August/September 2005

http://alawda.newjerseysolidarity.org

Venezuela: Revolution Grows Despite Attacks

The 16th World Youth Festival was held in Caracas, Venezuela earlier this month. Over twenty thousand delegates from 140 countries met for peace, solidarity, and against imperialism. This traditional gathering of progressive youth against fascism, colonization, and imperialism has been held regularly since 1948.

Last week I had the good fortune to hear two young men from New Jersey who attended the World Youth Festival report back on their experiences and on what they had learned there. Kaveh Razani is a twenty-year-old student from Piscataway currently living in St Louis, Missouri and Adam Chabal, is a Rutgers student from Jersey City.

They spoke of the beautiful mountains of Venezuela and of the poverty that was visible everywhere. Kaveh explained how past corrupt governments had taken Venezuela’s natural resources and used its oil profits to benefit the elite top 20% of the country’s population at the expense of the 80% majority who live in abject poverty.

“The Venezuelan people are a proud people”, Kaveh stated, “Over the years they have put up with so much. Now they have finally shaken off their shackles and for the first time are very optimistic about the future of their country.”

Kaveh went on to say that the overwhelming majority of the people of Venezuela support Chavez.

“Chavez has tens of thousands of supporters.”

Kaveh and Adam found their experiences at World Youth Festival to be culturally enlightening. They were glad to have had this opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the socio-economic climate of Venezuela and to meet with people from so many different countries.

“It was great to be able to communicate with so many different people and to join together as youth to fight for a better world and a better future for our planet”, said Kaveh, “Socialism is the only hope against the growing threat of imperialism in the world.”

Hugo Chavez addressed the festival in the opening ceremonies and again during the tribunal against imperialism, which was held at it’s closing. Chavez gave testimony at the tribunal referring to the evils of war and how conflicts have hurt so many people around the world.

Chavez also spoke of how proud he was to be serving the people. He emphasized that HE wasn’t the revolution. The PEOPLE are the revolution, and he warned that if anything was to happen to him the people of Venezuela must continue the revolution without him.

It was evident to Kaveh that Chavez is a spiritual man. He referenced God more than once and made mention of his own beliefs. It appeared to Adam and Kaveh that religion was well tolerated in Venezuela. The majority of the country’s population is Catholic.

Chavez has done much to improve the quality of life for most Venezuelans. He has taken the country’s oil profits and shared them more equitably. The people no longer have to pay for education. He has built medical missions in the barrios and rural areas making healthcare accessible for the first time in centuries. Chavez is the first to admit that he has a close personal relationship with Fidel Castro and Cuba. In return for access to Venezuelan oil, Cuba has sent doctors to Venezuela to staff the medical missions and to teach and train Venezuelan doctors.

Venezuela has responded to US aggression with more democracy. As the divide between those that have everything and those that have little narrows the people of Venezuela still have freedom of speech. Even though the newspapers and television networks, which are owned by the wealthy elite, constantly attack Chavez, nothing is done to censure them. (When Carmona Estanga came to power for 47 hours in the 2002 coup the first thing he did was to dissolve the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the democratically elected National Assembly.)

Venezuela holds democratic elections. People are allowed to make and sell their own goods. The people of Venezuela and Chavez have improved literacy and created an efficient healthcare system while still preserving human rights. Again and again Kaveh stressed how proud the people of Venezuela are.

“They are aware of the role they have played in changing their country and themselves. They are a happy people despite their poverty.”

Much has been done to improve the lives of the people. The people are participating in these changes. They are working together to make a better future for themselves.

“The Venezuelan people are a hope filled people because they have got a hold on their own future.”

This information is in stark contrast to the recent accusations and threats made by Pat Robertson. Founder of the Christian Coalition of America and host of the Christian Broadcasting Networks’ 700 Club, Pat Robertson called for the illegal assassination of Hugo Chavez during his August 22,2005 broadcast. Turning his back on the very teachings of Jesus and the Fifth Commandment of the Old Testament, Robertson has misused his position and power to incite violence and encourage people to break not only civil law but also God’s law.

Robertson has accused Chavez of “destroying the Venezuelan economy”. Robertson also called Chavez a “dangerous enemy to our south controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us badly” Not surprisingly, neither the FCC, nor the Department of Homeland Security have done anything about Robertson’s use of the public airways to incite violence and make terrorist threats.

Why is Hugo Chavez a danger? How has he threatened the United States?

More than the schools and the health missions it is the pride and the hope that the people of Venezuela now have in shaping their own future that is so threatening. There is an agenda that Pat Robertson and the Bush administration share which is dependant upon the very dependency and exploitation of certain groups of people that is in danger.

The example set by Chavez and the people of Venezuela threatens that agenda. As they rush to dismantle entitlement programs here in the US, and cut funding for education & healthcare, as they privatize more and more of the public sector it is a threat to Imperialism to have this example set by Venezuela. The example of a people democratically exercising their power to implement policies that are in the best interest of their class that is very dangerous to proponents of empire. It is especially threatening if these policies are implemented at the expense of greater corporate or individual profit.

Pat Robertson was emboldened to speak the way he did because the current government of the United States has been threatening Venezuela ever since Chavez was first elected. Robertson is not just some quack on a street corner. Aside from having influence in the Bush administration he is a high level spokesperson for the Christian Right. The Christian Right with its fascist tendencies is one of the bases of Bush support. He represents a movement that over the past decade has gained power and influence from local school boards to high levels in the military.

This movement uses its influence to bring about political changes here and abroad. They hope to create a Christian global empire. These changes allow few if any personal freedoms and liberties and require greater submission to the authorities of church, state, and corporation. They believe that they have God on their side and they justify using any means necessary to achieve their goals while demonizing their opposition.

We need to loudly oppose Pat Robertson and the Christian fascists. We need to demand that the US keep its hands off Chavez and stay out of Venezuela. Like the people of Venezuela we need to be willing to take an active role in what is going on around us.