The Militant (logo)  
   Vol.66/No.44           November 25, 2002  
 
 
Youth from United States
will attend OCLAE meeting
 
BY OLYMPIA NEWTON  
LOS ANGELES--Dozens of young people here are preparing to go to Guadalajara, Mexico, for a student conference that will attract young people from across the Americas. The event, to be held November 29–December 2, is sponsored by the Continental Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Students (OCLAE), and hosted by the Federation of University Students of Guadalajara.

The Los Angeles delegation already includes 30 people, with students from six different campuses. The delegation was initiated by the Los Angeles Coalition in Solidarity with Cuba and the Latin America Society at California State University in Los Angeles. The youth are raising funds and looking for inexpensive ways to travel to the conference.

The 13th OCLAE congress includes a session on "The Imperialist Presence in Latin America and the Caribbean" and a plenary session called "Another America is Possible." Another feature of the gathering is several working commissions of delegates from different countries on eight different topics, including Education in the Era of Trade Agreements, Culture as an Expression and Form of Popular Struggle, and Gender and Identity. Regional meetings of the delegations, as well as cultural and social events, will also be part of the four-day program.

The OCLAE congress is part of the continuing effort led by Cuban youth organizations and groups in other countries to build an worldwide anti-imperialist youth movement. Among the delegates from Central and South America, the Caribbean, and North America, many will be attending as a way to link up with other young people engaged in the struggles against imperialist oppression and exploitation.

This year’s OCLAE congress coincides with the opening of the annual Guadalajara International Book Fair, the largest trade book fair in Latin America. The schedule for the congress includes a visit to the book fair. Cuba is the featured country at the fair this year.

The $70 registration fee for the conference includes lodging in a four-person hotel room for November 28–December 2, two meals per day, conference registration, and a pass to visit the Guadalajara book fair. Registration forms should be sent in by November 10. For more information and registration forms, visit the website of OCLAE at www.oclae.org
 

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BY STEPHANIE TAYLOR  
BROWNSVILLE, Texas--At an October 14 rally at the University of Texas here to oppose the U.S. war drive in the Mideast, attended by 50 people, an announcement was made about the upcoming conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, sponsored by the Continental Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Students (OCLAE), as a way to join with hundreds of others in an international conference that will draw many anti-imperialist-minded youth.

After the rally several students stuck around to discuss how they could participate in the upcoming OCLAE meeting. Several signed up for a delegation planning meeting, which was held a few days later. Seven students turned out for that meeting and discussed the purpose of the congress as well as fund-raising. One of the professors who spoke at the rally offered financial sponsorship of two students. It was also reported that an inexpensive bus can be taken from Matamoros--across the border from Brownsville--to Guadalajara.

Olympia Newton is a member of the Young Socialists in Los Angeles. Stephanie Taylor is a member of the Young Socialists in Brownsville.  
 
 
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