Progressive International’s Emergency Nuestra América Summit Arrives at Critical Juncture for Latin American Unity

ByJay Watts

The Progressive International’s upcoming January 24th and 25th summit in Bogotá, Colombia hopes to bring the organizational power that created the Hague Group to bear on the continental crisis of Latin America unity.

Only 12 years ago in Havana, CELAC’s second summit resulted in the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, that (however incomplete given the continuing blockade of Cuba, hybrid warfare against Nicaragua and Venezuela and the subjugation of Haiti by US imperialism) marked a high point in concerted political action.

David Adler

From the first air-strike by the US military of a small fishing boat in the Caribbean in September of last year to the US interference in elections in Honduras and Argentina, and with US imperialism’s National Security Strategy identifying the Western Hemisphere as its territory, Latin American political coordination has been missing in action. Latin American leadership, social organizations and movements were left scrambling to coordinate a response after the outrageous kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro and First Combatant Celia Flores of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which the Progressive International cites as the impetus for this emergeny summit, “alongside heightened threats throughout the region.” In many cases, the response from Latin American reformist governments was dismal, praying for a respect for international law (and the United Nations) that even Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently admitted two days at Davos was an advantageous fiction for partners of US imperialism, and a bloody, hypocritical reality for its victims. While there have been bright organizing spots, such as Mexico’s united front against US imperialism, Nuestra América will hopefully initiate coordination at a higher-level to solidifiy the movement for solidarity against US imperialism that will bring together states, unions, social movements and organizations.

Mexico Solidarity Media‘s Seth Garben will be covering the emergency summit, as well as José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth from Soberanía: The Mexican Politics Podcast.

Announcing the summit, David Adler, Co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International and conference chair, said: “The United States is rapidly escalating its assault on the Americas — and the principle of self-determination at large. Under the banner of the Monroe Doctrine, Donald Trump and his cronies are leading a campaign of imperial aggression that stretches from Caracas to Havana, Mexico City to Bogotá.”

“The time has come to defend Nuestra América. In Bogotá, we will honor the legacies of leaders like Simón Bolívar, Benito Juárez, and José Martí by articulating a common plan of action to defend the unity of the Americas and the liberty of its peoples from the tyranny of foreign domination.”

Opening the convening alongside Progressive International Co-General Coordinator David Adler will be Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, who will proceed to present the government’s policies to counter drug trafficking and agrarian development.. Over two days of closed deliberations and public events, participants will move through three core phases: a collective reading of the current crisis, a strategic discussion on hemispheric cooperation, and a tactical exploration of concrete pathways for action. The process is expected to culminate in a shared Declaration as the beginning of an ongoing political project.

Delegates include Daniel Rojas, Minister of Education of Colombia; Andrés Arauz, former presidential candidate of Ecuador; Christian Duarte, Secretary of Finance of Honduras; Bill de Blasio, former Mayor of New York City; Thiago Ávila of Brazil’s Global Sumud Flotilla; Colombian Senator María José Pizarro; Clémence Guetté, Vice President of the French National Assembly; Spanish Deputy Gerardo Pisarello; Uruguayan Senator Bettiana Díaz; Cuban Ambassador Carlos de Céspedes; Walter Baier, President of the European Left Party; Mexican Deputy Andrea Navarro; Jorge Taiana, Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina; Martha Carvajalino, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia; Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, Co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International and Executive Secretary of The Hague Group, among many others.

Beyond internal deliberations, the summit will open to the public with an evening assembly at Teatro Colón in Bogotá, inviting wider audiences into a shared political horizon for the hemisphere—one grounded in dignity, solidarity, and the right of peoples to determine their own futures.

Nuestra América is conceived not as a one-off event, but as an evolving process: a space to rebuild the bonds between peoples and institutions across borders, and to forge a collective response to threats that no country can confront alone.

As the pressures facing the Americas intensify, Bogotá becomes the meeting point for a simple proposition: that the future of the hemisphere must be decided by its peoples—and defended together.

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