In Defence of Marxism

As a result of the Hands Off Venezuela tour in Italy (see: Successful conclusion to the Hands Off Venezuela speaking tour in Italy), good links were established with the Metal Workers Federation of the CGIL, Italy's main union. Resolutions in support of the Bolivarian revolution and recognising the UNT as the representative of the Venezuelan workers were passed at the FIOM regional congresses in Campania, Emiglia Romagna and Lombardia (see: The trade union situation in Venezuela - Recognising the UNT as the union organizing the majority of workers). Now the National Congress of the FIOM-CGIL, which took place in Livorno on June 2nd to June 5th passed the same resolution, and the union's national secretary Gianni Rinaldini signed the Hands Off Venezuela appeal.

The resolution expresses its solidarity with the Venezuelan workers and with the newly formed UNT trade union, and rejects the "corrupt bureaucracy of the CTV" for having supported the coup against Chavez in April 2002.

Resolution passed at the FIOM-CGIL Congress:

"The FIOM-CGIL Congress follows with concern the dramatic situation that workers in Venezuela are living through.

"The difficult situations the country has lived through in the last few years include the attempted coup on April 11, 2002, and the bosses lock out of December 2002, both led by the president of the local employers' federation Fedecamaras, Carmona, and substancially supported by the leadership of the CTV (Confederacion de trabajadores venezolanos).

"Therefore the Venezuelan workers decided in August 2003 to found a new trade union confederation, the UNT, which subsequently has been joined by a growing number of workers and trade union organisations from different sectors and which now represents the majority of organized Venezuelan workers.

"In the last few months, representatives of the UNT are organizing an international information campaign in order to raise awareness on the real situation in Venezuela, and above all to build a network of international links with all those trade union bodies which fight for the rights of labour on a global scale.

"For this reason the National Congress of the FIOM-CGIL expresses its solidarity with the Venezuelan workers and asks the national bodies to verify the situation in order to build permanent relations with those trade unions which fight for the autonomy and the rights of Venezuelan workers. This will start a useful exchange of experiences aiming at favouring more elements of analysis and understanding of each other situation as tools to build trade union initiatives in our countries and on a world scale."

See the original in Italian:
Solidariet� ai lavoratori del Venezuela