Today is the first official day of the World Festival of Youth & Students, and there is a bus leaving so I must be quick (I´ll try to come back and add more later).

ill report on some of the details a little bit later, but right now ill begin with the entry into Caracas yesterday, where I and seven other Chicago delegates entered wondering how organized it would be. we were immediately greeted with several coordinators and a large WYF banner, and after we breezed thru customs we were thrown into the two-level lobby where hundreds, possibly a thousand delegates from around the world were eating the snacks given to us from the Festival and excitedly making conversations. Most of the Salvadoran delegation are from the FMLN and they quickly explained to me the need to boycott Tacas Airlines- the Central American airline that we had just flown in on. I began shaking hands, saying ¨United States¨ and most of the replies were ¨France¨or ¨Mexico¨, altho over one hundred highly organized delegates from Suriname with Surinamese WYF yellow polo shirts came thru. Unfortunately, of the people I was with I spoke the most Spanish so I became the resident translator, but I can use the practice.

Then came the sad part, where we found out about accomodations. The Venezuelan Festival organizers, worried about the possibility of an international incident, decided to put the seven hundred person U.S. delegation in barracks in a military base an hour outside of Caracas on a mountain overlooking the city of Los Toques. Our movement so far is highly controlled, but I have to go jump on this bus to the city. I´ll be back more to continue...

Well, I have a little more time now to chill and write. And it turns out that most of the delegations are being housed in military barracks. Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of the trip thus far has just occurred. The US delegation over filled Conscripto, the base where we were, and one hundred of us were asked to voluntarily relocate to a base that housed Caribbean delegations. About seventy of us signed up, while another seventy five who had just arrived at the airport were also enlisted to go. The first base we went to was outside of Estado Miranda where Los Toques is, and was the wrong one. Then we arrived at the base where we had meant to go, which was predominantly (sleeping) delegates from Puerto Rico and Trinidad, but it was full, so for over an hour, we waited in the rain in a covered basketball court, making the best of it. Toward the end of our wait, some eight or so Puertorriquenos finally ventured out, and told me that all of the PR delegation is independentista, but an amalgem of different national and community groups from the island. They were also very excited to hear that Paseo Boricua (the Division Street Puerto Rican Nationalist enclave) had a large delegation.

Now the one hundred and fifty of us from the US spillover have arrived at a fourth base, where a bus load of Syrian delegates were being displaced, as the US colonizes yet another land. The single Jordanian delegate, herself from the National Student Union in Jordan, translated during my brief chat with the Syrians, most of whom were older men from the National Student Union and Nation Youth Union. They told me that another fifty or so Syrians were to arrive from that country´s Communist Party, and as with the Puertorriquenos, they were very happy to speak to an estadounidense. Don´t worry, I have been representing the resistance within the US Empire very well. The Jordanian woman told me that the Palestinians had been denied visas, or hadn´t received them until too late, and so they were going to be represented by Venezuela´s Palestinian community. Another tip, this one from some Puerto Rican delegates yesterday, has it that there are only four Iraqi delegates, all from the Iraqi Communist Party.

At this base there are also 24 Japanese , a Libyan and some others. According to a Japanese activist I just spoke to, half of them are from the Communist Party and the other half are from their youth group, although there is another delegation from a social democratic group in Japan. And at the airport he told me of large delegations from India, Viet Nam and one of the Coreas (he wasn´t sure which).

I am being shepherded off of the computer due to time restraints, but I will return with more. Stay tuned.

...

I have now met with some of the at least one hundred thirty Dominicans here and they are alo mostly from their branch of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (which is generally connected to the national Communist Parties), but they say there are Dominicans from cultural groups too. There are also about one hundred Libyans, and I am told that they are from University groups, perhaps also WFDY connected. But there are also large delegations from Algeria and Morocco, and I have not received word of where they are from. Soon we will have a national meeting for the entire US delegation, and then to Caracas to the opening session.

...

The US just had its first official delegation meeting with 700 delegates crammed inside what is known on this base as the Ping Pong room, where they announced some numbers amongst the different delegations. There are over twelve thousand delegates from the Americas outside of Venezuela, including 1800 Cubans, 3000 Colombians, over 750 Brasileiros, 700 from the US, and there are another 150 from Viet Nam, whose delegation has been very eager to connect with us from the US.

The woman from Jordan, whose delegation was not able to come through (she was studying in London and was able to get in), told me that there are up to 200 Libyans and perhaps 350 Algerians. She wore a kaffiyah which was half black&white and half red&white, signifying unity between the Palestinian and Jordanian cultures, as well as between the different political movements in the Palestinian struggle.

Now we finally go to Caracas for a march where all of the delegations to march together. The US delegation, as per the suggestion of American Indian Movement veteran Robert, will march the US flag behind the Indigenolus peoples´ banner, although I wonder about the wisdom of marching with the US flag at all.

Finally, I would like to end with a note. I am not writing this for my health. Please send feedback on these notes.