Havana, Feb 14 (Prensa Latina) The Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) is a real alternative to the crisis of the world capitalist system, according to Professor Luciano Vasapollo, of the University of Sapienza in Rome.
The academic, who also heads the delegation from the Network of Italian Communists and the Our America Association, is paying an official visit to Cuba.
Vasapollo’s working agenda includes his participation in an international workshop on social networks and media.
The expert, who has maintained relations with Cuba for over three decades, told Prensa Latina that on this occasion, he visited Pinar del Rio, where he met with authorities from the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), culture and other sectors.
We took advantage of the visit to renew cooperation agreements between Sapienza and the University of Pinar del Rio, and to learn about the implementation of the economic and social guidelines and the changes being made in that province.
He noted that the University of Sapienza is interested in boosting relations with the University of Pinar del Rio and other similar institutions in Cuba.
Vasapollo, who also represents his organization before the ALBA, pointed out that he is working closely with Bolivia and Ecuador, and has just launched his latest book in Pinar del Rio, entitled “Vivir Bien o Muerte” (Living Well or Death), written in conjunction with Cuban Professor Jose Luis Cabrera.
In that regard, he noted that the idea contained in his books, based on Bolivia’s experience, could also be very useful in many parts of the world, due to its vision about the world economic crisis.
He added that it was very interesting for him to participate in the workshop on social networks at Havana’s Convention Center, because it debated how the Internet could be used to counter the media war and ideological terrorism by the right wing against the ALBA, Cuba and Venezuela.
According to Vasapollo, a functional left wing does not exist at present in either Italy or Europe, where it is represented by the struggle of social movements and some grassroots and class trade unions.
About the crisis in Europe and the world, he described it as systemic, because today, the capital does not have a new phase of accumulation to appreciate the reproductive cycle completely: it needs financial speculation, so he considered that his solution is political.
The expert noted that Marxism has not ended, but it is still in force as an instrument and a tool to interpret, learn about and transform today’s complex world.
Vasapollo is also in Havana to present two of his works at the International Book Fair, which will open on Thursday in this capital, and in the ALBA House.
The prominent Italian economist will stay in Cuba until February 22. During his visit, he will give lectures and will meet with the president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Kenia Serrano.
He will also meet officials from the ministries of Culture, Foreign Affairs and Higher Education, as well as from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Cuban Workers’ Union (CTC), and the relatives of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly held in U.S. prisons for 14 years.