There have been a series of exchanges, such as in summits and events or specific meetings that will lead to the Assembly. There have also been meetings of the platforms created across the continent.

The Secretariat made a proposal to open the debate around the global crisis of capitalism, the main strategies in place in the continent and ways in which the integration of social movements can materialize.
One of the most important objectives of the meeting is to come up with a plan of action that will enable to move forward with those initiatives.

The main conclusions of the foundational assembly of the movements of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) to be held seven years after the ‘death’ of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) will be communicated before the assembly of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CLACS) and the Ibero-American summit, to be held afterwards in Santiago de Chile.
Before the continental assembly there were national assemblies in Peru and Argentina.

The assembly in Peru dealt with the opposition of social movements to the so called “Arch” or “Pacific Alliance” between the governments of Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico “which gathers their free trade agreements in a small FTAA”. The movements opposed the initiative for considering it goes against the integrating process of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CLACS).

Real World Radio will attend the assembly of the ALBA social movements to cover the discussions and contribute to the debate on alternative media from social organizations.

The Argentinean chapter of the articulation met in preparation for the Sao Paulo assembly last December 8th and they summarized the main accomplishments of social organizations in 2012.

“In 2012 the movements in the streets all over the continent became stronger. We raised our voice on the World Environment Day on June 5 at the Peoples’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro by solidarity actions in Paraguay by trying to break the media barrier to the coup d’état, supporting the resistance of the Honduran people and celebrating Hugo Chavez’ victory in the elections, as well as participating at the World Social Forum Free Palestine”, reported ALBA Argentina.

They defined: “one of the biggest challenges of the Latin American grassroots movement is to strengthen its political articulation in each country and at the regional level. There are social movements in the Americas with a lot of experience, with a rich tradition of labor, peasant and student struggle and we need to link our knowledge and capacity around alternative political projects”.

Photo: www.albamovimientos.org