The Militant (logo)  
   Vol.66/No.38           October 14, 2002  
 
 
Youth from Americas
to meet in Guadalajara
(front page)
 
BY JACK WILLEY  
The Continental Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Students (OCLAE) is holding its 13th congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, from November 29 to December 2. The event is expected to draw hundreds of youth from student organizations in South, Central, and North America. They will be gathering to discuss the struggles taking place across the Americas against the effects of the worldwide economic depression and the drives by governments in many countries of the region to slash jobs, wages, and social benefits.

Washington’s drive to war for control over the Mideast, as well as its increasing military intervention in Latin America, will be among the questions discussed at the congress.

In an article in the Cuban newspaper Granma, OCLAE president Yanelis Martínez reported that a broad Cuban delegation will be attending the event "to explain the truth about the revolution and take part in the worldwide movement against economic policies that damage the interests of the peoples of the region." She pointed out that the congress will include participants not only from Latin America and the Caribbean, but from the United States and Canada who are also involved in social struggles.

One of the student organizations that is actively promoting participation in the international gathering is the Pro-independence University Federation (FUPI) of Puerto Rico. At the event they will be explaining their involvement in the fight for independence from U.S. colonial rule, the campaign to free pro-independence political prisoners in U.S. jails, and the movement to get the U.S. Navy out of Vieques. In the September issue of the group’s newsletter, Patria Nueva (New Homeland), FUPI president Carlos Torres says participation in the congress will help develop "an internationalist and anti-imperialist student movement that is aware of the common problems facing the youth of the Americas."

OCLAE is a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, and many affiliates participated in the anti-imperialist youth festival held last year in Algeria.

The congress will coincide with the Guadalajara Book Fair, the largest such event in Latin America. This year Cuba is the country of honor at the fair. More than 600 Cubans are expected to attend the fair with some 2,500 titles from the island. Organizers of the OCLAE congress and the Cuban delegation at the book fair are working together on joint efforts during the two events. Those interested in attending the congress can get more information from OCLAE at its e-mail address, oclae@jcce.org.cu, or at a Spanish-language website hosted by the Uruguayan Federation of University Students, http://www.feuu.edu.uy/documentos/otros/oclae/oclae.html  
 
 
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