President of Cuban agriculturalists calls for continuity for the World Social Forum
PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL (PL).— This Wednesday Orlando Lugo Fontes, president of the Cuban National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) called for the retention in this city of the World Social Forum before the World Campesino Assembly.
In his message of thanks to the event, organized by the Via Campesina, which groups together agricultural and indigenous farmers from all over the world, Lugo Fontes spoke of the extreme poverty, hunger and disease suffered by a large percentage of the planet’s population.
He affirmed that the links should not be broken in the series of Social Forums held to date in this city, capital of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, and called for the meetings to retain their venue in this country, or at least in Latin America.
The Cuban agrarian leader stated that the continent is experiencing a complex and difficult period and the Social Forum is an important scenario for continuing discussions on problems negatively affecting our independence and development.
Lugo criticized the presence of the United States within the so-called Group of Friends of Venezuela, given that it is precisely the country where the fascist coup d’état against Hugo Chávez, the constitutional president, was cooked up.