25th youth camp of Fourth International

An international meeting of militants coming from 20 European countries,
more or less, and from even farer, and a self-organized camp in which
everybody can equally help and participate, is an experience that nobody
can imagine if he/she hasn’t been a part of it. A variety of
conversations and exchange of experiences on subjects that deal with
revolutionary left nowadays and the recent social movements, as well as
theoretical discussions, took place along with other activities that had
to do not only with the function and security of the place, but also with
the fun and relax of its participants.

600 young men and women, members or sympathizers of the sections of the
F.I. were met at Besalu of Catalunia, from the 26th of July until the 1st
of August and co-organized a rich and multi-thematic international meeting
with more than 90 organized conversations. There have been delegations from
Italy, France, the Spanish State, Portugal, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands,
Great Britain, Scotch land, Sweden, Belgium, Switcher land, Mexico,
Philippines, Morocco, Argentina, and Venezuela. It was one of the most
massive camps of the last years, while the 45% of the comrades who
participated came for the first time and the 70% of the comrades were
below 25 years old.

The political function of the camp was based on a series of thematical
workshops, reunions, permanent workshops, educational seminars, central
conversations and delegation meetings. At the same time, the women space
in the camp is a form of self-organization of women, which goal is to
reject the common and dominant model of “men public space”, as well as
the reinforcement of the self-confidence of all female comrades’, so that
they take on duties that are usually thought to be for “men” even
inside the revolutionary left. Also, the LGBT space, open to everybody,
not only offers the opportunity to it’s coordinators to freely express
themselves and talk about the special problems they face in every aspect
of their lives and about the ways of action, but also encourages everybody
to reconsider terms such as “normal” or not, and reject the norms and
identities.

The subjects that occupied the conversations were imperialism and ecology,
international solidarity, feminism, the movement about the liberation of
the LGBT, the struggles of the youth (students and new workers movements),
social movements and the issue of strategy of how to change the world. Each
theme occupied a whole day full of conversations, experience and opinion
exchange, as well as events that gathered all the participants of the camp
(morning forums, educational, evening rallys). A few of the most
interesting conversations were the discussion about Palestine, the
discussion about prostitution, the information about the movement for free
abortion in the Spanish state, the movement of residence in France, the
coordination of the student movements against Bologna process and the
struggle of the Catalonian comrades against precarity. Also, the situation
in Philippines, were our comrades are in an every day fight against
imperialism and local dictatorship, the situation in Mexico and in
Venezuela. Of course, we found special interest in the conversations and
the processes that have begun with the meeting of the European
anticapitalist left in Paris last May. The experiences from recomposition
processes and the conclusions that we extract from them were widely
discussed. The comrades from Italy presented the political situation in
their country after the integration of Rifondazzione and the creation of
Sinistra Critica, while the comrades from Portugal and Denmark described
the situation at the recomposition structures in their countries.
Meanwhile, we dedicated plenty of time to the initiative of LCR about the
New Anticapitalist Party, about the way that it is structured, the people
that participate at the local committees, the conversations that take
place inside that, about its relationship with the other left
organizations and the path until its formal foundation.

We also had the chance to meet – as Greek delegation – almost all
foreign delegations that participated in the camp, as this is one of the
most important and unique opportunities that this international meeting
offers. Through these meetings of direct dialogue and in combination with
the issues that occupied the 25th camp, we were informed on the political
situation of the left in every country. Some of the most important
interdelegation meetings were the ones from the comrades from Venezuela,
Mexico, Morocco and Philippines, while through the meetings with the
delegations of France, Italy, Denmark, Germany etc we could form a better
opinion about the European anticapitalist left and discuss about the
strategy of the anticapitalist recomposition and the processes of the New
Anticapitalist Party in France. We also met comrades from Portugal, Great
Britain and Scotch Land, from all regions of the Spanish State, and
separately with the ones from the Basque Country.

Every day during the camp there were permanent workshops that had to do
with the student movement against Bologna process, ecology and climate
change, the condition in Latin America, the immigration and the antiracist
movement, the young workers and their syndicates as well as about
precarity. These conversations ended with concrete conclusions and actions
either for the constant communication between us and for the coordination
of our struggles, or for actions of solidarity, such as in the case of
Latin America.

In conclusion, apart from the anniversary of the 25 years of the camp of
the 4th International youth, the organizer of this camp – the Fourth
International – was honored, as we celebrate the 70 years since its
foundation. The workshop about the 70 years of the F.I., about its history
and its role in the international revolutionary movements and struggles, as
well as about the necessity of the international coordination of
resistances, was the one with the biggest participation.

There is no doubt that the International Revolutionary Youth Camp has been
a unique chance of becoming a real political school on the base of direct
meetings and conversations with militants that are actually in the
forefront of the political situation in their countries. The political
importance of the French section of the F.I., of LCR, not only in France
but also in the European left, the protagonist participation of our forces
in successful compositions of the anticapitalist left in Denmark, Portugal,
the Spanish State, the significant role of the Italian comrades in social
movements and the participation of our forces in the new social movements
such as these of ecology in Belgium and G. Britain and these of the women
and LGBT liberation in Portugal, Denmark and Italy, prove the importance
and the high political influence of the sections of the F.I. on the social
movements in Europe. But also outside Europe, in Southeastern Asia, Middle
Asia, Africa, Latin America, the sections of the International interfere
and get involved in the social progresses and the revolutionary
experiences of our times.

Everybody agrees the fact that all comrades of the Fourth International
are satisfied by this 25th international meeting and there is a common
conclusion. That an anticapitalist left – obviously not only of the F.I.
– that in almost all countries builds and takes part in the movements
that arise, has the ability to raise its voice and become even more
visible and dangerous. So, refreshing the “date” of this camp with the
rest of the comrades of the Fourth International we wish and we will try so
that the next year’s camp will have even more movements and experiences
to exchange, even more lessons to learn and a stronger anticapitalist left
that will fight and finally win…