Saturday, December 12, 2009

Solidarity with Latin America

When refugees from Chile arrived in Saskatchewan after Pinochet's overthrow of Salvador Allende's socialist government, many Chilean support committees were formed across the province. Chileans were welcomed and enriched left wing culture here despite their tragic journey.

When the Sandinistas triumphed in Nicaragua, these groups were relaunched and eventually took on the struggles, not just with reconstructing Nicacagua, but with other struggles in El Salvador, Guatemala and Grenada. When those struggles died down, so did the Latin American support movement.

Now there are startling developments once again in Latin America as Venuezuela, Bolivia , El Salvador and a slew of other leftist government and movements have arisen. These movements have much to teach us but they  also require our active solidarity.

Yet there is no organized movement in Saskatchewan to popularize the achievements and challenges facing these countries. Maybe it is time to resuscitate the spirit of internationlism and take advantage of our experience in building solidarity.

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