The upcoming congress of the Continental Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Students (OCLAE) to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, provides students and young workers with an opportunity to meet and exchange views with youth from around the Americas who are engaged in struggles against the consequences of imperialist domination.

The conference will bring together young people from a range of countries, political backgrounds, and experiences. They will discuss different aspects of the fight against imperialism’s plunder of the wealth and labor of Latin America and the Caribbean.

One central campaign is the demand to cancel the Third World debt, a mechanism through which massive amounts of wealth are transferred into the coffers of the billionaire families in the United States, Canada, and other imperialist countries, while working people are subjected to layoffs and cutbacks in wages, pensions, and other social gains.

A related topic is Washington’s use of trade pacts such the Free Trade Area of the Americas, designed to further pry open the markets of Latin America to imperialist penetration and expand the superexploitation of workers and farmers. Delegates will also take up Plan Colombia, part of an increasing U.S. military presence in teh Andean region that is aimed at defending Washington’s imperial interests and cracking down on working-class and peasant resistance in the region. Other questions that will be discussed range from the imperialist war drive in the Mideast to protection of the environment.

Many of the groups and individuals that will attend the OCLAE congress identify with the Cuban Revolution. Among those present will be students and workers seeking to build a worldwide movement against imperialism.

The Algiers world youth festival last summer was an important indication of some of the historic changes in the world, in which the obstacle of Stalinism has been greatly weakened, breaking down barriers that for decades kept revolutionary-minded workers and youth separated from each other. Today, the capitalist economic catastrophe and imperialist drive toward war are pushing more young people into politics, including many who are becoming open to a revolutionary perspective.

The international student congress coincides with the largest book festival in Latin America--the Guadalajara International Book Fair--in which Cuba is this year’s featured country. Organizers of the OCLAE meeting have scheduled time for everyone to attend the fair.

Students and young workers are organizing in a number of cities to make plans for the trip. This includes efforts to raise funds for the trip and finding the cheapest way to travel.

Reading and studying some of the main political issues that will be joined at the OCLAE congress is one of the main ways to prepare for the event. A good place to start is Pathfinder books such as Cuba and the Coming American Revolution and Capitalism’s World Disorder, as well as New International issues on "Imperialism’s March toward Fascism and War," "The Opening Guns of World War III," and "U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War."  
 
 
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