On October 21, the World Anti-Imperialist Women’s Platform (Women’s Platform), the women’s section of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform (Platform), was officially launched.
On the same day, the 1st International Anti-Imperialist Conference of the Women’s Platform was held in Caracas, Venezuela, under the theme “The Anti-Imperialist Struggle and the Women’s Movement.”
Over 100 participants—representatives of women’s organizations, comuna (commune) activists, and parliamentarians from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe—engaged in passionate discussions on the realities faced by women in the current global situation of war, as well as on the direction and tasks of the women’s liberation movement. The participants unanimously resolved to take part in the struggle against imperialism, which obstructs the revolutionary unity of women.
Speakers included Blanca Eekhout, former Second Vice President of the Venezuelan National Assembly and current president of the Simón Bolívar Institute; Noelí Pocaterra, Member of the Venezuelan National Assembly and the National Indigenous Council of Venezuela; Lázara Lizette Vila Espina, Director of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry; Luisa González, Secretary of Organization of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV); Anacaona Marin, activist of the El Panal Commune; Úrsula Aguilera, representative of the The International Solidarity Committee and Peace (COSI, Venezuela); Aminta Beleño Gómez, Head of the Communist Party of Colombia (PCC) in Venezuela’s Central Region; Irina Santesteban, General Secretary of the Liberation Party(PL, Argentina); Ayelen Correa, member of the Network of Media and Communication Collectives; Tania Díaz, former First Vice President of the National Constituent Assembly and current Member of Parliament; Diva Guzmán, Vice President of the Women’s Secretariat of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and Member of Parliament; and Asia Villegas, former Minister of Women and Gender Equality and current Member of Parliament; Labour Women (EKA, Türkiye); Materi Panagiota from the Revolutionary Theory Group (Greece). Joti Brar, representative of the Communist Party of Great Britain—Marxist-Leninist (CPGB-ML), and Yannick Vanonckelen, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Belgium, participated through video presentations. Statements were read on behalf of the Revolutionary Women’s League (RWL) of Kenya and the People’s Democracy Party of the ‘ROK.’
Before the conference began, participants paid tribute in front of the Simón Bolívar statue at Bolívar Plaza in Caracas, followed by a cultural performance prepared by the Simón Bolívar Institute.
The conference was moderated by the People’s Democracy Party of the ‘ROK.’
Blanca Eekhout, former Second Vice President of the Venezuelan National Assembly and current president of the Simón Bolívar Institute, emphasized, “I believe in order to carry out the struggle against imperialism, women must participate in a leading role. This is a fundamental task for us. True feminism must be anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist, because women were historically the first to be reduced to slavery and turned into property. Liberation from capitalism and imperialism is therefore also liberation from patriarchy, which has bound us to inequality and injustice for centuries, even millennia.”
She added, “This struggle must not be done through the so-called ‘feminism’ that takes away from us the banner of class struggle. Those things that divide us are not the cause of true feminism, because the true and genuine cause of feminism is the liberation of all humanity..”
Noelí Pocaterra, Member of the Venezuelan National Assembly and the National Indigenous Council of Venezuela, stated, “Indigenous peoples exist not only throughout Venezuela but across the grand motherland, in the United States, Canada, and all over the world. We coordinate internationally to continue the struggle, and we will stand together on the frontlines to demonstrate how indigenous peoples can defend our homeland using the quiet weapons we possess.”
Lázara Lizette Vila Espina, Director of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry, said, “Peace and stability are essential for the holistic development of women. We must strengthen institutions that oppose violence and reject all forms of abuse. Trust in a free, independent, sovereign, and conscious Cuba. The imperialism seeks to undo our achievements and return to old tales disguised as false freedom, but we will not step back. The embrace of anti-imperialist Cuban women reaches Palestine, Venezuela, and all places where women, girls, men, and boys suffer.”
Luisa González, Secretary of Organization of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), explained, “Patriarchy is not an independent system but the armed hand of capital. Our struggle is simultaneously a class struggle, an anti-imperialist struggle, and a struggle for true liberation of women. Our fight is not against working men, our class comrades, but against the system that oppresses both women and men. Feminism should be understood as a movement recognizing that both of us live under the same oppression and moving together toward liberation.”
Anacaona Marin, activist of the El Panal Comuna, emphasized, “The struggle must be embodied, carried out from body to body, from street to street, house to house, step to step, family to family, and child to child. It is there that, like the women of Vietnam and our great ally, we can convey crucial messages, tilling the land, holding children, with rifles on our shoulders, declaring: ‘Here is resistance, here is liberation, here is political, active, and ideological will.’”
Úrsula Aguilera, representative of the The International Solidarity Committee and Peace (COSI, Venezuela) stated, “Fascism always seeks, and continues to seek, to exclude women from political activity, confining them to social or charitable roles through controlled by government or semi-government women’s organizations. This is a complete annihilation of women’s autonomy, fundamentally denying their freedom and rights, and creating a system in which women are reduced to womb-slaves and silent guardians of the home.”
Aminta Beleño Gómez, Head of the Communist Party of Colombia (PCC) in Venezuela’s Central Region, stated, “Even now in Colombia, we are walking the second and true path of independence. Thanks to the Cuban Revolution and the Bolivarian Revolution, we have been able to establish a government of the people, a Bolivarian government.” She added, “We draw inspiration from the struggle of Palestine. We see hope in the way Palestinian women preserve their language, culture, and history, continue teaching children even in destroyed homes, and maintain their dignity against attempts at ethnic erasure. If Palestine can do it, we can too. Once, we overthrew the Spanish imperialism. Now it is time to break free from the yoke of US imperialism.”
Irina Santesteban, General Secretary of the Liberation Party (PL, Argentina), declared, “There has been a strong struggle of women in Argentina and across Latin America. This struggle must necessarily be anti-imperialist, anti-patriarchal, and against capitalist oppression. Imperialism imposes resource plundering, poverty, social exclusion, and the exploitation of women and children on our country and people.” She continued, “As a result, women experience double exploitation, and in the case of Argentina, the proportion of women living in poverty is extremely high. Labor rights are also under attack. The Milei government is reducing gender policies, social policies, and women’s labor rights.”
Ayelen Correa, member of the Network of Media and Communication Collectives, affirmed, “What is happening in the southern region of Latin America is not simply an attack by conservatives but a serious neoliberal, neo-fascist, and patriarchal assault on our progress. We see violence against women and attempts to remove legal protections. Yet, we continue to struggle fearlessly and take to the streets whenever necessary.”
Tania Díaz, former First Vice President of the National Constituent Assembly and current Member of National Assembly, PSUV Deputy Chair, and recent participant in the 80th Anniversary Ceremony of the Founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea, explained, “Today, we have representative organizations elected from 47,000 comunas across the country, and across these communities, the party (PSUV) has structures in 260,000 sectors. In each space, the party structure elected by popular vote operates. We are very proud to say that 62% of this grassroots structure consists of women.”
Diva Guzmán, Vice President of the Women’s Secretariat of the PSUV and Member of National Assembly, stated, “We must not merely resist but actively create change. Venezuelan women bear the responsibility of building a social care model. All of this has been made possible thanks to women’s leadership, achieved together with Chávez. In structures such as the local supply and production committees, women have taken leading roles to create spaces of power. This is not simply an act of motherhood but a demonstration of power guided by a humanistic vision.”
Asia Villegas, former Minister of Women and Gender Equality and current Member of National Assembly, said, “Venezuelan women have embraced the strategic framework of ‘feminist socialism,’ which contributes to the construction of 21st-century socialism. Within this political framework, we go beyond merely exercising sovereignty and decision-making right; we are forging a path toward an egalitarian society. As political actors, women account for 42% of the members of the National Assembly and 70% of participation in community-based political activities. Nevertheless, the redistribution of domestic labor remains a significant challenge, and we continue striving for substantive equality, not just formal legal equality.”
Joti Brar, representative of the Communist Party of Great Britain—Marxist-Leninist (CPGB-ML), through a video presentation, emphasized, “Venezuela is a powerful example of the strength and significance of mobilized working-class women. I’m sure it’s the communes — and the women who built and sustain them — that allow Venezuela to stand strong against aggression, sabotage, and economic warfare from imperialists. Despite 25 years of attacks, Venezuela has endured. But the imperialists aren’t giving up — they’re doubling down. They want to destroy Venezuela’s good example and take back control of its oil, especially now that they’re losing their grip in the Middle East. Venezuela stands firm because of its working-class communities, built and defended by committed, militant women.
Yannick Vanonckelen, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Belgium, stated in a video message, “Our struggle is not a confrontation between men and women. It is the unity of the people against all forms of domination. And in this struggle, women are not passive victims. They are fighters, resisters, workers, women workers, and activists. From Rosa Luxemburg to Lyudmila Pavlichenko, from Algeria’s Algeria Laya to today’s undocumented women workers, the history of communism is also the history of women in struggle.”
The Revolutionary Women’s League (RWL) of Kenya declared in a written statement, “Comrades, the World Anti-Imperialist Women’s Platform is not only an organisation. It is a weapon—a weapon of solidarity, a weapon of unity, a weapon of revolution. It will link the struggles of women peasants in Africa with the struggles of women workers in Asia. It will link the struggles of Palestinian women resisting Zionist occupation with the struggles of Venezuelan women resisting sanctions. It will link the struggles of Sudanese women in famine and war with the struggles of Cuban women resisting blockade. It will forge one mighty current of women’s power. It will forge one mighty current of anti-imperialist resistance.”
Labour Women (EKA) of Türkiye stated, “While imperialist wars sweep across the world, sowing destruction, we are nurturing the spirit of freedom—from Palestine to Kurdistan—against occupation, war, and those who surround our lives. We are strengthening our struggle for our own liberation. At this historic turning point, when the emancipation of humanity is within reach, it carries great significance that the working women of the world come together to weave the shared ideological thread of women’s internationalism. To gather here means that this struggle will go even further.”
Labour Women (EKA) of Türkiye stated, “While imperialist wars sweep across the world, sowing destruction, we are nurturing the spirit of freedom—from Palestine to Kurdistan—against occupation, war, and those who surround our lives. We are strengthening our struggle for our own liberation. At this historic turning point, when the emancipation of humanity is within reach, it carries great significance that the working women of the world come together to weave the shared ideological thread of women’s internationalism. To gather here means that this struggle will go even further.”
Materi Panagiota from the Revolutionary Theory Group (Greece) introduced, “The World Anti-Imperialist Platform has established the Youth Platform in its activities to address the issues of today’s youth. The next step is the creation of the World Anti-Imperialist Women’s Platform.”
She also pointed out, “Contemporary feminism and the struggle for multiple “gender identities” focus on individual identity, diverting attention from class-based issues. By focusing on the individual and the cultural, these views undermine the importance of economic/class exploitation and divide the relations between men and women, creating artificial divisions that dissolve and disorient the movement at the very moment when unity is urgently necessary. Therefore, alongside the main objective of establishing anti-imperialist fronts, the struggle against the ideological constructions that undermine the movement is also necessary.”
The People’s Democracy Party (PDP) stated in a written statement, “the storm of World War 3 is sweeping from Eastern Europe, through West Asia (the Middle East), and into East Asia and the Western Pacific. For the imperialist warmongering forces, the latter half of 2024 was intended to serve as a “D-Day” for war in the ‘Republic of Korea (ROK),’ and the war in East Asia. After the failure of this operation, they are raging to trigger local wars at global hotspots, intensifying the war in Ukraine, Palestine, and West Asia, in order to fully launch the World War 3.”
They further noted, “When war breaks out, When war breaks out, the dignity and lives of women are completely trampled. In the ‘ROK,’ the extremely tragic issues of 200,000 women subjected to sexual slavery under Japanese colonial rule and military sex slaves under the US invasion army remain unresolved to this day. Our women have vital interests in the anti-war, peace, and anti-imperialist, anti-US struggles.”
Moreover, they declared, “With the launch of the World Anti-Imperialist Women’s Platform, we will oppose imperialism and fascist lackeys, the root causes of violations of women’s rights and destruction of dignity, while exposing and crushing the false propaganda of so-called ‘women’s rights advocacy’ by imperialist and revisionist forces. We will firmly unite in the world anti-imperialist united front to achieve global independence, lasting peace, and genuine gender equality. As one of the two wheels driving the revolutionary cart, we, the women will accelerate the building of a new world that values and respects women, and a new people-centered society through our own strength and struggle.”
After reading the founding declaration of the World Anti-Imperialist Women’s Platform, participants shouted the slogan with vigor, “The women united will never be defeated!”
The full text of the declaration follows.
Founding Declaration of the World Anti-Imperialist Women’s Platform
Under systemic discrimination, women’s survival and development cannot be guaranteed. Oppressed and exploited working women’s human rights and dignity are ruthlessly trampled upon by war and violence. In times of barbarism, women, along with children, suffer the most and are subjected to humiliations more miserable than death itself. Imperialist exploitation and plunder know no borders. Women within imperialist countries are made the targets of monopoly capital’s exploitation, are forced to accept capitalist ideology, and are brainwashed by an ideology of domination that seeks to divide Third World women and women in imperialist countries. Women living under people’s governments that truly guarantee women’s rights are also constantly threatened by imperialist war.
Humanity now stands at a crossroads between independence and subjugation. The imperialist forces, sustained by invasion and plunder, are unleashing a frenzy of war in order to avert the unprecedented crisis that is engulfing human society and driving it toward a world war. Imperialism—the culprit behind the unprecedented devastation of World War 1 and World War 2—is today recklessly provoking World War 3. Throughout human history, the ruling classes have always reduced women to spoils of war, wartime laborers, and war slaves during times of war. Anti-imperialism and self-determination are the path to life and peace, while pro-imperialism and subjugation are the path to death and war.
We must raise high the banner of anti‑imperialism and self‑determination and carry forward the struggle. The invasions and massacres, domination and plunder, oppression and exploitation taking place across the world today confirm the truth that national and class discrimination cannot be abolished so long as imperialism exists. It is imperialism, fascism, violence, and war. Progressive women around the world must refuse to cooperate with imperialist war propaganda, arms production, and military actions, and must go further by mobilizing broad layers of working women into the anti‑war, anti‑imperialist, and anti‑fascist struggle. All women must rise up as one in the struggle to eradicate imperialism and fascism.
“Divide and rule” is one of the basic tactics of the imperialist forces. They divide women and men within both imperialist countries and colonized nations, inciting hatred between them and obstructing unity and solidarity. In the same vein, imperialist forces smear socialist and anti-imperialist states as “human rights violators” and invoke so-called “women’s rights” as a pretext for sanctions, isolation, and strangulation. The extreme feminism promoted by some women is nothing more than a form of “female chauvinism”, which distorts social problems into biological conflicts between women and men, leading the women’s movement in a misguided direction. The same goes for machismo on the other side. We reject the false propaganda carried out under the banner of “women’s rights” by imperialist and opportunist forces, and we will expose and crush their reactionary essence.
Women, as equal participants in revolution and construction, have long advanced the women’s liberation movement through bloodshed and struggle against all forms of domination throughout history. Especially since the 20th century, they have played a vital role in resisting imperialism, fighting for liberation from colonial rule, and building new societies—and today, they continue to stand at the frontlines of struggle, boldly shaping their own destiny. Only on the path of justice—toward national liberation, class liberation, and human liberation, the shared aspiration of all humankind—can women’s emancipation and the social liberation of women be achieved. We will continue to strengthen international unity and solidarity, and continue fighting for women’s dignity and rights, as well as for international peace and self-determination.
October 21, 2025, Caracas
World Anti-Imperialist Women’s Platform
