Venezuela Solidarity Conference
Hundreds are gathering Mar. 4 and 5 in Washington D.C. for the National Conference on Venezuela. The goal is, “To bring a broad range of political, solidarity and religious activists together to support Venezuela’s right to self-determination and oppose U.S. government interference in Venezuela’s sovereign affairs,” said Chuck Kaufman, one of the organizers.
Venezuela faces tremendous hostility from Bush and the U.S. government, including an attempt to kidnap and overthrow President Chavez in April 2002. Chavez’s Bolivarian Revolution is improving the lives of working people, with literacy and education projects, health clinics, land reform, factories run by workers and large public works. The Venezuelan people are now grappling with the question of how to carry forward the national democratic revolution and what socialism will mean for the country. The rich who rule the U.S. and control large parts of Latin America are furious with Chavez and the revolution in Venezuela.
Kostas Harlan from North Carolina, a student delegate to the World Youth Festival in Venezuela stated, “This past summer, we met and discussed with youth from around the world how to stop Bush’s war in Iraq and protect Venezuela from U.S. invasion. Oil is at the heart of the matter. Chavez uses oil profits to improve people’s lives.”
Conference organizer Stephanie Weiner of Chicago said, “There will be many workshops to sharpen people’s organizing and you will hear from solidarity activists of the Bolivarian Circles and the Colombia Action Network, trade unionists from the anti-NED/CIA protests at the AFL-CIO Convention last summer, students from Venezuela delegations and Venezuelan revolutionaries. Grassroots leaders will work towards creating a strong, vibrant movement making international solidarity a reality.”
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