CARIBBEAN AND CENTRAL AMERICA Declaration of anti-imperialist organisations ON FEBRUARY 10-12, 1986, a conference of Latin American and Caribbean political parties was held in Managua at the initiative of the Nicaraguan government. The objective of the meeting was to examine the state of war existing in Central America and especially the aggression directed against the Nicaraguan revolution.
The Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (PRT - Revolutionary Workers Party), the Mexican section of the Fourth International, attended the conference.
As a prelude to this conference the Anti-imperialist Organizations of the Caribbean and Central America convened their second assembly on February 8-9. Forty-three delegates representing 30 organizations from 18 countries were present. The declaration from this meeting, that we reproduce below, was given to the press on February 10, 1986, by Raphael Faveras, a member of the Bloque Socialista [Dominican Republic] and president of the Committee of Anti-imperialist Organizations of the Caribbean and Central America.
source of inspiration for all the strug. gles in the Caribbean. The conference is in solidarity with the fight for authentic democracy in Haiti. It considers that democratization in Haiti implies the respect for the sovereignty and the right of political exiles to return freely. The conference has declared itself against any attempt at military intervention by the United States in Haiti.
The anti-imperialist organizations consider that the projected visit by Ronald Reagan to Grenada, formerly a free and sovereign country, is an attempt to make official the neocolonialization of that country. We condemn this visit as an act of imperial arrogance, an insult to all the patriots of Grenada and an affront to all the peoples of the Caribbean region.
The assembly expresses its profound concern about the growing militarization of the Caribbean and Central America by the Reagan administration, in particular the utilization of Puerto Rico as an armed base for launching military interventions against the Caribbean and Central America. It likewise expresses its concern about the increasing militarization of Honduras and its use as the seat of camps of mercenaries who attack Nicaraguan territory. Moreover, it denounces the utilization of Antigua and other territories for the same purposes. We demand that the Caribbean region be declared a zone of peace, of independence and of development. We declare that without peace in our region there can be no social and economic development.
On this subject, the conference considers that the region's foreign debt, which per capita is the highest in the world, is further strangling our economies. We consider that the problems of the foreign debt are not just economic but are also fundamentally political and that the debt is not payable. We affirm, moreover, that the only solution to this problem resides in the creation of a new international economic order. The assembly expresses its support to the struggles of the people of Guatemala for democracy and social progress.
Our assembly makes known its indignation over the existence in our region of territories under colonial domination, and we emphasize that the popular fight against this domination must be amplified. We lend our support to all peoples who are still waging an anticolonialist fight, as is the case in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guyana and the Netherlands Antilles [the Dutch West Indies].
We launch an appeal to the chiefs
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The Caribbean and Central America continue to be a principal focus of world tension because of the policy of domination, exploitation and war conducted by imperialism against the growing struggles of the peoples of the region. This regional policy of economic, political and military interference is an integral part of the Reagan administration's "neoglobalist" policy, which is also characterized by an anticommunist crusade directed against national liberation movements and popular struggles....
This assembly condemns the policy of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which seeks to subject the developing countries of the region, and of the world generally, to its economic diktats for the profit of big international capital. This policy underlies the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which, without resolving any of the serious economic and social problems of the region, attempts to drag the area into the politicalmilitary plans of the United States....
The assembly also condemns the policy of state terrorism, the incessant military and economic aggression of the United States against Nicaragua, as well as the menace of direct military intervention and the US attempts to bring down the legally elected government of Nicaragua.
This assembly also makes known its support for the initiatives and propositions that the Nicaraguan government has formulated to the Contadora group, including its declaration affirming that it will not be possible to achieve peace as long as the United States pursues its aggressive intervention in the Central American region. Moreover, this meeting has demanded the resumption of a bilateral dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua at Manzanillo.
Similarly, it condemns the high level that the military, political and economic intervention of the Reagan administration has reached against the heroic fight of the Salvadoran people.... US out of the Caribbean
This meeting is being held at a moment when the Cuban revolution is stronger than ever, in spite of the constant attacks to which it is subjected from the United States -the military menace, the economic blockade and ideological tactics.
The assembly celebrates the fall of Duvalier, accomplished by the Haitian people, forever faithful to their noble tradition of liberty. They have vigorously opposed any attempts to preserve the antipopular power of a Duvalierism without Duvalier. The courage of the Haitian people is a