Kiraz Janicke, Sydney
Although US imperialism today is immensely powerful, it is facing some severe challenges. Unable to subjugate the people of Iraq despite a brutal invasion and occupation, the US empire also faces a continent-wide rebellion against neo-liberal capitalism in Latin America.
At the centre of this rebellion is the revolution in Venezuela. President Hugo Chavez has called for the construction of a "new socialism of the 21st Century" and is helping socialist Cuba leave behind the post-Soviet "special period" crisis.
Within months of taking office, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, Evo Morales, moved to nationalise the country's gas fields and signed onto the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), a Cuban and Venezuelan initiative that aims for a united and independent Latin America based on peace and social justice.
The Chavez government's withdrawal of its ambassador to Israel last month, in solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinian people under siege, inspired millions in the Middle East. Elsewhere in Latin America, from the million-strong student strike in Chile earlier this year to Mexico's gigantic street protests against electoral fraud, resistance is on the rise.
This is the backdrop to the 4th National Latin America Solidarity Conference, called by the Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network and the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society, in Sydney on September 30 (see advertisement on page 12).
The conference will hear from speakers including: Venezuela's charge d'affaires in Australia, Nelson Davila; the Cuban Consul, Nelida Herndandez; Keysar Trad from the Islamic Friendship Association; and Tim Anderson. Workshops will cover issues such as the challenges and achievements of Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution, women's and queer struggles in Latin America, the campaign to free the Cuba 5 imprisoned in the US for fighting terrorism, and Bolivia's indigenous rebellion.
The conference is hosted by the University of Technology, Sydney Research Initiative on International Activism and supported by other organisations including the Bolivarian Circle (Sydney), Resistance, the Socialist Alliance, Green Left Weekly, the Marxist Solidarity Network, the AMWU, the University of Western Sydney Student Union and Wollongong University Student Association, Community Action Against Homophobia, Sydney Stop the War Coalition and the University of NSW Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies.
For more information or to register, phone Kiraz on (02) 9690 1977 or 0432 335 030, Tamara on 0423 169 687, or email <sydney@venezuelasolidarity.org>.