Hands off Venezuela has produced a detailed report. Venezuela Solidarity Campaign selects extracts of their report.
The visit of President Hugo Chavez to London was one of enormous enthusiasm. Thousands of supporters turned out to see the President over his two-day visit, which was hosted by Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London.
Five welcoming rallies were organised by Hands Off Venezuela in different locations over the two days with the full support of the Bolivarian Circles and the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign. These began with a lively rally outside the President's hotel in Central London. People brought flags, banners and placards, dressed in red T-shirts and painted faces. Singing and chanting took place for three hours before the President finally arrived and "Uh! Ah! Chavez no se va!" continually echoed in the entrance of the Savoy Hotel.
On behalf of the Hands Off Venezuela Campaign, Rob Sewell of the HOV steering committee welcomed everybody, explaining that this visit by Hugo Chavez was an historic occasion that served to highlight the Venezuelan Revolution. "Two nights ago, Hands Off Venezuela in Austria organised a 5,000-stong meeting to greet the President. We must continue the welcome in Britain, which must be used to build support for the Revolution."
By the time the President arrived, the crowd had swollen to some 200 people, many with their own banners and placards. As the President stepped out of his car, the crowd surged forward and he was greeted with a storm of support. It was like a rugby scrum. Throwing aside all protocol, the President mixed with the crowd, shaking hands and greeting as many people as he possibly could, in particular the representatives of Hands Off Venezuela
Espe Espigares, a member of the HOV Steering Committee, greeted President Chavez on behalf of the Hands Off Venezuela Campaign and extended a very warm welcome on behalf of everybody present. After this brief conversation he thanked the HOV campaign for the tremendous work we were doing to support the Venezuelan Revolution. President Chavez said: "I thank you for the work you are doing and I would encourage you to continue because this is very important for us and the Revolution".
Jeremy stated that President Chavez's visit was having an electrifying effect. He praised Ken Livingstone's efforts as the host, but felt that a far larger venue would have been more appropriate given the thousands of people keen to hear Chavez. "There are thousands of people out there desperate to hear President Chavez", he said. He called on the President to return to London in the future where a far larger reception will be organised.
When President Chavez was introduced, there was an enthusiastic response from the crowd. Chavez thanked the people of Britain for their hospitality and launched into a three hour speech, outlining the background and successes of the Bolivarian Revolution. In the first words of his speech, Chavez mentioned the gathering in Vienna, attended by 5,000 young people. He explicitly thanked Alan Woods and Hands Off Venezuela for organising this marvellous meeting.
The Chairperson of the TUC, Gloria Mills, introduced the meeting by explaining that "the TUC General Council has met in this building for 50 years. I must say, for me this is the most interesting meeting this year." At this point, Hugo Chavez corrected her: "for 50 years!" which was met with laughter.The next speaker was Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, who welcomed President Chavez for coming to address the TUC. Barber called for "a new kind of globalisation, with social justice and workers' rights." He then called on Chavez to speak.
But Chavez did not speak about globalisation. Instead, he proceeded to give the General Council a history lesson, starting with the French Revolution. He pointed out that the great Venezuelan revolutionary Miranda had lived as a political exile in London. He had been impressed by Britain's industrial revolution and the new ideas associated with it. Even then, he said, the seed of ideas which went beyond the framework of capitalism were present. This was the starting point for Bolivar.
This was essentially pre-socialist thought, stated Chavez. Maybe the members of the General Council had never heard of Miranda, but they had certainly heard of the next political exile mentioned by Chavez: "Karl Marx lived and was buried here. He was one of the greatest ideologists of scientific socialism. Bolivar was only aware of utopian socialism. But some people want to bury socialism. But this is not the case. Representatives of capitalism and neo-liberalism talked of the failure of socialism. But their theory has failed", Chavez continued.
"The workers of the world including Britain have a key role to play in this", he said. "We want 21st century socialism." There is a threat to the world from ecological disaster. We have the war in Iraq and the threats against Iran. "We cannot guarantee jobs, houses, or lives under capitalism. This is absolutely impossible under capitalism. Just look at the problems of youth unemployment in Europe, the crisis in pensions, and so on. We are anti-imperialists. But we are not against the ordinary people of the United States. They are our friends," he said.
In a reply to a question, Chavez stated that his government was "a workers' government, with a commitment to the workers." He concluded his speech with the statement: "There is a dramatic shift to the left in Latin America. This will happen in Europe and I hope throughout the world. This is the only hope for the world today." As a token of friendship, the General Council presented Chavez with a Spanish translation of the classic English socialist book, "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist" by Robert Tressel. This was certainly the most radical speech given to the TUC General Council in 50 years. It should be printed and circulated to all unions as part of the support for the Venezuelan Revolution.
After the meeting at the TUC, HOV members went to City Hall where Chavez was holding a press conference and to Parliament to assist with the welcoming rally. When we arrived at the press conference we were greeted by part of the Venezuelan delegation that had also come from the TUC, which included Nicolas Maduro, the President of the National Assembly.
"We must take power" Parliament
Later that afternoon, a 150-strong meeting was organised for Chavez in the House of Commons, hosted by Colin Burgon MP and the Labour Friends of Venezuela. Together with
John McDonnell MP and Jeremy Corbyn MP, HOV was represented by Alan Woods, Rob Sewell and Jeremy Dear.
Watched over by a scowling bust of Winston Churchill, Chavez gave the most militant speech ever heard in the august surroundings of the Palace of Westminster. In general lines it was similar to the one he had given at the TUC, dealing with the history of the liberation struggle in Venezuela, the evils of capitalism and the socialist road that needed to be taken. But he addressed himself specifically to the Labour Party and its socialist and working class traditions:
"We know where the Labour Party has come from and its traditions", said Chavez, "and we fully identify with these traditions." He continued: "I do not wish to refer to the internal politics of Britain, but you have all heard something called the ‘Third Way'", he said, in a clear reference to the ideas of Tony Blair. "My experience has convinced me that there is no third way between capitalism and socialism. The only way forward for humanity is socialism.
Chavez then went on to explain that "they try to frighten us with the power of the Empire, but we are not frightened. There is a bigger power than imperialism and that is world public opinion, and by that I mean the power of the people of the world. We must not restrict our activity to the streets. We must take power."
This is the first time for generations that a person has given a speech in the Mother of Parliaments stressing socialism and world revolution. It was very warmly received and it clearly made a profound impact on those present, especially when President Chavez described the events of the coup in April 2002. "I thought I was going to die that day. In fact, they tried to kill me three times but were stopped by the soldiers guarding me. Finally, we were rescued by the people", he said.
Afterwards he was introduced to John McDonnell of HOV and warmly shook his hand: "Thank you John MacDonnell for everything you
have done. Thank you. Thank you", the President said in English.
Thus ended a very successful visit, which has undoubtedly served to consolidate the solidarity movement, especially Hands off Venezuela, and strengthen the forces of the Left in the British labour and trade union movement. It has put the question of socialism and revolution back on the agenda of the British labour movement in a way that could not have been foreseen even a few years ago. History is not finished, it has only just begun.
More photos of trip here |
