Meeting with President
Chavez
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n Monday 15th May, I was really pleased to be able to represent
the Union at the TUC when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came to Congress
House to say thank you for the support that British unions have given to the
Venezuelan revolution.
This is a revolutionary who has won 10 elections and plebiscites
in as many years, who survived an attempted army/big business coup when a
million Venezuelans turned out to demand his release, who stands condemned by
the USA for such 'provocative acts' as launching a massive - and very
successful - literacy campaign, and other grass roots "misiones", led
by grass roots leaders, to attack poverty, disease, bad housing etc.
He is outspoken against the US neoliberal agenda, and outspoken in
support of others in Latin American that put the needs of people before profit.
Unforgivably, as far as the US is concerned, that includes support for and from
Cuba - and the establishment of a trading relationship with Cuba, Bolivia and
others that reject US economic control of the region.
At the TUC he was immediately and by turn engaging, philosophical,
down-to-earth, radical, funny, charismatic and - very clearly - genuine.
Hugo Chavez lays great store by communication - the previous night
he had spoken for nearly 4 hours at a rally in Camden! At home, he insists that
every letter and note to him gets an individual and useful reply from his
office. He runs a regular frequent uncensored TV phone-in programme called
"Allo Presidente". He habitually takes to the streets to meet and
talk with "ordinary people"
He spoke of the visit to London 200 years ago of Simon Bolivar,
the great anti-imperialist fighter who had a vision of a united Latin America,
and whose name is now applied to the Venezuelan "Bolivarian"
revolution. He spoke of the British Industrial Revolution, the growth of
capitalism and the birth of the working class as being the ground which allowed
the "seed of thought" to grow. As capitalism swept away the barbarity
of feudalism, creating its own cruelty, he said, strong Socialist thought
developed. He pointed out that Karl Marx had lived and worked in London and, he
said, "though he's buried here, they can't bury his ideas - though they
try hard!"
He went on to think aloud about the "primitive socialism of
the Incas" and other indigenous South American peoples, and the new kind
of socialist ideas and organisation born out of the industrial revolution and
the class struggle. He suggested that British workers have a unique role to
play in the development of 21st Century socialism, but warned..."if you
oppose neoliberal exploitation, ecological damage, war - if you propose a
socialist alternative - the US will come for you."
He said that there was "no time to lose in developing the
alternative to imperialism, an alternative that will provide security for
workers in housing, health, education, jobs, pay and pensions" - and
maintained that a network of Trade Unions was key to such an alternative.
When referring to workers' security, he explained how his
Government had decided to make the Bank of Venezuela non profit making, and
that it was now helping to finance workers' co-operatives and small businesses
amongst the previously unemployed. Suddenly he stopped in thought, and then
asked one of his embassy staff - "Do we have a branch of The Bank here in
London?" He turned to Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC and
said, "You could give us a room here, and we could open a branch and
support some of your workers who need to find work.." He said it with a
smile, but you could believe it could happen - just as the Venezuelan state oil
company is currently donating heating oil to old people's homes and health
centres in the USA who can't afford the prices in the USA.
As he left, I had the chance of a few words with him, expressed
the support of the Union, and gave him a copy of Phil Katz (from NUT HQ) book
"Thinking Hands" about the life, ideas and activities of 19th Century
British socialist, William Morris. He said that he knew of him, "but not
enough" He went on to say that there is no finer gift than a book, and
that when he'd read it he would get in touch with questions.
He finally left the room, but stopped his entourage to shake hands
with the people who had served the coffee and tea, and to thank them for a very
good meeting. Perhaps this was the calculated act of a populist politician. But
it looked like a genuine act of a people's politician to me.
Bill Greenshields