Report back from Peruvian Alternative Summit in London

For its special monthly meeting on Wednesday June 11th, HOV London invited Andy Higginbottom from the Colombia Solidarity Campaign to give a report back on the alternative summit held in Peru recently, at the same time as the official EU - Latin American summit. One of the main organisers of the alternative summit was a group called Enlazando Alternativas (Launching Alternatives), a network of progressive groups from Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America concerned with the effects of neo-liberal policies.

The summit featured tribunals on European corporations in Latin America, with 32 cases on their impact on the working classes and indigenous populations. Peru is a tough place for the left, Andy explained, as there is always an association in people’s mind with Maoist group Shining Path. However, social movements are on the rise, as shown by recent strikes by miners, peasants and doctors. Alan Garcia, the recently re-elected neo-liberal president of Peru, tried to have the alternative summit banned, but backed down under European pressure.

The main clash at the official summit was between Garcia and Bolivian President Evo Morales, said Andy, with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez staying out of the limelight, and with Garcia firmly on the side of the multinationals and the EU. EU representative Peter Mandelson tried to bully President Morales into accepting free trade agreements. Whereas Morales proposed a progressive removal of trade barriers, Mandelson wanted to impose a free trade deal, which should come as no surprise.

Evo Morales spoke at the alternative summit. In what was seen as an attack on prominent left wing politician Ollanta Humala, Morales spokes of the need for a left leader who was accountable to the social movements, rather than one seeking to capitalise on them. Regarding the EU, he stressed that the privatisation of water and other resources was not up for negotiation, and the same applied to intellectual rights. His position was not fully anti-capitalist, but more democratic protectionist, said Andy.

A lively question and answer session followed, with calls for greater cooperation between the various Latin American solidarity groups, and perhaps to emulate what Enlazando Alternativas has created - a kind of network or umbrella organisation for progressive groups concerned with Latin America.