Since the last international youth festival in Algeria four years ago, “the world’s imperialist powers, with the U.S. government in the lead, have undertaken an aggressive and despicable offensive” against states they consider a threat and against the rights and living standards of working people in the imperialist countries, the statement said.

“Capitalism and imperialism, in deep crisis, are attacking most workers’ rights,” it continued. Washington and its allies have used the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon as an excuse to escalate their campaign of imperialist domination under the pretext of the “war on terror” and “struggle for freedom.”

The final declaration called for solidarity with national liberation struggles, from Puerto Rico to Western Sahara and Palestine. It also called for actions to demand the immediate withdrawal of imperialist troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, south Korea, and other countries; an end to the occupation of northern Ireland by British troops; the reunification of Korea; compensation to the victims of the Agent Orange chemical sprayed by the U.S. Air Force over Vietnam during Washington’s war against that country; and an end to Washington’s economic war on Cuba. It expressed the delegates’ solidarity with Venezuela’s defense of its national sovereignty.

The closing day fell on the anniversary of the defeat of a recall referendum that was orchestrated last year by pro-imperialist opposition forces in this country to try to overthrow the government headed by President Hugo Chávez.

The Venezuelan government helped host the gathering. Chávez and other government officials took part in a number of its forums.

An anti-imperialist tribunal, held August 13-14 at the Poliedro arena, was the largest event of the festival. It was a mock trial of Washington and other imperialist powers, with Venezuelan vice-president José Vicente Rangel presiding. Testifying last, Chávez said the U.S. government had backed a short-lived military coup against his administration in April 2002 and an antigovernment lockout by employers a few months later. In both instances, the large sections of the domestic capitalist class that tried to topple the government were defeated because working people mobilized in the streets, dividing the military during the coup.

In his testimony, Bui Teh Giang detailed the lasting material damages and human toll that Washington's massive bombing and chemical warfare inflicted on the people of Vietnam.

Luis Rosa, a Puerto Rican anti-imperialist fighter who spent 18 years in U.S. jails for his activities, also addressed the tribunal, making the case for Puerto Rico's independence. His incarceration strengthened his resolve to fight U.S. colonial rule, he said, adding, “I am sure we will soon celebrate the freedom of our five Cuban comrades too.”

Rosa was referring to five Cuban revolutionaries jailed in the United States since 1998 after being convicted on frame-up charges of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Cuban government. An appeals court ruled August 9 that they had not received a fair trial, throwing out their convictions and ordering a new trial. In his testimony August 14, Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba's National Assembly, called on the U.S. government to immediately free the Cuban Five, as they are known.

The tribunal issued a symbolic verdict condemning “U.S. imperialism and its allies for crimes against humanity and for posing a permanent threat to the survival of the human species.”

The festival included many seminars, forums in solidarity with national liberation struggles, concerts, and other cultural performances.

A few thousand delegates visited several of Venezuela’s provinces, where political events were held. The workshop on young peasants, for example, was held in San Carlos, capital of Cojedes state, where peasants have been waging persistent struggles for land.

During that trip, delegates visited Panaima, an area where more than 800 peasant families have been occupying land for seven years. They also visited clinics operated by Cuban doctors, who are offering quality medical care free of charge in working-class districts and rural areas across the country.

At the closing ceremony, Miguel Madeira, president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, the festival’s main sponsor, said an international event to mark 60 years since the launching of the festivals will be held in Caracas in 2007.

Olympia Newton and Natalie Doucet contributed to this article.
 
 
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