What brought you to the UK? Were you already a political activist?

I was active in President Salvador Allende’s government in Chile as a trade unionist in the national health service. After the CIA-supported coup and Allende’s death in 1973, I managed to survive for six years but then had to flee. The organizations helping people like me said, “If we can get you a visa to anywhere, that’s where you’ll go!” Britain wasn’t my first choice, but they came up with a visa first. 

There was a lot to get used to. Vinegar on French fries?! But I even grew to like it — the vinegar — and also what I could do here. I hadn’t gone to college in Chile, but Britain offered me a scholarship, and I got a political science degree. In 1984 I gave my first lecture at Middlesex University in London; I’ve been here ever since. 

Of course, I never stopped being a political activist, a socialist. The UK has a good tradition of international solidarity campaigns, and I joined them all.

How are solidarity campaigns organized?

We found it more effective to have only one campaign per country: one for Cuba, one for Nicaragua, and so on. In contrast, the US might have 50 Cuba solidarity groups.

We have a single party on the left (and we do have a political party!), the Labor Party. The left that influences national politics does so from within this party of the working class. Post-war, the unions and the Labor Party supported the former British colonies, and they learned to discard arrogance. Instead of saying, “You should do X or Y,” they determined they should do what the people of those countries wanted. 

You’ve been on the organizing committee for the annual Latin America solidarity conferences. Why has Mexico mostly been ignored?

This initiative began in 2005, when the “Pink Tide” of progressive governments was elected in several countries. We wanted to put our solidarity campaigns for specific nations like Cuba and Venezuela under a bigger umbrella, a single totality that is “Latin America.” They themselves have attempted to build their own economic bloc — Mercosur (Mercado Común del Sur), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Latin American Bank — which pushes back against US and OAS neoliberal policies.

Why not much discussion about Mexico at these conferences? Mexico hasn’t had a big crisis; when a Latin American government is attacked, then we jump to defend it. Few solidarity efforts exist for stable, successful governments! 

But we need one now for Mexico because its progressive character poses a threat to US interests.

At the January 2024 Latin America conference, you had a panel on Mexico. How did that go?

In the UK, we don’t need to counter false information or defend AMLO as much as you do in the US. We don’t share a border. Our imperial projects were not in Mexico. The problem is simply that people don’t know what’s happening. Any information they get is a plus.

We need to tell them about the positive changes happening in Mexico under Morena’s 4th Transformation and how, at some point, the US and its accomplices will lash back. UK progressives must be prepared to defend Mexico’s sovereignty.

Labor MP Jeremy Corbyn and Cuban Ambassador to the UK Barbara Montalvo speak at the conference plenary

On the panel, we prepared people for Mexico’s upcoming presidential election. We explained how their right wing uses popular language to win people over, how the opposition parties actually hate each other(!), and what constitutional reforms AMLO is proposing in advance of the election — to make permanent the democratic and economic reforms initiated by his government.

Recently, David Raby, with you and other colleagues, started the Mexico Solidarity Forum (MSF). What is its purpose?

Why should people in the UK be concerned about Mexico’s sovereignty and the future of the 4T?

Mexico aids our defense of Cuba. AMLO said, “Cuba should be given the Nobel Prize for resistance.” Mexico can demonstrate that Cuba’s problems are due to sanctions and not to socialism. It can also counter criticisms of Latin American countries leveled by the Western left. AMLO admonishes them to be humble. “Once you have your own socialism, then you can criticize.” 

Mexico also helps our own struggle against neoliberal agendas. If Mexico succeeds in legitimizing a model that prioritizes the common people, we can apply those lessons at home. 

Not only the UK should be interested in Mexico’s success. The MSP and MSF can broaden left internationalism with information and analyses for the English-speaking world — Canada, Caribbean, Africa! Currently, Latin American countries are pivoting toward Africa, a region growing in importance. I’m excited at the possibilities of expanding solidarity with Mexico across the globe.