IV People's Summit Summary of Opening Remarks

The IV People´s Summit began today, Thursday, April 16th, in the morning. Around 300 people joined others who were already in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago celebrating the Worker´s Forum. The opening ceremony of the Summit was led by David Abdulah, representative of the Assembly of Caribbean Peoples and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs, and Enrique Daza, representative of the Hemispheric Social Alliance. Both encouraged the audience to seek a model of regional integration that does not follow neoliberal tenets.

Abdulah announced the failure of capitalism by commenting on the attempt to fix the current economic crisis through the bailout of financial institutions. The reknowned union leader found hope in the Summit for bringing together all the peoples of the Americas. He urged the participants to learn from social movements of the past and the present as they attempt to mobilise their respective constituencies. On the other hand, Daza celebrated the fact that various governments in Latin America and the Caribbean have distanced themselves from neoliberal practices, and that, throughout the continent, we find newly invigorated indigenous and peasant movements, as well as other important social movements. Daza urged all the organisations and communities represented in the Summit to respond together to the declaration made by heads of state in the Summit of the Americas. He noted that the declaration promises much needed social changes, such as the end of poverty, but does not explain which resources will be used or mechanisms implemented to achieve this goal; the declaration reiterates the regional dependence on financial aid from “obsolete organisations” like the International Monetary Fund. Daza ended his speech affirming that we must “create in practice and theory an alternative world.”

Other delegates reiterated the critique of the neoliberal model and discussed the need to end the blockade against Cuba and to incorporate Cuba in the Organisation of American States. The representative of the Cuban delegation reaffirmed Cuba’s solidarity with social justice projects in the Caribbean and Latin America. The representative of the Worker´s Forum and the Confederación Sindical de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de las Américas reiterated ideals of regional integration, “of a struggle to build another America” where the poor do not continue to pay the price of neoliberal practices. Rosa Guillén, who represents the World March of Women, celebrated the activism of indigenous and peasant women, female labour organisers, women who are organised in cities for their challenge to a “patriarchal and sexist capitalism.” Marcela Harris talked about the struggles of farmers who attempt to achieve food security and sovereignty. Uniting his voice to others, the representative of the Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations asked everyone to act in their communities--not to wait for the state to intervene in struggles for equity, access to basic need and natural resources, and the right to participate in decision-making processes--and to maintain one’s cultural practices and knowledge and to live in harmony with nature. The representative of Global Grassroots asked for the end of capitalism and neoliberal free trade agreements on behalf of her constituencies of indigenous peoples, workers, gays, lesbians, transgender people, and women in the United States.

Irmary Reyes-Santos

Michael Hames-Garcia