Our goal continues to be the defeat of imperialism to construct a world of peace and solidarity, said Nicolas Papademetriou, president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), reading the final declaration approved by the organization’s XIX General Assembly, which concluded yesterday, November 12, in Havana.

Papademetriou reiterated that the group will continue to struggle alongside youth and the oppressed to oppose wars and occupations, noting after the approval of the declaration that the new WFDY leadership will continue with its work in accordance with the positions and principles which have always characterized the organization.

He described the discussions which took pace during the event as profound and valuable, reiterating the need for unity among progressive youth in the international struggle for peace and a world in which peoples are the true masters of their own lives.

Papademetriou reaffirmed the WFDY’s support for free, universal education and the rights of workers.

The Cyprus Union of Young Communists was ratified as president of the WFDY and Cuba’s Young Communist League (UJC) as secretary general of the organization.

José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and head of its International Relations Department; Crespo Yuniasky Baquero, first secretary of the UJC National Committee; Julio César García Rodríguez, an official of the Party Central Committee, and Soraya Álvarez, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and director general of the Cuban Association of the United Nations, all presided over the closing ceremony.