Sheffield Venezuela Solidarity Campaign

On 16th May, the Venezuela Information Centre held its third and final AGM.  From now on, the organisation will be known as the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign (VSC).  This simple but essential name change has been adopted in order to reassert the purpose of our campaign.  New constitutional clauses have been added, vowing “to defend Venezuela’s sovereignty and independence” and “to defend the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution”.  VSC Secretary Francisco Dominguez argued that the changes would better define the organisation as a solidarity campaign dedicated to securing self-determination for the Venezuelan people.  Delegates agreed and voted unanimously in favour of the proposal.

Alvaro Sanchez brings greetings from the Venezuelan Embassy.

Mariano Baque (right), Ecuadorian trade unionist, addresses the meeting while Francisco Dominguez interprets.

The first guest speaker of the day was Alvaro Sanchez, Counsellor of the Venezuelan Embassy. He gave a wide-ranging speech and answered questions from the audience varying from the effect of Barrack Obama’s Presidency to the credit crunch’s impact on social programmes. He concluded that although Venezuela was not immune to the global crisis, Chávez was certainly not going to make the poor pay for it like many other countries.

In the afternoon, Mariano Baque of the CTE trade union federation in Ecuador was received enthusiastically by the meeting.  He spoke passionately of the struggles faced in his country and of the progress made under President Rafael Correa.  He expressed his solidarity with Hugo Chávez in delivering change for the poor majorities in both countries and against US intervention.

On this note, it was good to see the meeting pass policy recognising the importance of the cooperation between Venezuela and the other Latin American nations, particularly Cuba.  Operation Miracle has perhaps been the greatest achievement of this progressive alliance, restoring the sight of hundreds of thousands in Latin America and more recently Africa.

Looking back at the previous year, we can be proud of the achievements of our campaign.  In April 2002, when Venezuelans were waking up to the reality of a military coup against elected President Chávez, Foreign Office Minister for Latin America Denis MacShane was penning a letter to the times describing him as a “ranting, populist demagogue” and comparing him to Mussolini.  In a recent House of Commons debate on Latin America, current Foreign Office Minister for Latin America Gillian Merron welcomed “President Chavez’s emphasis on policies to help the poorest and most vulnerable people”.  This remarkable change is the result of years of hard work from Labour Friends of Venezuela, the Venezuelan Embassy and the Venezuela Information Centre and is critical in ensuring that our government stays well clear of the kind of aggression towards Venezuela seen from the United States under George W Bush.  The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign will only be able to continue this work with the support of its members, so if you have not already joined I encourage you to take this opportunity to sign up.

On the 18th February, Samuel Moncada, Venezuelan Ambassador to the U.K., spoke to an audience of over 50 people in Sheffield.  His wide-ranging introduction covered the amazing social progress that Venezuela has seen in the ten years since the election of Chávez, from the cutting in half of poverty to the expansion of healthcare and education.  He spoke about the regular Venezuelan elections, including the recent constitutional poll in which allies of the President were victorious.  Samuel’s talk was followed by a lively question and answer session, which explored the specifics of improvements in schools, nationalisation of industry and moves to secure a freer press.

Also see the meeting page – Ten years of the Chávez government in Venezuela: an assessment of social progress