MEMORIAM

DR. SALVADOR ALLENDE GOSSENS

DOCTOR CARLOS RAZO HORTA

As a follow-up to the resolutions of the Assembly of the World Peace Council (WPC), held in Vietnam in November 2022, September 19-20 of this year, the Regional Meeting for the Americas and the Caribbean of the World Peace Council was held in Pachuca Hidalgo, Mexico, convened by the Mexican Movement for Peace and Development (MOMPADE), the host organization, and by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples (ICAP), as regional coordinator.

In the context of the transformations that Mexico is experiencing today, we thank the Federal Government, the Government of the State of Hidalgo and the Municipal Government of Pachuca de Soto, as well as the authorities of the Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo (UAEH), for all the help provided for this meeting.

The meeting was chaired by the Executive Secretary of the World Peace Council, Iraklis Tsavdaridis, and by comrades Rolando Brito Rodríguez, president of MOMPADE and Víctor Gaute Lopez, vice-president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples. It was attended by representatives and guests of organizations from the region from the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, and Mexico as the host country, and virtually received messages and reports from Brazil and Argentina.

Among the main topics discussed at the meeting were the defence of peace in accordance with the postulates of the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, adopted by all the States and Governments of the region in Havana in January 2014, denouncing the foreign military bases of the United States and NATO, as well as condemning the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by US imperialism for more than 60 years and the inclusion of Cuba on the spurious list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism.

It also condemns and denounces the hybrid and multifaceted model of war that the United States is carrying out against countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, where political, economic, financial, diplomatic and media tools are used to hinder development and peace among peoples.

Solidarity was expressed with the people of Puerto Rico in their struggle for independence from the United States and self-determination, with the Argentine people in their legitimate right to sovereignty over the Malvinas, Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, as well as those under colonial occupation and domination in the Caribbean, South America, Africa and the Middle East.

It reaffirmed its full support for the struggles of the peoples of Venezuela and Nicaragua to defend their sovereignty and self-determination.

We stand in solidarity with the just causes of the peoples of Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala and the United States, who are fighting against repression, exclusion and in defence of their human rights.

It is agreed to:

• Name the Host City, Pachuca “World Capital of Peace”.

• Promote initiatives and campaigns to defend the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, adopted by all Heads of State and Government participating in the Second CELAC Summit held in Havana at the beginning of 2014.

• Denounce the existence of more than 70 military bases and facilities of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the strengthening of the role of Southern Command in the region.

• Decide to reactivate the Global Campaign against US/NATO Military Bases in the Americas and Caribbean region of the World Peace Council.

• Revitalize the importance of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which prohibits the possession of nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. Strive for the adoption of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons throughout the hemisphere.

• Continue to demand the return of the territory illegally occupied by the 120-year-old United States Naval Base at Guantánamo, the oldest, against the will of the Cuban people and government.

• To carry out mass actions on September 21, “International Day of Peace”, in coordination with other peace-loving, anti-war and environmental organizations, to denounce the increase in the arms race and nuclear weapons, and to defend all the just causes of the peoples.

• Commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the World Peace Council, with actions around the world in defence of peace.

• To promote unity in defence of sovereignty, the free self-determination of peoples and the preservation of the environment.

• Increase actions of solidarity with the peoples and governments of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba in defence of their revolutionary processes and their sovereignty. We demand an immediate end to the aggressions resulting from unilateral coercive measures.

• We stand in solidarity with the just causes of the peoples of Puerto Rico, Palestine, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Peru.

• Demand support for the right of the peoples of the Caribbean to be treated fairly and support their claims for reparations for the aftermath of colonialism and slavery

• Carry out actions to mark the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the “International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons” on 26 September.

• Continue to support the Haitian people in their struggle for national sovereignty and self-determination and condemn any foreign intervention.

• Multiply the battle on the digital platforms to confront the campaigns of lies of imperialism and its big media that manipulate the realities of our countries, in defense of the identity of the peoples against the cultural neo-colonialism that they want to impose on us.

• Demand the immediate exclusion of Cuba from the spurious list of countries alleged to be “sponsors of terrorism”, imposed unilaterally, illegally and immorally by the U.S. government. U.S., an arbitrary decision that lacks any attachment to reality.

• Mobilize and increase action to ensure that the United States Government puts an end to the genocidal economic, commercial and financial blockade, which harms the development and well-being of the Cuban people.

• Continue to express our solidarity with the Colombian people and with the peace process, as well as with indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, social sectors and leaders who are victims of violence, in favour of a peace with social justice.

• To improve the work of member organizations in the region in order to achieve greater coordination of actions in defence of peace.

• Carry out actions and declarations for the “Day of Latin American Unity” on June 22, and for the 126th anniversary of the U.S. military invasion of Puerto Rico on July 25.

• Advocate for a serious, constructive and realistic diplomatic solution to the current war in Europe, by peaceful means, guaranteeing the sovereignty of all, as well as regional and international peace, stability and security.

• Participate in the VIII International Seminar for Peace and the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, to be held on 3 and 4 May 2024 in Guantánamo Province and in the Regional Meeting for the Americas and the Caribbean of the CMP to be held in Cuba.

• Generate coordinated strategies and actions not only with the organizations of the World Peace Council, but also linking other trade union groups, women, human rights groups, indigenous peoples and social movements.

• Continue to strengthen the CMP by adding new members and other friendly peace organizations.

• Promote the participation of the new generations, to ensure greater knowledge and generate actions in favor of the principles and postulates of peace.

• Support the struggle of the Quebec Peace Movement and the Canadian Peace Congress to withdraw from NATO and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

September 20, 2023
Pachuca, Mexico