Fiesta de los Abrazos: Brazilian participation and union of the left

The biggest and oldest party of the left in the Americas, organized by the Communist Party of Chile, ended on Sunday (14), in Santiago. The 35th edition of the Fiesta de los Abrazos annually moves the Chilean capital in January, being recognized in the country as the first festival of the year.

In addition to the dozens of cultural and gastronomic attractions, the many political debates on the most urgent topics for the progressive field on the continent, this year’s Fiesta de los Abrazos also takes place when Chile remembers the 50th anniversary of the military coup that hit the country and promoted almost 20 years of the most violent dictatorships in South America. The party was also marked by tributes to comrade Guillermo Teillier, who died in 2023 while serving as president of the CCP.

Read too: Diversity marks the first day of the Fiesta de los Abrazos, in Chile

Brazil marked its participation in the party in a special event on Sunday aimed at strengthening ties between the Latin American left. The debate table “The challenges of integrating left-wing and progressive governments in Latin America” featured the Secretary of International Relations of the PCdoB, Ana Prestes, as well as other representatives of parties and movements from Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela . The situation of tension between political forces on the continent, with the rise of the extreme right and the need for integration and popular resistance was the main subject of the debate.

For Ana Prestes, more than the need for popular unity and greater dialogue between the region’s social bases, the moment calls for greater coordination between aligned governments. In an interview with Prensa Latina, she highlighted the communists’ current effort to strengthen President Lula’s work: “Our immediate objective is to support and work for the success of the Lula government, which suffered a coup attempt exactly a year ago, on 8 December. January 2023”.

Read too: Vermelho is in Chile for the biggest left party in the Americas

The leader also highlighted that the PCdoB currently occupies the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation with Comrade Luciana Santos as minister, who is also the national president of the PCdoB.

The PCdoB secretary praised the centrality of two themes in the Fiesta de los Abrazos program, the condemnation of the financial embargo that the United States still cowardly maintains against Cuba and the urgency in denouncing the genocide practiced by the Zionist state of Israel against the people Palestinian.

“Obviously, solidarity with the Palestinian people in the face of new Israeli aggressions that have already caused the death of almost 25 thousand people, most of them women and children,” he declared. The festival’s Sunday of activities also had conversation circles about women’s rights, the democratization of transport in Chile and the challenges of left-wing campaigns in times of innovation in forms of communication.

left

During the two days of this weekend, the Fiesta de los Abrazos showed why it has established itself with such strength – and for a long time – as the main cultural event of the left on the American continent. Created in 1988, still during the military dictatorship and in the spirit of resistance, the party was brutally repressed in its first edition.

Even so, the Communist Party of Chile and the different sectors of the population affected by the regime found the event the necessary space to come together, embrace each other and envision a new time beyond the closed clouds of authoritarianism. This is the spirit that can still be found, to this day, in the fraternization of different audiences, of different ages, who celebrate each year in the traditional Parque Bernardo O’Higgins, in the center of Santiago.

Read too: 2nd Red Festival will be in Salvador; check the dates

The activity ended with a speech by the National Deputy and President of the JJCC – Communist Youths of Chile – Daniela Serrano followed by two great cultural moments, the first a scenic celebration with the theme “Victor without Victor”, remembering one of the most iconic singers and Chilean composers arrested and brutally murdered at the National Stadium in the first days of the 1973 coup. At the beginning of dusk, the band Inti Illimani hugged those present and, together with the public, sang their most traditional songs, filling the park with hope for a Chile united towards the future.

For PCdoB, participation in the event was also a great learning experience for the formulation of the 2nd Red Festival that will take place on the 22nd and 23rd of March in the city of Salvador, Bahia, in which the participation of friendly parties from all over the world is expected. world. After its birth in 2022, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the PCdoB, the Red Festival is now growing and following its path to consolidate Brazil on the route of the main left-wing parties on the planet and join forces with the Fiesta de los Abrazos in the union of the popular forces of the Americas.