“THIS has been a great victory for the revolutionary movement. Never before has a meeting of such breadth and such magnitude taken place, in which revolutionary representations of 82 peoples came together to discuss problems of common interest,” said Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz, during the closing session of the First Conference of Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (the Tricontinental Conference), held in Havana, January 3-15, 1966.
Fifty years have now transpired since that speech and the founding of the Organization of Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, OSPAAAL, January 15, 1966, as a result of agreements reached during the conference.
The context in which these seminal events took place was the struggle of Third World countries against colonial domination, and the impulse, the example, provided by the Cuban Revolution, which, at the time, had just completed its sixth year of existence.
Mehdi Ben Barka, a popular Moroccan anti-imperialist leader, who was president of the international organizing committee for the First Tricontinental Conference, foresaw the importance of the gathering, saying, “The meeting of anti-imperialist organizations in Havana is a historical event because it will unite, in a demonstration of consensus and solidarity, two large contemporary currents of the world revolution: that of the socialist October and the national liberation struggle of Third World countries; because it will be held in Cuba, where both revolutions are taking place; because it will have as its setting Latin America, center of the struggle against neo-colonialism, the new face of colonialism…”
The conference brought together 512 delegates, plus more than 270 guests and observers, from 82 countries, among whom were included historic leaders of the era’s revolutionary movements.
Throughout its 50 years, OSPAAAL has kept its foundational objectives and principles alive, central among which is support to the struggles of countries on the three continents against colonial and imperialist domination, and in defense of every people’s right to independence.
Currently, the organization, which maintains its headquarters in Havana, has an International Executive Secretariat composed of four representatives from each of the three continents, and since 1998, is recognized as a special consulting non-governmental organization by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
One of OSPAAAL’s major accomplishments is the magazine Tricontinental, its official voice, which emerged after the nascent organization published a message from Ernesto Che Guevara in a pamphlet, and included an announcement of the magazine’s upcoming publication.
Che’s Message to the Tricontinental retains its relevance today, as Latin America, Asia and Africa continue their struggle against imperialism, which is responsible for continuing economic dependence and underdevelopment.
His comments synthesized the organization’s aspiration for victory, calling for the elimination of U.S. imperialist domination, drawing the enemy into a difficult struggle outside of its terrain, creating “two, three, many Vietnams.”
Years later, Cuban writer and philosopher Fernando Martínez Heredia, in his article “El tiempo de la Tricontinental” commented that the magazine marked a turning point “in a stage of struggles and ideas which made great contributions to the culture of the Third World’s peoples, transforming what could have been a step forward, or a coincidental convergence of different interests, into a political, social and philosophical process of extraordinary scope.”
OSPAAAL maintains close collaboration and interaction with a large number of political forces on a world scale, and, thanks to its work, continues to enjoy international respect and support.
