The most inclusive and representative force in the region
The Presidents of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Nicolás Maduro Moros and Daniel Ortega Saavedra, respectively, participated, yesterday, in an online meeting of leaders, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Sao Paulo Forum

Author: Enrique Moreno Gimeranez | informacion@granmai.cu
Author: Milagros Pichardo Pérez | internet@granma.cu
july 29, 2020 11:07:16

Conceived by Fidel and Lula, the São Paulo Forum is more alive than ever.

Photo: Liborio Noval

The Presidents of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Nicolás Maduro Moros and Daniel Ortega Saavedra, respectively, participated, yesterday, in an online meeting of leaders, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Sao Paulo Forum.

The meeting, moderated by Monica Valente, executive secretary of the movement, took place on the day that Our America and the world remembers as the 66th anniversary of the birth of Commander Hugo Chavez Frias, at a time when the planet is immersed in the COVID-19 battle.

The President of the Republic of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega Saavedra, condemned the recent attack on the Venezuelan Consulate in Bogotá, Colombia; an act that violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and adds to the aggression against Caracas perpetrated by the government of Iván Duque.

He expressed his nation’s solidarity with the Cuban people, “who for more than 60 years have resisted numerous aggressions, in addition to an unjust blockade, by the United States.”

He recognized regional integration efforts promoted by the Sao Paulo Forum in organizations like the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP).

The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, stated, “We are the historical continuity of Latin America and the Caribbean. Today we are celebrating 30 years of the São Paulo Forum.”

He recalled that this July 28 was the 66th anniversary of the birth of our eternal Comandante Hugo Chávez Frías and presented a video featuring a selection of speeches and moving moments in the Venezuelan leader’s life, as a tribute.

Maduro added, “The Forum has been a great democratizing, vanguard force, the force that brings together the most parties and movements, the broadest, most inclusive and representative body of the last 30 years in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

He concluded emphasizing that this coordinating body must be strengthened and that the São Paulo Forum “is more alive than ever”.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez thanked Forum members for their solidarity with our country and stated, “Cuba we will continue on the independent and sovereign path, with the people leading the way. There will be no pandemic, no blockade, no imperial pressure that will change our course.

“To political forces in the Sao Paulo Forum, we call on you to mobilize in unity to face the new challenges, along with social and popular movements and intellectuals of the left.

“The true, definitive independence of Our America depends on the character, strength and correctness for our current struggles.

“We will continue, alongside the Sao Paulo Forum, to contribute to the unity and integration of Latin America and the Caribbean.

“History is made by the people, even if it is written by others. No empire can decree its end as long as there are chains to be broken, walls to be demolished, exclusions and abuses to be fought.

For the life and independence of our peoples; for the legacy of our founders, who taught us that even in the most difficult conditions it was always possible, it is always possible and will always be possible; for the new generations giving continuity to the struggle, as Maduro explained; for anti-imperialist unity that is the tactic and strategy of victory: We will fight, we will live and we will triumph! (Applause).