Saturday, March 23, 2019

Support Venezuela’s revolution!


By Theo Russell

Venezuelans and supporters of the country’s Bolivarian socialist revolution gathered in London in March for a working meeting of the European Network of Solidarity with Venezuela entitled ‘Venezuela, a country under attack’. The conference, at the Bolivar Hall on 9th March, was the second European meeting organised by the Gran Polo Patriotico (GPP), which was created by the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Venezuela to “nurture and strengthen international solidarity with the revolutionary process”. It was attended by delegates from Belgium, Spain, Malta, Switzerland, Britain, Ecuador, Guatemala and Bolivia.
Opening the meeting, Venezuelan ambassador Rocio Maneiro said that: “The GPP was created to develop support for the Chavista Tendency. The idea of adding and opening paths is typical of the way of thinking of Hugo Chavez.”
She said the GPP’s aim “is to replace country by country solidarity with unified solidarity” and warned that: “At this moment there is a real threat to the sovereignty of Venezuela and there is a real threat to peace and stability in Latin America.”
David Brady, a writer on socialism in Latin America and a Green Party councillor, said that after the west declared socialism moribund in 1990, the achievement of state power by a socialist government in Venezuela had proved that socialism is a living political force.
He pointed out that: “It was only in 2004 (five years after becoming president) that Chavez began talking about socialism”. Until then he had only referred to “participatory democracy”.
He said that the attempted coup against Chavez in 2002 “was partly about oil, but more importantly it was about the example of independence, dignity and social justice which Venezuela represented”. And he warned that: “Donald Trump’s aim is to end socialism in Venezuela, and then attack Nicaragua and Cuba, and any country that dares to defy them.”
Brady also warned against attacks on Nicolas Maduro by some on the left, such as questioning his intelligence and ability, and pointed out that “he made massive contributions in his previous roles as a minister and foreign minister”.
Delegates heard of the vast gulf between rich and poor that existed before 1999 and the mass uprising across Venezuela in 1989 after IMF-imposed reforms. Even at that time the poor in Caracas and other cities had achieved a high level of organisation in neighbourhood committees, and the elite were hoarding and speculating on basic products.
Other speakers described the difference between the masses and the rich, white upper class as “almost like two different countries”, and said that before 1999 “the majority of the population lived like refugees in their own country”.
For the first time, under Chavez, workers, peasants, indigenous people and the urban poor began to participate in Venezuela’s political and cultural life, and their cultures were valued and respected.
Huge advances have been made since 1999 in health, housing and education: 43 new universities have been created; and since 2015 alone 2.5 million new houses have been built.
This explains the mass base of the support for Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, and why, although Venezuelans have been highly critical of both leaders, a common slogan is: “We made the revolution, we made Chavez, we made Maduro!”
It also explains why huge crowds took to the streets of Caracas in to show their support for Maduro during the recent electric power sabotage and why the peasants are organising spontaneous marches into Caracas in support of the ‘Chavista’ revolution.
In 1999 Venezuela inherited huge problems and a grossly distorted economy. Oil prices were lower than water – a subsidy for the wealthy but raising them would harm the poor. This has seriously harmed the economy.

In the decades before 1999 millions of poor peasants moved to the cities, resulting in a huge fall in agricultural production. This in turn led to most food being imported, whilst 80 per cent of food distribution is still in private hands.
Whilst the government sells limited amounts of staples such as flour, street prices are often 25 times higher. But solutions have been found to produce food products and monthly food parcels are sent to poor families. Medicines in Venezuela are still free, with supplies bought from India and Russia.
Carolina Graterol, director of the soon to be released film A Letter from Venezuela and a member of the GPP, told the meeting: “When I returned to Venezuela after 11 years I expected to see a disaster; but after travelling around the country I saw people full of optimism, people smiling, helping each other and fighting. Even in the most dangerous parts of Caracas, people showed solidarity and calmly dealt with problems.”
Many speakers stressed that Venezuela does not need humanitarian aid. Carolina Graterol said: “There is no problem with humanitarian aid, for example if it is organised by the Red Cross or the UN, but not by unknown NGOs or charities. But why try to force aid on Venezuela that we don’t need?
“What about aid for children in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, where children have lost arms and legs, where there are refugees and hunger, and houses and infrastructure need rebuilding?”
The economic sabotage began from day one of Chavez taking power, and after five years of criminal activity, infiltration of saboteurs and terrorists, and large scale smuggling, Venezuela was forced to close the border with Colombia that had been overrun by paramilitaries, criminal groups and the Colombian army.
The border crossing blocked by containers shown recently in the British media – with footage of a handful of “freedom fighters” throwing rocks – was, in fact, never allowed to open by the Colombian side, as a way of pushing up prices and profits for smugglers, and is miles away from the nearest actual crossing point.
The sabotage has taken extreme terrorist forms, including the violent ‘Guarimbas’ roadblocks and the training of opposition protesters to set Maduro supporters on fire – a tactic also seen used against police during the 2013–14 Euromaidan protests in Ukraine.
Dr Oscar Guardiola-Rivera said that that whereas over two million people have recently left Venezuela, seven million have left Colombia due to poverty. He said that Colombian president Iván Duque Márquez was the most unpopular leader in Latin America and that in less than three months after taking power, 115 left-wing and trade union leaders have been murdered.
He said Márquez, a close US ally, was allying with other extreme right-wing, racist, sexist and homophobic leaders in the region, such as Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro.
In the discussions about practical solidarity work, calls were made for Jeremy Corbyn to make a clear commitment to return to the Venezuelan government and people the $1.2bn in gold reserves seized by the Bank of England.
A call was also made to boycott businesses run by billionaire Richard Branson after he funded a ‘Live Aid-inspired’ concert on the Colombian border that was condemned by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters. Waters said: “It has nothing to do with humanitarian aid at all. It has to do with Richard Branson … having bought the US saying ‘We have decided to take over Venezuela, for whatever our reasons may be’.”
Jeremy Corbyn has said of the recent regime change attempt: “We oppose outside interference in Venezuela, whether from the USA or anywhere else," and John McDonnell has supported a dialogue led by the Mexican and Bolivian presidents.
But shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti says she relies on “trusted sources”, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, to accuse the Venezuelan government of “crushing dissent” – a position echoed by shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry. In fact the recently suspended Chris Williamson is the only British MP to give clear support for president Nicolas Maduro.
After lengthy debate the conference adopted an 11-point declaration that amongst other things called for supporters of the legitimate Venezuelan government to defend peace in Venezuela, defend Venezuela’s democratic institutions, demand that Britain return 14 tons of gold reserves, and supporting the dialogue process proposed by Uruguay, Mexico, the Caricom countries and the Vatican.
The conference ended with Venezuelan ambassador Rocio Maneiro saying that: “The most important thing now is unity amongst the groups in Europe that support the Maduro government.”
Thanking all those present for their support, she reminded them: “We are aware of the enormous tasks we face. The struggles, injustices and corruption of the last 200 years cannot be overcome in 20 years.”

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