Conference to strengthen bonds of solidarity

Changes are shaking the world. Even with the destruction wrought by the global capitalist economic crisis, new bonds of solidarity are making improvements and enhancing the lives of millions. In Latin America and the Caribbean, these changes are uplifting women, Indigenous communities and the poorest workers previously denied access to education, health care and control over their lives. Where pro-worker changes are endangered, like in Honduras under the military coup, mass mobilizations are fighting back.

Many leaders of these movements for change will come together Dec. 4-6 at the Sixth U.S./Cuba/Venezuela/North America Labor Conference in Tijuana, Mexico, just 15 minutes from San Diego. A special “Nothing Less than Freedom for the Cuban Five” dinner and program will greet family members of the anti-terrorist heroes unjustly imprisoned in the U.S. The Dec. 4 program will include a video of Alice Walker, noted author of “The Color Purple,” speaking at a Berkeley, Calif., gallery display of paintings by Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban Five.

Representatives from Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bolivia and the U.S., as well as activists on the front lines in Honduras and Puerto Rico, will bring updates and analyses of the situation facing workers in their respective countries. Planned discussions will focus on international relations, immigration and collective solidarity. The newest developments by Latin American labor federations organizing themselves into Workers Uniting for a New America will be discussed.

Representatives from the member countries of ALBA—the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas—will address solutions to the urgent problems of energy and food crises, education, communications, sports and providing the necessities of life for those marginalized by colonialism and imperialist globalization.

Conference sponsors include the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange; Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas; Federación Sindical Mundial; International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five; National Network on Cuba; Venezuela Solidarity Network; International Action Center; Cuba Solidarity New York; Southwest Workers Union, San Antonio, Texas; Converjencia de los Movimientos de los Pueblos de Las Américas; and others.

Participants are encouraged to reserve rooms right away at the conference venue, Hotel Palacio Azteca. To reserve a room call toll-free from the U.S. 1-888-901-3720, or from Mexico 01-8000266660, and ask for the “Cuba Labor Conference special rate” ($80 for single rooms or $114 for doubles, including a breakfast buffet).

Registration is available online at laborexchange.blogspot.com, by e-mail or postal service. Registration for the two-day conference and Friday evening dinner is $85. For the Free the Five dinner program alone, a donation of $30 ($20 for residents of Mexico) is requested. For more information, e-mail [email protected] or call 313-575-4933.