This report was written by an international delegation of participants, including ILPS members, to the anti-fascist conference in Venezuela.
On September 10-11, 2024 in Caracas, Venezuela, 1200 people, including 500 international participants from more than 95 countries gathered for the first “Congreso Mundial contra el Fascismo, el Neofascismo y Expresiones Similares” (World Congress against Fascism, Neo Fascism and Similar Expressions).
Social and political leaders from some of the 23 states and 3900 communal councils of Venezuela were among the delegates. Other participants included mass organizations, parties, social movements, influencers, intellectuals, academics, organizers and activists from across the world. Together they approved the creation of an Anti-Fascist International.
We were three participants from Canada, members of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS), International Women’s Alliance (IWA) and International Migrants’ Alliance (IMA). A colleague from BAYAN in the Philippines completed our group of four. For some it was their first time in Venezuela, and for all of us it was a plunge into the history, politics, vibrant social movements and revolutionary traditions of those opposing the expressions of fascism and right wing dictatorship that are once again rearing their heads in the Americas and in the world.
This Congress was convened in the heat of the battle against the fascist attacks on Venezuela, following a national election campaign culminating on July 28, 2024, in which President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected with 51% of the vote, a result confirmed by Venezuela’s Supreme Court.
Despite an election with hundreds of international observers, and the highest level of transparency and state of the art of election vote counting, the 51% win by Maduro has been contested by the right-wing opposition headed by Edmund Gonzales and Maria Corina Machado, supported by Washington and billionaires like Elon Musk.
President Maduro said he intends to make this Congress the beginning of an International movement against fascism, colonialism and imperialism for peace, democracy and humanity as a whole.
Maduro said that Venezuela is taking up the fight against fascism, “not by choice, but because it has become the target of the most powerful concerted attacks from US imperialism and its allies” against a country’s and people’s right to build their society and future in their own interests.
The Congress was held on September 11, the date that most Latin Americans and progressive people remember as the day that Salvador Allende was overthrown in a CIA-led coup in Chile in 1972.
The Congress heard from keynote speakers from Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Salvador, Basque Country, Ireland, the US, Vietnam, Syria, and others on topics like “The Rise of Neofascism in contemporary politics in Latin America and the Caribbean”, “Fascism and the spiral of silence”, psychological warfare, and the fight against hate.
Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, talked about the power of social media magnates to influence elections. “They spent more than a million dollars to try to topple the Bolivarian government through the dictatorship of algorithms, he said, and they did it with such effrontery at the service of the Western governments mandated by the United States”.
Our delegation experienced the power of the black propaganda about Venezuela even among some progressives back home who were surprised we would travel to Caracas at this time, echoing the imperialist-backed narrative that Maduro is a dictator, the country is in shambles, and the people are starving.
Instead, even though the time we spent in Caracas was short, we could see nothing of that. There were no tent cities, no violence in the streets, no lineups for food or panhandlers. On the contrary, we found clean and peaceful streets, high spirits, joyful attitudes, music, and overall enthusiasm among the Venezuelans we met.
The economic statistics bear out that Venezuela is doing surprisingly well. Government figures show that although its income from oil dropped by 99% between 2012 and 2020, primarily because of the sanctions, the GDP has grown by 4.1% (CEPAL, June 2024), showing the best economic growth in Latin America. From a country dependent on imports for much of its food, it is today 96% self-sufficient in food, according to government sources.
Yet the attacks have not stopped. The opposition, egged on by the US empire and its allies, is intent on forcing the Venezuelan people into submission. Washington is particularly hungry to return control of the largest oil reserves in the world to US-backed private oil companies.
Also, the pro-imperialist offensive is not limited to Venezuela. Delegates from Honduras talked about their resistance to the recent attempted coup backed by imperialist interests there. Several speakers pointed to the rise of fascism in Latin America under the right-wing government of Javier Milei in Argentina. We spoke with participants about migrant workers who are targeted by right-wing forces and how we need to organize resistance internationally. We also talked about the need to work on the root causes that create forced migration in our home countries and territories.
We personally felt the impact of US pressure on other countries like Panama to block relations with Venezuela when we had to travel thousands of miles in detours and take almost three days to get from Montreal to our destination in Caracas after many airlines refused to fly to Venezuela.
A particularly moving moment during the Congress occurred when the families of the 27 women and men from grassroot organizations killed by fascists in the wake of the elections were honored on stage. The Venezuelan people showed they are clearly determined to never let fascists take state power in Venezuela, “No Pasaran, No Volveran!”
Finally, the Palestinian people’s struggle was well represented with many delegates wearing keffiyehs, waving Palestinian flags, and chanting for a Free Palestine as speakers talked about Zionism as a form of fascism.
For our part, we and our people’s organizations, the ILPS, IWA and IMA, along with BAYAN, will be standing with the people of Venezuela in this epic battle against the rise of fascism and we encourage the peoples of the world to do so as well !!
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