The General Council of the World Federation of Democratic Youth met this weekend in Lisbon, Portugal to decide, among other things, the location of the next World Festival of Youth and Students. After nearly a year of consultations with each organization that bid to host the Festival, the Coordinating Committee found Belarus to have the necessary infrastructure and political climate to host it in 2009.
Belarus was a part of the former Soviet Union, bordering Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic States. It has a population of approximately 10 million, and considers itself a democratic social state. Belarus recently made the news in the United States after president Bush noted the country along with North Korea and Iran as in need of “democratizing”.
WFDY organizations expressed enthusiasm about the festival returning to Europe, and in particular Eastern Europe where the struggles against imperialism continue despite popular US myth that struggles for socialism ended after the fall of the Soviet Union.
WFDY president Miguel Madiera noted, “We are very enthusiastic about this festival occurring in Europe. I think it will display the opposition of youth to the imperialist policies of the European Union.”
Now that the location is decided, WFDY officials will plan the first meeting of the International Preparatory Committee meeting in the first half of this year in Venezuela. The first IPC is traditionally held in the country that hosted the previous festival. Preparations to host the first US National Preparatory Committee meeting are also underway in order to get a jumpstart on mobilizing American youth. The US delegation to the 2005 festival in Venezuela consisted of over 700 youth.
“It’s going to be a challenge to mobilize as many youth as we did in Venezuela,” said Erica Smiley who represented the Young Communist League-USA at the WFDY meeting this weekend. “But it will be worth the effort to expose young people of the US to current struggles of youth in Eastern Europe in addition to being a part of the historic festival
movement.” The YCL hopes to mobilize a wide representation of youth and student organizations to join the US NPC.
This upcoming festival will be a continuation of a proud movement of world youth festivals that spans over 60 years.
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