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p The economic, political and social crisis which is unfolding in Latin America is turning it into one of the most important theatres of the world struggle between the forces of reaction and progress. The experience of the national liberation struggle over the past decades, and, most importantly, of the Cuban revolution, as well as the events in Chile have set the progressive forces of Latin American countries many new problems of strategy and tactics, and have given rise to the necessity of deepening and concretising the scientific concepts of the revolutionary processes there, including those of the democratic women’s movement, which forms an important section of the anti-imperialist front.

p The women of Latin America have always taken an active part in the struggle for freedom and independence for their countries.

p The women’s movement which grew up in Latin America at the end of the 19th and the 286 beginning of the 20th centuries, and having at first, as in several other countries of the world, a mainly feministic nature, has undergone a considerahle evolution in its development. The slogans of the first women’s organisations, which engaged mainly in educational work, consisted of demands for the granting of the most elementary rights to women, improvements in their working conditions and the protection of mother and child. Despite the limited nature of these demands it would be wrong to ignore their positive role in arousing women’s self-awareness and increasing their activeness.

p The first democratic women’s unions in Latin American countries arose in the 20s of this century under the influence of progressive organisations and with the active support of the Communist and Workers’ Parties of these countries.

p The increased democratic mood of the popular masses, and the development of the progressive elements in the Latin American women’s movement were also furthered by the anti-fascist demonstrations of the mid-30s. Militant solidarity with the Spanish republicans also had a great response. During the heroic struggle of the Spanish people against the Francoists more and more Latin American women joined the struggle against fascism.

p As in other areas of the world, the period of the Second World War meant for Latin America a general increase in the anti-fascist and liberation movement, and the appearance of progressive women’s organisations which came out in support of the Soviet Union and demanded that the leaders of the allied forces open a second front and break off relations with the Axis powers.

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p Women’s organisations in Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Chile held mass anti-fascist meetings and demonstrations to show their solidarity with the peoples of the countries who were combating fascism, and collected warm clothing for the soldiers of the countries in the anti-Hitler alliance.

p This period was marked by the active entry of women into the economic and socio-political life of their countries.

p The rout of fascism in the Second World War and the continuing deepening of the crisis in the world capitalist system led to the consolidation of the revolutionary and democratic forces in Latin American countries and was a reason for the formation of the women’s democratic movement in Latin America.

p Successes in the liberation struggle of the peoples of Latin American countries opened healthy prospects for the further development of the women’s democratic movement and its structural organisation. The progressive women of Latin America took an active part in the formation of international and regional organisations and committees which undertook the study of the socio-economic and legal position of woman. The first decade after the war saw the formation of national women’s democratic coordinating committees and federations on the basis of many unions. These new bodies included women representing various strata of society who participated in the overall struggle of the progressive forces.

p Women from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Argentina represented their countries at the San Francisco conference which laid the foundations of the UN. The representatives of 288 Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba took part in the Founding Congress of the WIDF.

p The formation of the WIDF served as a stimulus for the creation of new democratic organisations in Latin American countries. In the first years of the WIDF’s work it was joined by women’s unions from Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil and the Dominican Republic. The organisations which had committed themselves to the work of the Women’s International Democratic Federation based their activities on the programme and charter which had been adopted at the Paris Congress.

p A special place in the women’s democratic movement of these countries is occupied by the Federation of Cuban Women (FCW), which was founded in I960 after the successful revolution and enjoys the all-round support of Cuba’s Revolutionary Government. The FCW, which has more than 1,800,000 members, forms the vanguard of the women’s democratic movement in Latin American countries.

p In accordance with the charter of the Women’s International Democratic Federation the activity of the national women’s democratic organisations in Latin America is developing in three main directions: the struggle for peace and democracy, for the equality of women, and for the happiness of children and social progress. In each country the struggle to achieve these ends is conducted according to the special conditions of that country.

p The development of the Latin American women’s democratic movement entered a new phase in the mid-fifties, especially after the Cuban revolution, which served as a mighty thrust for the further development of the women’s 289 democratic organisations and the consolidation of their unity of action. This period was marked by great organisational activity in the women’s movement of each country, and the consolidation of the Latin American women’s democratic movement. This is witnessed by the series of meetings which took place between 1965 and 1974 in Mexico, Uruguay, Chile and Peru.

p One of the distinguishing features of the Latin American women’s democratic movement over the past few years is its ever-growing role in the fight for the consolidation of national independence, for peace and for democratic freedoms. The women’s democratic organisations of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico ably used legal and illegal possibilities for spreading their influence among the masses and for developing the struggle for social progress and democratic changes.

p The aims and the methods used by individual women’s democratic organisations are mainly determined by the specificity of each country, by its internal situation and by the general level of development of the revolutionary and liberation movement in it, in Latin America and the world. The development of the women’s movement in Latin American countries are largely conditioned by the political and socioeconomic nature of the development of these countries, and by their historical traditions. At present, general political problems are being brought to the forefront, a fact which was reflected in the work and the resolutions of the seminar of Latin American women which was held in Santiago, Chile, in October 1972.

p This seminar dealt with problems which are of concern to the women of various Latin 290 American countries. The delegates noted that the practical implementation of women’s rights and their protection is inseparably linked to the peoples’ struggle for independence, democracy and peace. They condemned the policy of terror directed against the peoples of Latin America and expressed their solidarity with freedom fighters who are languishing in prisons and concentration camps. The participants of the seminar called upon women to show their support for political prisoners and victims of oppression.

p A general resolution adopted at the concluding session of the seminar emphasised that the women of Latin America would continue their struggle, despite all the attempts of imperialist forces to use terror to frighten the peoples of Latin America and keep them in poverty and oppression.

p An example of progress in the Latin American women’s democratic movement since this seminar is the increased number of voices raised by women’s organisations against military dictatorships in support of the democratisation of existing regimes and in defence of human rights. Year by year the national women’s democratic organisations are becoming a more powerful, more real force. They are playing an active part in the political life of their countries and are making a distinct contribution to the development of the anti-imperialist liberation movement. It is worth noting that a number of women’s organisations which played the most active role in the revolutionary liberation movement have been banned. These include the Federation of Brazilian Women and the National Democratic Union of Paraguayan Women.

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p Special attention must be paid to the events in Chile. The aim of the Popular Unity Government, which came to power in October 1970, was to carry out radical anti-imperialist, antioligarchic reforms, to build a new, just society based on broad democracy, including the active encouragement of women to take part in the political and economic life of the country. The government’s planned measures for raising the standard of living of the broad masses were implemented steadily, and after three years significant results had been achieved.

p However the socio-economic democratic reforms of Salvador Allende’s Government came up against the opposition of internal reaction, which, with the outside support of imperialism, carried out a military coup on September 11, 1973, overthrew the people’s coalition and restored the dominance of the bourgeoisie. Chile has become a police state where constitution and laws are trampled on. Communists and socialists, workers and members of the intelligentsia, atheists and Catholics, men and women, are all subject to persecution.

p The whole world condemns the fascist crimes in Chile. All progressive and democratic organisations of the world and of Latin America demand an end to the terror. Extremely relevant here is the visit to Chile of a delegation of the WIDF in January 1974. The WIDF reported on the findings of this visit at press conferences in New York in the UN Headquarters and in the Berlin headquarters of the WIDF itself. The UN Commission on Human Rights sent a telegramme to Santiago demanding that the military junta put an end to its tyranny.

p Women in Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela and 292 other Latin American countries take an active part in movements of solidarity with the Chilean people, iirmly demanding the immediate release of all Chilean democrats and patriots from the prisons.

p One must pay especial attention to the growing participation of Latin American women in the movement of solidarity with the heroic Chilean people. The women of Latin American countries express their firm conviction that with the support of world progressive forces the Chilean people’s cause will triumph.

p The efforts of Latin American women in their struggle for freedom and democracy, for the strengthening of solidarity with the struggling peoples bears witness to the fact that the women’s democratic movement is becoming one of the most significant detachments in the liberation and general democratic movement.

p The women’s democratic movement is developing along the lines of a strengthening of links and cooperation between women’s organisations and all of Latin America’s anti-imperialist forces.

p One of the major questions facing the liberation movement in Latin American countries at present is that of the necessity of developing a broad women’s democratic movement, which, in close unity with the other revolutionary and progressive forces, would be capable of heading the struggle to implement the gains which have already been won and of eliminating each and every form of discrimination against women, and which would lead to women actively engaging in a united democratic anti-imperialist front.

p An important step towards achieving unity 293 in the women’s movement in Central America and the countries of the Caribbean basin was made at the meeting of representatives of these countries in San Jose in October 1972 where major problems concerning this area of the world were discussed.

p An important feature of the women’s democratic movement at its present stage is the growing political activeness of women workers and their increasingly numerous participation in the strike movement, in the fight to achieve a higher standard of living and in resisting rising prices.

p One of the principal demands of the democratic women’s organisations, the trade unions and other workers’ organisations in Latin America is the implementation of fundamental equality for women.

p The democratic forces’ basic demands in the political sphere are the practical introduction of women’s electoral rights, the increased representation of women in parliaments and national governments, etc., the increased activity of elected women deputies who, in their turn, must serve as initiators and active fighters for new, more radical reforms aimed at the further consolidation of the political and socio-economic position of women.

p They demand an immediate solution to such problems as the practical implementation of the principle of equal pay for equal work, the right to obtain qualifications and occupy highly qualified posts, increased rights to pensions and allowances, the passing of laws on women’s labour protection, which would embrace all areas of the economy, and creation of kindergartens, and so forth.

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p In connection with the Internal tonal Women’s Year and the World Congress of Women which will take place in October 1975 in Berlin varions activities are envisaged in many Latin American countries to promote the resolution of these problems.

p The progressively-minded women of Latin America link their demands for genuine equality with those for radical social and economic changes in the life of their countries and with the revolutionary and liberation struggle of all working people.

p Over the past few years the work of trade unions among working women has shown considerable progress. The democratic trade union affiliations of many Latin American countries have responded to the initiative of the Communist and Workers’ Parties in paying much more attention to the organisation of working women, to the defence of their interests, and to linking their demands to the common struggle of the whole working class.

p It is important to note that the progressive trade union organisations in countries like Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela have over the past years adopted special programmes for working women, which include such working women’s demands as the strict observance of the legislative principle of equal pay for equal work, and the protection of mother and child.

p In modern Latin American conditions the involvement of women farm labourers and peasant women in the anti-imperialist struggle being waged by the progressive forces becomes a specially vital question, since it is they who surfer most from the vestiges of feudal relations. The increase in the organisation of women rural 295 labourers and their effective participation in the creation of new democratic peasants’ organisations, is a vital new feature of the Latin American women’s democratic movement.

p Working women with ever greater ability and energy are employing the most diverse means of struggle, organising mass political, sometimes armed, demonstrations against the illegal expulsions of tenants from the land, as well as the seizure of landowners’ lands by the peasants. Women were the initiators of the peasant marches in Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil.

p At present, under the leadership of women’s organisations and independent peasant unions (such as the Federation of Indian Peasants in Ecuador, ibe National Peasant Confederation in Peru, the Independent Peasant Central Hi Mexico, and the progressive peasant organisations of Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, etc.) millions of working women from the Latin American countryside—women agricultural workers, metayers, peasant women, either renting land or owning small plots, are more and more consciously and purposefully joining the common struggle for agrarian reform and for radical changes in the social and economic living conditions in the countryside.

p Women are taking a greater part not only in the activities of women’s organisations but also of mass political movements, which aim to achieve liberation and social progress for their countries. All this promotes the attraction of wide masses of women not only into the campaigns for the satisfaction of their concrete demands but also into the common movement for the independence of Latin American countries, and for peace throughout the world. 296 For this reason it is no coincidence that in Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay dozens of leading peasant women have been thrown into prison for taking part in the struggle against imperialism and large landowners.

p The further development and consolidation of the general democratic movement in Latin America, including the women’s movement, presupposes the intensification of work among the working women of town and country. All the revolutionary and progressive mass organisations have been doing all they can to attract new cohorts of peasants and other women in agricultural labour into the revolutionary liberation movement, into the struggle for genuine equality for women and for social progress in their countries.

p The struggle of Latin American women for genuine equality and for I lie social progress of their peoples is inseparable from the struggle for the consolidation of national independence and the preservation of peace on earth. This movement promotes the awakening among women of social and political interests and is the platform which unites the most diverse strata of women.

p From the outset many of the women’s democratic organisations in Latin America have been with the progressive workers’, youth and other mass organisations actively struggling for peace, against the threat of a new world war, and against the enslavement of their countries by American monopolies.

p The women’s national organisations of Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama have consistently emphasised the demand of the progressive organisations of their countries 297 that their governments should follow an independent foreign policy, and refuse to submit to the dictates of US imperialists.

p The struggle against US imperialism is inevitably interwoven, in each country, with the struggle against the dominance of large landowners and capitalists. The peoples of Latin America will not be able to free themselves of US imperialism if they do not struggle against the lalifundists and the reactionary bourgeois circles who serve it.

p The women’s organisations of Bolivia, Nicaragua and Paraguay continue, despite extremely difficult conditions, to struggle actively against the dictatorial regimes. The National Federation of Panamanian Democratic Women, founded in March 1975, is struggling for the territorial intergrity and sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone.

p In Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay and other countries there have been mass demonstrations of women, mainly working women, against the persecution by reaction of democratic organisations and their individual activists.

p The demonstrations of the working class and the popular masses against the aggression of imperialism, in defence of national independence, for the democratisation of existing regimes, against the encroachments of reaction upon democratic liberties and the social gains of the workers are closely linked in Latin America with the struggle to strengthen peace and friendship between peoples.

p The women’s democratic organisations have always regarded the struggle for peace as one of their main tasks. The participation of progressive Latin American women in the peace 298 movement, in the movement for the establishment of friendly relationships between countries has grown wider and stronger.

Latin American women everywhere support the peaceful solution of military conflicts, the elimination of points of international tension, and the free and independent development of all countries.