Thursday, October 2, 2014

Latin American Leftists Warn of Threats to Progressive Change

10/2/2014


QUITO – Hundreds of delegates from leftist political parties from 20 Latin American nations warned of threats to the process of change taking place in the region on the final day of the first Latin American Progressive Encounter (ELAP).

The two-day event held in the Ecuadorean capital ended late Tuesday at the Plaza de San Francisco, where a final statement of the meeting was read.

The “Quito Declaration” expressed support for the progressive governments in the region and rejected intervention by “neo-colonialist powers” in the processes of change occurring there.

Left-wing representatives from Germany, Spain and Greece attended the event to learn from the Latin American experience, said Pablo Iglesias of the Spanish Podemos (We Can) party.

In the final declaration, the ELAP, organized by Ecuador’s leftist PAIS Alliance, urged all the progressive Latin American governments to strengthen integration and support efforts such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Union of South American Nations and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, among others.

The ELAP also proposed “radicalizing democracy” in these countries and deepening the participation of groups of young people and women in political debates.

On the other hand, the ELAP issued a warning about the “imminent danger” of a “counter-offensive” by the conservative right in an attempt to regain power in these nations through media campaigns against the progressive governments.

“We strongly protest the permanent interference by the right in Venezuela,” read the declaration, in open support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

It also rejected what it called “imperialist aggression” in “any part of the world” through economic and political pressure.

In a show of support for Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez, the ELAP proposed denouncing the practice of a group of U.S. debt creditors of that country, known as “vulture funds,” calling them “predators.”

The ELAP also supported Argentina’s claim on the Falkland Islands, which belong to Britain, and criticized U.S. commercial and economic sanctions against Cuba, which it described as “unjust and criminal.”

The ELAP called for a consolidation of the regional multilateral financial agencies to deal with speculative capital and the pressure from powerful countries and corporations.

It also endorsed the ratification of the “Kyoto Protocol” to battle climate change and backed Ecuador in its campaign against the American oil company Chevron for alleged environmental damage in the Amazon region of the country.

Representatives of leftist movements and parties of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela participated in the ELAP.


source

No comments:

Post a Comment