Latin America Working Group´s (European Left) Information sheet of the 17° Sao Paolo Forum (SPF)
(12/06/11)
17th. Sao Paolo Forum took place 17.5-22.5.2011. 21 Latin American countries from 48 parties gathered in Managua Nicaragua under the idea of”Unity Makes Us Great” There were all together 640 delegates present. European Left was presented by EL vice-president Maite Mola (CP- Spain) and Latin American WG members Obey Ament (CP- France) and JP Väisänen (CP-Finland). EL was one of the 29 invited non member parties.
Political situation of the Forum
Forum was held in local, Nicaraguan political situation where national elections were in process. SPF host, President Daniel Ortega aims to renew Sandinist Liberation Front´s (FSNL- Frente Sandinista Liberacion Nacional) power. There were many actions of solidarity with Ortega’s politics. In the talks and the declaration 50 years of founding the FSNL and 116 years birth of General Augusto Sandino was celebrated. Internationally forum was held in a global context of discussion of the war in Libya, Middle East-process and European economical crises-debate. In many Latin American countries that will have elections during 2011, like Nicaragua, Guatemala, Argentina and Mexico there is a strong expectation for left powers to get in power.
Call for new Leftist Fronts, Coalitions and Spirit of Diversity
Most of the SPF discussions were encouraging different left forces to make coalitions and new left fronts to fight against capitalism. The everyday stronger getting oppression and hegemonic pressure of the United States of the America may be the reason why Latin American left is today underlining its unity and forcing left to find more concrete and uniting issues to fight against violent action of the capitalist powers.
Presence of Honduras´s ex-president Manuel Zelaya in SPF made the talks about capitalist aggressions and interventions concrete. Talks held during the SPF expressed great solidarity with the Honduran peoples struggle. There is a great expectation for Zelaya to make come back in power In Honduras with growing support of National Front of Popular Resistance (FRNP – Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular).
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum took part in SPF presenting Winaq, a newly founded leftist party for indigenes and humanitarian rights. Menchu is running for Guatemala’s president as a candidate of a new leftist electoral organ called” Frente Amplio”.
President of Cuban Assembly Ricardo Alarcón in his opening speech encouraged everybody to understand the true meaning of Unity of the rich diversity of Latin America. It means building up a new socialism and working in alternative processes, in different heroic creative ways like the Cubans in their 6th congress have decided to do.
European Left (EL) and Sao Paolo Forum (SPF)
Bilateral meeting in between European Left and Sao Paolo Forum was held 20.5.11 with the participation of Ricardo Abreu (CP- Brazil), Jordi, (Frente Socialista de Puerto Rico), Ruben Diniz (CP- Brazil), Maite Mola (EL/ CP-Spain), Obey Ament (CP-France), JP Väisänen (CP-Finland, Dietmar Schulz (Die Like, Germany), Rainer Schulze (CP-Germany), Stefano Fedeli (Party of the Italian Communists). A joint declaration was agreed. EL and SPF will continue to collaborate organizing seminars about migration and decolonialisation among other topics of mutual interest and importance. Next joint seminars are planned to take place during the meeting of EU and Latin American countries in Chile, Santiago de Chile and +20 meeting in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. El made an invitation to SPF to participate in next EL Summer University in Umbria, Italia this summer 2011.
Declarations, Working Group Summaries, Action plans and Statements
A six page declaration of Sao Paolo Forum was agreed. (See document included.) There were 12 working groups in SPF with a summary of each to include the declaration. Working groups covered following topics; National, local and state authorities, Defence, Democratization of information and communication, Foundation of schools and training centers, Environment and climate change, Migration, Social movements, Women, Parliamentarians, Security and narcotraficing, National sovereignty and decolonialisation, Race, Workers in the arts and culture.
Many bilateral meetings were held, joint declarations and action plans were prepared and meetings among different parties and social movements were done during SPF. Statements in globally important political issues like the military aggressions in Libya etc. were made public in SPF declaration. Solidarity among all parties participating and the whole leftist movement was expressed.
Key speakers and participants of SPF, among other important figures were; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Guatemalan presidential candidate Rigoberta Menchu Tum, President of the National Assembly of Cuba, Ricardo Alarcón, Canceller of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; ex president of Honduras Manuel Zelaya; vice-president of Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Manh Hung and ex president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Valter Pomar (Worker´s Party, Brazil) is secretary of SPF.
Following parties (names in Spanish) are members of SPF Working Group; Frente Grande (Argentine), Frente Transversal Nacional y Popular (Argentine), Movimiento Evita (Argentine), Movimiento Libres del Sur (Argentine), Partido Comunista (Argentine), Partido Comunista – Congreso Extraordinario (Argentine), Partido Humanista (Argentine), Partido Intransigente (Argentine), Partido Socialista (Argentine), Partido Solidario, Movimiento al Socialismo (Bolivia), Partido Comunista do Brasil (Brazil), Partido dos Trabalhadores (Brazil), Izquierda Cristiana (Chile), Partido Comunista (Chile), Partido Humanista (Chile), Partido Socialista (Chile), Partido Comunista Colombiano (Colombia), Polo Democrático Alternativo (Colombia), Presentes por el Socialismo (Colombia), Partido Comunista de Cuba (Cuba), Movimiento de Unidad Plurinacional Pachakutik – Nuevo País(Ecuador), Movimiento PAIS (Ecuador), Movimiento Popular Democrático (Ecuador), Partido Comunista de Ecuador (Ecuador),Partido Comunista Marxista-Leninista del Ecuador (Ecuador), Partido Socialista-Frente Amplio (Ecuador, Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional ( El Salvador), Alianza Nueva Nación (Guatemala),Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (Guatemala), Partido Comunista por la Independencia y el Socialismo (Martinico), Consejo Nacional de Comités Populares (Martinic0), Partido de la Revolución Democrática (Mexico), Partido del Trabajo (Mexico), Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (Nicaragua) Partido Comunista del Perú – Patria Roja (Peru), Partido Comunista Peruano (Peru), Partido Nacionalista del Perú (Peru), Partido Socialista (Peru), Frente Socialista (Puerto Rico), Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (Puerto Rico), Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico), Frente Amplio (Uruguay), Partido Socialista Unificado de Venezuela (Venezuela)
Official web site for FSP is www.forodesaopaulo.org
Next Sao Paolo Forum will take place in Caracas, Venezuela 2012.
Maite Mola, EL vice-president, CP-Spain
Obey Ament, EL Latin American WG, CP-France
JP Väisänen, EL Latin American WG, CP-Finland