Flyer announcing the Workers' Summit of the Americas, to be held in Tijuana, Mexico, during June 10-12. Photo: Summit organizing committee
May 28, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—Dozens of social and political movements from various countries of the American continent will hold the Workers’ Summit of the Americas in Tijuana, Mexico, during June 10-12. This event will act as a counter-summit to the Summit of the Americas organized by Washington in Los Angeles, in which the US government has not invited Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua—countries besieged by US-imposed blockades and hybrid wars.
According to the organizers, the Workers’ Summit “calls for the programmatic unity of the working class and social movements to create a permanent forum for solidarity and the linking of anti-imperialist, anti-colonial and anti-patriarchal struggles in the American continent.” With this aim, a permanent forum of workers from across the continent will be created for solidarity and articulation of their struggles as well as the broader popular struggles and movements in the region.
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The Workers’ Summit was launched through a virtual event on April 29, with the participation of a number of organizations including the Venezuela-based Anti-imperialist Working Class Platform (PCOA), Fire This Time Movement, Codepink, International Action Center, and several trade unions from Mexico, Venezuela, and the US. “There have always been counter-summits to Washington-organized imperialist summits,” commented Francisco Torrealba, president of the Bolivarian Federation of Transport Workers (and recently appointed labor minister of Venezuela) during his participation at the launch event. “This will be another in that tradition.”
It is in this tradition that the organizers have outlined the main areas of focus for the Workers’ Summit: economic sanctions imposed by US imperialism and its partners in the European Union on Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua; growing poverty, unemployment and job insecurity in the neoliberal system; violence against trade unionists and social activists in the American continent; gender violence; sexual and cultural diversity; structural racism and violence against indigenous, native and Afro-descendant peoples; the criminalization of migration; environmental degradation and climate change; and other pertinent topics. Keynote speakers will include Venezuelan Labor Minister Francisco Torrealba and the ambassadors of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua in Mexico.
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The venue of the Workers’ Summit will be the East Campus of the University of Tijuana, according to the website of the summit. More information about the event, such as the registration process and related details, can be obtained at the website workerssummit.com, which is constantly getting updated. Parts of the program will also be livestreamed on Facebook by various organizations, including Alliance for Global Justice, Orinoco Tribune, and Anticonquista.
The Workers’ Summit of the Americas promises to be a platform for the peoples of the Americas, who, as usual, will surely be excluded from the Washington-controlled Summit of the Americas.
Featured image: Flyer announcing the Workers’ Summit of the Americas, to be held in Tijuana, Mexico, during June 10-12. Photo: Summit organizing committee
Special for Orinoco Tribune by Saheli Chowdhury
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