The closing statement of the Peoples’ BRICS Summit was released on Tuesday evening in Brasília, the capital of Brazil. The document is the result of two days of discussions between researchers and members of the 60 people’s organizations from nine countries.
“We gathered in Brazil in this moment in which the structural crisis of capitalism – a crisis which produces decisive contradictions with regards to the environment, politics, economics and society – has deepened,” the statement reads. “The current historical moment highlights the importance of the struggle and of the international unity of our peoples as a mean of bringing about structural changes in society. We add our voices to the call to all progressive forces to build an International Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle that will take place from May 25 to 31, 2020.”
The participants of the summit denounce the decision of the Brazilian government to vote against the end of the embargo against Cuba, the coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia, the persecution against Venezuela and against the former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the increasing environmental destruction, and the attacks against workers’ rights.
The idea is to bring the demands to the heads of government who will take part in the BRICS Summit, which will start on Wednesday, also in Brasília.
Read the full statement:
CLOSING STATEMENT
WE DEMAND CHANGES SO WE CAN HAVE A FUTURE!
On November 11 and 12, 2019, we – militants of 60 popular organizations, unions and political parties of 9 countries – gathered at the International Seminar of the Peoples´ BRICS to discuss the current context of international politics and the peoples´ challenges when confronted with imperialist actions. This meeting took place on the days prior to the 11th Summit of the Presidents of the BRICS, to be held on November 13 and 14, 2019.
We gathered in Brazil in this moment in which the structural crisis of capitalism – a crisis which produces decisive contradictions with regards to the environment, politics, economics and society – has deepened. With this deepening of the structural crisis, we have also seen the accompanying international deepening of the class struggle. This structural crisis of capitalism produces Financial capital which then imposes a new phase of neoliberalism on the world. In this new phase of Neoliberalism, the appropriation of the state, of funds and of public services adds itself to the privatizations of common goods such as water, land, biodiversity and air.
It is in this moment that imperialism acts in a more decisive manner. The current geopolitical dynamics manifests in the dispute for territories in several parts of the world, but with special emphasis in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
This new phase uses manipulation of false fundamentalist and conservative values through the control of sophisticated channels of conventional and digital media, in a set of tactics known as “Hybrid Wars”. These wars are used to overthrow democratically elected governments, to exploit natural resources, to attack workers rights and to undermine the sovereignty of nations.
Furthermore, the current advancement of technology follows the logic of the internal competition among transnational companies for the accumulation of wealth leading to a profound change in domestic productive structures as well as the international division of labor. The working class is excluded from this process, delaying the full development of its people.
As such, we denounce:
1. The coup d’état in Bolivia, that was orchestrated by the United States with the support of the governments of Brazil and Macri´s Argentina.
2. The decision of the Brazilian government to vote against the end of the embargo against Cuba, breaking with a historical tradition at the UN Assembly and aligning itself with the United States and Israel as the only countries among the 190 present to vote in this direction.
3. The imperialist attacks against Venezuela, and the destabilization of various democracies in Latin America.
4. We vehemently reject the increasing environmental destruction and the attacks on workers´ rights.
5. The increased investments in the military industrial complex subordinated to the U.S. imperialism, expressed in the redeployment of the 4th Fleet and the more than 300 military bases across the world which negatively affects the sovereignty of the countries.
6. The political persecution of president Lula, celebrating his release after 580 days of unjust incarceration, we commit ourselves to fight for the annulment of all legal process that seek to criminalize him.
We demand:
• The right to sovereignty and self-determination, peace and new relations between human beings and nature;
• The integration of our people based in the international solidarity;
• The deepening of democracy in our countries and the defense of projects which are based on the needs of the working class.
The current historical moment highlights the importance of the struggle and of the international unity of our peoples as a mean of bringing about structural changes in society.
We add our voices to the call to all progressive forces to build an International Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle that will take place from May 25 to 31, 2020.
Brasília, November 12, 2019
INTERNATIONALIZE THE STRUGGLE, INTERNATIONALIZE HOPE!
International Peoples´ Assembly
ALBA Movement – Brazil Chapter
Tricontinental Institute for Social Research
Brazil Popular Front
Fearless People Front
Edited by: Daniel Giovanaz
