Fred Fuentes, Hanoi
Enrique Ramos, president of the Venezuelan National Institute of Youth, told the February 27-28 Hanoi preparatory meeting for the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students, to be held in Caracas, that the festival "would be a demonstration of the anti-imperialist struggle, and the advance of the struggle of youth" unfolding in Venezuela.
The meeting decided to move the dates of the festival to begin on August 7, coinciding with local elections that are expected to mark the next electoral victory of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian forces. The festival's new closing date, August 15, will fall on the one-year anniversary of the victory for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the recall referendum, which is expected to be celebrated with a 1 million-strong march in the capital.
The festival's Venezuelan National Preparatory Committee (NPC) is working with key Venezuelan ministers to cater for the expected 15,000-plus festival attendees. The Venezuelan NPC brings together over 30 youth and student groups including the Communist Youth of Venezuela, Youth of the Movement for the Fifth Republic in Venezuela, the National Institute of Youth, indigenous organisation CONVIVE and Middle Class in Positive.
Under the theme "For peace and solidarity, we fight imperialism and war", the festival will be an important gathering of anti-imperialist and anti-war youth from around the world, including 1500 from Cuba, 1000 from Brazil, 500 from France and 300 from the US.
Participants in the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Brigade scheduled for July 26-August 6 will be attending along with others from Australia who are going to the festival. More than 40 different countries from all the continents and regions of the world were represented at the meeting.
Participants will also have the chance to see the work of different social missions, initiated by the Chavez government, in areas outside Caracas.
Centred on four major conference themes, discussions will include cooperation of youth and student anti-war movements, privatisation of education, capitalist globalisation, racial discrimination and political prisoners.
The preparatory meeting debated the agenda. Some of the representatives from Europe, who predominantly belonged to youth organisations of the respective communist parties in each country, argued that a major theme of the festival had to be the 60-year anniversary "since the people's victory over fascism" and were concerned that parts of the festival would be outside Caracas.
On the other hand, delegates from Brazil and other Latin American countries as well as from the US, Britain and Australia argued that the struggle in Venezuela had to be at the forefront of the conference and supported the idea of participants visiting the social missions as well as young peasants and students and indigenous youth in the countryside.
In the end it was decided to push the day scheduled to focus on Venezuela to the same as the closing day, replacing it with a day themed "Anti-fascist people's victory — 60 years after, we continue the struggle against imperialism and war". Each of the other days will be dedicated to a particular region of the world.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, March 23, 2005.
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