Ghana’s former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, left Accra on Saturday for Caracas, Venezuela at the invitation of the National Assembly of Venezuela to participate in the fourth Forum of African Descendants in the Americas. Dubbed the Afrodescent Forum, the conference is being organised as part of activities marking the declaration of 2011 as African Descendant International Year as well as the 50th Independence anniversary of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The conference which has drawn participants from across the Southern American Region as well as Africa, opens on June 19 with a special address by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. President Rawlings who is the special Guest of Honour will present a paper on “The Capitalist Globalization and the Right to the Self-Determination of the Afro-Descendant Peoples and Communities”, on Monday and present another on “The African Culture Legacy in Our America and its Contribution”, on Tuesday. The conference will discuss among others, how to achieve the promotion of equity, social justice and the deepening of democracy culminating in a Caracas Declaration with a Plan of Action to revitalize the role African descendants play in the development of the Southern American Region and how that can positively impact on the rest of the world. Mr. Herbert Mensah accompanied President Rawlings. Source: Former President Rawlings’ blog