8-24-05,11:24am

The 16th World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was successfully held in Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, from 7 to 15 August 2005, continuing with the Festivals movement and reinforcing it as the largest and the most significant political, cultural, anti-imperialist event organized by world progressive and democratic youth and student forces. This sixteenth Festival welcomed more than 17.000 delegates of local, national, regional and international organizations from 144 countries, representing millions of young people and students from all over the world. Youth gathered without differences of ages, ideological background, gender, ethnic and social origin participated in varied and numerous activities of the 16th WFYS. This Youth, in the previous months, during the preparatory process, realizing the necessities of the political moment, they managed to stimulate a great mobilization and ample spaces of debate in hundreds of different cities and countries, uniting wills under the slogan that brought us to Caracas: 'For Peace and Solidarity, We Struggle against Imperialism and War!'

Nowadays, four years after the fruitful 15th WFYS, held in Algeria, the world's imperialist forces, with the United States (US) government in the frontline, have undertaken an aggressive and despicable offensive, indiscriminately trying to remove all obstacles on their way to consolidate their global power. This Festival took place at a historical moment for mankind, in a continent that has made imperialism taste decisive defeats, in a country that blazes a path of hope, within the framework of the tradition of solidarity and struggle of the Festivals movement, reaffirming its firm position between the two main trends are confronting each other: on the one side, imperialism with its interventionist and war policies and, on the other, the peoples who struggle for their inalienable rights. The events of September 11, 2001, have been used by the US government and its allies as a pretext to launch an escalation of its imperialist campaign of world domination, disguised as a supposed 'war on terror' and 'struggle for freedom' against a fictitious 'axis of evil', through which it strives to impose its social, economical, cultural and ideological laws. Such events and their consequences have marked imperialist tactics during the past four years, serving the redoubling of expansionist policies, which are characterized by permanent contradictions and alliances among imperialist centers the US, European Union (EU) and Japan. This constantly intensifying imperialist aggressiveness has made use of all tried-and-true methods to achieve its goals: blockades, provocation of conflicts, threats of interventions, military intervention, wars and occupations, undertaken against countries and movements. This aggressiveness has also generated an escalation of the, attacks on people's rights and liberties. In order to justify all this, imperialism uses the media, the educational system, art, recreation and other mechanisms to unfold a sophisticated ideological offensive that provides the theoretical and moral basis for the above mentioned measures. What is especially alarming is that this offensive, waged on many fronts, affects - for the most part young people sometimes from the time of childhood. The insolent effort to present resistance as a form of violence and struggle as a form of terrorism is very old, but the peoples are not confused; in spite of the continuous distortion of reality and the howling provocations used to achieve this end, resistance movements have grown and have been strengthened. This aggressiveness is by no means accidental. It stems from imperialism's structural inability to come up with solutions to the needs of the vast majority of the world's population and at the same time to perpetuate its existence. This aggressiveness is expressed on different levels: At the economic level, it implies a strategic restructuring of its function (known as neo-liberal policies) in order to increase exploitation and competitiveness; At the military level, in order to secure control over markets and resources; At the political level, in order to secure its rule over the people; At the ideological level, in order to prevent dispute of its perpetuity. Imperialism is not invincible, as it presents itself; on the contrary its continuously deepening crisis is structural, and its aggressiveness has no way out but its complete overthrow by the peoples.

Despite imperialism's ideological offensive, progressive and peace loving forces grow stronger and emerge again with more determination. We, conscious young people and students of the world, are aware of the historical role we play, and we have been gathering in the World Festivals of Youth and Students since 1947 to reaffirm the principles of our struggle, to exchange ideas and set down referential bases to guide our regional and international actions, for the liberation of humanity from all types of oppression, discrimination and imperialistic domination, to have justice and freedom prevail for all peoples. The organization, awareness and mobilization of world youth and students have been on the rise. Wherever imperialism has intervened, encroaching on liberties and rights of the peoples, it has met with worthy resistance. The more it tries to encroach upon peoples' independence, sovereignty and right to self-determination, the more forms of resistance the peoples find to oppose its interests. Thus, our first commitment has been and will always be with the people, with the young people and students that suffer the most as a result of imperialist policies. Every day, the resistance against imperialism and capitalism gains more supporters before the evidence that this system is nonviable and in light of its inability to solve and meet the problems, necessities and interests of young people and students. Therefore, the local, national, regional and international, progressive, anti-neoliberal, anti-imperialist organizations, the youth in general, have increasingly mobilized themselves against warmongering machineries, against the invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq; against imperialist plans to reorder the world and its attempts to change the geopolitical map to its own benefit; against imperialist meddling in the internal affairs of countries; against the alienating and interventionist policies of G-8, NATO, the IMF, the WB, the WTO, the EU, the FTA, the FTAA; against debts and militarism; against military bases and intervention plans, such as Guantanamo and 'Plan Colombia'; against the systematic use of torture and the violation of human rights with impunity. This year, while commemorating the 60th anniversary of the criminal bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, imperialism continues showing its aggressive nature. But, it comforts us the fact that among the great experiences of the 20th century, we are also celebrating 60 years of the anti-fascist people's victory and the founding of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), two events that are intimately linked and which embody an unshakable commitment to peace and solidarity and honor the memory of the millions of lives who have upheld these principles over the years, events that marked the beginning of profound social transformations, the process of decolonization and changes in the world's balance of forces. As we invoke the glorious victory of the Vietnamese people over imperialism three decades ago, its subsequent economic and social achievements, our struggles and the experience we have accumulated, we are filled with hope and confidence that now, as at those times, we will overcome the difficulties and that the people shall emerge victorious.

In various forms and throughout the world, young people fight against exploitation, blockades, embargos, sanctions, and all forms of discrimination and fundamentalism. We are committed to and struggle for a world of peace, free from nuclear weapons; for a different socio-economic system that holds the human being as a center and main maker, a system based on social justice, national sovereignty, independence, self-determination, democracy, security, international solidarity and cooperation. We demand respect for and call for the defense of human rights, women's rights, sexual and reproductive rights, sustainable development and the environment. We demand that everyone should have access to employment, labor rights, education, health care, sports, culture and technology. We are optimistic because there are reasons to be optimistic, because we defend and we fight for just causes, because we have managed to make progresses, because we face and surpass difficulties with the joyful spirit and the rebelliousness that characterizes young people.

Imperialism is attempting to impose a unilateral and calculating view of human rights which benefits the interests of large corporations and transnational capital over the interests of the people, a system in which for example even US citizens themselves endure the repressive policies of a racist, exclusivist and alienating order, against which they are rebelling. Humanity's most fundamental right is the right to life and everything that sustains it, especially the right to freely decide the type of society it wants to live in, and its inalienable right to fight to build such a society. Imperialism denies peoples these rights in many ways, through international capitalist structures, subverting the role of the United Nations (UN) and, if need be, by waging wars of occupation as it did in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Imperialism wants to build a new world totalitarian order against the youth, the workers and the peoples.

We demand the closing down of all foreign military bases, the abolition of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and nuclear tests. We demand the reduction of military budgets, which have been increasing, especially in the United States of America.

Imperialist warmongering policies produce such harms as refugees, millions of people who are compelled to leave their homes, lands, jobs and families. Also the economic policies of hunger produce emigrants, the majority of them move to developed capitalist countries illegally and are treated as slaves something that is a shame for humanity.

We must urgently mobilize the people to exert international pressure for a true democratization of the United Nations, opposing the US and its allies in their attempts to impose reforms that consolidate the use of this multilateral organization as an international tool to legitimize their interventionist actions, in stead of complying with its obligation to seek a real balance among the world's nations, giving them equal rights and duties, and empowering the General Assembly.

Imperialism also undermines the conditions of education for the youth, encouraging the exclusion and desertion of formal education. Nowadays, 113 millions of children don't go to school and 130 millions of young people are illiterate. Against its commercialization, we demand full access to public, free and quality education.

Scientific and technological breakthroughs that should be considered the property of humanity are retained and restricted in their use by capitalism. The Internet continues to be inaccessible to the vast majority. For example, Sub-Saharan Africa has a mere 0, 1% of the world's internet connections, while it consists of 10% of the world's population. We demand that science and technological breakthroughs be used to benefit of youth and peoples, instead of being used as one more way of profit. Access to basic services continues to be severely limited two billion people around the world don't have access to electricity.

The development of the mass media and other information channels does not reflect a process of democratization with respect to access to and the production of information and culture. Most of the world's information centers are in the hands of transnational companies, and the content of this information is determined by the class interests of the dominant ideology and against the interests of young people and students. In this global battle, the people's counteroffensive cannot be waged exclusively on the economic field; it must also be fought at the ideological level, which is being used for the alienation and domination, especially of young people, mainly by creating false needs and promote individualism. Therefore, our educational and cultural efforts must be promoted by all possible means; these efforts have made much progress in recent years, and allow as reach more people day by day.

Nowadays, capitalism and imperialism, in deep crisis, are eliminating the majority of labor rights, especially those of young workers who suffer more the effects of unemployment. We fight for the right to jobs with rights. We support the organized struggle of young workers for the defense of the interests of all of the people by strengthening the trade union movement, against all new forms of exploitation before the intention to create a new, dehumanized generation that is deprived of rights of any type.

The peoples have an inalienable right to avail ourselves of the planet's wealth and resources and to use them - in a rational way which does not harm the environment in order to cover the urgent needs of the three quarters of the humanity. Imperialism uses wars, promotes internal conflicts and State terrorism as tools to seize our nations' wealth. Currently, 40% of the world's population does not have access to basic sanitary conditions. More than 1 billion people do not have access to reliable sources of drinkable water. Among them, five million people, mostly children, die each year as a result of diseases closely associated to this problem. The gap between the richest and poorest sectors of the population grows wider. More than one billion people in the world live on less than one US dollar per day. Every three and a half seconds, another person dies of starving; the large majority of these people are children.

Capitalism's planetary scope also results in the uneven distribution of the world's economic power. The 24 richest countries held 85% of the world's riches. An unfair international division of work and the existence of 'foreign debts' make countries in debt dependent on richer countries. The situation of so-called 'underdeveloped countries' is the result of the relations of domination that capitalist centers impose on these nations. The perpetuation of these relations of dependency is vital to capitalism.

South-South cooperation is a strategic need for our people that have already achieved positive results against the monopoly interests of great powers. We have to promote all possible ways for exchange, communication and coordinated action among youth and student organizations, and the people in general, in order to collectively assume the challenge of following the path of development, which responds to their own needs and objectives.

Ten million young people live with AIDS, mostly in Africa and Asia. Every year, around 3 million people die of malaria. We demand free and universal access to health care for the youth and the peoples, as the only way of guaranteeing the human right to health.

These alarming figures, published in the United Nations' World Youth Report 2005, attest even more that we must fight against the causes of these harms. By bringing closer the overthrow of imperialism and exploitation, we are saving human lives.

We must strengthen links among different social sectors, especially among young people, in which young workers, women, students, farmers, indigenous people and popular movements pursue their specific objectives in an ever more concerted manner, taking in other sectors and working with the conviction that collective achievements and progress will benefit everyone because the national conquests contribute to the global struggle against imperialism. We must participate in and strengthen local, national, regional and international anti-neoliberal, anti-globalization, anti-capitalist or anti-imperialist joint spaces, aiming to gather the organizations and the vast masses of poor people, which are more directly impacted by the current international order, having common objectives, exchanging our experiences and increasing our social influence.

We express our solidarity towards the people and youth of Iraq in their struggle and resistance against imperialist occupation forces. We demand the immediate withdrawal of these forces and the preservation of Iraqi sovereignty and unity. We denounce imperialism's and its agents' repressive policies in the region and demand the immediate release of all political prisoners. We denounce imperialist attempts at changing the geopolitical map through the 'Great Middle East Project', which uses discretionary criteria to select the countries that, according to its interests, are proclaimed to be ruled by dictatorships and, therefore, require 'democratic' change. To achieve its aims, US interventionist efforts rely on the servile support of Israel's Zionist government, which plays a destabilizing role in the region and acts as an agent which indiscriminately eliminates resistance movements in the region. We therefore express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and youth in their struggle for the right to have an independent State with Jerusalem as its capital city and their right to stand up to the forces of occupation; we demand the return of refugees as per relevant UN resolutions and call upon the international community to support the struggle for the immediate dismantling of the apartheid wall which Israel is constructing in occupied territories of Palestine. We express our solidarity with the Syrian youth and people in their struggle and right to stand up against Israeli occupation, and demand its urgently and immediately withdraw from the 'Syrian Golan'. We repudiate the US Congress' extraterritorial decisions against Syria. We condemn imperialism's meddling in Lebanese internal affairs and its attempts to provoke instability in the county and the region; we support the struggle of Lebanese youth and people that stand up and fight for the liberation of Lebanese 'Cheeba Farms' occupied by Israel, and we demand the immediate withdrawal of these forces from the region. We express our solidarity with the people and youth of Morocco in their struggle for the liberation of Sebta y Melilla, occupied by Spain. The people and youth of Europe, affected by the growing hegemony of the European Union, have a day by day strongly feel in their lives its true imperialist character, which also affects all young people around the world. We express our solidarity: towards the peoples of the Balkans, who for years have endured the consequences of war and the constant intervention of NATO and the EU; towards Cypriots, Greeks and Turkish Cypriots, in their struggle for reunification and we underline the urgent need to end the Turkish occupation and find a peaceful, viable and functional solution to the Cyprus problem, based on International Law and all relevant UN resolutions, acceptable to both communities; towards the struggle of the Irish people for the withdrawal of the British army, and for a united, independent Ireland; towards the parties, movements and militants that are facing persecution and restrictions, especially in Eastern Europe; towards the children, youth and people of former socialist countries, who, in recent years, have endured an alarming situation characterized by hunger, misery, unemployment, illiteracy, drug abuse, lack of essential medical services and the absence of democratic rights, all as a result of capitalist restoration; towards the millions of refugees and immigrants living in European Fortress who are constantly overexploited, treated as lowlifes and used as a pretext for the implementation of reactionary measures, to the detriment of all people and youth; towards all the peoples and the youth in the continent that work and fight against imperialist domination and exploitation.

We call upon the young people of the world to express their solidarity towards Korean youth for the reunification of its country under the principles of independence, peace, national unity and the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, and denounce the presence of US troops under parallel 38 in addition to its permanent policy of destabilization in the region. We express our solidarity towards the people and youth of Nepal in their struggle for democracy and human rights. We demand the return of all Bhutanese refuges to their country with respect and dignity. We express our solidarity towards the struggle of student, youth, and democratic movements in Myanmar, for democracy and against the military junta and the repressive actions undertaken against its people. We express support for Sri Lanka's progressive movements struggle for national unity and against imperialist attempts at dividing the country and destabilizing the region. We salute the Vietnamese youth and people in their struggle for national independence and socialism, at a time when the 60th anniversary of the birth of their sovereign republic is celebrated, and we express our solidarity towards the Vietnamese victims of the US' Agent Orange / Dioxin in their struggle for justice.

The main root cause of the problems of young people in Africa has been the imperialist forces that parade themselves as saviors and lovers of this continent but have in fact plunged Africa into never ending warfare and internal conflict in attempts at retaining its rich natural resources. We support the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) as a tool and plan that might contribute to promoting common understanding, peace, political stability and development among African nations and solve common problems faced by their peoples. We urge young people around the world to step up their fight against imperialism and neo-colonialism, placing special emphasis on respect for the sovereign States and their right to decide and straighten out on their internal issues. We denounce imperialist intervention in Zimbabwe, a sovereign State capable of addressing its own internal issues and demand the lifting of unjustified sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and its people. We extend our solidarity towards and support for the people and youth of Western Sahara in their struggle for the right to freedom and self-determination of the Saharawi people, as per UN resolutions, and demand the release of Saharawi political prisoners. We have witnessed with great concern how our brothers and sisters in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ivory Coast, and Benin have wrestled with internal conflicts and war. We denounce the dictatorship and autocratic monarchy in Swaziland and support its people and their right to choose the kind of government they want to live under. We must strengthen efforts for peace and human rights in Sudan and support the current peace process. We must continue to support initiatives which seek to fight and eradicate poverty and hunger in Africa. We highlight the need to provide relevant institutional and political support for the attainment of peace and development in the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea). We congratulate the people of Angola for their efforts to establish and maintain peace in their country and call on people to make an active contribution to the reconstruction of Angola. We vigorously demand the total eradication and unconditional cancellation of the African debt.

Winds of change and revolution are blowing in Latin America again, proving that there are true alternatives for the people and that the firmness of principles, the people's organization and the proper interpretation of this time of offensive can deal a harsh blow to imperialism and its lackeys. This is demonstrated by the defeat of US attempts at imposing the Free Trade Agreement for the Americas (FTAA) on Latin America and the powerful emergence of an alternative proposal for Latin American unity (ALBA), based on principles of political, economical, social and cultural integration. Similarly, we support initiatives like the Community of South American Nations. Cuba continues to be an example of resistance and the upholding of principles, where the blockade and acts of aggressions crash against a dignified people, with which the new generations of young people and students around the world close ranks, demanding also the release of the 5 Cubans unjustly imprisoned by the US government. The peoples of the countries that share the territory of Amazonia and the Andean mountain range rebel against poverty and injustices; indigenous people struggle for their right to self-determination and for respect of their cultures; Colombia demonstrates that it is not the name of a plan for imperialist domination but rather represents an essential road towards peace, to which young people and students are committed; Central America and the Caribbean endure the betrayal of corrupt governments, the implementation of neo-colonial policies and armed interventions, as Puerto Rico and Haiti have witnessed; in the South Cone, imperialism does not resign itself to the strides of peoples, who are seeking and finding their own paths based on the central participation of the masses, in spite of the exception of a few governments which bow to imperialism. The peoples and young people of the world express their solidarity towards all of them.

In this context we have gathered for this Festival, full of joy and driven by a combative spirit, to express our unwavering solidarity towards the youth and people of Venezuela, with special reference to the Venezuelan delegates and volunteers, towards their Bolivarian Revolution, which welcomed us with open arms. We have seen what a united people can do when it decides commit itself fully freedom and to attaining national progress. We have also witnessed how Venezuela joins its brothers and sisters in their struggles across the continent and the world. Venezuela can count on the willingness of the young people and students of the world to step forward should imperialism attempt to thwart its efforts.

The 16th WFYS broke through the censorship and lifted the blockade on information imposed by imperialism, which could not prevent us from sharing experiences, strengthening our bonds, reaching agreements, getting to know each other better, having a clearer and more global understanding of our problems and their causes, and assuming the collective commitment of uniting all of our efforts to eliminate those problems; defending and fighting for the rights of the people, youth and students wherever they are at risk, improving the organization and mobilization of the youth and student movement, and raising its political and social consciousness through concerted actions.

We come to the end of a process which has spanned several months. Now we are in a better position to continue our struggle through our respective local, national, regional and international organizations and structures against our common enemies: imperialism, exploitation and war.

In coming years, prior to next Festival, we will continue to struggle and to expand the scope of our actions on many occasions, with ever greater strength and determination. This is, more than anything, what guarantees the success of the 17th WFYS and the continuation of its glorious history in this century that begins and that shall become the century of the peoples and the youth, the century of the people's victory over imperialism.

For Peace and Solidarity, We Struggle against Imperialism and War!

Delegates to the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 15th August 2005.