III Congreso Nacional del Movimiento Social Afrovenezolano

The 3rd National Congress of the Afro-Venezuelan Social Movement comes to an end

Caracas, February 26, 2023 (Mincomunas Press) – For three consecutive days, the III National Congress of the Afro-Venezuelan Social Movement took place at the Venezuelan School of Planning in La Rinconada, Caracas and concluded this Sunday with a tribute to Professor Aristobulo Isturiz and Norma Romero, a historical fighter of the Afro Movement in Venezuela. The Congress reaffirmed the objective to promote the thought of this collective and its communal organization.

There were several topics related to the political philosophies around Afro-Venezuelan thought. The occasion was propitious for the swearing-in of the Afro-Venezuelan National Cumbe, Maria Isabel Blanco Sifontes, president of the National Council for the Development of the Afro-descendant Communities of Venezuela (Conadecafro), and National Secretary of the Afro-descendant Social Movement, expressed that it has been a process that began on May 10 of last year.

“On that occasion, we had a meeting involving 14 states of the country, where we developed four objectives. However, we declared ourselves in a permanent session to improve the common agenda of the Maroon method. Today, we developed a plenary where we approved each of the work Cumbes that conform to the new organizational structure of the National Afro-Venezuelan Movement in 18 states of the national territory.”

The Secretary of the Afrodescendant Social Movement indicated that it has a conscious, disciplined, and articulated work team of more than 150 organizations that will consolidate the Movement as a visible actor in the national dynamics. “Besides, we will be able to organize and articulate at all levels of government and be linked to the international dynamics that are also part of the organization that we have currently reshaped, as our major maroon Aristóbulo Istúriz used to say.”

Finally, he informed that in May, they would deploy throughout the country to finish structuring the spokespersons of these nine Cumbes approved to dominate the social space and defend the flags and the nation.

On his part, the Minister of Communes and Social Movements, Jorge Arreaza, pointed out that “today we are declaring the Cumbe, and this is an immense advance, and we are now working together because the great national Cumbe must base on the Communal Cumbes and we will be aggregating in a great national Cumbe with the characteristics of the Afro people (…), with work as a value as the Eternal Commander said”.

The Minister of Communes urged us to strengthen our model of work. “We must discuss how we will constructively add artificial intelligence to our work model; this debate we have to give. In the Cumbe Comunal, we must raise three elements to reaffirm life, viality, and consensus, a decision-making method. You must design the method to transform the institution. That is our challenge with participative democracy for a society of equals”.

Afterward, the People’s Power Minister for Women and Gender Equality, Diva Guzman, stated the commitment of Afro women in the Revolution, “we managed to register more than 18 thousand Feminist Councils, which shows the 180 thousand women who join the constructive force by actively mobilizing (…), we must build new cultural changes and the Afro sector is key to achieve this”.

Likewise, the governor of Miranda, Hector Rodriguez, underlined the importance of having responsibility in accompanying the Afro-Venezuelan Social Movement. “I am a militant of this Movement, and to speak of Afro is to know that according to the INE is to speak of 54% of the population that recognizes itself as Afro-descendant”.

Meanwhile, the Vice Minister of Communes and Social Movements, Fernando Rodriguez, highlighted that “this closing leaves us the balance of the constitution of the Movement or popular organization Cumbe Nacional, this lets us see the intention of the Movement to continue strengthening its base organizations and its diversity in the territory (…) From the Ministry of Communes, we will continue building the popular base organizations, the participative and protagonist democracy that Commander Hugo Chavez left us.”

In this sense, the National Coordinator of the Afro-descendant Movement, Casimira Monasterio, expressed her participation with a proclamation in the National Cumbe, “as a grassroots structure in the territory where 8 Committees formed in the future, and we will undertake a new era of transition to socialism reaffirming our sense of belonging to our Afro-Venezuelanity and to fight racism and endo-racism”.

Deputies of the National Assembly Roraima Gutierrez and Guañieri Guzman were also present at the closure. Both committed themselves with a collective oath to continue building this force to fulfill as Maroons with revolutionary ethics to be an example for the country and the relations of the countries of the South.

In his speech, Guañieri Guzman reflected on how the Maroon has the virtue of regrouping, organizing, updating, recomposing, and strengthening itself to move forward. “It has been our turn to resist, be reborn, insurgence, and revolutionize for more than 500 years. The Cumbe’s the first space liberated in America after the arrival of the European invaders. Today, amid the threat that looms in the Bolivarian homeland, the Venezuelan people organized in the National Afro-descendant Movement puts its grain of sand from its historical experience to defend the homeland, democracy, and peace based on equality, equity, and justice”, he added.

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