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By Rob Sewell in Caracas, Venezuela
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Thursday, 02 February 2006 |
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During his speech to the recent World Social Forum held in Caracas, Chavez spoke several times about his idea of “socialism of the 21st century”. The fact that a prominent leader like Chavez even uses the word “socialism” is significant. It reflects the more general process unfolding in Venezuela and throughout Latin America. |
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By Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria
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Wednesday, 01 February 2006 |
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We are publishing the draft perspectives document of the Venezuelan Marxists. For now it is only available in Spanish, but shortly we plan to have it up in English. The document provides a detailed analysis of the process in Venezuela and highlights the fact that a growing number of activists feel that the revolution must be completed now. The Opposition is weak and divided and time must not be lost. But within the Bolivarian movement there are leaders and bureaucrats who are trying to hold the masses back. |
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By Andreas Bülow
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Tuesday, 31 January 2006 |
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On Wednesday January 25, while the attention of most people was on the events of the World Social Forum in Caracas, an important meeting took place in the industrialized Guayana-region. The meeting, which was held in the meeting hall of Venalum, attracted more than 200 people, mainly workers and trade union activists from the basic industries in Guayana. |
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By the International Marxist Tendency and the Revolutionary Marxist Current
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Tuesday, 24 January 2006 |
 Today the World Social Forum opens in Caracas. It will attract thousands of workers and youth looking for an alternative to the rotten capitalist system we live in. Here we publish a statement of how that new world, a socialist world, can be achieved. |
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By Andreas Bülow and Hermann Albrecht in Venezuela
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Thursday, 19 January 2006 |
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Trade union elections have been taking place in the ALCASA aluminium plant in Venezuela. Different tendencies are struggling for positions within the union. The CMR, Revolutionary Marxist Current, has been actively involved. Here an eyewitness report, written just before the elections, shows how revolution and counter-revolution are facing each other even at this level. We will shortly publish the results and an analysis of the situation in the plant. |
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By Andreas Bülow in Ciudad Bolivar
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Friday, 06 January 2006 |
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ALCASA is an aluminium plant in Ciudad Bolivar in Venezuela. It is being run under cogestion, formally speaking workers’ participation. But when you take a closer look what we see is that in practice the workforce is moving more and more towards genuine workers’ control. Managers are elected and do not get higher wages than those they had before becoming managers, and so on. It confirms that the Venezuelan workers are in the vanguard of the world revolution. |
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By Alan Woods
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Monday, 19 December 2005 |
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Prior to the Venezuelan elections there were clear indications that elements within the oligarchy were planning a coup or even possible assassination of Chavez. The opposition parties boycotted the elections as part of this plan to destabilise the country. They failed miserably. The Bolivarian parties have now total control of the National Assembly. They could mobilise the masses while at the same setting in motion all the legal procedures to abolish capitalism once and for all. But will they do this? To vacillate now, to attempt a compromise, would mean giving the opposition a dangerous advantage.
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By Andy Goodall - Venezuela Solidarity UK
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Friday, 16 December 2005 |
The emphasis on the abstention figure to delegitimise the parliamentary elections and the new National Assembly is a political ploy to discredit the CNE and the elected representatives of the Venezuelans, and destabilize the country. This has been going on since December 10th 2001, when the first general strike was called. Read the article on the Hands Off Venezuela website.
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By Hands Off Venezuela
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Wednesday, 07 December 2005 |
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This resolution was passed by the 200 trade union and youth activists who attendended the Hands Off Venezuela national conference in London. |
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By Andreas Bülow
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Wednesday, 07 December 2005 |
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In Venezuela a number of political, community-based and trade union groups have sprung up, as the masses try to take the initiative in the context of a revolutionary offensive. A good example is the case of the workers in the Algodonal Hospital in Caracas who have been struggling for democracy in the workplace and for the right to have a space for trade union and political meetings. We met Johan Rivas who is the general coordinator of the Bolivarian Workers’ Front in Algodonal and a comrade of the CMR (Revolutionary Marxist Current), to talk about the activities that are going on. |
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By Victor Rios
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Monday, 28 November 2005 |
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At this summer's international school, organised by the International Marxist Tendency, Victor Rios, a long standing leader of the Spanish Izquierda Unida (United Left) and an adviser to Hugo Chavez, delivered a speech on his thoughts on the Venezuelan Revolution. We reproduce it here for our readers. |
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By Andreas Bülow in Caracas
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Wednesday, 09 November 2005 |
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Last weekend the Venezuelan Revolutionary Socialist Youth (JSR) held its second congress, where it adopted a clear platform in favour of socialist revolution. It aims to gather all the most conscious and militant youth of Venezuela under one banner. |
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By Andreas Bülow visiting Caracas
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Wednesday, 09 November 2005 |
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Visiting Venezuela this young comrade has got a taste of the revolutionary fervour that is gripping the country. He has witnessed the masses taking part in political life, masses that have risen off their knees and are challenging capitalism and everything that it represents. |
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By Jorge Martin in Caracas
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Wednesday, 02 November 2005 |
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A historically unprecedented meeting took place in Caracas on October 27-29. More than 400 delegates from 235 occupied factories and 20 different trade unions from all over Latin America gathered to discuss a common strategy and work together. The meeting expressed enthusiasm and confidence that the workers can run society.
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By Jorge Martin in Caracas - www.handsoffvenezuela.org
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Monday, 24 October 2005 |
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Workers' representatives and trade union activists from around the country met in Caracas on October 21-22, in the National Gathering of Workers towards the Recovery of Companies. The main aim of this meeting, called by Venezuela’s National Workers’ Union (UNT), was to bring together workers involved in experiences of factory occupations and different forms of workers’ management. |
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By the Revolutionary Marxist Current (Venezuela)
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Thursday, 06 October 2005 |
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By Hands Off Venezuela
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Monday, 03 October 2005 |
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was recently in the United States,
where he delivered an address to the United Nations, met with activists
in South Bronx, and gave several interviews to US media outlets. Read about it on the Hands Off Venezuela website.
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By Jorge Martin - www.handsoffvenezuela.org
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Monday, 26 September 2005 |
More than 50 Venezuelan trade union leaders attended the First Trade
Union and Political Education Workshop, organised by the UNT and the
Bolivarian Workers’ Force, with the collaboration of the Ministry of
Labour. Read the article on the Hands Off Venezuela website.
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By El Nacional
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Friday, 16 September 2005 |
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El Nacional is the
leading bourgeois daily paper in Venezuela. It is hostile to the Bolivarian Revolution and
socialism. On Friday 12 August, it carried an article describing the meeting on
imperialism at the World Youth Forum, in which over a thousand people heard
Alan Woods, the editor of Marxist.com speak. |
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By Ultimas Noticias
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Friday, 16 September 2005 |
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The following report
appeared in “Ultimas Noticias”, a daily paper widely read in Venezuela, on Friday 19 August
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On Saturday, February 4, a truly gigantic demonstration in support of the Bolivarian Revolution marched through Caracas. The march was at least 12 kilometres long and revealed that the revolutionary élan of the masses is still alive and kicking. Chavez called for the arming of the people to face up to the danger of imperialist intervention. The coming year will be a crucial one if the revolution is to go forward and be completed. 
Latin America 
