On April 28-29, CODEPINK and over 50 organizations brought together hundreds of passionate solidarity activists and academic intellectuals to bury the Monroe Doctrine on its 200th anniversary. In a 4 panel discussion, academics and activists exposed the US interventionist policies in the Americas and centered on the people's struggle to build a more just multipolar world.

The forum highlighted the imperative for those living in the heart of the U.S. empire to organize and fight the neocolonial systems that uphold the policies guided by the Monroe Doctrine. Keynote speaker, Juan Gonzalez highlighted the role of U.S. foreign policies in fueling global forced migration, stating that a solution can only be found by acknowledging and addressing this root cause. Indigenous activist and co-founder of Red Nation, Nick Estes, uplifted the Bolivarian revolution for its internationalist nature, specifically the provision of affordable gasoline to impoverished U.S. citizens, including Native American tribes. Francesca, a Peruvian Ph.D. candidate, emphasized the need to mobilize against the Organization of American States to challenge and subvert the Monroe Doctrine. She argued that the OAS perpetuates and legitimizes violence in the Americas that it claims to oppose. Jorge Zuñiga M Ph.D. added that in addition to criticizing the OAS and the Monroe Doctrine, the peoples of Latin America need to challenge local colonial thinking to undermine the Monroe Doctrine.

If you were unable to attend, the panels can be viewed online.

Participants and panelists called for an end to US interventionism and support of movements for self-determination and independence in the region. The forum followed a day-long of advocacy on Capitol Hill, where dozens of activists met with Congress to advocate for more just US policies toward Latin America & the Caribbean, including lifting sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, suspending military aid to Peru & Haiti, increasing oversight on US arms exports, and more

We ended the weekend with a night of festivities with music, interactive theater and poetry.