BUILDING TRANSATLANTIC BRIDGES BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL PROGRESSIVE FORCES

A public conversation organised by GUE/NGL in the European Parliament

room Altiero Spinelli Building ASP 01G2

Thursday, 4th April, 2019

14:30 – 18:30

Programme:

MEPs Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Helmut Scholz, Lola Sanchez-Caldentey, Matt Carthy

invite you to join a

Public conversation with leaders from the US left, including Maria Svart, David Duhalde, Alan Minsky, Alexandra Rojas, and Matt Duss (tbc) about the common challenges during the upcoming election cycle 2019/2020.

moderated by Barbara Spinelli, MEP and Ethan Earle

On the eve of the elections to the European Parliament, and at the beginning of the race to the US Presidential elections in November 2020, Western Democracy is at a crossroads. While we are facing an organised roll-back of libertarian achievements, there is a need to unite in our defence, and to win this struggle together in order to be in the position to prevent climate change, build prosperous post-growth economies, and organise inclusive and rights-based societies in a new technological environment.

 This event will provide information about the progressive candidates, including Bernie Sanders, who will successfully challenge Donald Trump, and the campaign techniques applied. The discussion will analyse the state of play of new political camps being constructed in Europe in the context of the elections for the European Parliament, and the diversity of the struggle inside and outside of Parliaments on both sides of the Atlantic.

Guests from the United States of America are including:

Maria Svart, National Director of Democratic Socialists of America.

Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in the United States for over a century, currently boasting more than 55,000 members in nearly 200 chapters across the country. In November 2018, DSA members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib were elected to the US House of Representatives, while eleven other members were elected to state legislatures.

Maria Svart has served as DSA’s national director since 2011, overseeing the organization’s growth from around 5,000 members to its current size.

David Duhalde, Political Director of Our Revolution.

Our Revolution is a political action organisation spun out of Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign to continue its work. OR’s mission is to get people involved in the election process, and to organise and elect progressive candidates. It has supported US Representatives including Pramila Jayapal, Tulsi Gabbard, Jamie Raskin, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

David Duhalde joined OR in 2018 after more than two years serving as deputy director of DSA. As political director, he is responsible for working with OR’s national network to identify progressive candidates for endorsement.

Alan Minsky, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America.

Progressive Democrats of America is a political organisation and grassroots political action committee operating both inside and outside the Democratic Party. Since 2004, PDA has sought to transform the Democratic Party with the intent to build a government controlled by citizens and not corporate elites that makes policies for the broad public and not just private interests.

Alan Minsky has been working for PDA since 2014. He is a lifelong activist and previously spent two decades working as a progressive journalist.

(By video link – tbc) Alexandra Rojas, Executive Director of Justice Democrats,

Justice Democrats is an American progressive political action committee. Alexandra Rojas became executive director of the organisation in May 2018. The organisation formed as a result of the 2016 US presidential election and has a stated goal of reforming the Democratic Party by running “a unified campaign to replace every corporate-backed member of Congress” and rebuild the Democratic Party from “scratch”.

In the 2018 elections, 26 of the 79 candidates endorsed by Justice Democrats won their respective primary elections. Seven of these candidates won in the general election.

To sign up: http://www.opinio.europarl.europa.eu/opinio/s?s=0404A