‘The people who most love the game won’t be able to go’: Ajamu Baraka on Resistance to the World Cup
In this episode of El Taller, the interview program from the Soberanía podcast, hosts José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth sit down with Ajamu Baraka, national organizer and spokesperson for the Black Alliance for Peace, former vice presidential candidate of the Green Party, and a lifelong anti-imperialist activist.
The conversation focuses on the upcoming World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico; and the growing movement to oppose it. Baraka explains how the U.S. is using the tournament to sportswash its litany of international crimes: the war of aggression against Iran, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the kidnapping of Venezuela’s president, and the escalating threats against Cuba. He describes FIFA’s decision to proceed as evidence of the “moral and political bankruptcy” of Western institutions, driven by an estimated $11 billion in projected revenues.
The episode details the work of the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition, which is entering its second phase: organizing in the 11 U.S. host cities to educate the public, amplify local opposition to gentrification and resource diversion, and decide whether to call for an explicit boycott. An organic boycott may already be underway, with hotel bookings in some host cities running below normal summer levels — a consequence of the Trump administration’s travel bans, visa-bond demands, and social media screening.
The discussion also touches on Mexico City’s experience as a host city, where leftist local government has nonetheless fallen into the same traps: superficial beautification projects, conceding demands for tax exemptions, and pressure to suspend regulations. Baraka draws lessons from Brazil, where hosting massive events under Lula helped lay the groundwork for a subsequent right-wing backlash.
Finally, the conversation turns to Colombia’s upcoming presidential election, where the U.S. is actively meddling. Baraka warns that the region is facing a coordinated right-wing offensive, but insists that beneath the surface, revolutionary currents remain alive. “When this is reversed,” he says, “it won’t be a pink tide. It’s going to be blood red.”
