We interview Tyson Riel Strandlund, Secretary of the Popular Democracy Movement, in the context of the first Vancouver Island Anti-Fascist Youth & Student Congress, taking place at the University of Victoria in Canada. teleSUR
00:00And speaking of Venezuela, last year this country held a significant event to condemn the absurge of fascism worldwide.
00:08Today, aligned with Venezuela's initiative, Canada is the scenario of the first Vancouver Island anti-fascist youth and student congress.
00:16In this context, we invite Tyson Real Strandland, Secretary of the Popular Democracy Movement.
00:22Hello Tyson, and welcome to From the South.
00:26Hi there, great to be on your show.
00:28Tyson, what is the purpose of this congress?
00:32Well, as you mentioned, last year some of us were very lucky to be able to visit Venezuela,
00:38which has made itself at the center of a growing international movement against the international phenomena and great danger of fascism and its various expressions,
00:49and imperialism and the drive to war, something we know very well in this country, NATO's largest member state,
00:55as well as expressions like Zionism, as neo-colonialism, and many, many problems that are facing not only working people around the world,
01:06but especially the youth who bear the greatest weight from these burdens.
01:10The youth and students here in Canada increasingly are recognizing the need for an international response to this phenomenon of fascism.
01:19So we've assembled together here to draw a line in the sand and to begin to fight back in a spirit of solidarity and internationalist resistance.
01:31As you mentioned, why are spaces like this crucial, and why is it so important to have a global anti-fascist movement, especially in today's political climate?
01:41Right. Well, you know, the challenges we're facing are absolutely global in scale, whether we're talking about the environmental crisis and climate change,
01:53or whether we're talking about the global system of imperialism and the financial connections of this global cartel, which certainly know no borders.
02:03Working people can't afford to have borders either.
02:05Fascism wants the people that are divided, divided within their own countries, divided amongst themselves, and also divided from people from other countries.
02:14We've received many international greetings from Latin America, from Africa, and elsewhere to this Congress,
02:22in order to show Canadians, the Canadian youth and students, that they are not alone in the struggles they're facing here,
02:29and that we can have reciprocal solidarity with the peoples of the global south, and they will return that solidarity as well.
02:35And that we are in this struggle together.
02:39And locally, at a time when Canada faces the imperialist ambitions of U.S. President Donald Trump,
02:45who is seeking to make Canada the 51st state, how crucial is this Congress for Canada's left and also progressive movements inside the country?
02:54Absolutely.
02:56You know, once again, it's Canada's youth who are being hit the hardest as a result of this trade war and tariffs,
03:04the drive to war and support for U.S. militarist aggression,
03:09the risk involved with military confrontation with other powers like China or Russia or Iran.
03:16The great irony is that Canada, as a NATO member state, has always looked to the United States as the guarantor of its freedoms,
03:23of its democracy, of its sovereignty.
03:26But the only country that has ever in its history really threatened Canada's sovereignty is our closest ally, allegedly,
03:33the United States itself.
03:35So I think this has led many Canadians to really question the nature of that relationship.
03:41Thank you, Tyson, for your time here in From the South.
03:47We were speaking to Tyson Real Strandland, Secretary of the Popular Democracy Movement,
03:52in the context of the first Vancouver Island Antifascist Youth and Student Congress
03:57that is taking place today at the University of Victoria in Canada.
