We can not have another World War.

Contribution to the Lisbon meeting of the World Federation of Democratic Youth's Commission of Europe and North America by the Young Communist League of Canada.

Dear comrades,

We would like to thank the World Federation of Democratic Youth and our hosts, the Juventude Comunista Portuguesa, for organizing this important meeting. We meet on the eve of the JCP's 10th Congress to which we send warm fraternal greetings. We are confident our work today will strengthen the efforts of the WFDY in the European and North American region.

This year, 2014, marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of a social nightmare -- the First World War.

The Canadian government is launching a campaign to re-write history. To use this anniversary to celebrate militarism.

This is a horrible lie. The First World War saw close to 40 million civilian and military casualties.

Those who survived said: No! Never again!

The Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia helped end that war. The Soviet Union began to build a socialist society, based on peaceful cooperation.

Such history may seem dusty and old to some in our generation. But 100 years later it still frames our struggle, as the progressive youth grow more determined in our fight for the future, and we in WFDY advance the slogan of revolutionary social transformation.

Video and final declaration: 18th World Festival of Youth and Students

 The 8000 of delegates of the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students who gathered from 88 countries in Quito, Ecuador, under the slogan “Youth united against imperialism, for the World of Peace, Solidarity and Social Transformation” declare the following:

We salute the people of Ecuador and its struggles; we express our solidarity in the struggle of the Ecuadorian people for popular conquests and radical social-political changes. With the support of the progressive and militant youth of Ecuador which in the past years have made important steps forward and achievements through its struggle through the process of the “Citizens Revolution” the international anti-imperialist youth movement constructed another important moment in the history of its organized struggle. We gathered in Latin America, a continent were the youth movement is steadily growing, once again for the biggest anti-imperialist youth event in the world to strengthen our common struggle towards our common goal: the overthrown of Imperialism.

Musician blocked from preforming at 18th WFYS at Miami airport

Reincidentes album cover

Music, song and dance was a dynamic backdrop to the political discussions which took place this December in Quito, Ecuador at the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students.

All that partying spirit wasn't without the interference of imperialism however.

Singer and bassist Fernando Madina of the Spanish punk-rock band Reincidentes was detained at Miami airport en route to the festival. The group was supposed to play a headlining act at the opening ceremonies.

Instead, the lead singer vanished. It took over 48 hours for his family back at home to finally learn what of his arrest after they reported his disappearance to the Spanish National Police as nothing had been heard of his whereabouts, according to the Spanish-language version of Rollling Stone.

Madina claims airport immigration officials also told his band members he was not detained and had probably gone sightseeing.

In fact, the lead singer had been handcuffed and shuttled out of the airport with twenty other people, to the neighboring Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on the charge of "drunkenness and disturbing public order." Madina was held in a cell with no access to a phone or translation. Detained Saturday, it took until Monday morning for a judge via video conference to exonerate him of any wrongdoing leading to his release.
The experience was much more like an arrest than a detention, Madina told the Spanish newsite TerceraInformación, saying that while he was animated when talking on the airplane he was not drunk and had only had a few beers on the long flight.

The band had a similar experience in October 2010, when guitarist Juan Manuel Rodriguez was supposedly confused with a narco trafficker and detained without explanation on a flight transfer passing through Miami for two hours.

Youth festival delegates learn about important international struggles

Rebel Youth's sister publication, People's Voice, sat down with Drew Garvie, co‑chair of the Pan‑Canadian delegation to the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students, held Dec. 7-13 in Ecuador, to talk about the experience.

So, finally, how many people attended? Was it a success?

            About 8,000 people attended from 88 countries, a very large number, although smaller than past festivals, because of the capacity of the Ecuadorian government. Overall, we would say it was a great success. Delegates got to learn about a host of struggles, ranging from the youth and labour fightback against austerity in Europe, the conflict in Syria, the occupation of Palestine and, in Africa, of Western Sahara, but especially the process of social transformation and battle against imperialism taking place in countries like Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and, of course, Ecuador.

What were your impressions of Ecuador?

            One highlight was the chance to learn more and see first‑hand the political and social changes taking place in the country itself. The Ecuadorian government, led by Rafael Correa's PAIS coalition, calls this process the "Citizen's Revolution". They talk about applying the indigenous concept of "buen vivir" or "good living" as a way to change societies, thinking away from the individualistic values of capitalism and historic domination of the country by the United States, and towards more a social and pro‑people society, with sovereignty over its own affairs.

Case Against Chevron Highlighted at WFYS

Photo of a panel discussion at WFYS.
Photo by Mathieu Breton www.QuebecphotoMB.com

By Peter Miller

With Ecuador hosting the World Festival of Youth and Students, participants heard about movements fighting against imperialism and for social transformation. One movement highlighted was Ecuador's battle against the oil giant, Chevron.           

The festival had panel discussions about the importance of nationalization of energy and oil resources. Countries that use revenue from these resources to combat poverty and to develop infrastructure, health‑care, and education are much better off than countries that allow profits to go to shareholders of large corporations.

Youth gather in Ecuador for peace, against imperialism

As regular readers of our blog will know, young people from around the world gathered this past week of December for the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students. We will have lots more coverage over the next days; here is a sneak peak of the opening ceremonies from the organizers and hosts in Ecuador!

World Federation of Democratic Youth on the Life of Nelson Mandela

The World Federation of Democratic Youth expresses its condolences to the progressive and anti-imperialist forces, to youth and the people of South Africa for the loss of an important international figure, that of the great leader of the South African People, Nelson Mandela. 

Nelson Mandela, as a personality, managed to exceed the borders of South Africa and the African region and became a figure of international respect and recognition due to his persistence struggle and resistance to defend the imperialist machinations and unconditionally defended the revolution for a free South Africa, for democracy and social justice. 

With his figure leading the struggle of the South African people, the liberation movement managed to resist and overthrow the apartheid regime and end the racist ruling of the land of South Africa. It is worth mentioning that he remained in the list of persons who are considered terrorists until 2008, despite the universal recognition and admire towards his personality and the right of his struggle. 

Today the youth around the world recognizes his offer! His example of life long struggle, from his years as a young man in the African National Congress Youth League to the armed struggle and the prison until his liberation, shows that our struggle can be victorious with our determination and courage. 

In 2010 the World Federation of Democratic Youth organized the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students in South Africa which paid a tribute to Nelson Mandela as well as Fidel Castro, as a proof of our respect of this great fighter. 

We express once again our solidarity to the heroic people and youth of South Africa and we re-affirm our strong support towards the member organizations of WFDY in the country, the ANC Youth League and the Young Communist League. 

CC/HQ of WFDY - Quito, Ecuador - December 6th

Ecuador's Citizen's Revolution

J. Boyden,
Rebel Youth Magazine

Delegates headed to the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students in Quito, Ecuador this December are being invited to learn about a “Citizen’s Revolution” in motion throughout the country.

At the centre of these major transformations are a comprehensive series of anti-poverty, pro-democratic, and pro-environmental measures which have not only begun to re-assert the Republic Ecuador’s sovereignty but also put the country on the map internationally as a key player in the struggle between the United States and the new Latin America.

If the motor of these changes has been the active support of a broad sweep of progressive Ecuadorian society especially the rural poor, urban workers, labour movement, and indigenous communities, the driver has come from perhaps an unlikely source, the “PAIS alliance” lead by an economist educated at an US Ivy-League school who speaks four languages including indigenous Quichua.

Organization grows for anti-imperialist festival

Peoples Voice
Youth Bureau

Drew Garvie is the acting co‑chair of the Pan-Canadian delegation to the 18th WFYS and a member of the Young Communist League of Canada. Drew sat down with People's Voice to talk about the organizing for the Festival.

So what is the festival in a nutshell?

The festival is basically the largest gathering of anti-imperialist and progressive youth in the world. Something like 12,000 to 17,000 youth are expected to attend from over 120 different countries!  The festival itself will be held in one of the hot spots of social change in Latin America today, the Republic of Ecuador, from December 7th to 13th.

Tell us the latest news.  

The Pan‑Canadian delegation continues to grow. Endorsing groups of the festival now include CUPE Toronto District, the Canadian Federation of Students‑Ontario, several Quebec student unions, the BC Federation of Labour, the Young Communist League of Canada, the Vancouver District Labour Council, the Kamloops Socialist Club, Occupy Edmonton, and others. The Pan‑Canadian delegation will be between 50 and 100 participants. The final size of the delegation really depends on the outreach efforts of the 10 or so local committees over the next couple weeks.

YCL Canda burns rubber into Fall season

Participants at the YCL Ontario September school

J. Boyden,
Rebel Youth Magazine

Summer and fall have been a busy time for the Young Communist League of Canada, which is working to build the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students in cooperation with a growing number of progressive youth and student organizations.

The festival, which will be held in Quito, Ecuador this December is expected to bring together over 15,000 young people under the slogan "Youth unite against imperialism, for a world of peace, solidarity and social transformation!"

Taking place once every three to five years since 1948, the festival is the largest gathering of progressive, anti-imperialist youth in the world. Cost of participation, including air travel, food and accommodation to this year's week-long festival is expected to be just under $1000.

Rafael Correa Kicks Off Campaign Against Oil Giant Chevron

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is calling out Chevron

Reprinted from the Morning Star

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa launched a campaign this week seeking a global boycott of oil giant Chevron over its refusal to pay up on a £11.8 billion judgement against it.

He visited a jungle waste site, stuck his hand in oil and lifted it for the cameras to publicise his campaign called "Chevron's dirty hands."

Mr Correa met his Argentinian counterpart Cristina Fernandez during a trip to Buenos Aires on Thursday amid concerns that his new campaign against Chevron could harm relations between the countries.

But Ecuador's president said such concerns were unfounded and Ms Fernandez would have acted exactly as he did if she had been Ecuador's leader.

However, hopes of collecting on the £11.8bn judgement by an Ecuadorean court against Chevron for contamination of the Amazon have suffered a setback.

A three-judge UN arbitration panel in The Hague ruled earlier this week that an agreement signed in 1995 by Texaco, which Chevron later purchased, released the oil giant from responsibility from any claims of "collective damage."

But the interim ruling by the permanent court of arbitration left open the possibility that Chevron could be liable for damage incurred by individuals.

Chevron has been fighting in courts on three continents against the 2011 judgment and award for contamination caused by a Texaco-led consortium in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest between 1972 and 1990.

Chevron says it will not pay, maintaining that Texaco addressed environmental problems before Chevron acquired the company in 2001.

Both sides have accused the other of fraud.

Chevron has no assets in Ecuador, so plaintiffs have sought to force payment in Canada, Brazil and Argentina, so far without success.

Chevron lawyer Hewitt Pate claimed that the new ruling "confirmed the fraudulent claims against Chevron should not have been brought in the first place."

But Ecuador Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino responded that "Chevron continues its campaign of lies" by claiming that the Hague tribunal absolved it of responsibility, which was not the case.

The next arbitration hearing in The Hague will address Chevron's claims that the judgement against it was fraudulently procured.

New poster launches publicity campaign for 18 WFYS

Almost 1000 copies of a new poster to promote the 18th WFYS is going out across Canada to promote the Youth Festival. If you see a poster, take a photo, and share it on facebook through the YCL-LJC page: www.facebook.com/YCL.LJC We will also now be regularly covering the festival on this blog by clicking this thread. Below: photo of the 17th WFYS

Rumbo al Festival Mundial!!

This really tiny and really sweet video announces the 2nd International Preparatory Meeting for the World Festival of Youth and Students, to be held in Madrid, Spain from 27 to 29 June 2013, and features a speech by Hugo Chavez. ''Rumbo al 18º Festival Mundial de la Juventud y los Estudiantes'' means Towards the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students. You can visit the website of the All-Canada committee here: www.18wfys.tumblr.com

Upcoming World Festival of Youth and Students to Honor Chavez

With sources from Juventude Rebelde

From December 7th to 13th, Quito Ecuador will host the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students, where the participants will pay homage to Venezuelan late President Hugo Chavez Frias.

Read some fast facts about Ecuador and Quito here.

This was one of the top agreements taken yesterday during the final session of the first international preparatory meeting for the Festival held in Pretoria, South Africa, with the participation of some one hundred delegates from over 40 regional, national and international youth and students organizations.

Basic framework of the festival now established

The IPM, by R. Weldeab via Twitter

Juan Francisco Torres, chair of the Preparatory Committee of the host country, spoke about issues related to logistics and about how Ecuador and particularly its youth activists are getting ready for the meeting. Most of the Festival's locations will be in down town Quito, within about 20 minutes walk.

The delegations also approved the call to the world youth for the festival, as well as the topics for debates, and the slogan "Youth united against imperialism, for peace, solidarity and social transformation."

"In the past and present youth has always played a vital role in the struggle of all societies for progress and social justice. The youth was militantly present in the greatest struggles of the peoples for peace, solidarity and social transformation. In a world where imperialism presents itself as inevitability, the anti-imperialist struggle proves that the youth chooses its own future. The 18th World Festival of Youth and Students, which will take place in Ecuador, is the space for the young women and men of the World to unite their voices against imperialism," the call says.

The causes of Palestine, Western Sahara will also be emphasized at the festival. These issues "form a direct, precise, and clear view of imperialism ambitions and actions of destruction," documents coming out of the meeting agreed, stressing that "the festival shows different forms of struggle and one of which is solidarity against occupation and with peoples’ self-determination."

"Cultural and musical events must also be highlighted," an initial planning document said, noting that "Musical bands and cultural groups from different organizations must be encouraged to attend the festival."

The date and place of the next international preparatory meetings (IPM's) were also agreed on Tuesday: in Spain in June and in India in September.

At the end of the meetings, South Africa— former host of the 17th festival— pasted on the flag of the World Festival of Youth and Students Movement to Ecuador.

Honouring famous revolutionaries

Symbolically, the Youth Festival will also be devoted to Ecuadorian national hero Eloy Alfaro and to Kwame Nkrumah.

José Eloy Alfaro Delgado (June 25, 1842 – January 28, 1912) served as President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911. For his central role in the Liberal Revolution of 1895 and for having fought conservatism for almost 30 years, he is known as the Viejo Luchador.  His principal accomplishments include the introduction of the principle of secularism, constitutional changes allowing freedom of speech, the legalization of civil marriage and divorce, and the right to a free and secular education in Ecuador. 

Eloy Alfaro's memory was honoured in Canada last year with a guest lecture at the University of Ottawa. A statue to the man is also to be erected in Ottawa.

Kwame Nkrumah was the founder and first President of Ghana, and leader of Pan-Africanism, the half-a century movement for the defence of Africa’s independence and unity.  Nkrumah became an international symbol of freedom as the leader of the first black African country to shake off the chains of colonial rule. As midnight struck on March 5, 1957 and the Gold Coast became Ghana, Nkrumah declared: "our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent."  

Deposed some years later in a coup, Nkrumah is still honoured around the world. (Kwantlen University in Vancouver, for example, organizes an international conference on Africa themed around Nkrumah).

OCLAE leader praises choices

In statements to the International News Agency, Ricardo Guardia Lugo, member of the Cuban delegation to the festival, said that Eloy Alfaro hero and Kwame Nkrumah are very well known by Cuban people since they are very close to that countries history.

Guardia is also a member of the National Secretariat of the University Students Federation (FEU), and works with the Continental, Latin American, and Caribbean Students Organization (OCLAE), a regional platform that brings together and represents more than 100 million students.

Lugo spoke about the close friendship which united Ecuadorian Eloy Alfaro and Cuban José Martí. Marti is a national hero of Cuba. He fought for the independence of that island country from Spain during the nineteenth century and won the support of Eloy Alfaro.

Kwame Nkrumah was also the first African president to meet with President Fidel Castro in 1960 at the Hotel Theresa in New York (when both were in the United States to attend the fifteenth session of the UN General Assembly). His country, Ghana, was just a year earlier the first sub-Saharan African country to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The Day We Met Chavez

The 16th WFYS

Chavez funeral

By Johan Boyden

When the news came it was probably natural that almost all of us from that delegation thought about our experience, eight years ago. When I bumped into some of the delegation at International Women's Day events, since his death came so close to IWD, it seemed natural to talk about it.

It was 16th World Festival of Youth and Students, in Caracas. I remember we got off the airplane after our long flight, arriving late at night, and immediately stepped into a wall of hot and humid air. A bit tired, we stumbled into the darkness with our bags.

And then, there they were. A welcoming party of Venezuela youth. Some were holding roses. Each woman in our delegation got a rose as she stepped onto Venezuela soil.

I remember noticing what they were wearing. Bright red t‑shirts emblazoned with the slogan: "Another world is possible, and that is socialism!"

I have difficultly describing the impact of these few words on a t‑shirt. After all it seems that today, with the economic crisis, more and more young people today are opening their eyes. The most popular searched words in the online Merriam‑Webster Dictionary last year were "socialism" and "capitalism."

During the "Dirty Thirties," in a speech advocating for public health care, Dr. Norman Bethune once said that "Twenty five years ago it was thought to be contemptible to be a socialist. Today it is ridiculous not to be one."

Well, that dark night at Simon Bolivar International Airport felt a bit like the twenty five years had just ended.

It was, I think, a quote from President Hugo Chavez. A clear statement. Here, in Venezuela, thousands of young people are debating a profoundly different future. Over the next two weeks we would learn that their truly was a serious, vibrant, and exciting argument.

Up to that point, the link between socialism and the Bolivarian Revolution had been far from clear. Only days before had Chavez made the connection as necessary. Over the next few days during the World Festival of Youth and Students, Chavez would speak and develop this pro‑socialist perspective in more detail.

It seemed ground‑breaking. It was.

It took us ages to get out of the airport, to the "bed city" where we stayed and finally, down to a giant parade ground for the opening ceremonies. Who would have known, just a few years later, we would be looking into the newspaper and recognize the very same parade ground where his funeral procession would go, surrounded by hundreds of thousands.

Those parade grounds are at the bottom of a valley. The city is all around, then big steep hills rise up which become giant mountains in the distance. The hills are covered with the communities of the poor, the barrios.

Dusk fell. Then came the deep, black tropical darkness. Moving as a group, we slowly walked what seemed like a few miles, finally turning past a big podium. And then there he was. Hugo Chavez. The man himself. Full of life, surrounded by other youth leaders, welcoming the youth of the world who had assembled to raise high the banner of the festival: "for peace and solidarity, we struggle against imperialism and war."

It seemed the procession was regularly interrupted. Chavez had a few people from some of the delegations brought up to the podium. The US delegation's flag‑bearer, for example, received a giant bear‑hug. And then he spoke. For our tired bodies it seemed long. There was no translation.

"I was so young, I didn't appreciate how we were witnessing history," one former delegate told me the other day.

We looked up at the hills, and realized that the twinkling tiny network of lights in a few small areas must generally outline the rich communities with electricity, hostile to the Bolivarian Revolution, while the slopes which had fallen into darkness were its social base.

The festival was beginning. I personally didn't glimpse him again. But over the next week, in the voices and stories of all the youth involved in the Bolivarian process, it kind of felt like we were meeting with Chavez.

As the World Federation of Democratic Youth said, "the ones who die for life, shouldn't be called dead." Today those youth we met are eight years older. If they retain a tenth of the energy they had then, I am confident I will meet Chavez again.

Johan Boyden is the leader of the Young Communist League of Canada, which is helping organize a cross‑Canada delegation to the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students taking place late this year in Ecuador.

WFDY: "We will live and overcome!"

President Hugo Chavez speaks at the anti-imperialist court, 16th WFYS 

CONDOLENCE MESSAGE OF THE WORLD FEDERATION OF DEMOCRATIC YOUTH TO THE FAMILY, YOUTH AND PEOPLE OF VENEZUELA FOR THE DEATH OF THE COMMANDANT AND PRESIDENT HUGO CHÁVEZ FRÍAS.

Relatives of the President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. Venezuelan youth. People of Venezuela.With a deep sorrow we have received the new of the death of our comrade Mr. President Hugo Chávez Frías, one of the most loved leaders of America who consecrated his life in benefit of his nation and his people.

We remember the leader in the deepest sad moment with the youth of the world in the XVI World Festival of Youth and Students celebrated in the Bolivarian land in 2005, in the anti-imperialist court, heading the fight and the claim of the people against the imperialist and capitalist system attacks.

We remember him in his eternal fight for the independence and sovereignty of his people, for the unity of all Latin America and Caribbean. In this last years, even in the middle of the unexpected illness he continued in the building of his Revolution for destitute and forgotten as a sacred duty continuing the ideas of Bolivar, Hidalgo, José Martí, Che Guevara and all those heroes who had magnified the history of this large and great Latin-American homeland.

With his invaluable example, being a simple soldier who made his duty without asking privileges. Faced all the onslaught of betrayal, the enemies’ danger that also respected him, and received the love of all, especially youth. He was firm in every fight, always in defence of the neediest. His vibrant word, his infinite love to Venezuela, his sings and happiness, his passion for the people and his impassioned verses; will be the eloquent and exciting legacy of the poet when said: “The ones who die for life, shouldn't be called dead.”

In the name of all the member and friend organizations of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, we express the most honest condolences to all his relatives, to the Venezuelan youth and to all the brave people, who since knew the death offer him the most deserved tribute.Ever onward to victory!

We will live and overcome!

CC/HQ
Budapest, Hungary
March 5th, 2013

World Federation of Democratic Youth meets in Ecuador and announces 18th World Festival of Youth and Students

 Special to Rebel Youth

From November 8th-12th, representatives from more than 40 different youth and student organizations descended on Quito, Ecuador for a General Council meeting of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY).  The main task of the meeting was to examine a proposal that made Ecuador the host of the next World Festival of Youth and Students.

Progressive and Communist organizations were represented from a geographically diverse range of countries such as Greece, Portugal, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, Western Sahara, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Vietnam, India, Angola and Eritrea.

The meeting coincided with the sixty-fifth anniversary of the youth organization.  WFDY was founded in 1947 as a product of the anti-fascist struggles of the period, with its mandate being to unite youth for peace and against imperialism.

Sixty-five years later WFDY reiterated its anti-imperialist stance in the political resolution amended and adopted unanimously on November 10th; “Our choice, to stand for the needs and interests of the youth, derives from our founding principle: to struggle against imperialism”.

WFDY and its members dedicated themselves to fighting against imperialism’s increased aggressiveness, such as the creation of a bloody proxy-wars in Syria and Libya, the danger of intervention in Iran, the US backed campaign against the DPR Korea, continued occupations of Afghanistan, Western Sahara, Palestine and Iraq.

The Young Communist League of Canada’s representative to the General Council was Drew Garvie.  “The political choice to have the meeting in Latin America was a powerful one.  While capitalist governments are bringing in austerity policies to make the people pay for capitalist crisis around the world, the struggle in Latin America is giving rise to progressive policies and a process that is uniting the continent against imperialism”, Garvie said.

Ecuador is starting to become a leading protagonist in this transition away from over a century of domination by United States monopoly capitalism.  President Rafael Correa and his “PAIS” coalition were elected in 2006 after several years of mobilization by indigenous and anti-neoliberal forces.  Since then, Ecuador has kicked out a US military base from its territory, written a constitution that includes the right to the regeneration of the environment, eliminated tuition fees in public universities, joined regional progressive trading partnerships, refused to participate in any international meeting that Cuba is not invited to, and is currently shielding Wikileaks’ Julian Assange from extradition to the United States.

The Young Communists of Ecuador proposed the hosting of the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students in Ecuador in order to help “strengthen and radicalize the national democratic revolution”.  Several government officials, including the Governor of Imbabura province, a cabinet Minister of the PAIS coalition, and representatives from the Secretariat of the People, Social Movements and Citizens Participation, greeted the WFDY meetings.

The Ecuadorian delegation has proposed to mobilize ten thousand youth from Ecuador and invite ten thousand international delegates to participate in the 18th WFYS.  After hearing a comprehensive presentation, which included a political report and logistical details the international delegates adopted the proposal unanimously.

Drew Garvie was optimistic about the potential of organizing for the upcoming festival: “The overwhelming feeling of the delegates leaving the meeting was one of enthusiasm start mobilizing to build the Festival movement back home.  We know that the 18th WFYS comes at an important political time, when more and more youth are taking to the streets and starting to look for an alternative to the war, crisis and environmental destruction inherent in capitalism.”

 “Several delegates were very interested in the recent student strikes in Québec,” said Garvie.  In the Young Communist League of Canada’s intervention to the meeting, it was noted that sharing struggles like the victory of the Québec students is important at this time.  “Of course, we see the World Festival of Youth and Students as an excellent venue to come together and share our struggles, and build the necessary unity for the struggles ahead.”

YCL Canada sends delegate to Ecuador

The Young Communist League of Canada is sending a delegate to attend the initial planning discussions for the next World Festival of Youth and Students, which is expected to be held in Ecuador. The meeting is taking place in Quito, Ecuador. 

In a press release meeting organizers said that "issues such as the role of student movements in the social transformation, capitalism in crisis and the post-capitalist alternative, organizational experiences of struggle and resistance, as well as youth, State and Revolution, will be discussed.

"Other issues to discuss are youth solidarity and commitment for world peace, people's self-determination and the Citizen Revolution in Ecuador, as well as the creation of an anti-imperialist platform."

Below are photos by YCL delegate Drew Garvie showing, in order, the Communist Party of Ecuador building, a member of the Rafael Correa government addressing the meeting, Mountains in the region which boarders close to the headwaters of the Amazon, a view of Quito and the Presidential palace. Rebel Youth will carry a full report when Drew returns.

Five facts about the 'Republic of the Ecuator'

1. The capital of Ecuador is Quito, the highest capital city in the world and one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in the Americas, declared by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage site in 1978;

2.  The president of Ecuador is Rafael Correa, a progressive politician who fought for anti-poverty strategies and canceled Ecuador's debt, breaking with IMF policies and instead drew Ecuador into alliance with the Bolivarian Revolution and lead the re-writing of the Constitution of the country along more democratic lines. He is fluent in Spanish and the indigenous language of Quechua as well as French and English.

3. Since 2000, the currency of Ecuador has been the US dollar. The current administration is trying to break away from the dollar and is discussing a pan-Latin American currency. It also cancelled the contact for the major US military base in Ecuador, forcing them to withdraw.

4. Ecuador is about to sieze $200 million of Chevron assets because of pollution by that company in the Amazon.

5. Ecuador country has three main geographic regions, plus an insular region in the Pacific Ocean: La Sierra, ("the highlands") is the high-altitude belt running north-south along the centre of the country, its mountainous terrain dominated by the Andes mountain range; La Amazonía, also known as El Oriente ("the east"), comprises the Amazon rainforest areas in the eastern part of the country, accounting for just under half of the country's total surface area, though populated by less than 5% of the population; and The Región Insular is the region comprising the Galápagos Islands, some 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) west of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean.

Agent Orange continues to cause suffering

From People's Voice

By Stephen Von Sychowski

The Anti‑Imperialist Court convened on Dec. 19-20 in Tshwane, South Africa, as part of the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students. Witnesses from across the globe told of the horrors inflicted upon their countries by imperialism.

Among these moving presentations was that of the Vietnamese youth, who told of the terrible consequences of the chemical substance Agent Orange, used between 1967 and 1971 by the US military as part of their war of aggression against the national liberation movement in Vietnam.

Agent Orange, code named for the orange barrels in which it was shipped, was used as a herbicide and defoliant. The chemical was used to remove the cover provided by forests to Vietnamese liberation fighters, and to destroy crops in order to force peasants towards the US‑dominated cities. The goal was to deprive the guerilla forces of their base of support and food supplies in the countryside.

The US air force cynically termed this campaign of chemical warfare "Operation Ranch Hand". During this genocidal operation, 6,542 spraying missions occurred, pouring 75 million liters of Agent Orange on South Vietnam. These missions destroyed 10 million hectares of agricultural land. More than 20% of South Vietnam's forest land was sprayed at least once.

This alone would have made the use of Agent Orange a crime against humanity and an act of terrorism, considering the mass, indiscriminate use of dangerous chemicals on civilian populations. But Agent Orange also includes a highly toxic dioxin compound called 2,3,7,8‑Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin.

About 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange. More than 400,000 people were killed, injured, or disabled, and over 500,000 children were born with birth defects due to the exposure of their parents. Some 1.5 million refugees were forced into the slums of Saigon during this period. These numbers include neither the additional use of Agent Orange in Laos and Cambodia, nor its effects on US troops.

Survivors, and their descendants, continue to suffer from birth defects and deformities, high rates of cancer and skin diseases, and other illnesses. Dioxin continues to turn up in the breast milk and blood of South Vietnamese people. Dioxin- contaminated soil continues to menace food and water supplies. The Vietnam Red Cross estimates 3 million Vietnamese people have been affected.

The spraying of forests deeply harmed the ecology of Vietnam. Deforested areas remain difficult, if not impossible, to reforest. Areas subjected to Agent Orange have very low levels of species diversity. Dioxins continue to move through the food web as a result of the ingestion of contaminated plants, animals, and water. Both the US government and the corporations who produced Agent Orange (Monsanto, Dow Chemical, Diamond Shamrock) deny responsibility for the monstrous effects of the chemical warfare unleashed by US imperialism. A class action lawsuit filed by US veterans resulted in compensation which was pitifully inadequate. Meanwhile, compensation to the Vietnamese people has been practically non‑existent.

Vietnamese complaints were ignored until 2002, when the US and Vietnam began joint research and discussions around the health and environmental impacts of Agent Orange. In 2004, Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange filed a class action lawsuit, which was dismissed in the US courts. The US government invoked sovereign immunity, which was also declared applicable to the chemical companies contracted to make Agent Orange. Negotiations broke down in 2005 and joint research was cancelled. An appeal against the dismissal of the class action suit was denied in 2007.

In 2006, George W. Bush promised cooperation with Vietnam on addressing the affects of Agent Orange. But to date only $9 billion has been provided by the US government, while the cost of cleaning up Agent Orange is estimated at around $300 million.

In June 2010, a joint panel of U.S. and Vietnamese policymakers, citizens and scientists released a proposal urging $30 million per year over the next 10 years to clean up dioxin-contaminated sites. To date, the demands of Vietnam, and many others in the international community, have been ignored by the US government.

The use of Agent Orange was a crime against both humanity and the environment. The efforts of US imperialism to use terror, mass murder, economic sabotage, and ecological destruction, did not stop the Vietnamese people from winning their independence. But a third generation of Vietnamese continue to face the tragic consequences of chemical warfare.

Today, the US continues its violent occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, which include the use of such substances as depleted uranium. Israel, a close ally of the US, continues to act as an apartheid state, carrying out genocidal policies against the Palestinian people, and using illegal weapons such as white phosphorus. One can only wonder if today's warmongers have learned nothing from the past. And worse, what price will future generations pay for today's crimes of imperialism?