Editor’s Note: José Reinaldo Carvalho, director of research and cadre development at the Brazilian Center for Solidarity and Struggle for Peace (CEBRAPAZ) and Secretary of International Relations of the Communist Party of Brazil, (PCdoB) reflects on the current struggles for peace, equality and independence in the world today.  Carvalho participated in the recently concluded World Peace Conference in São Luís, Brazil and was interviewed by Lucivânia Nascimento dos Santos.

Addressing the significance of the conference Carvalho said, “The importance of an event like this resides in the following: we live in a world full of threats to peace, the rights of peoples, along with the national sovereignty of countries who struggle to assert their independence. This is a world of continuous aggression and local wars organized by imperialist powers. In such a world there is a risk of war’s generalization, of interventions of all kinds and coup d’états that take on the most varied forms – this is the environment of the world today.”

Carvalho said, “So, the moment  has arrived for the people to push for a breakthrough, a rupture – and when the bourgeoisie and imperialism realizes it, they use repressive methods, blows, interventions and wars. The World Peace Conference is important because it is a way to articulate an answer to these problems. It is a way, first, to defend the peace of peoples, peace with social justice, peace with social progress in contrast to imperialism’s war policies. At the same time, solidarity between peoples is defended, in contrast to the policies of intervention, precisely solidarity with the people attacked.

The movements gathered at the conference, according to Carvalho are making a global analysis  and will adopt plans of struggle and action, to organize in the   short, medium and long term, against imperialism, and  reactionary governments. Thus,  CEBRAPAZ and the World Peace Council are facing new challenges and increased responsibilities, because the conference gave them new duties. This of course, will play a very important role in articulating solidarity, struggle and the building up of the forces of resistance.

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