Venezuela Soilidarity!

The Nicaragua Network urges you to come to Washington, DC,
in March for this important conference! For more
information, write http://us.f543.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=nicanet@afgj.org&YY=97542&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=f or visit www.lasolidarity.org. ******************

We call on all people who support a better world, to join
together in a National Solidarity Conference on Venezuela!

When: March 4-6, 2006

Where: Washington, DC

Since the democratic election of President Hugo Chavez in
1998 and the subsequent popular approval of a new
constitution which allows Venezuela's oil wealth to be
used for the well-being of all its citizens, the US
government has intervened materially and verbally to
reinstate the pre-Chavez regime. Under this previous
system of corruption and neo-liberal economic models,
Venezuela saw the ranks of its poor explode from 30%
poverty to 80% in the decade preceding this vote.
Despite eight internationally-observed elections in six
years, high presidential approval ratings, and a
population which more than any other nation in Latin
America considers its country to be "totally democratic"
(Latinobarometro), US President George Bush and
spokespersons in his administration have labeled Venezuela
a "rogue state" and the Pentagon has recently been shown
to have plans for a potential military invasion.
The US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and its core
organizations, as well as the US Agency for International
Development (USAID), have funneled millions of dollars,
including through the AFL-CIO, to the political opposition
and corrupt trade unions which launched a coup in April
2002 that failed after millions of Venezuelans poured into
the streets demanding the return of their elected
government, and an oil "coup" defeated when workers took
over Venezuela's oil industry and reinstated production.
Organizations representing the political opposition,
funded by the US government, then employed economic
sabotage to paralyze the oil industry and a recall
election to remove President Chavez from office. Both
failed in the face of overwhelming support of the people
for democratically elected President Chavez and their
Bolivarian Revolution.

After another clear victory at the polls in the
presidential referendum of August 2004 some opposition
leaders feel that the only recourse left is the
assassination of President Chavez; a call echoed by
right-wing fundamentalist preacher Pat Robertson who
himself has close ties to the Bush administration.
Despite all of these assaults from Venezuelan economic and
political elites and from the US government, grassroots
support for the government they elected has grown steadily
stronger, as people who have had no access to power have
been increasingly active on their own behalf, defeating
coups and creating a caring economy based on cooperatives
rather than competition. The vast oil profits are being diverted from the pockets of a few to programs to benefit the poor, starting with
Indigenous people and people of African descent, and the
country as a whole.

The Venezuelan government has established "missions" in
the areas of food distribution, health, education, job
training, land reform and culture to improve the quality
of life for the majority living in poverty. Women who are
70% of those with least, have been the majority of the
beneficiaries as well as of those running the missions.
Twenty thousand Cuban doctors have dramatically raised
access to healthcare in poor neighborhoods and villages
throughout the country. After the most successful literacy
campaign ever launched in Latin America, Venezuela was
recently declared by UNESCO to be a country free of
illiteracy. 600 new schools have been built and over one
million more children are in school. Hundreds of thousands
of acres of unused land have been titled to cooperatives
of landless farmers. President Chavez and grassroots
Venezuelans are tackling corruption and bureaucracy in
government, trade unions, political parties.

On the international scene President Chavez revived the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
during his first year as president. He has also proposed a
fair trade model called ALBA (Alternativa Bolivariana para
America Latina y el Caribe) to promote unity and economic
collaboration between Latin American, Caribbean and other
countries of the South and eradicate poverty, as an
alternative to the US's free trade models such as NAFTA
and CAFTA which enrich a few while impoverishing the many
and devastating ecosystems. Despite the hostility of the
US government, the Venezuelan government through its oil
subsidiary CITGO is providing low-cost heating oil to
low-income people in the US and has offered free eye
surgery to those who need it. President Chavez has also
been outspoken against the war in Iraq and global warming,
urging a change in political and economic priorities to
save the planet.

At any point in history when governments favoring the poor
have risen to power in Latin America and the Caribbean
such as Chile, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and now
Venezuela, they have been met by the US government with
hostility, economic strangulation, and political and
military intervention, including invasion such as in
Panama and Grenada. We call on all people who support a
better world, to join together in a National Solidarity
Conference on Venezuela to learn from grassroots
Venezuelans and each other to benefit all our communities,
and to plan together how we can oppose any form of US
government intervention which would destroy a revolution
on which we all depend.

Partial list of groups who have agreed to help organize,
plan & execute the organizing conference:

Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns, Transafrica Forum,
SOA Watch, PanAfrican Roots, Latin America Solidarity
Coalition, Nicaragua Network, Hands Off Venezuela,
Bolivarian Circles in the US and Canada, Global Women's
Strike, INTERCONNECT, Global Exchange, Southwest Voters
Project, Ecumenical Project in Central America (EPICA),
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
(CISPES), International Action Center, National Network on
Cuba, US/Cuba Labor Exchange, Methodist Federation for
Social Action and many local groups & coalitions such as
Marin (CA) Interfaith Task Force on Central America,
Turnwinds (Tuscon, AZ), Committee for Indigenous
Solidarity-DC Zapatistas, Code Pink-DC, Bend-Condega
Friendship Project (OR) & local coalitions in Chicago &
NYC.

How you can participate

Workshop Proposals

The main work of the conference will be done in break-out
workshops designed to learn more about the current
situation in Venezuela and to propose initiatives of
solidarity with the people of Venezuela and the Bolivarian
Revolution. Please submit workshop proposals to James
Jordan, Workshop Committee no later than Jan 15, 2006.
Email http://us.f543.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=jpj@mutualaid.org&YY=97542&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=f
Registration:
$25 registration fee, $10 low-income or student. No one
will be turned away for inability to pay. Early
registration is recommended to ensure housing and adequate
facilities. Send the application below and check or money
order to:
Alliance for Global Justice
1247 E St., SE
Washington, DC 20003
Memo line: "Venezuela Conference"
Participation will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Information call 202-544-9355 email http://us.f543.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=nicanet@afgj.org&YY=97542&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=f
Conference Application
Name_______________________ Organizational
affiliation_____________________________
Address____________________________________
Email____________________________
Do you need
___ housing?
___ subsidized food?
___ help w/ transport?
___ translation? ___ childcare?
Do you plan to submit a workshop proposal? If so, on what
topic?
Are you or your group able to make a tax deductible
donation to help fund the conference? If so, make your
check or money order out to: Alliance for Global Justice
and write "Venezuela Conference" in the memo line. Send
application, $10-$25 registration fee (if you can) and any
donations to:
Alliance for Global Justice
1247 E St., SE
Washington, DC 20003
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