By Roger McKenzie
January was a very good month for the left on the international relations front — as long as we don’t miss the opportunity. It saw the continuation of the inspirational people’s protests in Peru against the coup that removed President Pedro Castillo.
In spite of a brutal crackdown by the authorities led by the ruling class installed president Dina Boluarte, the protesters have refused to back down in their demands for her removal, fresh elections and the release from detention of Castillo who was thrown in prison on December 7.
This is real people power that we must do all we can to support. January also saw Lula inaugurated as president of Brazil. A week later a former president Jair Bolsonaro-inspired coup attempt was defeated.
Many, including the former Brazilian president, will face swift action in the courts. Contrast this to the United States where many involved in the insurrection at the Capitol in January 2021 have yet to even get a knock on their door.
The coup attempt in Brazil can’t hide the fact that the return of Lula to lead South America’s largest country is cause for international celebration on the left. Lula has also breathed new life into international relations with his genuinely progressive voice.
Not the least was the participation of Brazil in the January conference of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Celac was created in 2011 from the inspiration of legendary Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the great Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and, of course, Lula. Under Bolsonaro Brazil suspended its involvement in Celac, primarily because of his objections to the participation of Cuba and Venezuela in the body. One of the first acts by Lula on taking up the presidency was for Brazil to rejoin Celac – a decisive and far from cosmetic move.
Firstly, Celac was created as a means of countering the control that the United States exerted over the region through the Organisation of American States. Chavez said at the time of its formation that “as years go by, Celac is going to leave behind the old and worn-out OAS.”
The summit declaration made clear its opposition to the illegal US embargos on Cuba and Venezuela as well as a proposal to establish a new regional currency. One of the ways that the US has been able to impose brutal economic sanctions on countries across the world is through the power of the “mighty dollar” and their control over systems of financial exchange such as Swift.
The creation of a rival financial exchange system presents enormous opportunities for the global South to maintain financial independence. The proposed regional currency, likely to be called “the sur” or the “south”, is not meant to be like the euro. Unlike the euro, the sur is not about imposing strict neoliberal economic and social policies designed to make the rich get richer and the poor poorer.
It’s a bid for economic and social freedom from the clutches of the US where countries will be able to determine their own direction. But, crucially, the formal summit also saw the birth of the Celac social forum.
This new forum brought together civil activists and trade unions from across Latin America and the Caribbean to plan how they might do more than just be influencers on events but rather how they might be active shapers of the future.
We must never leave the work of shaping the future to elected politicians alone. The vast wealth of experience, knowledge and skills within communities must be used to deepen support for socialist policies.
It will also help to create the movement that will be needed when the US and their allies fight back against policies that undermine their power and the interests of the ruling class.
During January we also saw the publication of the Santiago Declaration. This was the outcome of a gathering in the Chilean capital from November 29 to December 2 when more than 1,000 organisers from over 100 countries gathered to create a movement against “the dominant paradigm of growth, privatisation and commodification.”
The declaration, made in the country that was the “laboratory of neoliberalism” by the Chicago school of economics led by Milton Friedman via the military junta of General Augusto Pinochet, billed itself as a manifesto for “a complete overhaul of our global economic system.”
Amongst other things the declaration said: “Who owns our resources and our services is fundamental. A public future means ensuring that everything essential to dignified lives is out of private control.”
An international coalition made up of more than 200 trade unions and progressive advocacy groups put their names to what could be a really important declaration.
According to Global Justice Now, the Transnational Institute and other signatories, the creation of an egalitarian and sustainable society hinges on ensuring universal access to life-sustaining public goods delivered by highly valued workers.
And then the Progressive International met in Havana, Cuba to map out what they called an emancipatory “new international economic order.”
During the opening session, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis called for the establishment of a movement capable of dismantling “the existing, exploitative, catastrophically extractive imperialist international economic order so as to build a new one in its place… in which people and planet can breathe, live, and prosper together.”
The challenge with all of these initiatives is to make sure they do not turn into competing factions. The truth is that the history of the left does not bode well in this regard. Sadly there is often a temptation to lapse into sectarianism instead of concentrating on doing the people’s work. But together with the exciting leadership of Lula, President Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba and many others across the region we — especially those of us with skin in the game in the region — can help to build the international solidarity movement that will be the decisive factor over who wins when the US and their mates fight back. (IPA Service)
Courtesy: Morning Star
