ALBA-TCP Women and Gender Meeting Revitalizes Fight Against Patriarchy and Imperialism

Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond
From Venezuela and made by Venezuelan Chavistas
âIt is not possible to separate the struggle against patriarchy from the struggle against imperialism and the hegemonic policies of domination,â stated the meeting resolution.
High-ranking authorities related to Women and Gender Issues of ALBA-TCP states met on Wednesday to assess progress and challenges in the construction of a fairer, more egalitarian society without exclusion.
The meeting included the participation and interventions of high-level authorities and representatives of Nicaragua, Bolivia, Granada, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Venezuela and Cuba.
Secretary General Sacha LLorenti opened the meeting with a tribute to Cuban revolutionary Vilma EspĂn as the meeting coincides with her birthday.
Dominicaâs Minister of Gender Affairs Adis King echoed the sentiment, saying âToday is a great day in remembering Vilma EspĂn from the western side of Cuba, who played such a key role in the advancement of the fight of women against injustice. I especially remember her for fighting for students of the universities in Cuba during the time I studied there. So we just want to remember her today as we celebrate her birthday. Sheâs no longer with us and unfortunately died the very same year I graduated as a medical doctor from Cuba in 2007. I remember it was a very sad time for us, but today I remember her and I think her spirit will be with us forever.â
Minister King highlighted the issue of climate change, with Dominicaâs Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit having set the goal of making his country the first climate resilient country, as he has stated before the United Nations. A program in Dominica seeks to involve women and children in education on the matter, as a means to prepare the nation to confront the problem, in the context of devastating storms in recent years.
Nicaragua, with leading figures for the region in terms of gender parity in politics, shared the achievements and advances of the Sandinista Revolution. Women can be seen heading the majority of government ministries and represent 48.4% of the countryâs National Assembly and 59.7% of the judiciary.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines emphasized the need to provide assistance and resources to young women interested in participating in politics, in order to ensure more balanced gender equity in government. [The representative from] Saint Kitts and Nevis stated that women in her country are leading the governmentâs Covid-19 response from the Health Ministry and state task forces.
Venezuelaâs Minister of Peopleâs Power for Women and Gender Equality, Carolys PĂ©rez, urged revitalization of the womenâs committee of the regional bloc and reiterated Venezuelaâs condemnation of the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States on her country, Cuba and other peoples. The result of these criminal blockades is the hindering of access of millions of women and girls to basic health services, medicine, food, and technology, among other things.
The Minister said that the crises faced by the region are compounded by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and also by the political decisions taken from the neoliberal and capitalist logic that have affected women, adolescents and girls, especially impacting health and education.
She emphasized the importance of revitalizing the ALBA-TCP Womenâs Committee, âto become a space that makes visible the rights and empowerment of women and highlights their leading role in our peoples, as well as contributing to the mainstreaming of gender in the proposals and actions generated from this regional alliance.â
ALBA-TCP is meeting today on Women and Gender issues.
đ©đČ Dominica's Minister of Gender Affairs Adis King: "Today is a great day in remembering Vilma EspĂn who has played such a great role in the advancement of the fight of women against injustice." @ALBATCP pic.twitter.com/qHWBT6gVmb
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) April 7, 2021
Minister of the Presidency of Bolivia, MarĂa Nela Prada, took to the forum to denounce the setback in the struggle for womenâs rights and depatriarchalization as a result of the violence employed against Bolivian women by the Jeanine Ăñez coup regime. The coup administration not only committed massacres and murders, it also persecuted social and political leaders, sending former officials into exile, and violated the human rights of indigenous and working class women.
RELATED CONTENT: Bolivians Demand Justice for Crimes Committed by Jeanine Ăñezâs Coup Regime
Substantial advances have been entrenched in the Bolivian Constitution in recent years, beginning under the administration of Evo Morales, and the current administration hit the ground running in the fight to strengthen the Plurinational Stateâs laws to promote depatriarchalization and decolonization.
Prada says the government of Luis Arce is now taking on womenâs issues head-on, in order to guarantee a dignified life, free of violence: âWe are retaking our path of our anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and anti-patriarchy struggle.â
The final statement of the meeting on Women and Gender issues is expected to be published on Thursday.
Featured image: Venezuelaâs Minister for Women and Gender Equality, Carolys PĂ©rez intervenes in the ALBA-TCP meeting on Women and Gender, accompanied by the Vice Minister for Multilateral Affairs, Daniela RodrĂguez on April 7, 2021 (File photo)
(kawsachunnews.com)
OT/OH