Communist Parties Back Latin American Revolution

Here is an edited version of the Motion of solidarity with Latin America and Cuba passed at the November 10-12th gathering of 63 Communist and Workers Parties in Lisbon

For a long time, the peoples of Latin America have been the victims of the permanent policies of plunder and domination by US imperialism.

In such conditions, the struggle of the latin-american peoples has grown in all of its expressions: of the urban workers, of the landless peasants, of native peoples, of women, of the youth, of the democratic intellectuals, which organize in social movements, mass and popular organisations, liberation movements, political parties and left-wing electoral coalitions.

The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela is part of that struggle. The Venezuelan government, headed by President Hugo Chavez, is consolidating itself and advancing, indicating the prospect of a more profoundly anti-imperialist struggle and of achieving socialism.

Also part of that struggle is the ongoing democratic-popular process in Bolivia, under the leadership of Evo Morales, a clear example that the peoples of Latin America have decided to put an end to centuries of exploitation and exclusion.

The election of democratic governments in various Latin American countries, like “Frente Amplia” in Uruguay, and the recent re-election of Lula in Brazil and the election of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua are also part of the development of progressive forces in the continent. The Latin American left has made the struggle to assert its political and economic sovereignty a priority, with the development of social programs that benefit the vast majorities and the launching of projects of integration, among which ALBA is prominent. Socialist Cuba is a prominent part of this scenario of advances in the anti-imperialist struggle in the region.

For all this, the Communist and Workers’ Parties here gathered, besides expressing our solidarity with the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in general, once again express our repudiation of the US Blockade against Cuba; we demand that publicity be given to the secret report that seeks the violent overthrowing of the Cuban Revolution and demand the immediate liberation of the Five Heroes, pledging, at the same time, to carry out new actions of political solidarity in our countries, with this sister country and people.

Lisbon, Portugal, November 12, 2006