Viva Venezuela!

VIVAVENEZUELA!

VIVAVENEZUELA!

■ Vol 1 ■ Issue 1 ■ Summer 2011

Venezuelan Sovereignty

www.venezuelasolidarity.co.uk e: [email protected]

Full report of Venezuela: Defending the

Majority, Not Punishing thePoorest Conference inside

Also inside: ■ ‘Dodgy dossier’ exposed ■ Venezuela sees stronger economic growth ■ Opposition to US sanctions on Venezuela ■ New anti-racism law passed ■ Massive housing programme launched■ Growing interest in Venezuela’s positive example

www.thompsons.law.co.uk

With thanks to

Britain Shows Its Solidarity

Under AttackVenezuelan Sovereignty

Under Attack

2 SUMMER 2011 ■ VIVA VENEZUELA!

...EDITORIAL...EDITORIAL...EDITORIAL...EDITORIAL...EDITORIAL...EDITORIAL...

We are launching Viva Venezuela! ata crucial time. We are nowentering the run up to Venezuela’s2012 presidential elections - both

supporters and opponents of the remarkablesocial transformation taking place there arebecoming increasingly galvanised as this keydate approaches.

In Venezuela itself, the former ruling elite are in the process of selecting their Oppositionpresidential candidate to challenge HugoChávez.

On the international scene – as covered indepth in this issue – we are seeing a resurgentUS Republican Right step up its efforts toisolate Venezuela internationally, and buildsupport for further US intervention.

Expectations that under Obama there could be some normalisation of the relations withVenezuela have been thoroughly unfulfilled. In fact, in June the Obama administrationimposed sanctions against Venezuela's state oil company.

This follows the election of Republican Righthardliners to influential positions following USelections last November. Connie Mack,Chairman of the US House of RepresentativesSubcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, hassaid he is determined to get Venezuela into thelist of states that sponsor terrorism. His

Republican colleague, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,Chairman of the House Foreign AffairsCommittee, who publicly called for Fidel Castroto be assassinated, has said she fully backsMack’s efforts.

Indeed, as we go to press, Connie Mack wasalready making calls for tightening theaforementioned sanctions at a Committeehearing in Washington, where he demanded theUS Government stop purchasing Venezuelan oil.

The launching in London of a very negative andfalse report by the International Institute ofStrategic Studies (IISS) claiming Venezuela hasterrorist links, which we cover inside, showsthat the current anti-Venezuelan crusade haslike-minded people in very high places.

A key dimension of both US aggression againstVenezuela and the right-wing VenezuelanOpposition’s work internationally is thedemonisation of the Venezuelan Government bytheir allies in much of the mainstream media.On past evidence, the intensity and quantity ofthis demonisation increases substantiallywhenever elections are held in Venezuela.

Here in Britain we should therefore expectsystematic media attacks against Venezuela inthe next period. Viva Venezuela! will not onlycounteract such distortions, but also give thefacts on the positive changes being made tothe lives of millions of Venezuelans.

Welcome to Viva Venezuela!Welcome to the firstedition of VSC’s new

magazine, VivaVenezuela!

Contributors to this issue were:■ Lee Brown■ Francisco Dominguez■ Stephanie Pearce■ Matt Willgress and■ Tim Young

This magazine is published by theVenezuela Solidarity Campaign

President Chávez in Hospital

At the time of writing, Venezuelan President HugoChávez was in hospital in Cuba, having fell ill whilston a regional tour. Whilst the Right-wing Opposition isseeking to use thesituation politically toargue he should standdown temporarily, theGovernment has issued astatement saying he isrecovering well.

3SUMMER 2011 ■ VIVA VENEZUELA!

...NEWS FROM VENEZUELA...NEWS FROM VENEZUELA...NEWS FROM VENEZUELA...

The ambitious plan is to eradicateVenezuela’s estimated housing deficitof over 1.7m homes by 2017. The initialtarget of building 350,000 new homes

by the end of 2012 would see more housesbuilt in the next 18 months than the past 10years! So far the government has announced itwill invest more than US$14bn in the scheme.

To assess need, a registration programme waslaunched in May and more than 355,000people signed up in the first two days. Thoseleft homeless by the last year’s heavy rainshave been prioritised, along with peoplesuffering particular hardship.

Nonetheless, Mission Housing Venezuela, will be open to all and everyone will be entitled to

a government subsidy, with the rate dependingon their level of income.

Venezuela’s National Assembly hasunanimously approved a Law AgainstRacial Discrimination. This newlegislation, passed in April, follows

laws which prevent discrimination againstindigenous people or on gender grounds, andwill protect the right of the Afro-Venezuelancommunity to lives free from discrimination.

The law was passed to mark the sixth annual Afro-Venezuelan Day and establishesmechanisms to prevent, respond to, punish and eradicate discrimination by any person(s),organisation, public authorities or privateinstitutions.

The Vice-President of the National Assembly,Aristobulo Isturiz, himself of African descent,said that “diversity and equality arefundamental values which the government will continue fighting to achieve.”

Venezuela to build twomillion affordable homes In a move that could be just

as impressive as Venezuela’stransformation of health and

education services, a newsocial housing programmehas been launched across

Venezuela.

Venezuela sees strongereconomic growth

Venezuela's economy grew at 4.5percent in the first quarter, comparedwith the same period last year,according to statistics released by the

Central Bank of Venezuela in May. As a resultgovernment officials have revised upwardsfrom an initial forecast of 2.5 percent growth in2011 to double that.

Venezuela went into an 18-month recession inthe first quarter of 2009 following a six-yearperiod of sustained economic growth, duringwhich poverty halved.

Yet, despite oil revenues being hit hard andVenezuela witnessing a recession just as deepas Britain's, its government maintained front-line spending during the recession to protectpeople's living standards.

Furthermore, government spending on serviceshas been rising since early 2010, helping tospur economic growth. Spending ongovernment services is now up eight percentabove its pre-recession levels.

Regarding future growth, Minister for Planningand Finance Jorge Giordani, said “the boost tothe housing programme” will also give aneconomic boost.

New Anti-RacistLegislation

Venezuela's government hasrevised upwards its

economic growth forecastfor the year to 5 percent

after strong growth in thefirst quarter of 2011.


...DEFENDING THE MAJORITY, NOT PUNISHING THE POOREST CONFERENCE...

More than 300 people attended the biggestever solidarity conference held for Venezuelain this country in April. Leading figures from

the Venezuelan government, Britain andEurope came together to look at how

Venezuela is defending the majority and notpunishing the poorest.

The conference focused on themagnificent social achievements of theHugo Chávez -led government andshowed the dramatic transformation

that can take place when people are placed atthe core of government policy.

Venezuelan Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs,Temir Porras, was the conference keynotespeaker, taking the opportunity to warn theaudience to expect an aggressive campaign ofmisinformation in the media in the run up to the2012 Presidential elections.

He explained that "in Venezuela there is achoice between voting for the old privileges ofthe traditional elite or real democracy. For thefirst time, all Venezuelans are benefiting fromthe oil wealth in terms of investment in socialservices and the increase in GDP since theelection of President Chávez. Gone are the dayswhen it was just a few oligarchs benefitingfrom the country's natural resources. When themajority speak, it is clear that people don'twant to give power back to the minority elite."

He also underlined a key theme of the day –namely that despite Venezuela being affectedby the international financial crisis,"unemployment did not go up and there wereno cuts in social spending. This meant that theeconomic crisis did not translate into a socialcrisis."

Temir Porras was joined by representativesfrom the Venezuelan Women's Ministry, BenitaFinol and Juana Garcia, and VenezuelanAmbassador Samuel Moncada.

Opening the event, Ambassador Moncadaspoke of how the US and the Opposition arecontinuing to work together to undermineVenezuela’s development. He said Wikileaks hasrevealed that the Archbishop of Caracas,Baltazar Porras, held secret meetings with theUS Ambassador in Caracas to call for US

intervention in Venezuela to contain Venezuela's"regional aspirations". Another Wikileakshowed former Colombian President, AlvaroUribe, calling for US military intervention inVenezuela shortly before ordering the bombingof Ecuador in 2008. Ambassador Moncada said"people thought that Venezuela was paranoidbut these documents show the nature of thevery real threat that Venezuela faces."

An Example of Social Inclusionas Europe Faces CutsThe conference closed with a Q&A paneldiscussion with all Venezuelan and Europeanguests. Winfried Hansch from Die Linke (theLeft Party) Germany encouraged othercountries to learn from Venezuela’s positiveexample, whilst Bernard Cassan (formerDirector General of the Le Monde Diplomatiquenewspaper) contrasted the "neo-liberal"policies of the EU with the progressive policiesadopted by Venezuela and the other ALBAcountries. Finally, Colin Burgon (Labour Friendsof Venezuela) emphasised that it was crucialwe learned from Venezuela as well assupporting it.

Such a concluding message from Europe asmany face savage cuts was particularly fitting –Venezuela shows another world is possible,where people are put first. It’s vital we support it!

Conference Celebrating Ve

“For the first time, all Venezuelans arebenefiting from the oil wealth in terms of

investment in social services and the increase in GDP since theelection of President Chávez. Gone are the days when it was justa few oligarchs benefiting from the country's natural resources”

Temir Porras (pictured left)


...DEFENDING THE MAJORITY, NOT PUNISHING THE POOREST CONFERENCE...

nezuela a Massive Success!

Gail Cartmail, TUC InternationalDevelopment Spokesperson:“A huge amount is at stake inVenezuela. The quality of life formillions of people depends on thecontinuation of the currentprocesses of social progress.”

Akey theme of the April 16conference was women’s role at theheart of social progress, with theevent hearing first hand from Juana

Garcia and Benita Fional of the VenezuelanGovernment’s Women’s Ministry.

Benita Fional, who has been part of thewomen's struggle in Venezuela for 60 years,said: "Under previous governments womenwere invisible; it was as if we did not exist.We suffered terrible repression anddiscrimination but now finally we are beinggiven the support, recognition and status wedeserve. That's why in 2002 mostly womentook to the streets against the coup to showwe are willing to fight for our revolution."

Following the Conference, the two womenmet with a range of political, community andlabour movement figures including LabourParty Treasurer and Unite Assistant GeneralSecretary Diana Holland (pictured), who paidtribute to the advances women in Venezuelahave made in recent years.

■ The successful trip followed a number of initiatives of the newly launched Women for Venezuela – [email protected] forinformation on future activities.

Jeremy Corbyn MP:“Venezuela offers somethingfundamentally different. We canlearn from Venezuela, be inspired,and apply the lessons here.”

Jenny Jones AM & Green PartyLondon Mayoral Candidate:“In Venezuela there is a focus on the needs of people and ourplanet rather than the uncheckedquest for profit.”

Colin Burgon, Labour Friends of Venezuela & VSC:“Venezuela is putting peoplebefore profit, just as we did in the1940s, creating a welfare state forthe first time in its history.”

Thanks to all the following organisations for supporting the Conference and inparticular, Thompsons Solicitors for supporting the publication of thismagazine as follow-up work from the event

Women’sProgress Marked


...DODGY DOSSIER...DODGY DOSSIER...DODGY DOSSIER...DODGY DOSSIER...

The International Institute for StrategicStudies report, The FARC Files:Venezuela, Ecuador and the SecretArchive of 'Raúl Reyes', claimed to look

in detail at relations between the ColombianFARC guerrilla group and the Venezuelan andEcuadorian governments, by examininghundreds of thousands of files allegedly foundon computer drives seized by the Colombianmilitary in 2008 from a bombed FARC camp.

The IISS report claims that the files revealVenezuelan and Ecuadorean collusion withFARC, involving the supply of weapons andparticipation in drug trafficking. In a furthernovel but ridiculous claim, the report alsoclaims that the Venezuelan governmentrequested the FARC to assassinate Opposition leaders.

The Venezuelan Embassy in London rejectedthe report, saying it “looks like a Latin Americadodgy dossier”. It warned that this couldbecome part of an aggressive propaganda tool

against Venezuela to undermine progress in theregion, precisely at a time when relationsbetween Venezuela and Colombia have reacheda level of stable cooperation and friendlydialogue.

The key assumption made by the authors isthat the information contained in the laptops isgenuine. In fact, within days of the report beinglaunched, Colombia’s Supreme Court declaredany information coming from the laptops as“legally inadmissible” as evidence, because notonly was it obtained illegally but also thelaptops contained no technically verifiableelectronic data which could be accepted asgenuine and factual! International policeorganisation INTERPOL had previously said thatthe handling of the files did “not conform tointernationally recognised principles for theordinary handling of electronic evidence by lawenforcement”.

Yet, despite this, under the guise of academicresearch, and on the basis of ‘material’ fromthe laptops, the IISS made numerousallegations against Venezuela.

It is worth noting that the IISS played a role inevents that led to publication of the dodgydossier justifying war on Iraq. As Kim Senguptapreviously explained in the Independent:“The IISS dossier on Iraqi weapons of massdestruction, published on 9 September 2002,was edited by Gary Samore, formerly of the USstate department, and presented by Dr JohnChipman, a former Nato fellow. It wasimmediately seized on by the Bush and Blairadministrations as providing ‘proof’ thatSaddam was just months away from launchinga chemical and biological, or even a nuclearattack. Large parts of the IISS document weresubsequently recycled in the now notoriousDowning Street dossier, published with aforeword by the Prime Minister, the followingweek.” Nigel Inkster, who presented the IISSreport on Venezuela at its launch, was a formerdeputy director of MI6 in the lead-up to warwith Iraq, as "part of the team monitoringchemical and biological weapons proliferation,including Iraqi attempts to procure suchmaterial”.

Furthermore, among IISS trustees and councilmembers are Robert D Blackwill, a former

Dodgy Dossier Against Venezuela

A new report, launchedin London in May, sought

to link Venezuela tointernational terrorism.

It has led to concernsthat it reflects an

increasingly aggressiveattitude towards

Venezuela from forceslinked to the Right in the

US, both there and herein Britain.


...OPPOSITION TO US SANCTIONS...OPPOSITION TO US SANCTIONS...

In defence of Venezuela’s nationalsovereignty, VSC launched the followingstatement which has been signed bynumerous MPs, cultural figures, writers,

trade union leaders, academics and others.Initial signatories include: former Minister PeterHain MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman MP, performingartist Linton Kwesi Johnson, filmmaker JohnPilger, writer Jody McIntyre and representativesof ‘the big four’ unions:

"We oppose the decision of US government toimpose sanctions on the Venezuela state-ownedoil company PDVSA, when no action of any kindundertaken by Venezuela contradicts any principleof international law. The sanctions have beendescribed by Venezuela as "a hostile action onthe fringes of international law that violates theprinciples of the Charter of the UN", and rejectedby Venezuela’s elected National Assembly.

This is the latest in a series of violations ofVenezuela’s sovereignty in recent years. It reflectsan increasingly hostile agenda being driven by theRepublican Right, following its successes at last

November's US elections, which have led to itcontrolling a number of important foreign affairs committees.

This hostility includes a stated desire by leadingright-wing republicans to add Venezuela to the US list of ‘state sponsors of terrorism’ and hasseen substantial increases in funding ofVenezuela opposition groups. It also comes withinthe context of a build up of US military bases inthe region in recent years, which many see as athreat to the region’s stability.

We believe that in the run-up to PresidentialElections in December 2012, it is up to theVenezuelan people alone to decide their ownfuture, free from external interference, and call on all governments to respect this right."

■ You can help by asking your MP to sign thestatement using our easy online tool atwww.venezuelasolidarity.co.uk . At the timeof going to press, approaching 200 MPs had been contacted, with new MPscontinuing to add their names.

WidespreadBritish Oppositionto US Sanctions on Venezuela

The announcement of US sanctions againstthe state-owned Venezuelan oil company hasbeen met by widespread condemnation inVenezuela and across Latin America.

deputy national security adviser to George W Bush; Dr John Hillen, formerly assistantsecretary of state for political-military affairs;Dr Eliot Cohen, Condoleezza Rice's formersenior adviser and Dr Ariel Levite, a formerdeputy national security adviser. From Britain,there is Sir David Manning, a foreign policyadviser to Tony Blair in the lead-up to Iraq, aswell as Lord Powell of Bayswater, a formerforeign policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher!

The launch of this report to much internationalfanfare comes at a time when right-wing neo-cons have occupied key foreign policy positionsin the US, from which they have intensifiedtheir efforts to get the Obama administration toharden its stance against Venezuela.

The IISS’ Farc Files was clearly an attempt bypowerful forces to step up the demonisation ofVenezuela’s government and other progressivegovernments in the region. The fact that thisreport was launched in London – and Britain’srole in recent US foreign policy aggressionselsewhere in the world – shows just howimportant our role in explaining the truth about such matters can be.

‘The IISS’ Farc Files was clearly anattempt by powerfulforces to step up the demonisation of Venezuela’sgovernment andother progressivegovernments in the region’

■ Vol 1 ■ Issue 1 ■ Summer 2011

VIVAVENEZUELA!

tours of Venezuelan trade union leaders fromOctober to December.

Additionally, in February 2012 a labourmovement solidarity delegation will visitVenezuela. UNISON Scotland RegionalSecretary Mike Kirby, who visited Venezuela in2009, said “this is a unique opportunity to seefirst hand the positive alternatives to neo-liberalism that are being developed and howthese are improving the lives of ordinaryVenezuelans.”

■ For information on the solidarity delegationcontact [email protected].

In the last year, over 1000 people at labourmovement conferences and fringemeetings have heard how Venezuela isputting people first. Speaking to BFAWU

Conference, former MP Colin Burgon summedup the reasons for this support, saying,“Venezuela represents a break from neo-liberalism that we can draw inspiration from,where health is now accessed by the poor andeducation is free for all, and the right to strikeis enshrined in the constitution."

A crucial opportunity to further build on thissolidarity will be two Venezuela – Defending theMajority, Not Punishing the Poorest speaking

Growing Interest inVenezuela’s Positive Example

■ The speaking tours will include events hostedby Unite regional partners in the North East,Yorkshire and Humberside, North West, SouthEast and Wales regions, plus UNISON Walesand VSC local group meetings. [email protected] if you areinterested in hosting a speaker.

Name

Address

Organisation/Position

Tel

Email

❍ Individuals: £12 (waged), £6 (unwaged/students) ❍ Regional Organisations £60. ❍ Local organisations (inc. TU Branches): £30National Organisations: ❍ Less than 50,000 members £80, ❍ 50,000–100,000 members £120, ❍ 100,000–500,000 members £200, ❍ More than 500,000 members £300.You can now join online at: www.venezuelasolidarity.co.ukMake cheques payable to: Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, PO Box 56210, London, N4 4XH. Email: [email protected].

Please return this form directly to VSC not your bank.

Standing orderJoin VSC for only £12 a year onstanding order and get a freecopy of Oliver Stone’s acclaimedSouth of the Border.

Paying by standing order helps us to plan more effectively.

Bank name

Bank address

Postcode

Sort code

Account number

Please pay: ❍ £6, ❍ £12, ❍ Other: per month / quarter / year (delete as appropriate)To Bank Account No: 65178320, Sort Code: 08-92-99 Co-operative Bank, 1 Islington High Street, N1 9TR

From (date) until further notice.

Name Signature

Join the VSC

Viva Venezuela!

Documents

Transcript of Viva Venezuela!