Next week the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) will hold its triennial summit in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. At that time Cuba will relinquish the chair to the host country after three years at the helm of the organization.

They were without doubt extremely difficult years, in the last one of which exploded the most serious crisis in the history of capitalism. Global in scope, its entanglement with the inexorable depletion of oil resources, worsening climate change and ecological degradation, food crisis precipitated by the criminal conversion of food into biofuels, and the growth of poverty of the current capitalist crisis - actually an all-embracing crisis of civilization - has exasperated the contradictions of the system to a point never before reached by its predecessors.

In the turbulent waters of this time the presidency of Cuba had as a priority axis the strengthening of the role of NAM in the international arena, in line with the Declaration on the Purposes and Principles and the Role of the NAM adopted at the 14^th Summit held in Havana in September 2006.  The strong Cuban leadership of the movement made possible the recovery of the lost prominence of this organization and its increasing role in key discussions and negotiation processes that unfold within the sphere of the United Nations.  This is all the more valuable as the global capitalist elite refines its consultation mechanisms and policy coordination – antipopular par excellence – within the framework of the G-7 and its annual meetings in Davos. Throughout these three years the NAM made its voice heard on key issues of world policy and struggled tirelessly to democratize the United Nations and to denounce the incurable vices of the organization’s Security Council, dominated by the United States.  Within the UN framework one of the most important achievements has been the creation of the Human Rights Council, and in that sphere is where the Non-Aligned Movement has become a key player in defending and protecting the interests of peoples subjected to imperialist oppression.

The renewed presence of the NAM was also felt in UNESCO, a body permanently subjected to fierce attacks during the height of the neo-conservative reaction led by Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom, and which culminated with the self-disaffiliation of these two countries and open and militant disagreement with the policy of respect for cultural diversity and upholding freedom of expression and information promoted by UNESCO.  The exit of the imperialist superpower and its main European client plunged this organization into a very serious financial crisis, despite which it managed to survive thanks to the efforts of the remaining countries.  The return of Washington and London to UNESCO failed to reverse the advances achieved in education, information, respect for cultural diversity and human rights, and protection of indigenous languages or those in danger of extinction. It is largely due to the tireless work of the NAM that these different cultural dimensions survived and that U.S. attempts to achieve their full commercialization has been hindered.

The Movement has also been a key player in the defence of the rights of the Palestinian people, in the universal condemnation of the criminal aggression of the state of Israel in Gaza and of the occupation of Palestinian territories; in the struggle for disarmament; in the defence of workers within the framework of regulations established by the International Labour Organization; in the promotion of the rights of women and children; and in the support of health programs and medical care for Third World countries, areas in which the world leadership of Cuba is indisputable.

Within the context of the forthcoming summit Cuba will relinquish the chair of the Non Aligned to Egypt.  No one can escape the fact that this country is one of the main allies of the United States, with whom the effective international activism promoted by the Cuban chair will surely be rather somewhat diminished.  However, the 119 member countries of the Movement will not consent to wavering attitudes, and also, the fact that the chairmanship of Egypt is to be succeeded by the Islamic Republic of Iran sets certain limits on any attempt of co-optation of the NAM by imperialist polity.  It is not a minor detail that the membership of this movement continued to grow once the Cold War ended, contrary to predictions of those who foresaw the disintegration of the Movement as a product of the end of confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.  But to the extent that the imperial bourgeoisie continues with the pillage of the peoples of the Third World and destroys the environment, the NAM will continue to have an important task to accomplish.

Despite the political and ideological diversity and plurality of its members, the NAM has succeeded in strengthening very important principles that make for world peace by demanding that its members refrain from joining multilateral military alliances or reaching bilateral military agreements that involve the presence of foreign bases on their territories.  In turn, its relationship with the Group of 77 - specifically oriented to the discussion of topics relating to trade and the global economy – casts an important influence that stands as an obstacle to the insatiable pretensions of imperialism and its allies.  For all these reasons we must welcome this renewed presence of the NAM in world politics and formulate vows that its new leadership continues along the path that this movement travelled during the Cuban presidency. (Translation:  Susan Hurlich)

- Dr. Atilio A. Boron is Director of PLED, Programa Latinoamericano de Educación a Distancia en Ciencias Sociales, Buenos Aires, Argentina