Workers discuss U.S.-Latin America relations
By
LeiLani Dowell
Tijuana, Mexico
Published Dec 12, 2007 11:56 PM
Workers from Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and the United States shared information
and solidarity at a labor conference here on the weekend of Dec. 7-9. Plenary
talks discussed the case of the Cuban Five; relations among the U.S., Cuba,
Venezuela and Mexico; U.S. “free trade” agreements versus the
Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas (ALBA); and the immigrant rights
struggle.
Irma Sehwerert, a deputy in Cuba’s National Assembly and mother of
René González, one of the Cuban Five, represented the five political
prisoners held in U.S. jails and their families in an opening event on Dec. 7
dedicated solely to the case. The International Committee to Free the Cuban
Five screened “The Trial” (El Proceso), a new documentary jointly
produced by the Cuban Institute for the Cinematographic Arts and Industry
(ICAIC) and Venezuela’s Telesur.
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Cheryl LaBash of U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange, Raymundo Navarro Fernandez of Cuba
and Oswaldo Vera of Venezuela discuss how to build solidarity in U.S./Cuba/Venezuela
International Relations panel.
WW photo: Bob McCubbin
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A Saturday panel featured representatives of the Cuban Workers Central (CTC)
and Bolivarian Socialist Workers Force of Venezuela. Raymundo Navarro
Fernández, director of foreign relations for the CTC, reviewed the history
and methods of U.S. domination in Latin America. He said, “You can vote
for a government but you cannot change the political system—it means that
there is a neoliberal project that is above everything.”
Osvaldo Vera, a national coordinator of the Venezuelan workers’ group,
discussed the results of the recent constitutional referendum in his country
and plans to continue to deepen the revolutionary process there.
Elvira Arellano—called the “Rosa Parks” of the immigrant
struggle, who was recently deported from the U.S. to Mexico and separated from
her son, Saulito—and Emma Lozano of La Familia Latina Unida participated
in the immigration panel, as did José Medina, a member of the Mexican
Congress who was key in founding a new cross-border organization for the rights
of Mexican/Chicano people.
Namibia Donadio of the youth group FIST—Fight Imperialism, Stand
Together—discussed why youth are inspired by and stand in solidarity with
Cuba and Venezuela. She recounted her experiences on a FIST-organized trip to
Cuba this summer.
An open letter calling on the leadership of the AFL-CIO and the International
Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to stop slandering Cuba regarding its labor
rights was introduced and signed. The letter also called on affiliates to work
to free the Cuban Five and end the U.S. blockade of Cuba—the U.S. trade
and travel ban that blocks U.S. workers from traveling to Cuba and denies visas
for CTC representatives to enter the United States, making it necessary for
such gatherings to take place in other countries.
A call for activities for immigrant rights on May 1—the international
workers’ day and third anniversary of the “Great American
Boycott” of 2006—was well received.
More will be reported on this conference in future issues of WW.
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