We are living dramatic days in our region. In all the countries, workers are up against a hard offensive of the imperialists materialised in exploitation carried out by the multinationals and great concerns, in the neoliberal economic models put into practice by governments, the presence of American military bases and occupation by foreign armies as in Haiti, etc.

This is the situation that has driven workers of cities and of the countryside and all the other exploited sectors of our society to fight more and more resolutely against the exploitation we are forced to support. The heroic resistance of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean – as well as that of other regions of the planet, such as Iraq, has caused crisis and difficulties in the implementation of the imperialist undertaking.

Such crisis, however does not spell the diminishing of the raid and exploitation. To the contrary, what we are witnessing is an increasing offensive of American and European imperialisms so as to deepen the looting of our wealth and natural resources and the exploitation of workers, a task for which they can rely on our governments.

To reach this target, they criminalize and violently repress our struggles. The result is increasing hunger and poverty together with more violence and hopelessness about finding a decent job in our countries that increasingly change to become more like colonies of the multinationals.

This reality demands intensification of our struggles of resistance so that we can advance until we take the offensive and defeat imperialism and their lackeys clutching on to the governments that happen to be on duty. That is what we need the union of the workers and people of Latin America and the Caribbean in an ample process of mobilisation and struggles to defeat those who have always been our enemies.

With this in mind, there is another obstacle we have to tackle: the fact that many of the traditional organisations of the workers of the region have abandoned the perspective of class struggle and embraced the neoliberal model, cooperating with the enemy and leaving workers and peoples to their fate.

It is left to us, therefore, to take new concrete steps towards the unification of the working class and of all those who wish to fight in the clear perspective of class independence against imperialism, the bourgeoisie of each country and their lackey governments.

We have to pull together and co-ordinate our efforts and turn each struggle of every sector of the workers, of each one of the countries of the region, into a sole and strong general struggle of all the Latin American and Caribbean workers so as to definitely abolish exploitation and oppression by capitalism so as to build an egalitarian socialist society. We must, therefore advance to build an institutional co-ordination of trade unions and popular forces, of all the struggles of the region of the entire region, joining all the forces of trade unions, social and popular movement of the cities and of the countryside.

It is with this challenge that, together with CONLUTAS - National Coordination of fights in Brazil, the COB - Bolivian Workers Central, the B.O. - Batay Ouvriye, Haiti, the TCC - Trend Classista and Combativa of Uruguay, the CCURA - Current Classista, United, Revolutionary and Autonomous, Venezuela and MeCoSi -- Coordinating Union of Paraguay call to an International Encounter of a popular and trade union character of Latin America and the Caribbean to establish a joint platform of action and define a plan of common struggles that can allow us to advance towards the constitution of a Latin American and Caribbean Coordination of struggles.

We hereby invite all the trade unions and social organisations of all the brotherly countries that will agree to the general lines of the summons and wish to join this great mobilisation of workers’ struggles at an international level..

The encounter will be held in Betim (Minas Gerais, Brazil) on 7th and 8ty of 2008). In advance, looking forwards to the participation of our brothers in the struggle al all Latin America and the Caribbean. We are looking forward to the participation of our brothers in the struggle of all Latin America and the Caribbean.

•    For the nationalisation without indemnity and under workers’ control of the natural resources of Latin America an the Caribbean (hydrocarbons, precious metals, iron, water, biodiversity and others)

•    Against neoliberal reforms

•    Against privatisation of public services, education, healthcare, social security, state-owned concerns, etc

•    No to the payment of foreign and home debt

•    Against the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) in Latin America and the Caribbean

•    For decent jobs and salaries for everybody

•    Against criminalisation of social movement; down with the repression of the struggles and organisations of the workers

•    Out with the foreign troops from Haiti

•    Out with imperialism from Latin America and Caribbean. For a real independence of the people of our region

•    Down with all the forms of exploitation and oppression by capitalism against the workers

•    Long live the proletarian internationalism!

COB (Bolivian Workers’ Central)
CONLUTAS (National Coordination of struggles of Brazil)
BO (Batay Ouvriye of Haiti)
TCC (Classist and Fighting tendency – Uruguay)
  
The summons will remain open so that it can be signed by organisations that wish to join this effort.