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.”
