Caracas, Venezuela – Gifts were exchanged by the 15,000 delegates throughout the 16th World Youth Festival held here, Aug. 7-15. One of those gifts was more than a store-bought present – it was a banner that came with a promise. U.S. labor activists gave National Union of Workers representative Jacobo Torres the, “Say no to NED” banner that activists marched with outside the AFL-CIO convention in July in Chicago.

Erika Zurawski traveled to Venezuela Aug. 10-22 to serve as an official elections observer under the auspices of the National Elections Council of Venezuela, which is overseen by the Venezuelan Supreme Court. Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, faced a recall referendum which aimed to remove him from office. Chavez is leading a national democratic revolution which aims to empower Venezuela’s poor and free the country from foreign domination.

Frontline Defense for National Democratic Revolution

Dr. Rodrigo Chavez, coordinator of the Bolivarian Circles in Venezuela, was interviewed by Tom Burke of the Colombia Solidarity Committee in Chicago. The Bolivarian Circles, with 2.2 million members, are the backbone of the national democratic revolution in Venezuela. After an attempted U.S. coup against Chavez on April 11, 2002, the Bolivarian Circles helped reinstall popularly-elected President Hugo Chavez. The Bolivarian Circles also successfully organized mass resistance against criminal corporate managers’ and corrupt union officials’ attempted destruction of the oil industry.

Venezuela – A great confrontation is under way in Venezuela. On one side stands Venezuela’s elite – backed by the Bush administration and the big oil companies. On the other side of the barricades stand Venezuela’s oppressed and patriotic, people who are rallying around their progressive president, Hugo Chávez.

Venezuelan socialists netted another electoral victory, Feb. 15, winning a popular referendum on constitutional changes. The changes will remove the two-term limit on elected office.