The Marxist-Leninist Daily

The Fifth Summit of the Americas will be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago from April 17-19. According to the OAS official website, the focus of the Fifth Summit will be on human prosperity, energy security, climate change and sustainable development under the theme: "Securing Our Citizens' Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability." The Summit, organized by a number of multilateral bodies under the aegis of the Organization of American States (OAS), brings together the presidents and first ministers of 34 states of the Americas -- all the states with the exception of Cuba.

According to news releases, the Summit will begin with an hour-long ceremonial opening at the Hyatt Hotel in Port of Spain on the evening of Friday, April 17. Five speakers are scheduled to address the opening: U.S. President Obama, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina on behalf of South America and Mexico, President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua on behalf of Central America, Prime Minister Dean Barrow of Belize on behalf of Caricom, and the host, Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago.

As the host, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has prepared a Concept Paper on the issues to be considered both in the lead up to and at the Fifth Summit. The OAS website states that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago was mindful of the need to make the Summit more people centred and inclusive. "This Summit must be able to deliver tangible and measurable outcomes that will make a real, positive difference to the lives of people in the region," the website adds.

The final summit declaration, to be adopted on April 19, is contentious. Despite the fact that it is not agreed to yet by member nations, in a statement on April 6, White House advisor for the Summit of the Americas Jeffrey Davidow stated that the Summit declaration had just been completed and that it constituted "a consensus document among the 34 countries which highlight the issue of greatest importance to this hemisphere ... And this document is important in that it represents the views of the entire hemisphere." In response, the Nicaraguan government pointed out on April 7 that the final declaration is only a rough draft that "has not been approved or agreed to by consensus" by the heads of state who will attend the meeting.

The Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS, Denis Moncada said "various countries have expressed reservations" about different subjects included in the draft of the declaration "which is why it's not a consensus document." "The 5th Americas Summit Commitment Declaration is a draft whose approval and consensus depends on presidents in the hemisphere deciding on it, who have the last word on the Declaration," Moncada said in a letter.

Despite the hope of the U.S. and Canada that the issue of the illegal U.S. blockade of Cuba -- condemned by 185 of the 192 UN member nations -- be overlooked, the heads of state of several countries have pledged to put the demand for an end to the U.S. blockade of Cuba on the Summit Agenda. In a radio address at the end of March, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez called for Cuba's inclusion in the summit and urged Obama to lift the blockade. An April 2 report in the Trinidad Express reported that U.S. President Barack Obama does not believe there needs to be any discussion of his country's 47-year-old blockade against Cuba when he attends the Summit. Davidow told the Trinidad Express that "The policy of the United States on Cuba is that we hope the Cuban people will someday be able to share the same kind of democracy that the people of Trinidad have." His comment came just three days after Cuban leader Raúl Castro accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Patrick Manning to come to Trinidad and Tobago at a time of his own choosing. Referring to the invitation in his interview with the Trinidad Express, Davidow stated, "Obviously, Trinidad is free to work on its own relationship with Cuba as all other countries are. However, I think it would be very unfortunate if the topic of Cuba were to become the principle issue at this summit and detract attention from the other important things you and I have been talking about -- energy, poverty, crime." On the same matter, Trinidad and Tobago U.S. Embassy public affairs officer, Michelle Jones, told the Trinidad Express, "Trinidad and Tobago is a sovereign nation, and the prime minister is free to invite any quest to his country. We do not anticipate any confrontation at the summit and look forward to good discussions."

As for Canada's position, Canadian Press reports that "Canada finds itself floating somewhere in the middle -- between a U.S. administration determined to keep Cuba excluded and Latin American and Caribbean leaders who are clamouring for change." So far, CP adds, "the message from Canada's Conservative government is careful and exceedingly diplomatic." In fact, it is hypocritical. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on the Americas file, Peter Kent, told CP: "It's not Canada's place. The Cuba decision is really first for the government of Cuba. We hope and we encourage and we engage and we see progress. We encourage Cuba to move towards an eventual open and democratic society, but in terms of its involvement in gatherings of the region, the Organization of American States -- or those countries that belonged to the OAS when Cuba was suspended -- will have to address how it might be integrated."

A similar comment was made by the head of the OAS and former Chilean minister of foreign relations, José Miguel Insulza. In an interview with the Brazilian paper O'Globo, Insulza stated that if Cuba wants to be included in the Organization of American States, it must make its "commitment to democracy" clear. He cited the OAS' "democracy clause" as the main obstacle to Cuba's admission to the OAS and the Summit of the Americas and added that the leaders participating in the Summit all come from democratic countries.

Commenting on Insulza's statements, Comrade Fidel Castro writes in his Reflections of April 14, entitled "Does the OAS have any right to exist?": "Insulza asserts that Cuba must first be accepted by the OAS before joining that institution. He knows that we don't even wish to hear the loathsome name of that institution, for it has not rendered any single service to our peoples. It is rather the incarnation of betrayal. If one were to add up all the aggressive actions to which it was an accomplice, they would span hundreds of thousands of lives and several bloody decades. Its meeting will be a battlefield that will place many governments into an embarrassing situation. However, let it not be said that Cuba has thrown the first stone. Insulza even offends us by presuming that we are eager to join the OAS. The train has passed by a long time ago, and Insulza still does not know it. Some day many countries will ask to be forgiven for having belonged to it. [...] We shall not go down on our knees begging the OAS to allow us entering into infamy."

Meanwhile, a majority of U.S. citizens continue to oppose the blockade. During a recent visit to Cuba by representatives of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Barbara Lee stated that 68 percent of U.S. citizens are for the elimination of the U.S. government's economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba.

In this and subsequent issues and supplements, TML is reporting on the V Summit of the Americas, the IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas, Canada's Americas strategy, Obama's "New Partnership for the Americas" and providing news and views pertaining to developments in the Americas.

IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas

The IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas is being held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, beginning April 16 to coincide with the V Summit of the Americas in which 34 heads of state are expected to participate -- all the countries of the Americas with the exception of Cuba. It is an encounter of social movements of the hemisphere opposed to neo-liberalism and that stand for social justice, equity, peace and sustainable development, says the call for the Peoples' Summit. Host organizations include Alianza Social Continental/Hemispheric Social Alliance (ASA/HSA), the Assembly of Caribbean People (ACP) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs (FITUN), Trinidad and Tobago. The announcement informs:

"This Peoples' Summit is of profound importance for social movements of the hemisphere as it takes place in the context of significant changes in the geopolitical map of the Americas. Certainly, the hegemonic position of neo-liberalism that characterised the First Summit is now discredited and is under challenge. Social movements and now increasingly Governments are pursuing alternatives to the neo-liberal agenda.

"We need also to consider the crisis of international capitalism as evidenced by: the collapse of the world's financial system; the crises of debt, food, energy and water; and the degradation of the environment and its implications. We will also meet in the context of the increasing threat of militarisation and the criminalisation of protests.

"At this significant juncture in the history of our region and the world, it is absolutely critical that Caribbean activists, including Cuba, and members of social movements, civil society and other networks utilise this rare opportunity to fuel the work that we do through discussion, analysis and collaboration with brothers and sisters from other Caribbean states, Latin America and North America."

One thousand people, including workers, farmers, student leaders and representatives from other social sectors will analyze the crisis with a unified vision that can allow for the tackling of their different economic, food, environmental, energy, cultural and governability issues, Prensa Latina informs. The focal points for the discussions will be U.S. policies towards the continent and the search for unified people's alternatives.

Starting from the controversial topic of U.S. relations with the region, they are discussing migration and militarization-security.

Discussions will also include the region's cultural prospects as part of a necessary ideological renewal to generate alternatives to neoliberalism.

The Peoples' Summit will approve its final statement on Friday, April 17 and will conclude on Saturday, April 18 with a march and a rally, in which the organizers expect the presence of some of the presidents that will attend the 5th Summit of the Americas, including Hugo Chavez from Venezuela, Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua and Rafael Correa from Ecuador.

In related news, the Hemispheric Social Alliance is holding its Hemispheric Council Meeting in the two days preceding the Peoples' Summit, April 14-15. Its plenary sessions will characterize the structural crisis of capitalism and assess the current state of popular struggles. A Trade Union Forum will hold workshops to debate different perspectives of the crisis.

ALBA Summit in Caracas

A summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) is being held in Caracas, Venezuela from April 14-15. The following heads of state are attending the meeting: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, a representative from the Cuban government, and Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, who will attend as a special guest.

In a telephone conversation with Venezuelan National Radio, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez affirmed that the meeting will be very opportune, given that it has been scheduled for two days prior to the 5th Summit of the Americas. It will thus provide an opportunity to discuss and bring common positions to Trinidad and Tobago, he stated. He announced that a discussion on Cuba's isolation as a consequence of the US blockade is to be suggested as an addition to the agenda of the 5th Summit of the Americas.

"If they want to come with the same excluding discourse of the empire -- on the blockade -- then the result will be that nothing has changed. Everything will stay the same," Chavez said. The Venezuelan President affirmed that "Cuba is a point of honor for the peoples of Latin America. We cannot accept that the United States should continue trampling over the nations of our America.

"To trample over Cuba is to trample over Venezuela and this will have to be said in Trinidad and Tobago. Nobody can make us keep our mouths shut," Chávez emphasized.

ALBA delegate and Minister for the Social Investment Fund in Nicaragua, Nelson Artola, in an interview with Vermelho, said that he expects the heads of state participating in ALBA will take a position of "solid and strong rejection of U.S. policy" on Cuba's participation in the Summit of the Americas. He added that "the Summit of Alba will act as a strong and emphatic support to the demand for an end to the policy of isolation and embargo of the island (Cuba) by the United States."

In the days leading up to the ALBA summit, during a visit to China, President Hugo Chavez indicated that ALBA may also be addressing the matter of international development funds, specifically challenging the recent decision of the G-20 to give one trillion dollars to the International Monentary Fund and World Bank. Speaking on April 11, from Bejing, Chavez said 10 percent of these funds -- $100 million -- should be given directly to the United Nations' Economic and Social Council. The IMF and the WB, Chavez told reporters, "are the main culprits of the current global crisis." He said that the UN would be able to use the money to address the problems of the poorest countries suffering the impact of the economic crisis. The impact of the crisis on these countries, he said, is not spoken about. For example, he cited the case of Central America where many people are dependent on remittances from families and friends working in the U.S. noting, the loss of this source of income because of the economic crisis.

South American Nations Meet in Venezuela
to Lay Foundation for Bank of the South

Top government officials from seven South American countries met in Caracas on March 23 to draft constitutive plans for the Bank of the South, an international initiative launched in 2007 to improve regional integration and invest national reserves in social and economic development on the continent.

Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil agreed to contribute $2 billion each as initial capital for the bank, while Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay will contribute $1 billion each, bringing the total capitalization of the bank to $10 billion, according to Venezuelan Finance Minister Ali Rodríguez.

Rodríguez said Monday's agenda also included discussions about the integration of regional energy production, infrastructure, and finance.

"We are called to fulfill an increasingly important role in the concert of nations, that is why it is indispensible to advance processes of regional integration," said Rodríguez following the marathon meeting on March 23.

The leaders scheduled a follow-up meeting in Buenos Aires in early May to finalize plans for the regional bank.

Since the global financial crisis erupted in banks in the United States and Europe last year, South American leaders have touted the Bank of the South as a method of insulation from the crisis and as a safer depository of their national reserves.

The Bank of the South was originally proposed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez as an alternative to the U.S.-based International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which are considered by many South American nations to have trapped the region in debt and then used this as an excuse to impose policy conditions dictated by the U.S. government.

The Bank of the South would be headquartered in Caracas, and was endorsed in 2007 by Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning former chief economist of the World Bank.

Outcry Renewed as U.S. Military
May Want to Occupy Vieques Again

After being absent for six years, the U.S. military is suggesting it could once again re-establish a presence on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, the Associated Press is reporting. Angry objections are already being heard from Puerto Rico and beyond.

Military leaders said in testimony last week that the Caribbean island -- a one time Navy bombing range and practice area -- is placed well to extend the United States' reach in the Caribbean and possibly help in airspace and drug trafficking surveillance.

In 2003, protests from Puerto Rican activists closed down the long-running Navy bombing range. "We the Puerto Ricans fought for so many years to end the bombing and to have the land turned over to the people of Vieques," Jose Paralitici, a veteran anti-Navy activist, said to the AP. "We are opposed to it being used for anything else, much less that it go back to the military."

Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico's delegate to Congress, has issued a statement rejecting any military exercises on the island, backtracking on an earlier statement that said he would be fine with allowing the military back in as long as their presence "doesn't include bombing our rare but valuable natural resources."

Demonstators block the entrance to Camp Garcia Naval Base January 13, 2003 in Vieques, Puerto Rico. For decades, warships and planes used it as a firing range before it was closed in 2003. A new U.S. congressional report, prepared for a hearing on March 12, 2009, says officials from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a branch of the Health and Human Services department charged with protecting the public near toxic pollution sites, "deny, delay, minimize, trivialize or ignore legitimate health concerns" of residents exposed to the toxic munitions left behind.

Evo Morales Suspends Hunger Strike;
Congress Approves New Electoral Law

Bolivian President Evo Morales ended his hunger strike on Tuesday, April 14, minutes after Congress approved a new Electoral Transition Law, which will guarantee the general elections on December 6.

At a press conference in the Presidential Palace, where he has led this pressure tactic since April 9 together with 13 leaders of social organizations, Morales thanked those who supported his protest and announced that the law will be enacted in a public event at 8:00 AM.

"The people must not forget that processes of change are achieved through struggle. We cannot guarantee this revolutionary process alone, but it is possible with the strength of the people," he emphasized.

Bolivia's President Evo Morales speaks to supporters during a ceremony in front of the presidential palace
in La Paz April 14, 2009 following congressional approval of an electoral law earlier that day after Morales
went on a hunger strike for nearly five days to protest against opposition lawmakers blocking the bill.

The law, approved by legislators after several days of debates and obstacles by the opposition, also allows for regional elections in April 2010.

Morales had proposed drawing up a new biometric electoral register, which left the opposition without any argument for blocking the law's passage through Congress.

The day before, leaders of the National Coordination Committee for Change and the Bolivian Workers' Central Organization called on their support bases to hold a massive demonstration on Tuesday in Plaza Murillo, facing Parliament, to demand the passing of the electoral law, which they will now celebrate with their president.

Venezuelans Celebrate
7th Anniversary of Coup Defeat

President Hugo Chavez addressed thousands of supporters who rallied at the presidential palace yesterday to celebrate the National Day of Dignity which commemorates the day on which Chavez was returned to power after being temporarily ousted by a coup d'etat seven years ago. Chavez was overthrown on April 11, 2002 but the constitutional order was restored two days later on April 13.

The festive crowd stretched for blocks along the sloping Urdaneta Avenue, the same street where, seven years ago, thousands of Venezuelans had congregated to demand that a group of military generals who had apprehended Chavez release him from custody.

Venezuelans in the rally reflected on the coup d'etat. "The worst of all was the role of the media," said Roque Valera, a social worker who works for the mayor's office in Caracas. "We were unable to obtain any information about what was going on and we were not able to use public transportation [due to the opposition-led general strike], so everyone had to walk here."

Reflecting on current world affairs, Elder Barrios, a twenty-six year old medical student who traveled here from the southern state of Trujillo, explained that, "No one knows how much damage the global [economic] crisis is going to cause, but like our commander [Chavez] says, this global crisis is not going to touch a single hair on the head of any Venezuelan."

At 5:45 pm a tremor went through the crowd as Chavez came to the stage. He began his speech by recounting his recent tour of Arab and Asian nations and praising the leaders of various countries which he had visited. "Communist China, thanks to its political system, will transform into the hope for an exit from the economic crisis created in Washington," he said, adding that, "China will become the great power of the twenty first century."

The president of Venezuela later shifted to domestic issues and criticized the political opposition whom he characterized as "full of hatred." He stated that, in contrast, "we continue to live for love, the love of being human, and that is what you call socialism."

At various points during his speech Chavez was interrupted by raucous cheering and chants. At one point he looked at his watch as if imploring the crowd to quiet and stated jokingly that he only had two hours left to speak.

In reference to those opposition sectors responsible for the coup Chavez stated that, "in those initial years there was a battle between two forces that could not coexist within one state and within one government: the forces of the revolution and those of the counter revolution."

Standing under a giant banner which read "Remember April!" he said, "I was the king idiot of them all," referring to his previously held belief that he could work with those sectors which later attempted to overthrow the constitutional order. He also urged his supporters to be vigilant toward any future attempts at destabilization and said that "the 13 of April should be everyday of our lives."

Chavez commented on the recent case of the 3 police commissionaires and 8 police officers of the Caracas Metropolitan Police force who were convicted of killing civilians during the coup d'etat at the Llaguno Bridge on April 11, 2002. These officials were sentenced by a judge last week to prison terms ranging from 16 to 30 years.

While expressing satisfaction with this sentence Chavez nonetheless called it merely "a light breeze of justice" and stated that impunity continued to be the rule for the television stations which had played a political role during the coup. He requested an investigation of these stations which include Venevision, Globovision, RCTV and Televen. He also noted that the "intellectual authors" of the coup had still not been brought to justice.

In a military ceremony commemorating the counter-coup also attended by Chavez on the same day, the military reserves changed their name to the National Bolivarian Militia.

Chavez classified the militia as "the people armed" and said that the armed forces were becoming more "revolutionary, anti-imperialist, socialist and popular" every day.

"There Was No Coup"

Certain sections of the political opposition, constituted in political parties and the media, maintain that there was no coup and some opposition leaders repeat the claim that Chavez ordered his supporters who had gathered at the Llaguno Bridge to fire on the crowd of oppositionists located on the street below.

Enrique Ochoa, General Secretary of the opposition party A New Era (UNT, for their initials in Spanish) is quoted in the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal as stating that, "The Lieutenant Colonel in his current state of retirement, Chavez Frias, has chosen the [police] commissioners as victims of his personal rage and vengeance, procuring not only to falsify history with this sentence but also to wash his murderous and cowardly face."

Ochoa also insisted that the president had retained sole responsibility for the killing of nineteen civilians, among them both opponents and supporters of the government, on April 11, 2002 and that there was no coup but rather a peaceful uprising which succeeded in ousting Chavez from power due to the climate of instability generated by the clash between anti and pro Chavez demonstrators.

The mass circulation daily, El Nacional, which is run by the powerful Otero family, stated in its lead editorial on April 11, 2009 that, "Everyone knows that those events were provoked by [the presidential palace] Miraflores...executed by armed bands of government supporters."

In a twist, opposition students at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) in Caracas led by Yon Goicoechea, a member of the Justice First (PJ) party. called for a new round of student protests last week. Speaking on the same program on opposition TV channel, Globalvision, Ricardo Sanchez, president of the UCV's student union, said that students should march on the National Assembly to "re-vindicate" April 13, "our National Day of Dignity." April 13 is a commemoration normally associated with Chavez supporters.

In addition, opposition students had previously referred to themselves as representing "civil society" which is sharply distinguished from Chavez supporters, most of whom come from the lower classes. Nonetheless, no opposition protests were reported to have taken place.

V Summit of the Americas and
IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas

V Summit of the Americas

IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas

ALBA Summit in Caracas

South American Nations Meet in Venezuela
to Lay Foundation for Bank of the South

Outcry Renewed as U.S. Military
May Want to Occupy Vieques Again

Evo Morales Suspends Hunger Strike;
Congress Approves New Electoral Law

Venezuelans Celebrate
7th Anniversary of Coup Defeat

"There Was No Coup"

V Summit of the Americas and IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas

V Summit of the Americas

IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas

ALBA Summit in Caracas

South American Nations Meet in Venezuela to Lay Foundation for Bank of the South

Outcry Renewed as U.S. Military May Want to Occupy Vieques Again

Evo Morales Suspends Hunger Strike; Congress Approves New Electoral Law

Venezuelans Celebrate 7th Anniversary of Coup Defeat

"There Was No Coup"

V Summit of the Americas and
IV Peoples' Summit of the Americas

South American Nations Meet in Venezuela
to Lay Foundation for Bank of the South

Outcry Renewed as U.S. Military
May Want to Occupy Vieques Again

Evo Morales Suspends Hunger Strike;
Congress Approves New Electoral Law

Venezuelans Celebrate
7th Anniversary of Coup Defeat