“A new constitution will lay the foundations for a massive youth-led movement against neoliberalism in Chile,” said Daniela Serrano, a Chilean communist youth representative on the eve of the 47th anniversary of the overthrow of Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity Government. “We have come so far, but still have so far to go.”

On August 29, the Young Communists of Chile (JJCC) celebrated their 88th anniversary on the 50th anniversary of the victory of the Popular Front coalition in Chile. The Communist Party of Chile played a historical role in the Salvador Allende–led Popular Unity coalition, which was elected in 1970 before being overthrown in the U.S.-backed fascist coup in 1973. The Chilean Communist Party played a leading role in the resistance to the almost 30-year-long dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Earlier this June, the Portuguese Communist Youth (JCP) called on communist and progressive youth organizations to take action against racist police tactics and the murder of George Floyd. Various communist youth leagues answered the call, and a few gathered by invitation of the Chilean JJCC on Zoom in August. These organizations included the Young Communists of the U.S., Brazil (UJS), Uruguay (UJC), Argentina (FJC), and Colombia (JUCO). The conversation took place in light of the recent Portuguese Communist Youth’s call for an international effort by progressive and communist youth groups to unite and fight against the extreme right. From racist policing and Trump’s neo-fascist agenda in the U.S. to Bolsonaro’s dismantling of Lula-era progressive policies, the youth of the world have a long fight ahead of them.

Some communist youth groups present at the meeting expressed their excitement for finally being on the “offensive” in the class and democratic struggles. The Argentinian Communists happen to be in the governing coalition with other leftist and progressive forces ever since their electoral win last October. On the other hand, the communist youth groups representing Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile analyzed their defensive role in the struggle against Trump-like right-wing leaders in their respective countries.

Youth throughout the Americas are suffering now more than ever in light of the pandemic, economic crisis, and brutal police tactics upheld by extreme-right governments. The youth across the American continent are going to college (and often graduate with thousands of dollars in debt in the case of U.S. youth) and find it difficult to find a job in the middle of this ongoing pandemic and capitalist crisis. Young workers and students alike struggle to pay rent and make ends meet.

Where do we go from here? How are our struggles similar? Where are our points of unity around which we can expand our organization’s reach and bring others into movement? These were the questions which were debated and will continue to be examined as time goes on. The short-term solution that the collective agreed on was to continue meeting as a group to regularly discuss our struggles and to develop plans of actions which could be enacted through the World Federation of Democratic Youth.

From organizing around electoral campaigns to building Marxist reading clubs on college campuses and from demanding a new constitution in Chile to defunding the police in the U.S., communist youth groups across the American continent continue to stand firm in the struggle for democracy and socialism. Only through unity can we defeat monopoly capitalism-imperialism across the globe.

Sara Ladino, the Young Communist USA representative present at the meeting, stated, “Here we are building a young communist organization and movement built on mass unity. This is a unity that often is not seen on the left or in mass social movements. The unity we work on is built around issues which affect all of us. That is our job.”

The Spanish-language recording of the meeting is available here.

Image: Juventudes Comunistas de Chile (JJCC) Facebook.

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