Regarding the 20 years of the historic “Goodbye to the FTAA”, the forum “Fight against the FTAA: challenge of the people” was held at the Rómulo Gallegos Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (Celarg) in Caracas. The meeting brought together intellectuals, academics and representatives of social movements to reflect on the popular victory against the neoliberal model promoted by the United States.
During his speech, the rector of the National University of the Communes, Jorge Arreaza, expressed that two decades later Venezuela says “with all the pride, that the Homeland continues,” when remembering the country’s leading role in the rejection of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
He pointed out that, although imperialism continues in its desire to impose its hegemony on the people of the world, it no longer has the same power. “Neoliberalism was presented as the only possible system, with the globalization of liberal economies and a single thought,” he said, while emphasizing that currently the people of the world defend their sovereignty and self-determination.
In that sense, he highlighted that in Venezuela, with the arrival of the Bolivarian Revolution and the leadership of Commander Hugo Chávez, social and humanist policies were imposed in favor of Popular Power that led to the country today having a quality public health and education system. “It was a profound transformation that broke with the exclusive model of neoliberalism,” he stated.
For his part, the president of Celar, Pedro Calzadilla, stressed that today Venezuela commemorates “the enormous victory we had as a people 20 years ago.”
«In these moments of our country, gathering means a lot, extracting the victories from that event so that it illuminates us today, guides us, understanding that it was not something that happened, but that it continues, and the fight continues and is a process in full development. Now they chose the sea again, and there we are going to defeat them,” he said.
VTV/GC/EB
