The WMW Americas in Honduras: for the first face-to-face experience of IFOS
Together with The Continental Day for Democracy and Against Neoliberalism, around 100 militants from the Americas gather for a week of popular feminist training.
On October 7th, the Berta Cáceres International Feminist Organising School began in Honduras, which has been led by the organizations that make up the Continental Day for Democracy and Against Neoliberalism and GGJ – Global Popular Alliance for Justice.
In this training, for the first time in person, the experience of the school is articulated together with the Continental Day Against Neoliberalism for Democracy.
An achievement for the WMW Americas that in its last regional meeting in October 2022, discussed the challenges and possibilities of following the training processes from IFOS and the need to do so together with the processes of strengthening alliances.
Camila Guerreros from the Cuban Chapter of the WMW and the team from the Martin Luther King Memorial Center recovers some issues debated from our experience as WMW, such as our criticism of the systems of oppression in the capital/life relationship, the political proposals from the feminist economy, that puts the sustainability of life at the center, and our popular feminism as a bet for the strengthening and articulation of the feminist movement, women’s organizations and sexual and gender dissidence.
Until August 11th, we have been dealing with topics ranging from the struggles, resistances and commitments of our movements, the recovery of our trajectories of struggles and resistances through a historical rope, reflections on the construction of a plural political subject; identification of systems of oppression and their effects; our views on the dimensions of bodies and sexualities, land and nature, state and democracy; and our political proposals of rebellion from the different organizations and how they are also articulated and complemented.
Also a strong moment in memory of Bertha that will contribute to inspire our utopias through a special offering in the COPINH territory on the last day of the training.
Around 100 militants from popular movements and organizations in the Americas will meet this week in this space for the formation, elaboration, and construction of alliances in our popular and feminist field. The World March of Women of the Americas is represented by members of 11 NCBs: Cuba, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
The participants are among WMW delegates, members of work commissions as well as colleagues who are representing other allied organizations but who also identify themselves as World March of Women.
For Libertad González of the WMW El Salvador, she shares her experience: “As a member of the WMW it is my first experience in a face-to-face school, for which the international school of the feminist organization Berta Cáceres is very valuable to me, due to the wealth of knowledge that is giving us; but also for giving us the opportunity to meet different colleagues with different cultures and that is where we realize that we all have a common goal to overthrow the patriarchal system and that is the importance of this school because it is allowing us to create a strategic and political line for our actions, articulated from our trenches as the national coordination of El Salvador and thus contribute to more women getting out of the system of oppression”.
Feminist and popular training to transform the world
The process of the feminist political formation of the School began to develop in 2018 and for the women of the Americas, Berta Cáceres and her struggle have had an impact on our lives, we knew Berta in the emancipatory paradigms in Cuba, a companion and for both a very big link in the struggles, as a person and as a popular feminist.
Sandra Morán, the international coordinator of the International School for the Berta Cáceres IFOS Feminist Organization, comments that Berta’s political thought “calls us to alliances that calls us to that comprehensive view that she had of patriarchy, of capitalism, the struggles of communities and towns. For us, the political exercise of recovering the political thought of our compañeras is important, learning from it, following it up, and that implies putting historical memory into practice.”
Also from the Cuban Chapter of the WMW, Marilys Zayas, shares that “one of the most important achievements was meeting, in the first edition, women from all over the world met online to talk, reflect, learn and exchange about our political subjects and organize struggles and resistance; now with this experience it will also allow us in principle to support the school in Cuba and the Caribbean, with this, the fundamental idea for us is to multiply the learning and tools.
The organizations present in the school are GGJ – Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Plataforma 25 Noviembre and Popular Power of Honduras, World March of Women (WMW) the Americas, Friends of the Earth – ATALC, Jubilee South of the Americas, Latin American Coordinator of Rural Organizations (CLOC) – La Vía Campesina, Cuban Chapter of Social Movements, MAR – Movement of those affected by Dams, Alba Movimientos, Union Confederation of Workers of the Americas (CSA) and PIT – CNT, Inter-Union Plenary of Workers – National Convention of Uruguayan Workers.
The Capire portal has produced a series of content on previous IFOS experiences, which can be read here. (https://capiremov.org/es/?s=IFOS)
We will continue to build feminist strength to transform the world!