Participants from the United States included Bill de Blasio, former Mayor of New York City; Roxanna Valenzuela, Mayor of Tucson, Arizona; and a delegation from the Democratic Socialists of America. Europe was represented by Clémence Guetté, Vice President of the French National Assembly; Spanish deputy Gerardo Pisarello; UK Member of Parliament Zarah Sultana; and Walter Baier, President of the Party of the European Left. At a crucial moment of escalating global geopolitical tensions, the gathering in Bogotá highlighted the growing importance of international cooperation among progressive forces. In this context, the active participation of the European Left underlined the political weight of the initiative. Below, we publish the full speech delivered by Walter Baier during the Nuestra América convening.

Over two days of closed deliberations and public assemblies, ministers, parliamentarians, diplomats, trade unionists, and movement leaders from across the Americas — joined by allies from beyond the region — forged a shared diagnosis of the current crisis and outlined a common strategy to confront it. The San Carlos Declaration affirms a central principle: the future of the Americas must be decided by its peoples — and defended together.

A delegation of representatives was also received by President Gustavo Petro, who arrived in Washington on 3 February for negotiations with U.S. President Trump.

The declaration adopted by Nuestra América concludes with a clear commitment to action. To strengthen Nuestra América participants pledged to:

1. Sustain a living process of coordination among governments, movements, political forces, trade unions, and peoples, deepening dialogue through convenings, shared initiatives, and permanent channels of cooperation, with the aim of advancing toward a citizenship of the Americas grounded in guaranteed rights.
2. Expand alliances with international resistance movements and foster dialogue with peoples of the Global North, challenging complicity with aggression, opposing profiteering from coercion and war, and promoting adherence to international law and peaceful coexistence.
3. Convene the next Nuestra América in Havana, Cuba, calling on peoples around the world to stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and their enduring struggle to defend sovereignty and self-determination against U.S. designs and threats.

The full text of the San Carlos Declaration and the complete list of participants are available on the Progressive International website:

The San Carlos Declaration | Progressive International

President of the Party of the European Left Party President Walter Baier remarks:

Dear comrades,

This is one of the most important international meetings I have attended in recent years. I want to thank the Progressive International for taking the initiative to bring us together at this decisive moment. The moment is dramatic. More than ten years ago, the late Pope Francis warned of a state of the world that he described as a “world war fought in installments.”

Donald Trump’s assault on Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro are not isolated events. They are part of a chain of ruthless contempt—for the right of peoples to self-determination and for international law itself.

Colombia is in the crosshairs. Mexico. Brazil. Above all, Cuba—an island that has been a thorn in the side of the empire for decades. What is new is not the aggression. Aggression has always been a characteristic of U.S. foreign policy. What is new is its openness. Trump does not even bother to disguise imperial violence with the rhetoric of human rights and democracy, as his predecessors did.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. This is not literature from the twentieth century. This is the imperialism of the twenty-first century.

The so-called Peace Council with Netanyahu, Erdoğan, and Milei, which aims to undermine and ultimately destroy the United Nations, is just another example. And we understand clearly: the attack on Venezuela is not only an attack on Venezuela.

Many people make fun of Donald Trump—his ignorance, his narcissism, his vulgarity. But we must not underestimate the danger. The new aggressiveness of the empire cannot be explained by the pathological character of one man alone. We are at a turning point in imperialist strategy. One aspect of this shift is the defensive position in which U.S. imperialism finds itself—economically and geopolitically. And like all empires in decline, it seeks a way out through violence. But the empire has also changed from within.

The billionaires of the digital economy—the owners of Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla—have multiplied their fortunes in recent years. By their very nature, these forms of capital strive for expansion, control over technologies, resources, and sea routes. Ultimately, this means a drive for global domination—no less than Trump himself.

This means that the aggressive turn in U.S. politics is not a temporary phenomenon. If it is not defeated it is here to stay.

Latin America is today at the center of confrontation,

Latin America is today at the center of confrontation, as its peoples resist the new Monroe Doctrine in the most organized, politicized, and articulated way.

But the battlefield is global. Gaza. Iran. Sudan. Yemen. The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Syria. All of these aggressions were quietly accepted by European leaders. But Europe, too, is now in the firing line.

That is why the shock among European leaders over Trump’s move on Greenland was so great. It exposed the deep crisis of Europe. First, a security crisis—because European security policy rests on NATO and on the presence of U.S. nuclear weapons. Second, an economic crisis—as Europe’s dependence on U.S. liquefied natural gas, digital technologies, and financial services suddenly became apparent. And third, a political crisis—because Trump’s attempt to weaken and divide the European Union relies on the radical right, which is advancing across the continent: part of governing coalitions in one third of EU member states and leading governments in five.

The rise of the radical right did not come out of nowhere. Decades of austerity policies have hollowed out welfare states and undermined people’s trust in political institutions. This is the political challenge we face.

In April, the Party of the European Left will hold its eighth Congress. And we want to rise to the challenge. We will place the struggle for peace and for self-determination at the very center of our work. We understand the global character of the attack on peace and on the sovereignty of peoples. And therefore, the response of the Left must be global as well.

It is now clear that Trump’s aggressive turn has once more increased the threat of a world war. The struggle for peace, against colonialism, and against the radical right therefore forms a single struggle. These fights are inseparably linked.

We want to send two clear messages: 1. Struggle can be won. Times of upheaval are also times of possibility. The great social struggles of the working class—in France, in Greece, in Portugal, in Belgium—prove this. 2. The condition for victory is unity. We must not lose ourselves in petty political games.

Too much is at stake. We need the international unity of left and socialist forces, of trade unions and social movements. That is why we are here. And that is what the Party of the European Left is committed to help building—actively, decisively, and in solidarity.

Thank you.