In the keynote opening presentation, Osvaldo Martínez, head of Cuba’s Center for Research on the World Economy, pointed to recent examples of resistance by the governments of Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela—expressed sharply at the mid-January regional summit in Monterrey, Mexico—to efforts by the U.S. rulers to beat down trade and investment restrictions throughout the Americas while maintaining its own trade barriers, including subsidies for U.S. farm products. These measures have strengthened Washington’s competitive edge over rivals in the European Union, while undercutting the ability of Latin American and Caribbean nations to export their products to the U.S. market.

Martínez also condemned Washington’s stepped-up offensive against Cuba. “They accuse us of collaborating [with the Venezuelan government] to destabilize democratic governments,” he said. “We are honored by those lies. Those lies show that they are terrified by the Cuban Revolution, by the example of a people who for 45 years have resisted everything” in the four-decade-long war that the U.S. government has waged against Cuba, “and who have shown that a lot can be accomplished with few resources.”

Among the other featured speakers the first day was João Pedro Stédile, a leader of the Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST) of Brazil, who called for defending Cuba and Venezuela in face of this U.S. offensive and proposed continent-wide protest actions against the FTAA. Other speakers from the United States, Venezuela, and Brazil, took up different aspects of the trade pact.

Delegates have come from a range of social protest organizations, political groups, unions, and peasant organizations from countries throughout the continent. Among the largest delegations are those from the United States, Mexico, and Canada, followed by Brazil and Venezuela.  
 
 
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