Thursday, September 28, 2006

The Labour Party and Venezuela

The Brits are getting tired of the nonsense.
Manchester, England--HANDS Off Venezuela campaigners urged the creation of a "European bloc" in support of the social revolution in that country and against any US military intervention yesterday.

A charged fringe meeting of the Labour Party annual conference at the Friends Meeting House in Manchester heard that US neocons are "freaking out" over the changes in Venezuela - as well as in Bolivia and Mexico - and could take aggressive measures to stifle it.

Labour leadership contender John McDonnell MP praised Venezuela's revolution that had become "a symbol of struggle for freedom" around the world.

But he warned of a backlash from the US and its allies, including Britain, and stressed the urgency of "welding together a European bloc in support of Venezuela to ensure that it is not politically isolated."
I don't know if I would actually "praise the revolution" at this point. Chavez can be a real buffoon and the fact remains that he's a military man. But I most definitely want to see it develop in an intelligent direction. Bush administration interference really equates with the opposite direction according to a raft of empirical evidence, and the story the Bush administration is busy creating about Venezuela is bogus.

3 comments:

troutsky said...

I think I know your complaints, the anti-slander law and the media watch legislation, both of which sound pernicious on the face of it.In my research,no one has been prosecuted under the anti-slander law and the media regulation just prohibits sexually explicit programming before a certain hour. It is true some members of Sumate are awaiting trial, and many consider them "political" prisoners but I hope they get a fair trial because i believe the facts will prove them guilty of using foreign funds to influence elections. As for Chavez staying in office perpetually, Ill take a wait and see attitude but it seems he is using no repression to maintain office ,only good old Latin leader worship. If Oprah ran and won in this country we would change the constitution to allow her to stay till death.

helmut said...

I agree, Troutsky, that the scare stories about Chavez have yet to have much basis in reality. What worries me is that the potential is there. Not that this is the inevitable direction - in fact, this is why Venezuela is so exciting. Only the potential, and we've had plenty of otherwise promising leaders who have taken that potential and made it actual. I'm wary, that's all.

But I also know that there are very nasty elements in the opposition.

I met the VZ ambassador (Alvarez) yesterday. We discussed a project I'm working on. He, and many others like him in the Chavez government, are sensible, reasonable people looking to build bridges and to work on the future of VZ in open, experimental and intelligent ways. That's where I find the real promise. Less so in Chavez himself.

I simply wish that there was more attention on the realities of the government than on the blustery personality of Chavez.

Anonymous said...

Gentlemen, I agree with both of you! I also find that a possibility having some substancial counter weight to Bush doctorines is absolutely vital.