Today, November 17, is once again celebrated the International Students’ Day.

This day, whose origin is deeply connected with the brave struggle of the Czech students’ movement against the nazi-fascist oppression and occupation over the country, is more than ever up to date.

The world we live in, dominated by the imperialist forces, excludes millions of young people from access to any form of education, whilst spends huge amount of resources to continue the imperialist wars, occupations and destruction.

Furthermore, for those can have access to some sort of education, the contents and the possibilities of accessing wide and deep knowledge is daily more and more narrowed by elitization policies followed by the imperialist allied Governments, privatizing and/or increasing the costs of access to education - particularly in the highest levels, but not only - implementing the guidelines of the market for education, as proposed by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, structures that represent the interest of the big economic groups.

The access to education, in a free, quality and universal way, is a priority for our world and for mankind, as this is the only way to ensure free and democratic development, breaking the chains that imperialism wants to impose to the youth and peoples of the world, producing generations of people unaware of their history and rights, unwilling and incapable to struggle for the overthrown of the same system that oppresses and exploits them.

On this day, for its historical meaning and for its outstanding relevance in the current world, WFDY reaffirms its solidarity and full support to the students’ movement. The historical bounds between WFDY and the international students’ movement and all the struggles that throughout the world are developed by students have from WFDY the maximum attention and support.

WFDY calls upon its member and friendly organizations to continue their struggle for public, free and quality education for all as part of the wider struggle against imperialism.

In the past few days the students of Austria have developed significant actions in the struggle against the Bologna Process and its impacts of privatization in the Austrian educational system.

These actions, massively participated by the Austrian students, are crucial for defeating the European Union, World Bank and World Trade Organization’s imperialist strategy to prevent the children of the working class to ever access the highest levels of education, knowledge and culture.

The same imperialism that destroys and invades countries and makes millions of people starve to death in a world where the food production is actually higher than the needs of the world population, wants the future generations to be an army of silent and non-critical workers, whose only goal of life is to contribute to the concentration of wealth and increase of profits of the major economic groups.

WFDY believes that the so called “Bologna Process” is a tool of imperialism in a way to build an educational system according to the aims of the imperialists and in full contradiction with the rights, wishes and needs of mankind.

All through Europe, the consequences of the implementation of the Bologna Process are an evidence of the wish of imperialism to privatize and narrow to maximum levels the access to Education, particularly to wide knowledge and to the ability of creative development of futher knowledge.

Therefore, WFDY salutes the struggle of the Austrian students and calls upon them and their representative structures to continue the struggle until all its goals are achieved. Furthermore, WFDY calls upon all its member and friend organizations to spread the news and solidarity towards the Austrian students, making a contribution to the reinforcement of the struggle in their own country for a Public, Free and Quality Education!

The World Federation of Democratic Youth, is following with much attention the serious situation of the human rights lived in Colombia and particularly the continuous attacks against the youth and students leaders, which are chased, murdered and force do leave the country, without any guarantee by the fascist government of Colombia.

The Government of Alvaro Uribe has continued it policies of hostilities against the young people in the last weeks, with the support of the paramilitary groups (who are said not exist anymore), murdering four students and wounding other three, distributing propaganda to create fear among the population.

WFDY, condemns these actions that have been held against the Colombian young people and students, by the fascist government of Alvaro Uribe Velez, and calls upon all its member and friend organizations as well as all the progressive youth of the world to express its condemnation of the colombian government and the support to the demand of the youth organizations of Colombia so that justice is made and that the material and intelectual responsible for everything that happened are investigated and punished.