BOGOTÁ – The conference titled “Challenging Capitalism Until We Build a Democratic Society”, in which Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s “Democratic Nation and Democratic Confederalism” paradigm was discussed, started today in Bogota, the capital of Colombia.
Nearly 50 organizations from 15 countries (Cuba, Argentina, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, USA, Basque Country, Brazil, Venezuela and Kurdistan) attended the three-day conference held at Distrita University.
The organizers of the conference include the Colombian People’s Congress, the People’s Rights Movement MODEP, the Comunidad Processo Negra PCN (a group dealing with the rights of Black peoples), the Academy of Democratic Modernity, the Colombian Indigenous Peoples National Congress, the Jineology Research Center and the Women’s Weave the Future Network.
OPENING WITH THE INCA RITUAL
The opening ritual of the conference was performed by the Inca people of the Puta Mayo region on behalf of members of the Colombian National Congress of Indigenous Peoples. At the opening, which was performed with different instruments and rhythms according to the tradition of the indigenous peoples, the words “We are the sun, we are the mountains, we are the rivers, we are the children of the earth” were repeated with all the participants, both in the local language of the Inca people and in Spanish.
‘ANOTHER MODERNITY IS POSSIBLE’
After the opening ritual, a panel titled “Capitalism as a civilizational crisis” was held. The speakers of the panel were Professor Margara Milan from Mexico, Edgar Mojica from Colombia, Sara from Kurdistan from the Jineology Research Center and Ana Biker from El Salvador.
Margara Milan, who took the first word, stated that it is necessary to see that another modernity is possible and said, “There are already concrete alternatives that show us that another world is possible. In this context, we should define politics as an exciting way of knowing how we can live together.”
‘Peace also has to stand up to the people’
Edgar Mojica, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of cultural change in the transition to the building of democratic life in Colombia: “The struggle of the working class needs alliances with people both at home and internationally. A cultural change is important in the transition process. This depends on the participation and struggle of the people. Peace in our country must also depend on the people.”
‘POWER IS ALSO A WAY OF THINKING’
Sarah Marcha, Member of the Jineology Committee, focused on how capitalism and sexism affect mindsets and said: „What is power? It is not only institutions, but also a way of thinking. Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan analyzes the historical process and makes the metaphor of two rivers. These represent the process of civilization. We must see that there is also a river of democratic civilization that shapes our history and personality.”
The conference continues with the session titled “Capitalism and an alternative to the nation-state system”.
