Inaugural Meeting and Declaration of Revolutionary Organizations of the Caribbean

First Meeting of Revolutionary Groups of the Caribbean

Declaration of revolutionary organizations of the Caribbean

We, the signatory organizations, having assessed the political situation in the Caribbean, consider that the survival of colonialism in the region is a relevant issue, regardless of how it is masked. Puerto Rico, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, Anguilla, Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands are kept under a colonial regime imposed by the United States, France, Netherlands and England, by which they guarantee their geostrategic interests, supplies of raw materials and a market for their commodities.

The peoples of these countries suffer from economic exploitation, political and cultural oppression directly by the governments and multinational corporations, but also by the local elites at the service of the domination of the former.

The peoples of these countries are carrying out a constant struggle for their immediate demands, the winning of freedom and democratic rights, and to achieve decolonization, self-determination, independence and sovereignty.

We, the signatory organizations, declare that the anti-colonial struggle is a key element in the common efforts that we have to carry forward, and therefore we are committed to developing solidarity with the peoples affected by this reality, and at the same time to educating our membership and peoples regarding this need.

We consider that the anti-colonial struggle in these countries is an important part of the anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples of Latin America.

We further note that, in the context of the conflicts among the imperialist powers for control of geostrategic areas and natural resources, U.S. imperialism is carrying out its strategy of recolonization of the countries and nations of Latin America.

In this context the Caribbean region has always had a special place for U.S. neo-colonialist interests, which explains its strategy of domination in the area that, in addition to military control, has recently had as an important element the fight to curb the economic penetration of other powers in the region.

This context explains the military occupation of the Republic of Haiti, under the camouflage of the United Nations, as has happened elsewhere.

We denounce the maintenance of the troops of MINUSTAH [United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti] in Haiti as a grave violation of the rights and sovereignty of the Haitian people, while we support the systematic mobilizations of Haitian democratic and revolutionary sectors against the occupation.

The military occupation of Haiti can only be explained by the interests of imperialism and its allies to prevent that people from defining their own destiny; to maintain a large military base in a strategic territory in the Caribbean and to serve as guarantee for the plundering of the multinationals which are advancing the work of exploration for natural resources presumed to be in the mountains of Haiti, just as is taking place in the Dominican Republic.

We denounce and condemn the military occupation of Haiti as part of the policy of plunder and oppression that the imperialist powers have historically carried out against this people, and we also denounce the collaborationist attitude of the puppet governments in the region that support and legitimize the imperialist policy in Haiti.

We call on the governments of Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia to withdraw their troops that are stationed in Haiti as part of the MINUSTAH.

Our organizations likewise reiterate their solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico who, amidst the difficult conditions of over a century of occupation, are maintaining their dignity and persevering in the struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination, sovereignty and full independence. At this time they oppose the placing on them of the effects of the foreign debt that is weighing on the economy of that country.

We demand the immediate release of the Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar Lopez, imprisoned in the United States.

We also support the struggle of the Dominican people in defense of their natural resources, for a general wage increase, against corruption and impunity, a process that is increasing.

We express our condemnation of the destabilizing work carried out by the United States against the Bolivarian government of Venezuela, at the same time as we reiterate our support and solidarity with the Venezuelan people and their process.

We note that the developments in the region are forcing the democratic and revolutionary forces to follow them closely given the new perspectives.

We declare our will to maintain the objective of the revolution, the popular mass struggle and the building of vanguards that will lead these processes.

We agree to coordinate actions of education and political action about the reality and development of the situations in the region, in order to encourage the resistance of our peoples and assist in the definition of projects of national and social emancipation in accord with the interests of the moment and in the long-term interests of the working class, the laboring masses and the peoples of our countries.

Signed:

Caribbean and Latin American Coordinator of Puerto Rico

Socialist Group for a New National Project Camp of the People (Pati Rasin Pep La) – Haiti

Political Committee of the (ML) Party of El Salvador

Communist Party of Puerto Rico (PCPR)

National Council of People's Committees (CNCP) of Martinique

Communist Party of Labor (Dominican Republic)

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, December 13, 2015