Venezuela

Below is a protest that happened in Sydney organised by the Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network (http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org) Since the failed April 11-14 coup against Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez, Venezuela has become a beacon for hope and inspiration all over the world. For more information about the defeat of the coup see the article published in Green Left Weekly , written by Fred Fuentes, a Resistance member currently working in Venezuela as an aid to a Chavez government adviser. Fred will be speaking at the Resistance conference in Sydney June 27-29. This article was written in 2002 just a few months after the coup was defeated.

SIGN ON STATEMENT

Support Venezuela’s right to sovereignty! United States oil giant ExxonMobil Corporation has launched a major attack on the Venezuelan people’s right to independence and self-determination. In January and February, ExxonMobil used the courts in Britain, the US and the Netherlands to get injunctions that freeze up to $12 billion in assets of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), in those countries. The British injunction, granted on January 24 without any prior notice to PDVSA, will be heard again on February 22. The US injunction was upheld by a February 13 ruling of the US Federal Court.

On September 27, at a United Nations forum on climate change, Venezuelan deputy foreign minister Jorge Valero slammed First World governments and the Airrational capitalist model of consumption for causing the current climate crises. AThe majority of poor people aren't at all responsible for global warming. Those who are responsible intend to continue their consumption of natural resources in order to maximise their profits, favouring multinational corporations without measuring the environmental impact or sustainable development.

Mel Barnes 4 May 2007 The left-wing rebellion sweeping Latin America is one of the most significant events in politics today. It is a blow to US imperialism, which has dominated the region for so long, and it is an inspiring example to the rest of the world. Venezuelans, in particular, are openly debating the question of socialism and they are carrying out the first revolution of the 21st century.