Pictured: Alfredo Patallas opens the conference.

AFTER A YEAR of activism and preparation, over 100 people joined the founding conference of the Anti Fascist International’s British Chapter at the Bolivar Hall in central London last Saturday.

The Anti Fascist International was launched at a conference in Caracas in November 2024 that was attended by 1,100 delegates from 76 countries. The conference issued the Antifascist Statement of Caracas – For a New World which included a call for “a peaceful solution to the war instigated by the expansionist and warlike machinery of NATO in Ukraine, against the Russian Federation,” and appealed to “all humanist and progressive forces in the world to unite all efforts to preserve the strategic security of all nations and avoid a nuclear conflagration”.

Opening the conference this call was taken up by Alfredo Patallo of the British Chapter who said “the British Chapter of the Anti Fascist International is working together with British parties, and in solidarity with Venezuela after the abduction of Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores, to bring pressure on the Labour Party over issues of importance to the Latin American community in Britain. The British Chapter also actively supports the people of Cuba, Palestine and Iran”.

Miriam Palacios, representing P12O (Platform 12 October, marking the date of Columbus’ landing in 1492), said that the Cuban revolution had managed to survive decades of sanctions because “the experience of our Cuban mentality is the backbone of our resistance against imperialism. We know their trickery and their lies, we’ve been experiencing them since 1898. What is needed is one big push by people all over the world to end imperialism and wars once and for all”.

Daniel O’Brien from the CPGB-ML pointed out that Cuba had trained more than 37,000 health professionals from 147 countries free of charge since 1960, including 250 Palestinians.

Professor David Miller spoke about winning his appeal against dismissal by the University of Bristol for alleged antisemitism in 2021, saying he had fought to spread anti-Zionist consciousness throughout Britain, including awareness of Israeli aggression against Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Iran, and its attempts to replace pro-Palestinian governments with pro-Israeli regimes in Latin America, Europe and around the world.

Part of the work of the AFI British Chapter is campaigning against NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine aimed against the Russian Federation – highlighted by Theo Russell, who spoke on behalf of the New Communist Party and the International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity campaign. Theo welcomed the fact that a large Donetsk People’s Republic flag was among the banners on display. He spoke about the war being waged by Britain against Russia which was killing Russian civilians, while the war lobby in Britain claimed that Russia was waging war against Britain and called for welfare cuts to fund more military spending.

The conference consisted of three sessions: on Latin America, the attack on political freedoms and the imperialist drive to war, with other speakers from the Consistent Democrats, the Workers Party, the RCG, the Islamic Human Rights Commission and the SOAS2 campaign.

by New Worker correspondent