Final Declaration: VII International Seminar For Peace And For The Abolition Of Foreign Military Bases

“A world of peace and social justice is necessary”

Guantánamo, May 4 – 5, 2022.

Delegates from 25 countries gathered in the province of Guantánamo, Cuba, from May 4 to 5, at the invitation of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and the World Peace Council, to celebrate the SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR FOR PEACE AND FOR THE ABOLITION OF FOREIGN MILITARY BASES.

The seminar was attended by 84 delegates and guests from Argentina, Germany, Barbados, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, United States, Spain, the Philippines, Greece, Guyana, Mexico, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Palestine, Syria, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela and Norway. Also in attendance were the main leaders of the World Peace Council (WPC) and its member organizations as well as personalities, fighters for peace, anti-war activists and friends in solidarity with Cuba.

This seminar took place amidst an ever more complex context, characterized by an increase in the aggressiveness and all kinds of interventionism by the US imperialism, the European Union and NATO in their efforts to impose extreme dictates, by resorting to a media warfare, thus unleashing armed conflicts with varying intensities in different parts of the world while increasing controversies and tensions.

To meet such nefarious purposes, foreign military bases and aggressive facilities of similar nature have been strengthened, for they are a fundamental component in this strategy, since they are instruments for direct and indirect interventions in the internal affairs of the countries where they are located as well as a permanent threat against neighboring nations.

The participants endorsed the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace approved by the Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States (CELAC) at its second Summit held in Havana in January, 2014.

Emphasis was made on the validity of the aforementioned Proclamation in   the light of the challenges that are lingering upon peace and political and social stability in the region.

Taking into account all of the above, this Seventh International Seminar calls on all peace-loving and progressive forces to multiply the actions and initiatives against imperialism and its warmongering and interventionist policies, which continue to seriously endanger the destiny and the future of all humanity.

Likewise, the fighters for peace, gathered in Guantánamo, committed to:

• Denounce the aggressive and interventionist policies of the current US administration and its NATO allies, which intend to dominate the world with the support of the current broad network of military bases, facilities and enclaves; as well as the risk posed by the incorporation of new members to that belligerent organization.
• Continue to advise all peoples of the world about the dangers of a global nuclear war of incalculable consequences for humanity and remain permanently mobilized.
• Strengthen the demand for the closure of all foreign military bases, facilities and enclaves and the immediate withdrawal of foreign occupation troops in those countries where they have been deployed, for they are an instrument of the hegemonic policy of imperialism and  the international financial capital.
• Call for actions and initiatives every year on or around February 23, marking the “International Day of Action against Foreign Military Bases” in all countries against these military facilities.
• Continue to demand the return of the territory illegally occupied by the US Guantánamo Naval Base to its legitimate owner.
• Call for the lifting of the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the government of the United States and strongly reject the full implementation of the Helms-Burton Act, whose purpose is to asphyxiate the heroic people of Cuba.
• Expand the dissemination of the content of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, given its relevance and validity in the Latin American and Caribbean political context.
• Strengthen the struggle against terrorism in all its forms and continue denouncing the link that exists between that scourge and imperialism.
• Multiply the actions of the international campaign for a world of peace, without nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and make such actions be felt at foreign military bases and facilities.
• Denounce the actions against the environment and the health of the populations where foreign military bases are located.
• Continue expressing the broadest solidarity with the countries and peoples under occupation and colonial domain in the Caribbean, South America, Africa and the Middle East; and where there is a foreign military presence, like in Puerto Rico, the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Syria, Palestine and Western Sahara.
• Denounce the current establishment of a new military base in the province of Neuquén in Argentina.
• Maintain and strengthen the denunciation of the interventionist actions of the US imperialism and the European Union as well as the counterrevolutionary oligarchy in Venezuela, aimed at stopping and destroying the Bolivarian Revolution, which is also a clear threat to peace in the region.
• Express our support to the people of the United States, which struggle for peace and reject the expansion of the military bases and  interventionist actions of that government.
• Denounce the imperialist actions against Nicaragua and strengthen solidarity with its people.
• Express solidarity with the people of Colombia and call for the implementation of the Peace Agreements, the respect for life and the observance of human rights.
• Express solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico, the indigenous populations and ethnic minorities in the United States in the light of the violations of their human rights by the US government.
• Increase denunciations of the threats of the use of nuclear weapons, which will only be conducive to a generalized war of global dimensions.
• Reject the disinformation campaigns launched from the United States and the European Union.
• Ratify that this new war in Europe reveals the destabilizing nature of NATO, whose aggressive presence must be confronted.  Human life should be respected and a solution should be found based on a constructive and respectful dialogue among the parties involved.

Instead of encouraging the use of force and continuing to send financial assistance that is worth millions, and state-of-the-art military equipment, all parties have the responsibility to contribute to find a solution in the interest of world peace, in accordance with International Law and the UN Charter.

We, the pacifist, progressive, anti-imperialist, antimilitarist and anti-interventionist organizations reiterate our condemnation of the interference in the internal affairs of nations, the imperial reordering of the planet under the designs of imperialism and NATO and the militarism that threatens the human species and places us at the threshold of a new world confrontation.

We likewise express our solidarity with the Cuban people, who continue to make a great effort to achieve a more just, prosperous, democratic and sustainable socialist society.  We also convey fraternal greetings and express our recognition to the people of Guantánamo and its authorities for the warm welcome and the facilities granted for the successful celebration of this event.

All participants agreed to disseminate and follow up on this Declaration, which should become a point of reference to continue strengthening the work in favor of peace and against foreign military bases.

Guantánamo, Cuba, May 5, 2022

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