to cover Lula’s state visit with Biden in 2023.
I have extensive contacts throughout the Brazilian labor movement and could do amazing reporting on the organizing happening there against Trump. But I don’t have the budget to do the scale of reporting that I would like to do in Latin America.
If I could raise an additional $3,000, we could do some incredible reporting, and I could focus on reporting and not fundraising. At the same time, I will continue to put out newsletters, mixing updates on labor struggles in the United States with updates on how workers are fighting back against Trump in Latin America.
Sadly, while I can find freelance outlets that will pick up coverage of tire workers striking in Ohio, it's nearly impossible to find outlets that commission any foreign freelance work, even if a veteran reporter can cover their own travel costs as I am. So, I am going to need your help.
Payday has always prided itself on being able to address the struggles in both the Rust Belt and Latin America. We need your help with on-the-ground reporting that so few US outlets do in Latin America.
Support our mission
Donate Yearly
Donate Monthly
One-Time Donation
Patreon
Venmo
