Caracas, August 26, 2024. — A preparatory meeting of the ALBA-TCP Social Movements Council was held this Monday in Caracas, Venezuela.
The Alliance’s Executive Secretary, Jorge Arreaza, noted that this council is beginning to strengthen its foundations, with the goal of creating an action agenda to be presented to the presidents and governments of the ALBA member states.
It is expected that on December 14, in Havana, Cuba, during the summit to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Bolivarian Alliance and the 30th anniversary of the first meeting between Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, the Social Movements Council will be formally established, Arreaza detailed.
“More than just a structure, what is important (about the Social Movements Council) is the method and how social movements are empowered through their connection with ALBA, how you find in ALBA, in the ALBA membership and in the ALBA Social Movements Council, a platform to advance the movements themselves, their causes, and their capacities,” emphasized the Executive Secretary.
“We need to build the virtuous formula because it’s not about just going out today and saying we’ve created the Social Movements Council. No, this will be a longer process”, he added.
Jorge Arreaza detailed that the social movements of the Alliance are being called to engage in discussion and debate for feedback.
The structure must be useful, functional, and directly rooted in the causes and territories.
“We need to think and talk about major issues, as well as articulate actions that express pain and protest against the genocide in Palestine or any other situation in other countries,” he concluded.
Driving the revolutionary spirit
On the other hand, Carlos Ron, president of the Simón Bolívar Institute, emphasized: ‘ALBA calls us to that truly revolutionary spirit, where we can combine something that only happens in a space with a political conviction and a vision like that of ALBA, which is that combination of political will on the part of governments to act and transformation through popular organization.’
Ron called on the social movements of the multilateral organization to organize and share experiences, as well as to promote Bolivarian and revolutionary education and knowledge.
The members from over 27 countries who attended this meeting proposed holding anti-fascist meetings and strengthening exchanges of public policies.