(meal from 6pm).
Guest speaker: Federico Fuentes, co-author and socialist activist. A new work by Roger Burbach, Michael Fox and Federico Fuentes. Latin America was the first region targeted by the neoliberal phase of capitalism, and it suffered some of its worst consequences. But it is in Latin America that neoliberalism has been most contested in recent years by new social movements of landless peasants, indigenous communities and urban unemployed.
In a number of countries, this powerful democratic ferment has led to the election of anti-neoliberal, anti-imperialist governments, a process that started with the initial electoral victory of Hugo Chávez Frias in the late 1990s. The untimely death of the outstanding Venezuelan leader on March 5 prompted many to reflect on his government’s important achievements and the still unresolved challenges facing not only Venezuela but the whole of Latin America. What is the nature of these new governments of the so-called 'pink tide'? And what are the prospects for building a continental movement toward a libertarian mass-based democratic socialism of the 21st century, the goal that Chávez embraced and advocated in the international arena? Presented by Green Left Weekly & Socialist Alliance. For more info ph 9639 8622.