The 8000 delegates of the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students who gathered from 88 countries in Quito, Ecuador, under the slogan “Youth united against imperialism, for the World of Peace, Solidarity and Social Transformation” declare the following:
We salute the people of Ecuador and its struggles. We express our solidarity in the struggle of the Ecuadorian people for popular conquests and radical social-political changes. With the support of the progressive and militant youth of Ecuador, which in the past years have made important steps forward and achievements through its struggle, through the process of the “Citizens Revolution”,the international anti-imperialist youth movement constructed another important moment in the history of its organized struggle. We gathered in Latin America, a continent were the youth movement is steadily growing, once again for the biggest anti-imperialist youth event in the world to strengthen our common struggle towards our common goal: the overthrown of Imperialism.
The 18th World Festival of Youth and Students has also been a tribute to all the people and especially the young men and women that have given their lives in the struggle against Imperialism; that have dedicate their lives to the struggle for the ideals of peace, independence, popular sovereignty, solidarity, ending of exploitation andfor socialism. In the honour of all these peoples we symbolically paid a tribute to personalities that have contributed to this struggle like Hugo Chavez, Eloy Alfaro and Kwame Nkrumah. Additionally we remember the great Nelson Mandela to whom the 17th WFYS was dedicated and who passed away just only before of the opening of the 18th WFYS. We also take this chance to pay our tribute to comrade Edwin Perez the General Secretary of the Communist Youth of Ecuador who was murdered in 2010 by the reaction.
The success of the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students re-affirms our political will, to continue what the other generations started in Prague in 1947 with the first Festival. Through the World Federation of Democratic Youth and its international partners, the flame of the Festival movement was lit. Through its 68 year course, the Festival movement created an important space of internationalizing the historical struggles of the peoples against colonialism, dictatorships, fascism, wars interferences, and attacks on the sovereignty of the peoples and on the rights of workers, peoples and youth.We do not forget the support that the youth Festival movement had from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the other socialist states. Despite the new and more difficult conditions created after the overthrows of the 1990s, we see the World Festival of Youth and students being a very wide movement deeply connected to the most militant and consequent forces of the worlds youth, to continue being, as it has been in the past editions, a very important mark in the anti-imperialist youth’s struggle. The youth anti-imperialist movement through the Festival highlighted the way of the peoples, the road of peace solidarity and social progress,of the abolition of the capitalist exploitation. On that road the youth of today is continuing the struggle.
Today we are living in a period of great imperialist aggression but also of great potential for the popular struggle and the possibility to achieve our victory against the imperialist forces, on the grounds of the objective material conditions of the historic moment that we are living.
Imperialism continues its aggression with new means, new methods, as well as the traditional methods of wars, occupations and military interventions. The imperialist war machine has never stopped working in order to serve the interests of the monopolies, for expansion to the markets of resources and energy routes. In the past few years militaristic expansion has grown all over the world. The capitalist crisis is worsening the need of monopolies for intensifying the imperialist aggressions and expansion of wars, as it creates realignments in correlation of forces, intensification of inner-imperialist contradictions and competitions. The rise of emerging forces that compete with the traditional imperialist forces is increasing the tensions.
Therefore we have seen that in the years since the 17th WFYS the direct military aggressions have increased especially in areas of geopolitical importance for imperialism. The recent wars in the Middle East especially with the (REMOVE THE WORD VIOLENT FROM THE SPANISH VERSION) targeting of Syria, the increased military aggression and build up (like military bases and pacts) in Africa, Asia Pacific and as it is also indicated by the imperialist strategy of menace and threats against the continuity of the progressive processes and the peoples that struggle in Latin America; for this reason Venezuela today represents one of the principal targets of imperialism.
The interventions do not stop in the military arena but also have to do with actions of political interventions, economical blackmail against sovereign states,financing of mercenaries, promoting conflicts between neighboring countries, support towards reactionary forces, use of terrorism, national and/or religious conflicts etc. With these methods the capitalist classes work their way to increase their influence and participation inside the imperialist system and the power distribution. Towards their goals we witness, state repression, misinformation, anti-popular propaganda, manipulation of the popular struggles, support of fascist groups, anticommunism and persecution of radical and revolutionary ideals (as is the official policy of the EU and other capitalist powers) various pretexts for aggression etc.
The participants of the World Festival of youth and students are calling all the young men and women to ally their struggle with the struggle of the popular, workers and student movements in national and international level; to ally their selves with the peace movements of their countries and the anti-imperialist movement. We strongly believe that the interests of the youth and the struggle for peace and friendship amongst the peoples can only be served with these popular alliances and never by being aligned to the interests of any imperialist power, established or emerging.
In this framework we stand by the side of all the peoples who are developing their struggle for peace, for popular sovereignty, for independence, for socialism. We express our solidarity to the heroic people that despite the wars, the occupations, the blockades and the repression are continuing their national struggle and their resistance, as well as their struggle for self-determination as it is defined by the rights of the peoples and not by the interests of imperialists. In this regards we send our militant solidarity and support the people of Cuba, we support the cause of the Palestinian people, of the Cypriot people, of the people of Western Sahara, we support the peace process in Colombia, we strongly oppose the imperialist intervention in Syria and the menaces towards DPR Korea and Eritrea, we condemn the imperialist wars and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, the intervention in Mali and in the Central African Republic. To all these examples of peoples’ struggle and to so many others around the world we express our solidarity. With our support we are sure that their struggle will be victorious and that the end of imperialist interventions will be another step towards international peace and solidarity.
At the same time the participants of the World Festival of Youth and Students express their solidarity to the people who are suffering but also fighting against the consequences of the capitalist crisis and the following attack of the capitalists towards their rights. For this reason we call the youth to participate in the struggles of the working class and the peoples’ movement for the revolutionary overthrow of the actual regiment of imperialism.
This crisis has revealed once again the dead ends of the capitalist system as well as its inability to resolve the problems that humanity faces today. This leads to the massive attacks on social and labour rights that are highly affecting the youth and the working class. Today, the youth unemployment in Europe constantly increases. In order for the monopolies to overcome their own crisis they are forcing the working class to pay its cost. With cuts on salaries, massive unemployment, privatizations and destruction of social functions of states, they are creating markets on every aspect of social life. Health, education, environment and culture are becoming merchandizes with an increased speed, while the ruling class is leading youth and peoples in a future of misery and extensive exploitation. In many capitalist countries, Education is becoming not a right for all but a privilege for few, due to the policy of privatization and destruction of the Public Education, serving the interests of the Capital instead of the student's interests and the development needs of the countries. Many students have to leave their studies because of this policy. Towards the achievement of these goals, the exploitation towards the working class is accompanied with division of the working class, intensive exploitation of women, immigrants, many other social groups and even nature itself. We stand by the side of all that are discriminated and we call them to join our struggle for equality.
The participants of the 18th WFYS salute the struggles given by the youth together with popular movement which goes hand in hand with the struggle of the labour movement and the class oriented trade unions, in order not only to preserve their rights but to achieve new victories. We are a part of this struggle and we express our confidence in the final victory of the peoples and youth for their rights. We reaffirm our commitment to work strongly with the international anti-imperialist movements as the World Federation of Democratic Youth, the World Peace Council, the World Federation of Trade Unions, the Women International Democratic Federation and the regional anti-imperialist student organizations.
We salute the struggle of the young workers; the struggle for a dignified Work with rights, without precarious conditions and outsourcing policies. We salute the millions of students who demand free public and democratic education for everyone. We support the struggle of the student movement and its demand for education that will serve the popular needs and not the needs of the monopolies.
We salute the important manifestations of the youth, popular and anti-imperialist struggle that has increased in the past period all over the world. We believe that these struggles must increase their levels of organization and mobilization. We strongly believe that the works of the 18th WFYS will contribute to this struggle as it gathers the experience of struggle from every country and every continent.
Our conviction for the right of our struggle comes from the understanding that imperialism is a system, a system based on a specific economic structure, the higher stage of capitalist development imposing different forms of exploitation but always in the same line of goals. Therefore we understand our struggle as a struggle to overthrow this system and construct the new world: the world of peace of solidarity and social transformation, the world were the social-economic system will guarantee that the fundamental means of production will be in the hands of the people and of the workers and where economy will developed in the scope of the popular needs.
These are times of youth anti-imperialist struggle and unity; the 18th WFYS underlines the need of revolutionary changes and social transformations. To achieve that, unity is of great importance when it is based on principles.
The youth of the world must organize in order to promote campaigns for the conquest of our rights and demands.
In this international framework we understand that our struggle has a special significance. We are able to choose our future and construct the new world! The 18th World Festival of Youth and Students is sending a militant message of hope to all the peoples of world. Our hope is that, if there are political and organizational conditions, to organize the next (19th) WFYS in 2017, in the commemoration of the 100 years from the triumph of the October Revolution, which is a significant date for the anti-imperialist movement.
Together with the anti-imperialist youth of Latin America and Ecuador we re-affirm our commitment for international cooperation of the anti-imperialist movement, for our own counteroffensive and for our struggle until the final victory.
