Latin American solidarity work planned

By Neville Spencer The Committees In Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean (CISLAC) held its annual national consultation in Adelaide on November 4 and 5. The Latin American continent, previously dominated by military regimes, is now dominated by civilian regimes. Nevertheless, poverty is still on the increase, standards of health and education have not improved, and police and military brutality continue to be used against workers fighting for meagre improvements in conditions or peasants demanding land on which to grow food. The World Bank and IMF's imposition of neo-liberal economic measures in the region has destroyed hoped-for improvements to the lives of the continent's poor majority. The uprising of the EZLN in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas has inspired many people to challenge the neo-liberal status quo. The EZLN's demands include land reform, respect for the rights of indigenous people and an end to the vast disparities between rich and poor. It is also demanding genuine democratic reform — the Mexican government, like others in the continent, maintains power through electoral fraud, vote buying and the suppression of opposition movements. CISLAC plans to campaign to raise awareness about the struggle in Mexico and build solidarity with the Zapatistas. The one country which has resisted attempts to impose the neo-liberal agenda is Cuba. As a result, Cuba has managed to avoid the extreme poverty found in other countries, to maintain an advanced and free health care system and provide free universal education. The US has consequently increased the intensity of its illegal economic blockade to force Cuba to submit to the economic regimes imposed on other countries. CISLAC decided to maintain the defence of Cuba as a priority, as well as defending the rights of all other nations to determine their own economic agendas. Its main aid project for the coming year, in conjunction with the Federation of Cuban Women, will provide work for 50 rural women cultivating the near-extinct briofitas plant which can be used for medicinal purposes and for preventing soil erosion and desertification. With the Nicaraguan elections due in late 1996, CISLAC plans to help build support for the FSLN. Previous pressure on Nicaragua from the US, including the Contra War, forced it to accept a US-backed government which has imposed devastating neo-liberal economic policies. This has resulted in 80% un- and under-employment and the worst poverty in Latin America. As well as supporting aid projects in Nicaragua, CISLAC will raise money and organise solidarity to back the FSLN's election campaign to help restore economic policies which favour the poor.