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The Assembly of the International Organisation of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Co-operatives – CICOPA took place in the framework of the ICA General Assembly, held in Cancun, Mexico, from 14 to 18 November. During CICOPA’s Assembly a new President was appointed and the new Executive Committee was elected.
Manuel Mariscal, from the Spanish Confederation of Worker Cooperatives (COCETA), was elected as president of CICOPA. Mariscal is vice-president of COCETA, and also vice-president of CECOP-CICOPA-Europe. He succeeds Javier Salaberria, who had been the CICOPA president for 6 years.
This is a key moment for the cooperative movement and worker cooperatives in particular, since they seem to be more necessary than ever to overcome the current crisis.
In his speech the new President stressed the great importance of employment, which is increasingly scarce at this time. “Because of that, it is a priority that worker cooperatives show to the world their form of doing business, with democratic methods that create territorial and social cohesion".
At the same time, Mariscal highlighted that he expects “to have the support of all CICOPA organizations, the small ones as well as the large ones”. He also looks forward to having the support of the vice presidents and people responsible in the different regions, to achieve the goal of raising the value of “work” as a fundamental element for the future.
The new Executive Committee of CICOPA is integrated by eleven delegates from the five continents.
