Real hope and change across the Atlantic

Over 400 delegates packed London's Conway Hall at the weekend for the seventh annual Latin America conference.

Progressive governments across the continent are leading the way in challenging the neoliberal hegemony imposed on the world by the United States.

But the threat of US imperialism remains a real and present danger to these countries. No-one attending the conference was left in any doubt that Latin America needs our support and solidarity more than ever.

TUC general secretary designate Frances O'Grady gave the international speakers a warm welcome, noting that the huge social and economic achievements of Latin America provide valuable lessons for austerity Britain.

She told of her pride at having spoken alongside Aleida Guevara, daughter of Che, at a vigil for the Miami Five outside the US embassy, pointing out that Cuba still defies US might and economic pressure to put its people first.

And she saluted the "spectacular re-election of Hugo Chavez."

With 55 per cent of the vote in an 81 per cent turnout, Chavez has a legitimacy our politicians can only fantasise about.

Yet as Jacobo Torres of the Venezuelan Socialist Party's executive lamented his country is routinely slandered as a dictatorship.

Quite something for a nation which has held 14 elections in 13 years - Torres remarked wryly that Venezuela deserves a place in the Guiness Book of Records.

"We're building a participatory democracy," he stressed. "It is not the democratisation of poverty as they claim but the real transfer of power to the people."

But the continent isn't all a success story. Aidee Moreno, a delegate from the agricultural workers' union in neighbouring Colombia, talked of the thousands of trade unionists who are assassinated, disappeared or jailed in that country.

Her husband was murdered in 1994. Her mother was killed 10 years later. Numerous other members of her family have met the same fate.

Moreno lives with two bodyguards - a necessary precaution for a trade union leader in Colombia. A brave and stoic woman who makes a powerful case for international solidarity.

She emphasised that this is a critical juncture for Colombia's trade unionists, with violence and threats on the increase. But she also highlighted hope for peace, welcoming the talks brokered by Cuba between the Bogota government and the Farc revolutionaries.

Journalist Victoria Brittain recalled that Cuba had a long record of international solidarity, from its involvement in the struggle for African liberation 40 years ago - particularly its role in helping the MPLA fend off Unita and apartheid South Africa in Angola.

On Cuba's Island of Youth she had met African children who arrived skinny and traumatised but grew to be confident and positive.

Brittain described the many strategies the US has used to topple progressive post-colonial regimes - assassinations, funding "oppositions," spreading media smears, engaging in economic warfare, corrupting elites and coups.

But she saw hope for Latin America today, arguing that the ruthless undercurrents of the cold war are less prevalent than before and that the internet can be a powerful tool for global awareness.

That hope shined through in the contributions of delegate after delegate. Seamus Milne praised the democratic nature of developments across the continent, noting that the "bankruptcy of neoliberal economics" and the strength of the Latin American people would contribute to a 21st-century socialism in the making.

Guillaume Long of Ecuador's higher education council told of the many achievements of that country's government since its election in 2006.

By tackling tax evasion, Correa has increased Ecuador's tax take from $2.7 billion (£1.65bn) to $9.3bn (£5.8bn) - leading Jeremy Corbyn MP to call on Chancellor George Osborne to learn a few lessons from the country.

Corbyn added that Jeremy Hunt could profit from a visit to see how the Cuban health system works - and that the Westminster authorities should be taking advice on climate change from Bolivia and on elections from Venezuela.

Next year is the 40th anniversary of Allende's murder, a stark reminder of the lengths to which the US will go to extinguish hope.

Corbyn ended a great day by urging vigilance and increased solidarity with all the countries of Latin America - which are, as RMT general secretary Bob Crow said, demonstrating that "a world can be based on need, not greed."

• The only criticism I had of the day was that you had to make choices - with over 16 workshops and film screenings, something is always missed.

This year more than 50 speakers covered everything from threats to the Amazon, media misrepresentation, the future of the Malvinas and country-specific reports.

I was at a packed session on Cuba.

Tony Kapcia of Nottingham University contrasted the styles of Fidel and Raul Castro but emphasised their shared ideology as the country continues the "nation-building" decolonisation process that has mobilised its people for 50 years.

Sheffield University's Steve Ludlam argued that the Cuba is not changing its system but its political culture, moving towards ever greater levels of participation.

The economic reforms being implemented are thoroughly democratic - public meetings attended by nine million Cubans subjected the original proposals to rigorous debate and less than a third got through the screening process. Policies such as changes to exit visas and on house sales were proposed by ordinary Cubans as part of citizen-led consultation.

State jobs can only be redeployed to the private sector if approved by workplace assemblies on a 75 per cent minimum turnout.

Even with such safeguards trade unions pointed out problems in some of the reforms. So the whole process was halted and the issues addressed before the government proceeded.

And the new safeguards insisted on have led to a surge in union recruitment - unionisation in the private transport sector for example is up to 80 per cent from 2 per cent before the reforms.

Both Kapcia and Ludlam made it clear that politics in Cuba is a collective process where everyone is represented. The government is accountable, not to capital or outside forces, but to society.

Sean Crowe TD of Sinn Fein praised Cuba's friendship with Ireland, noting that both were small islands oppressed for many years by their nearest neighbour.

Cuban ambassador Esther Armenteros stressed that Cuba wants to live in peace with the US - but as equals. Cuba would never "fall like a ripe apple into their hands."

• If you would like to donate to the Cuba Solidarity Campaign's emergency appeal for Hurricane Sandy please send cheques or postal orders payable to CSC, and clearly marked "hurricane relief" on the back, to Cuba Solidarity Campaign, c/o Unite Woodberry, 218 Green Lanes, London N4 2HB.

• If your MP has not signed early day motion 497 calling for visitation rights for the wives of the Miami Five prisoners please write to encourage them to do so.