Fact sheet about the Bolivarian Anti-imperialist Camp

Between January 27 and February 2 of 2006 the Bolivarian Anti-imperialist
Camp (CBA) will take place in parallel to the Social Forum of the Americas
in Caracas, Venezuela. It is a gathering jointly organised by the
revolutionary forces of the Bolivarian process in Venezuela as well as
anti-imperialist resistance forces from around the world.


Reasons and goals of the Bolivarian Anti-imperialist Camp

The CBA intends to be a moment of dialogue and co-ordination of the
anti-imperialist movement. It stands in continuity of numerous meetings and
forums with the same aim having taken place in the recent years. By means of
exchange between the vanguard forces of the focuses of the resistance
against the Yankee empire the way towards their increasing co-ordination
should be paved. Organising the political debate and the practical
co-operation the fundament of a future international Anti-imperialist Front
should be lied.

Alongside Iraq Venezuela is today the key point of resistance against US
domination. But it is more than that. It is the place their the
transformation of society towards a new form of socialism has been put on
the agenda as a concrete and immediate task assumed by the popular classes.

It is not only a question to unify and strengthen the resistance of the
peoples by building an international co-ordination but also to contribute to
the necessary strive for a new revolutionary concept for a radical change of
the political and economic structures of society i.e. for a re-elaboration
of socialism.


Why in parallel to the Social Forum?

In difference to other Social Forums the one in Caracas sponsored by the
Bolivarian government of Hugo ChÀvez will be largely marked by the
anti-imperialist dynamics of Venezuela. Thus it is being welcomed by the
anti-imperialist movement.

The structures of the World Social Forum (WSF) remain, however,
substantially unchanged. While popular organisations form part of it, its
institutions are controlled by reformist parties and humanitarianist NGOs.
In their charter of principles they exclude combating revolutionary forces.

The CBA, in opposition to that, by basing itself on the anti-imperialist
resistance refuses any form of equidistance between imperialist terrorism
and the legitimate resistance of the peoples including all forms of
struggle.

We have to overcome the spectacle-type events where no serious political
elaboration is possible, let alone strategic re-orientation. Therefore the
CBA clearly states its prime working goal: an international Anti-imperialist
Front.

Regarding the Bolivarian government of Venezuela, the CBA expresses is full
solidarity to the efforts of president ChÀvez for a leap forward towards
popular power and socialism. We believe that such steps not only need the
organised intervention of the people but also the unity of the revolutionary
forces against reformism which is creeping into the new administration. The
inherited traditional institutions of the bureaucratic state try to impede
the actual exercising of the popular power and the organisation of the
anti-imperialist self-defence.

Regarding anti-imperialism as the guiding line of Bolivarianism the popular
forces are able to go ahead in a way not allowed to the government. As Che
Guevara once wrote to Fidel Castro explaining his political path:  to do
what is negated to you for your responsibility on the Cuban front . Even an
anti-imperialist state has to move itself within the  international
community  of states today under the hegemony if Yankee imperialism. As long
as the imperial system cannot be broken up and a counter pole of
revolutionary states established, official anti-imperialism including the
one exercised by Bolivarian Venezuela will consist in a difficult
equilibrium of tactical diplomatic compromises and bold initiatives in order
to weaken Washington. We set ourselves the task to fulfil the part of
revolutionary anti-imperialism which today cannot be fulfilled by a state:
systematically support and strengthen the centres of resistance and
especially of revolutionary rupture, bring together the most combative
political and popular organisations in the prospect of the construction of
an international Anti-imperialist Front like intended already by Che
Guevara.


Who organises the Bolivarian Anti-imperialist Camp?

As far as Venezuela is concerned the CBA is jointly organised by the
vanguard of the Bolivarian movement. Among its promoters there is the
 Movimiento de Bases Populares  (Popular Base Movement, MBP), the  Frente
Nacional Campesino Ezequiel Zamora  (National Peasant Front Ezequiel Zamora,
FNCEZ), the  Coordinadora SimÑn BolÌvar  (CSB), UtopÌa, the student movement
 UniÑn de Fuerzas Independientes  (Union of Independent Forces, UFI) as well
as the youth organisation  Patria Joven  (Young Fatherland). On the
international scale there is the Anti-imperialist Camp which decided to
support the CBA offering its experience of years of anti-imperialist
gatherings in Assisi, Italy. Among the endorsers there are forces of the
Arab resistance as well as anti-imperialist organisations from Latin America
and Asia.

Thanks to the active support of the popular quarter  January 23  and the
mayor of Guasdualito, two hotspots of the Bolivarian revolution, the CBA is
scheduled for those two places representing the urban as well as its rural
face.


Axis of the Bolivarian Anti-imperialist Camp

The CBA will be inaugurated on January 27 in the popular quarter  January
23 . On the 30th the participants will move to Guasdualito where the second
part of the programme is going to be held.

The general topic of the gathering are the analysis of the Empire being
built by US imperialism and our response revolving around the keywords
participative democracy, popular power and socialism of the 21st century.
The debate should be followed by steps towards concrete co-ordination.

Forums on following points are in preparation:

Palestine and Iraq   experiences of resistance
Yankee military bases and their interventionism
War on terror = war on democracy
Uni-polar vs. Multi-polar world
From the Bolivarian constiutution to people s power
The agriarian revolution as the fundament of transformation
Struggle for power and the construction of counter-power  Mexico and Bolivia
Centre left governments   an alternative? The case of Lula
The agony of the anti-globalisation movement
Which society the anti-imperialist are heading for?


Further information and inscription:

CampoBolivariano@antiimperialista.org
www.antiimperialista.org
Phone 0043 699 19206395

***




***

Success of the international gathering in Rome, Oct 2
>>
>> The hall was full with some 300 participants, many people had to stand
>> listening for more then 6 hours to numerous interventions without a break.
>>
>> The anger and protest against the negation of the visas was big. The fact
>> that those who had been tortured are also banned to speak out pushed people
>> ahead to take action not only in support of the Iraqi liberation struggle
>> but also for the democratic rights in Europe.
>>
>> The fact that the secretary of the National Secretary of the Union of
>> Islamic Communities did not dare to come because of intimidations - sending
>> his fraternal anti-imperialist greetings to the assembly - demonstrated how
>> much the democratic rights are endangers today by the anti-Muslim and
>> anti-terrorist witch hunt.
>>
>> The gathering marks three steps ahead opening a new stage of our struggle in
>> support of the Iraqi people's freedom:
>>
>> The strong conviction to carry on, to strengthen and intensify our efforts,
>> the understanding that we are amidst a historic struggle could not only be
>> heard from the podium but also by the participants, in the lively
>> discussions on the streets outside the hall.
>>
>> The bridge which could be constructed to parts of the anti-war movement
>> including the Christian sector. While only one year ago their radical wings
>> gave only conditioned support to the Resistance, expressed as well in the
>> reluctance to co-operate with us, now joined our position of unconditional
>> support and lends us solidarity against the attempted repression. The
>> rumours about the "friends of terrorists" have been exchanged with the need
>> to commonly defend the right of free expression.
>>
>> The grown international unity express by delegations from some 15 countries:
>> We can say that the network of supporters of the Iraqi Resistance as been
>> consolidated and is able to take common action throughout Europe.
>>
>> All this is being expressed in the programme of activities worked out by the
>> meeting of the international delegations and adopted by the assembly.
>>
>> Free Iraq Committees Italy
>>
>> -----
>>
>> 2) Rome Oct 2, final document
>>
>> The following is the document issued at the conclusion of the international
>> gathering of the forces that organized the conference on Iraq, "For a just
>> peace, with the Resistance" in Rome, Oct 2, 2005
>>
>> Today's international gathering has been an occasion of protest, of
>> solidarity and of struggle but at the same time also of new proposals.
>>
>> First of all we denounce those who cause the tremendous oppression the Iraqi
>> people suffer. At the same time we denounce the attacks on the most
>> elementary democratic rights, including even the right to free expression in
>> Europe.
>>
>> The denial of a visa for Haj Ali, the symbol of torture in Abu Ghraib,
>> follows the refusal to issue visas to the six high representatives of the
>> Iraqi society who had been scheduled to speak at the conference in
>> Chianciano. It is a shameful decision curbing the liberties gained in
>> decades of struggle and finally even hatefully striking even the victims of
>> US torture.
>>
>> Our full solidarity goes to Haj Ali and all the victims of the military
>> occupation.
>>
>> We express this very same solidarity to the courageous Resistance of the
>> Iraqi people who, by confronting history's largest war machine, is fighting
>> at the same time against the overall plans of US imperialism to dominate the
>> world. Therefore the significance of the struggle reaches far beyond the
>> borders of Iraq and is an example to follow for all oppressed people of the
>> world.
>>
>> Our gathering was one of struggle, of people who do not want to give in to
>> the existing state of affairs, who want to fight for the freedom of the
>> peoples and who want to stop the criminal madness called the "war of
>> civilisations".
>>
>> To give substance to this battle we adopted a program of activity which
>> serves at the same time as a proposal to all the components of the movement
>> against the war who hold that the struggle for peace needs to be connected
>> to the resistance against the political, military, economic and cultural
>> oppression by imperialism. The struggle for peace must have as its target a
>> "just peace" respecting the rights of the peoples, and based on the
>> principle of self-determination and national sovereignty, which is the exact
>> contrary of the "pax americana" which the occupation is trying to impose on
>> Iraq.
>>
>> Here is the plan of action developed during the discussion among the
>> international delegations present:
>>
>> 1. Consolidation of the European network in support of the Iraqi Resistance
>> and its eventual international enlargement. This network has already
>> produced important results. But today the conditions have matured, paving
>> the way to strengthen the co-ordination and increase the efficiency of
>> common action. All the forces present in Rome commit themselves to do their
>> best to go ahead in this sense.
>>
>> 2. The first campaign we have to launch is to bring Haj Ali to Europe to
>> begin the scheduled tour denouncing the brutality of the imperialist
>> occupation. The NO to the visa for Haj Ali by the Italian government - i.e.
>> of a state which participates in the occupation with some 3,000 soldiers -
>> must and can be fought. It is nothing else than an acid test involving the
>> remaining spaces for freedom on our continent. We thereby call upon all
>> sincere democrats to mobilise in defence of liberty. To stop these latest
>> anti-democratic attacks, carried out under the guise of "anti-terrorist
>> laws," we need to give a strong, united and immediate answer.
>>
>> We therefore appeal to all available forces to leave nothing untried -  so
>> that nobody can claim he didn't knew what was happening.
>>
>> Haj Ali's tour will be throughout the continent to bring the voice of the
>> truth to any corner of Europe and confront the lies about the "just war" the
>> corporate media promotes.
>>
>> This will offer an occasion to remind everyone of the existence of the
>> desaparecidos, the Iraqis kidnapped by the occupations troops who have never
>> reappeared, like Abduljabbar Al Kubaysi, the secretary of the Iraqi
>> Patriotic Alliance.
>>
>> 3. In parallel, the preparations for the international conference with the
>> high representatives of  Iraqi society originally scheduled for Chianciano,
>> Italy, will be carried out. Their presence is indispensable not only to let
>> the Iraqis speak for themselves, not only to give the word to the Iraqi
>> opposition and Resistance, but first of all to pave the way for their
>> international legitimacy and political recognition.
>>
>> This is what is really at stake. To achieve this objective we invite all the
>> forces who want to contribute to the liberation struggle of the Iraqi people
>> to a united mobilisation.
>>
>> The international delegations present in Rome unanimously agree to carry on
>> the struggle to make the conference possible. In the coming weeks these
>> delegations will evaluate the possibilities in various European countries,
>> while the efforts to hold the conference in Italy continue and will even be
>> stepped up. After having probed the ground in the different countries, the
>> network will set the date and place of the conference.
>>
>> In the meantime we confirm our united and international support to all the
>> initiatives in solidarity to the Resistance starting with those in Germany
>> and Greece already scheduled for the coming months.
>>
>> Regarding Italy we support the mobilisation for a national demonstration to
>> take place by the end of the year as a united attempt to re-launch the
>> movement against the war, for a clear support to the Iraqi Resistance and
>> against the increasing attack on democratic rights.
>>
>> The strength of the Iraqi Resistance, the growth of the popular opposition
>> to the occupation and the rejection of the constitution imposed by the US
>> and its allies allows us great hopes in a victory over the imperialist
>> forces. This hope must be assimilated by all the forces in the world who
>> have been fighting against the war.
>>
>> This is today our task. The plan of activity which we have adopted is aimed
>> at responding to this need.
>>
>> There are struggles which mark epochs. Today it is on the shoulders of the
>> Iraqi people to defend the front line separating freedom from tyranny. We
>> will support them in every possible way, for freedom and self-determination
>> of Iraq, and for the defeat of imperialist tyranny throughout the world.
>>
>> Rome, October 2, 2005
>>
Out of the Empire! The Brigands  Festival
14-17 July, 2005, Piombino, Italy


Parco della Pinetina
Riotorto di Piombino (LI), Italy

Thursday, July 14
5,30 pm: Afghanistan   the ongoing liberation struggle with a representative of the  Left Radicals of Afghanistan  (LRA) from Jalalabad
10 pm: Concert of the songwriter Sergio Starace and the band  Crasi

Friday, July 15
5,30 pm: Europe   US protectorate or challenge to the American Empire? With Jean-Pierre Page, former leader of the international department of the main French union CGT
10 pm: The other theatre   four hours in Shatila with Nicola Pannelli and Carlo Orlando by Nicola Pannelli

Saturday, July 16
10,30 am: Meeting of the Committees Free Iraq Italy
5,30 pm: The Iraqi Resistance is calling   what does the European left respond? With Awni al Kalemji of the  Iraqi Patriotic Alliance  and Jean-Pierre Page of the  First Int l Conference for the Support of the Resistance of the Iraqi People"
10 pm: Concert of  Oscure ,  Forsaken Skies  and  Assalti Frontali

Sunday, July 17
5,30 pm: Within the crisis of Western modernity   revolutionary activism and rebirth of the religious creed with Moreno Pasquinelli, Anti-imperialist Camp
10 pm: Concert of the Lebanese singers Mofid Nehme and Fuad Saleh