8th International Seminar for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases

Intervention of Miguel Figueroa, Canadian Peace Congress

Guantanamo,  Cuba – May 4‐5, 2024

Good Morning, comrades,

On behalf of the Canadian Peace Congress, I’m pleased to bring solidarity greetings to all delegates & participating organizations here today, and to convey our great thanks to ICAP and the World Peace Council for convening this important seminar. 

With respect to the murderous, genocidal onslaught of Zionist Israel on the Palestinian people, especially over the past 7 months, we would like to note the following: there is no question that, despite the positions of the Trudeau government and the dominant narrative of the mainstream media, the majority of Canadians are now in support of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza; marches, occupations, and blockades of defence plants producing weapons for Israel are now happening across the country; encampments are also spreading – at McGill University, Univ. of Ottawa, Western, Univ. of BC, U of Toronto and several other campuses; demands for an end to the genocide, an end to the Occupation, and for full  recognition of the national rights of the Palestinian people to self determination and a viable, independent state are now gaining support virtually everywhere, despite efforts to silence and suppress dissent. Ottawa’s pro‐Israeli stance is increasingly discredited amongst the people. 

Similarly, opinion polls show that popular support for NATO’s proxy war on the Russian Federation in Ukraine, and Canada’s substantial financial and military support for the fascist Kiev regime is also in dramatic decline. 

An embarrassing scene took place last September, when Trudeau, Zelensky and the entire Canadian parliament gave a standing ovation to a veteran of the Ukrainian Waffen SS division of the Nazi war machine during WWII. This unit was responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Jews and Roma peoples during the German occupation.  The shameful incident has helped to open the eyes of Canadians as to who exactly Canada is really supporting in this conflict, and why. The US/NATO proxy war in Ukraine must end now, with an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated settlement, requiring that Ukraine become a neutral, demilitarized state, and that the security concerns of all states in the region be guaranteed now and into the future.   

Canadians are also increasingly questioning Ottawa’s active involvement in Washington’s Pivot to Asia in an attempt to encircle and weaken China and even provoke war with the People’s Republic. 

After the two‐year detention of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou, and after a unanimous Parliamentary vote falsely condemning China’s “genocide” of the Uyghur people, many Canadians were further alarmed to learn that one of our navy frigates, HMCS Ottawa, had sailed through the Strait of Taiwan – more than 9,000 kms. from its home port in Halifax, Nova Scotia – supposedly in defence of ‘freedom of navigation’. More and more people want no part in this new War on China –  neither a hot nor a cold one. 

And perhaps most of all, people are furious at the staggering cost of military spending. The arms budget currently before Parliament will increase by more than 50% over the next few years, to $58 Billion. And this, to say nothing of the procurement of a new fleet of 88 F‐35 fighter jets and 15 new surface warships, the combined price tag of which is conservatively estimated to exceed $300 Billion. 

At a time when the real incomes of the working class are declining while corporate profits soar; when the country faces an unprecedented housing crisis; and when funding is so desperately needed for health, education, for vital services for indigenous peoples, and for urgent action to address climate change – to pour precious resources into the spiraling arms race is inexplicable, and unforgivable!  

Central to all of this is the growing demand that Canada get out NATO and NORAD  Now! In the run‐up to the Washington Summit in July, dismantling the NATO War Machine must become the rallying cry for peace forces around the world, not least within the NATO countries themselves. Yes to Peace – NO to NATO! 

Regarding Haiti, the peace and solidarity movements must do everything possible to prevent a fresh round of foreign intervention. Make no mistake – regardless of which national states serve as ‘front men’ for such an operation, it will be an imperialist‐ directed aggression, serving imperialist interests in Haiti and the Caribbean as a whole. Canada played a pivotal role in the coup d’état 20 years ago which removed the democratically‐elected government of Jean‐Bertrand Aristide. Another “intervention” will only deepen the suffering and subjugation of the Haitian people. Hands Off Haiti! 

The peace forces must also step up our solidarity with the people of Sudan. Although presented in the Western corporate media as an internecine struggle between rival factions of the military, it is really a war against the democratic and progressive forces in the country, not least the Sudanese Communist Party. Already, tens of thousands have perished since 2023 alone, and over 6 million have been internally displaced. The blood of the Sudanese people is not only on the hands of the murderous thugs directly perpetrating this crime, but also on other reactionary states in the region and the US and other imperialist powers who are acting in collusion to carry out this atrocity.

Finally, we stand in full solidarity with the heroic people of Cuba and their government to end the US blockade, to remove Cuba from the US list of state  sponsors of terrorism, and for the occupied territories of Guantanamo to be  returned to their rightful owners, the Cuban people. Hasta la Victoria Siempre!  

For peace and disarmament, for equality, sovereignty and respect for international law, for anti‐imperialist unity and struggle, for socialism – VENCERAMOS! 

Thank you.