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VENEZUELA: World Youth Fest - Activism and Celebration
By Humberto Márquez
CARACAS, Aug 16, 2005 (IPS) - A lengthy statement against "U.S. imperialism" was
adopted at the close of the 16th World Youth and Students Festival, which
drew thousands of young people from more than 100 countries to Venezuela
over the past week.
Music, dancing, hugs and promises to carry on the struggle and to meet up
again marked the closing ceremony, where 10,000 youngsters gathered under
the flags of the countries they represent.
The packed Caracas amphitheatre echoed Monday night to cheers for presidents
Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba.
"I am leaving here happy and committed to the fight against imperialism,"
said Diana, a young Mexican woman.
"I not only support Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution, but I would even like
to have a Venezuelan boyfriend," she laughingly told IPS, referring to the
left-leaning Chávez's peaceful "social revolution" that involves a broad
range of social programmes for the poor.
Red placards with the hammer and sickle or the face of legendary
Argentine-Cuban guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara waved alongside
flags from the host country and Brazil, Colombia, North Korea, Cuba, Italy,
Iraq, Palestine and Viet Nam, as well as "ikurriñas" - the red, white and
green flag of Spain's northern Basque province - and even the flag of the
Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939).
"This moment is just an explosion of joy," an enthusiastic Marco de Sousa
told IPS, holding a banner of the Communist Party of Brazil while the
amphitheatre resounded with the sound of drums beaten by the Black Theatre
of Venezuela.
"We are taking the message of this festival to bolster the popular struggles
in our countries," he added.
The climate at the festival was a combination of intense political activism
and youthfully exuberant celebration
The first world youth festival was held in Prague in 1947, and most
subsequent editions also took place in former east European socialist bloc
countries, including the Soviet Union, or in other socialist nations such as
Cuba and North Korea.
However, the eighth festival was held in Finland in 1962 and the 15th was
hosted by Algeria in 2001.
During the long days of the festival, the young participants took part in
workshops and seminars on the problems facing the countries of the
developing South, U.S. policy and the war on Iraq, the destruction of the
environment, the rights of minorities and Washington's aggressive stance
towards Cuba and Venezuela.
But in the evenings, the venues where the festival events were held and the
surrounding public squares and streets were filled with music and dancing,
local dance clubs and discotheques were packed with foreign visitors
enjoying salsa and other Caribbean beats, and fast food outlets and shopping
malls did brisk business.
The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), which organised the
festival along with the Venezuelan government - at an estimated cost of
eight to 10 million dollars - summarised the main conclusions of the debates
as part of a long list of criticism of Washington's policies.
Over the weekend, U.S. policy and the George W. Bush administration were
condemned in a mock trial led by Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente
Rangel.
Young people from around the world took part in the anti-imperialist
tribunal. Bui Teh Giang detailed the damages that U.S. chemical and
biological warfare caused in Viet Nam, Socorro Gomes from Brazil spoke of
the plunder of natural resources in the Amazon jungle by transnational
corporations, and Antonio Cruz argued the case of Puerto Rico's independence
movement.
Chávez himself and Ricardo Alarcón, the head of Cuba's parliament, testified
at the mock trial as "witnesses of honour".
Chávez denounced "200 years of imperialist aggression" by the United States
against Latin America, repeated the accusation that Washington was involved
in the coup d'etat that briefly overthrew him for two days in April 2002,
and stressed "the urgent need to dismantle U.S. imperialism before it puts
an end to the planet."
For his part, Alarcón denounced the case of the five Cuban men who
infiltrated right-wing anti-Castro Cuban-American organisations in Miami
with the aim of preventing terrorist attacks on Cuba, but were charged with
espionage and sentenced to lengthy jail terms.
The tribunal, which heard prosecutors and witnesses but no defenders,
condemned "U.S. imperialism for its crimes against humanity and for posing a
permanent threat to the survival of the human species."
Rangel said that although the tribunal "has a symbolic value," he would send
the conclusions to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the
Organisation of American States and rights groups like the London-based
Amnesty International.
The festival's final declaration also compiled the criticism heard against
Washington's policies, and stated that "resistance is growing stronger
around the world, despite the empire's efforts to identify (the movement)
with terrorism."
The document pointed out that one billion people worldwide scrape by on less
than one dollar a day, five million a year die of illnesses associated with
the lack of clean drinking water or sanitation, and 130 million young people
are illiterate.
The declaration demanded respect for women's rights, sexual and reproductive
health, employment for the young, a healthy environment, and access to
education, health, culture and technology.
It also expressed solidarity with the people of Iraq, Nepal, Burma (Myanmar)
and the Palestinian territories, supported Morocco's right to sovereignty
over the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, and demanded the withdrawal
of the U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
"We are returning to our countries to add our strength to the struggles of
young people and students against imperialism and war, and for peace and the
construction of a new society," said Miguel Madeira of Portugal, the
president of the WFDY.
The WFDY, which was founded at the 1945 World Youth Conference in London,
decided to organise the next global gathering of young people in 2007 in
Caracas as well, to commemorate half a century of world youth festivals.
The choice of Venezuela as host country for this year's festival was
prompted by the fact that "the social changes made to benefit the majority
of the population are clearly evident, and the empire's aggression towards
it is evident as well," Madeira commented to IPS last week.
(END)
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