MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“People Summit” Concludes in Santiago de Chile

Ptes. Ortega, Morales and Chavez during the Summit

Chile's Summit for Friendship and Integration of the Latin-American People, popularly known as the People's Summit, culminated Saturday with an event that brought together Bolivian President Evo Morales, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage. Speaking to a crowd of roughly 3,000 spectators, the four leaders emphasized unity among Latin American nations–particularly against the hegemony of U.S. capitalism—as the key to constructing the region's future.

The People's Summit, which convened political activists from around Latin-America, was formed as a populist counterpoint to the XVII Iberian-American Summit. The Iberian-American summit, which united 20 heads of state from Latin America and Europe, stressed cohesion and greater equality through increased cooperation between Latin America and the Iberian nations. But participants at the alternative summit made their opposition to that goal clear from the start. The four heads of state denounced global capitalism as both a "system based on robbing the native populations" and the biggest threat to Latin America. While officials at the Iberian-American Summit were lauding Europe as a model which Latin America should follow, speakers at the People's Summit were skeptical about the benefits of a close relationship with that region. "The Iberian-American Summit has quickly descended into a North-South debate," Ortega said. "Europe is a key part of global capitalism. But, it appears that their leaders do not like it that much when we say this." Ortega went on to propose the elimination of the current Organization of American States (OAS). That body would subsequently be replaced by an Organization of Latin American States which, according to Ortega's plans, would unite all countries from Mexico and the Caribbean on south. Furthermore, the new organization's main purpose would be to defend Latin America against capitalism. "We are engaged in an ideological battle," Ortega said. Chavez, arguably the crowd favorite, later delivered a 90 minute diatribe, calling on people to reject capitalism and U.S. influence and adopt the principles of his "socialist revolution." His speech was marked by a surprise phone call from Cuban President Fidel Castro and an emphasis on what Chavez called "Yankees" and "pseudo-Yankees" ("piti-yankees"). "Yankees," Chavez said, are people from the United States who violate other countries' sovereignties for their own self-benefit. "Pseudo-Yankees" are Latin American citizens who openly cooperate with "Yankees." In Chavez's opinion, "pseudo-Yankees are 100,000 times worse than Yankees," but both represent a danger for Latin America's drive towards unity. "If the Yankees and the pseudo-Yankees close the door to peaceful revolution, then we will pick up our machine guns. We will pick up our shotguns. We will fight (â€Ã‚¦) we will be willing to decide between the fatherland and death," Chavez warned. Many prominent figures from the Chilean political left were also present at Saturday's event. Among those in attendance were Communist Party leader and recently elected Professional Teachers' Association President Jaime Garjardo, Socialist (PS) Sen. Alejandro Navarro, and 2005 Humanist Party presidential candidate Tomas Hirsch. "The alternative summit showed that the Chilean people can come together in the name of integration. There are certain sectors of Chilean society, such as the Chilean youth and indigenous rights organizations, which are now on the path towards this regional integration," Tomas Hirsch told the Santiago Times. "Chile as a whole is still far from this goal, but it is becoming an aspiration of the Chilean people." "I agree with Chavez's opinions about 'Yankees' and 'pseudo-Yankees.' I find it accurate to say that the American government â€" but not necessarily the American people â€" is one of the biggest terrorist organizations in the world. Still, there are people in this region who help them," Hirsch said. "Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of 'pseudo-Yankees' in the Chilean government. The Chilean government represents big-business interests more than the interests of its own people (â€Ã‚¦) I would not say that Bachelet herself is a 'pseudo-Yankee,' but the fact of the matter is that she is sleeping with the devil." Saturday's speeches were part of the closing ceremonies for the three day alternative summit and came on the heels of two days of rallies and panel discussions among attendees at the Universidad Arcis campus in central Santiago. Friday's summit events were significantly better attended than the previous day's opening panels. This was due in part to a planned visit from Chavez, who was set to receive an honorary degree from the institution. Eager supporters filled the site of his planned speech hours in advance, displaying their political allegiances on t-shirts and dozens of waving flags representing various left-wing Chilean organizations. Live music and street theater performances provided entertainment to the crowd as they waited in light rain for several hours without an appearance from Chavez. Numbers from the crowd dwindled until officials from the Venezuelan government eventually announced the President would not be appearing at the summit until the next day's closing ceremonies. Still, the issue-specific forums providing the bulk of summit activity were well attended. A large delegation of Bolivian activists promoted an afternoon discussion panel on their landlocked country's proposed acquisition of a route to the Pacific Ocean. The day's events were frequently punctuated with chants of "Give the Ocean to Bolivia," and numerous flyers and posters promoted the event. The discussion on sea rights for Bolivia included Tomas Hirsch and officials from the Bolivian government, each lamenting the economic consequences resulting from Chile's monopoly on the Pacific Ocean coastline. Chile is the country most likely to surrender territory for a Bolivian route to the sea, given its 4,500km of ocean coastline, although such a deal is considered an uphill battle for activists. Surrender of the sovereignty of Chile's land must be approved by both the governments of Chile and Peru, due to the agreements signed by all three nations following the War of the Pacific in 1883. That war pitted Peru and Bolivia against Chile, and a Chilean victory earned the growing country the mineral-rich northern portion of the nation, real estate that previously belonged to Bolivia and Peru. For many Bolivians in attendance, meeting activists from around Latin America at the summit along with the visit of President Morales to the closing ceremonies gave a sense of solidarity to their work. "We are glad to be here with our Latin American brothers in our struggle, working for exploited workers who are hungry for justice, and hungry for equality," said Zolman Valdes, of Bolivia's Cor Del Alto union. "Our president is here for us as a comrade and his presence is the ultimate expression of solidarity with our movement." The Bolivian activists present also focused on promoting the cause of indigenous rights groups in Latin America, working hand-in-hand with activists representing Chile's indigenous Mapuche people. Allies and family members of Mapuche activists currently engaged in weeks-long hunger strikes in protest of their imprisonment coordinated several events to promote awareness of the Mapuche cause during the summit. Carolina Landero Calfuna, a Mapuche activist who has several family members participating in hunger strikes, told the Santiago Times the summit was an important opportunity to shed light on her family's situation – which she claims is the result of "the oppression of the Chilean state." "Right now my brother is in a high security jail and has been on a hunger strike for 24 days. My mother [Mapuche Chief Juana Calfunao of Cunco] is ailing in jail from her hunger strike. My father is also in a prison in Temuco," said Carolina Landero Calfunao. "We are here to immediately mobilize for our struggle against the injustice of their imprisonment and exchange ideas with other sectors of the indigenous community in the same crisis." By Matt Malinowski and Trey Pollard The Santiago Times

Categories: Politics, Latin America.

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