An Information Service of the Cuba Transition Project Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies University of Miami

 

Staff Report, Cuba Transition Project and "Leftists Open Havana Meeting," The Orlando Sentinel, December 5, 2001

The Foro de Sao Paulo is a broad coalition of radical leftist and anti-American organizations brought together for the first time by Fidel Castro and "Lula" da Silva in Sao Paulo, Brazil in July 1990. The Foro seeks to implement a common strategy to oppose U.S. interests and coordinate with like-minded groups worldwide.

The last meeting of the Foro took place in Havana on December 5-8, 2001. Fidel Castro joined with 400 delegates in the four-day meeting against U.S. and capitalist influence around the world.

In addition to Castro, other prominent attendees included Brazilian presidential candidate Luis Inacio "Lula" da Silva and former Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega.

The member organizations of the Foro include several that are on the U.S. State Department's list of active terrorist groups, including the Colombian FARC and ELN; the Peruvian MRTA; and the Chilean MIR. In addition to such hemispheric groups, the Cuban Communist Party's official newspaper, Granma, reported the attendance in Havana of Zuhair Dhaif, the Iraqi Baathist Party's Latin American division head, and of an unnamed Libyan representative.

Below is the Foro de Sao Paulo's list of member organizations by country as it appears on the coalition's official web site (www.forosaopaulo.org):

Argentina: Frente Democracia Avanzada

Argentina: Partido Comunista Argentino

Argentina: Partido Intransigente

Brasil: Partido dos Trabalhadores

Brasil: Partido Socialista Brasileiro

Brasil: Partido Comunista do Brasil

Brasil: Movimento Revolucionario 8 de Outubro

Brasil: Partido Popular Socialista

Colombia: Alianza Democratica M19

Colombia: ELN

Colombia: FARC-EP

Colombia: Partido Comunista Colombiano

Colombia: Presentes por el Socialismo

Cuba: Partido Comunista de Cuba

Chile: MIR

Chile: Partido Comunista de Chile

Ecuador: Movimiento Popular Democratico

Ecuador: Partido Socialista - Frente Amplio

El Salvador: FMLN

Guatemala: URNG

Mexico: Partido de la Revolucion Democratica (PRD)

Mexico: Partido del Trabajo

Nicaragua: FSLN

Puerto Rico: Partido Independentista Puertorriqueno

Puerto Rico: Nuevo Movimiento Independentista Puertorriqueno

Puerto Rico: Frente Socialista

Panama: Partido Revolucionario Democratico

Peru: Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA)

Peru: Partido Comunista Peruano

Republica Dominicana: Alianza por la Democracia

Republica Dominicana: Fuerza de la Revolucion

Republica Dominicana: Movimiento Izquierda Unida

Republica Dominicana: Partido de los Trabajadores Dominicanos

Uruguay: Frente Amplio

Uruguay: Partido Comunista

Uruguay: Partido Socialista de Uruguay

Uruguay: Movimiento de Participacion Popular

Uruguay: Partido Obrero Revolucionario Trotskista-Posadista

Venezuela: Partido Comunista de Venezuela