The 7th International Forum “Russia and Ibero-America in a Turbulent World: From Common Challenges to Joint Solutions” concluded in St. Petersburg. Dmitry Novikov, Deputy Chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Central Committee, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, and member of the Russian Federal Assembly delegation to the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, participated in the forum’s events.
The main organizers of the forum were St. Petersburg State University and the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs served as co-organizers.
The seventh forum proved to be the most representative of all. The large-scale expert meeting lasted three days. The first plenary session opened with a speech by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. During his speech, he read a welcome address from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the participants.
The forum provides a broad expert and discussion platform. Its work is aimed at understanding new global realities and prospects for international cooperation, as well as socio-economic and socio-political processes in Latin American countries. The meeting in St. Petersburg brought together approximately 500 active participants, not including the audience.
The forum included dozens of conferences and roundtables. Master classes, exhibitions, and book presentations were held. Speakers included scholars and politicians, diplomats, and journalists from Russia, the CIS, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The discussions were distinguished by a wide range of topics. A forum of young researchers was held. The international conference “On the 80th Anniversary of the Great Victory: Pages from the Common History of Russia (USSR) and the Countries of Ibero-America” attracted particular attention.
Among the numerous discussion platforms, the roundtable “Electoral Processes: The Experience of the CIS and Latin American Countries” held a special place. Dmitry Novikov delivered a welcoming address at the opening.
The discussion program included presentations by experts from Russia and other CIS countries, as well as several Latin American countries. The discussion was joined via videoconference by Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, Chair of the National Electoral Council of Cuba; Roman Andrés Jáquez Liranzo, Chair of the Central Electoral Commission of the Dominican Republic; Alfredo Junca Venedejaque, President of the Inter-American Union of Electoral Organs (UNIORE); and other experts from Mexico, Argentina, and Ecuador.
The roundtable was held at the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg. Its main organizer was the International Institute for Monitoring the Development of Democracy, Parliamentarism, and Electoral Rights of Citizens of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.
We present to our readers the presentation by Dmitry Novikov.
“The role of Petrograd-Leningrad-St. Petersburg in our history is so great that the city of Peter the Great and Vladimir Lenin has many epithets, including ‘Cultural Capital of Russia’ and ‘Northern Capital.'” Let’s not forget another: “City of Three Revolutions.”
Any revolutionary process aspires to change the country’s path and accelerate its development. If this process is to be successful, it must encompass not only the periphery but also the capital cities. Capital cities are the centers of power in any country. Revolutions, however, aspire to change power—not just the figures within it, but to change its entire system. In this regard, St. Petersburg is, of course, a city of three revolutions: the First Russian Revolution of 1915–1917, and the February and October Revolutions of 1917.
This year is replete with important historical dates. It marks the 80th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany. And the heroism of the defenders of Leningrad played a special role in this Victory. It marks the 80th anniversary of the Victory over militarist Japan. I’m still deeply impressed by the parade held on September 3rd in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to commemorate this anniversary.
There are several other dates closely linked to Russian history. December marks two anniversaries: the 200th anniversary of the Decembrist Uprising and the 120th anniversary of the armed uprising in Moscow—the culminating event of the First Russian Revolution. These two dates are directly linked. It was precisely because the Decembrist Uprising failed to achieve its objectives that the revolutionary events 80 years later became inevitable.
Both events sought to democratize the political system. The Decembrist Uprising failed to achieve this. The First Russian Revolution achieved this goal on two levels. On the one hand, a parliamentary structure emerged in the country in the form of the State Duma. On the other, the Soviets emerged as a form of popular sovereignty. They later played a crucial role in the history of our country in the 20th century.
In this regard, we must keep in mind at least two circumstances. The first is that for the sake of civil rights and democratic freedoms, for the right to vote and be elected, people were willing to go to prison and hard labor, fought on the barricades, and were willing to die. This is an important historical lesson. It sharply emphasizes The state of modern democracy in general and electoral democracy in particular is a question. Related to this is the question of the advisability of such forms of expression as remote electronic voting.
The second circumstance is that, at the beginning of the 20th century, the State Duma and the Soviets emerged simultaneously in Russian history. This provides an opportunity to deeply explore the problematic of democratic models. The question of whether all these models are effective forms of popular sovereignty is becoming increasingly pressing.
Even if we did not have such important historical examples before us, the aforementioned topics would still be extremely relevant. In today’s reality, there is a clear crisis of Western democracy. Political repression against opponents is a manifestation of this crisis. This is increasingly evident in France, Germany, and other countries. We saw monstrous election violations in Romania. We just witnessed perhaps the dirtiest elections in the history of Moldova. And yet, its president loves to talk so much about his commitment to European democracy.
Expert discussions at conferences within our forum have revealed a significant trend of polarization in the political life of many countries. Both left and right forces are strengthening their positions. This is a consequence of citizens’ desire to see clarity in the approaches of political forces. They want honesty and clarity, which have been eroded for so long.
Such contradictions are entirely natural. They reflect the crisis of the “democratic” models in many countries. Some voters advocate maximum political freedoms at any cost. For them, this is far more important than economic and other stability. Others resolutely advocate for stability, and they couldn’t care less about the integrity of electoral procedures. When the dilemma presents itself in this way, it is already a factor of crisis.
The question increasingly becomes how to ensure full civil rights, combining them with the most effective, promising, and creative development paths. I hope that our discussion will allow us to advance our understanding of these issues. I wish you a successful conference!
Overall, the events of the forum held in St. Petersburg were devoted to finding ways to strengthen a multipolar world. The speakers placed particular emphasis on developing cooperation across a wide range of areas – from economics and security to culture and education. Key topics of discussion included overcoming the crisis of international institutions, countering sanctions pressure, and expanding humanitarian and scientific ties.
Holding such a large-scale forum confirmed that, despite the challenging international situation, dialogue between Russia and the countries of Ibero-America is actively developing. This demonstrates a mutual desire to address issues that could expand opportunities for close cooperation in a multipolar world.