The new Council members join 33 already serving Council members to comprise the full body. To make way for these new Council members, a number of Council members who have served full three year terms now join the Emeritus Council group, remaining actively involved with the PI.
The thirty are leaders of powerful movements from 23 countries and will bring their struggles and experiences to the heart of the Progressive International’s decision making.
The new Council members are:
Baba Aye, Co-Convener of the Coalition for Revolution, a political organisation in Nigeria.
Deyvid Bacelar, General Coordinator of Brazil’s Single Federation of Oil Workers (FUP) and Director of Sindipetro Bahia.
Rita Berlofa, international relations secretary for Contraf-CUT, a union which represents 450,000 bank workers in Brazil.
Karol Cariola, member of Chile’s Chamber of Deputies.
Mariela Castro Espín, member of Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power.
Jodi Dean, professor, organiser and author of books including The Communist Horizon, Crowds and Party and Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging.
Demba Moussa Dembele, member of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, in Dakar, Senegal.
Gacheke Gachihi, coordinator of Mathare Social Justice Centre and a member of the Social Justice Centres Working Group Steering Committee in Nairobi, Kenya.
Alberto Garzón, Spanish Minister of Consumer Affairs and General Coordinator of the United Left.
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA.
Vashna Jagarnath, office of the General Secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.
Abirami Jotheeswaran, General Secretary of the All India Dalit Women's Rights Forum-NCDHR.
Łukasz Kozak, member of the board of Akcja Socjalistyczna, a political organization in Poland.
Nilüfer Koç, member of the Executive Council and spokesperson for the Commission on Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan National Congress.
Clara López Obregón, Colombian Senator, representing the Historic Pact.
Esperanza Martínez, Paraguayan Senator for Citizens’ Participation Party, part of the Frente Guasú - Ñemongeta coalition.
Clarissa Mendoza, Head of the Secretariat of the Movement for Agrarian Reform and Social Justice, a mass movement in the Philippines.
Romenio Pereira, secretary of International Relations of the Workers’ Party (PT) of Brazil.
Annie Raja, General Secretary of National Federation of Indian Women, and senior leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI).
Ismat Raza Shahjahan, founding President of the Pakistan-based Women Democratic Front.
Juan Nicolás Richards, international relations for Argentine trade union CTA-T.
Stephen Ruvuga is executive director of The Network of Farmers Groups in Tanzania (MVIWATA).
Kohei Saito, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tokyo and author of Capital in the Anthropocene.
Henry Saragih, General Chair of the SPI Central Management Board (DPP) of the Indonesian Farmers Union.
Nardi Suxo, former minister and ambassador for the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
Astra Taylor, film-maker, co-founder of the Debt Collective and author of The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart.
Mônica Valente, former Vice President of CUT Brazil, a trade union federation of over 8 million members and National Executive Board member for the Workers Party (PT).
Carina Vance Mafla, former Executive Director of the South American Institute of Government in Health of UNASUR (ISAGS) and former Minister of Public Health of Ecuador.
Célia Xakriabá, member of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies
Hilary Zhou, National Coordinator of the Zimbabwe People’s Land Rights Movement.
Commenting on the new appointments, Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, said:
“We are delighted to welcome this esteemed cohort to the Council, representing the great diversity of peoples movements around our shared world. We share with them a fierce ambition and impatience for a just world.
“The Progressive International's mandate is determined by its members. We will be strengthened by the new Council's diverse political histories, expertise, and drive as we, and our member organisations representing millions of people around the world, work to make solidarity more than a slogan.”
