In the city’s Convention Center, representatives of left-wing parties and social movements discussed developing common actions for solidarity, continental peace and other causes in the Latin American and Caribbean region, where reality demands the resistance of progressive forces and the leadership of young people in the struggle, as the Cuban President pointed out.

It is also necessary, said Díaz-Canel, to articulate strategies that allow us to confront the cultural and media war with which neoliberalism and imperialism intend to subdue our peoples, trying to destroy our identities. The aggressive escalation that the continent is experiencing today is part of an ideological and cultural battle, he insisted.In the particular case of Cuba, Machado Ventura had previously stated in the meeting, “The more radical the aggression, the greater our commitment to solidarity with just causes. We will not change any of our principles.”Mónica Valente, executive secretary of the FSP, called for analysis of the international context of regional struggles and thanked the Cuban people, and all organizations involved, for the collection of thousands of signatures here calling for the release of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, unjustly imprisoned in Brazil.

(Granma)

Fidel became a symbol of revolutionary heroism, of rebellious ideas and of aspirations for freedom and happiness, said the member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party during a plenary session dedicated to the leader’s thoughts on the last day of the 24th Meeting of the Sao Paulo Forum.

At the Convention Center, the also executive director of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) said that humanitarian internationalism, created and led by Fidel, has supported many revolutions and national liberation movements around the world, including the Vietnamese people’s struggle against the U.S. invasion.

In this regard, he assured that for many years Cuba and Fidel Castro have constituted sacred words in the heart of every inhabitant of the Asian nation.

Cuba was the first country to recognize the National Front for the Liberation of the South of Vietnam (December 1961), the first to form the Committee for Solidarity with Vietnam (September 1963) and the first and only one to establish its embassy in the liberated zone (July 1967), a territory visited by Fidel in September 1973, he added.

In his speech, Loi thanked Fidel Castro for his friendship and affection for Vietnam, and reiterated Hanoi’s firm solidarity with the island, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Raul Castro, and the president, Miguel Diaz-Canel.

He also congratulated the Mexican left on the electoral triumph of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and expressed his support for Venezuela and Nicaragua, as well as his recognition of the development achievements in El Salvador and Bolivia, thanks to the leftist governments.

Former leaders, personalities and progressive and left-wing leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa participated in the plenary to honor Fidel Castro, a session of the Forum in which they highlighted his legacy and his drive for unity and integration.

(Prensa Latina)

The inauguration of the meeting was held in the Convention Palace, presided over by the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, and gathered more than a hundred left-wing and progressive parties and organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The opening ceremony was also led by the executive secretary of the Sao Paulo Forum, Monica Valente, with the participation of personalities such as the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, and the Puerto Rican independence fighter Oscar Lopez Rivera.

On its first day, the annual forum – which returns to Havana after the 1993 and 2001 editions – includes a debate to establish a position against colonialism and in favor of anti-imperialist solidarity and peace.

It will also host the meeting of the regional secretariats, the 3rd Seminar between the Left Party and the Sao Paulo Forum, and a meeting of the Network of Intellectuals in Defense of Humanity.

This regional left-wing initiative was created in 1990 by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro (1926-2016), and the former president and founder of the Brazilian Workers’ Party, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

According to the participants, the new edition of the Sao Paulo Forum should promote the momentum of the revolutionary and progressive forces of Latin America, in response to the onslaught of the right and the hostility of the United States towards governments and peoples who oppose its hegemony and interference.

(Prensa Latina)