VSC Campaign

ACTIVITIES
February 2006 - Venezuela Solidarity rebuttal of Mr Tony Blair, British Prime Minister
VSC publicly rejected the comments of British Prime Minister Tony Blair criticising the Venezuelan government and President Chávez in a public statement read out in London by National Coordinator, Andy Goodall, in front of the Venezuelan Consulate and in the presence of Venezuelan Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Alfredo Toro Hardy. This initiative in conjunction with HoV, was reported widely, underscoring VSC’s commitment to continue building solidarity with Venezuela.

Ambassador Alredo Toro Hardy & Colin Burgon MP

Since June 2004 - Distribution of DVD’s
In order to set the record straight about the fascist coup in Venezuela in April 2002, VSC has distributed numerous DVD’s of the Irish documentary “The Revolution will not be televised” to over 40 countries world-wide. Power Pictures have not distributed this important DVD and VSC has taken up the banner in the name of truth and justice to get this information out to the widest possible audience.

This documentary has proved invaluable in educating people around the globe about the truth and the circumstances of the 2002 coup and the role played by the US, the media and the local oligarchy and their undemocratic intentions. It also illustrates the power of a people united with its armed forces in repelling right wing coups which were so prevalent in Latin America from the 1960’s onward.

Ongoing activity - Submitted letters, petitions, etc.

VSC petitioned the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva and collected thousands of signatures supporting the recognition of the newly formed Venezuelan UNT internationally with the purpose of excluding the fascist coup mongering CTV which supported the coup and oil industry sabotage against the Venezuelan people.

November 2005 - Joint UNISON - VSC Meeting

This event was held on November 19th 2005 to drum up more support from the UNISON health workers union in Birmingham. The film “The Revolution will not be televised” was shown to the union members and then a lively discussion ensued led by Darrell Cozens of Hands off Venezuela. In an international link up with Venezuela, the guest speaker was Luis Baéz Morillo, a Venezuelan trade unionist of some 40 years standing and now Honorary President of the CUTV – Communist Trade Union of Venezuela. Mr. Báez answered questions on labour relations, international issues and the social mission in Venezuela and fully explained the concept of participatory democracy as opposed to representative democracy.

From June 2005 - International Computer Conferences

VSC has organised several international computer link ups between Britain and Venezuela so that trade unionists can have the opportunity of speaking to comrades in Venezuela, whom they would probably never meet. The aim of these conferences is that people living outside Venezuela can perceive the reality of the Bolivarian revolution and thus replace their corporate media information sources, which are normally biased against the Bolivarian Revolution,

Tour delegates in Venezuela National assembly

with direct words and testimonies from Venezuelan workers, politicians and revolutionaries.

Three way link ups have been achieved with Boston (USA) and New Zealand and even the participation of a Venezuelan MP has been achieved who spoke for half an hour from the National Assembly by mobile phone, and answered questions directly from the venue in Wolverhampton.
August 2005 – Briefing of MPs on VSC delegations to Venezuela.

VSC’s visit to Venezuela last August proved very successful and meetings were held with health workers affiliated to the Venezuelan UNT. After returning to the UK, National Coordinator briefed his local MP’s, Ken Purchase and Rob Marris, on the situation in Venezuela and this undoubtedly contributed to increased interest from the Labour Party benches and the subsequent support received from the House of Commons for Venezuela and President Chávez in particular. The final result was the proposal of an EDM in the House of Commons signed by 105 Labor MP’s led by Colin Burgon.

September 2005 - Built links with Activists in USA

In its ongoing quest to educate people in English speaking countries, VSC has established links with activists in the USA in line with our internationalism. This is being achieved by the dissemination of the DVD “The Revolution will not be televised” and the offer of participating in VSC Solidarity tours to Venezuela so that our North American counterparts can experience the revolution and social reforms first hand.

Numerous Public meetings – ongoing

VSC has participated at innumerable public meetings throughout the UK. Solidarity can only be built by educating interested parties and transmitting to them the commitment necessary for the Bolivarian Revolution. This has offered the all peoples a glimmer of humanistic and humanitarian hope in an otherwise neoliberal, privatised world after the application of the Washington Consensus, the “end of history”, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Radio, Press and Distribution activities – ongoing
In the UK, VSC has been covered on local radio programs and in the national press and one of our main activities has been to distribute relevant materials at public meetings which are either produced by VSC or have been forthcoming from the Ministry of Communication and Information in Caracas, with which VSC enjoys a close working relationship.

Visit to Venezuela May 2006
VSC is organising and accompanying a three person delegation of trade unionists from the TGWU on a fact finding mission to Venezuela in May 2006.

VSC has arranged a comprehensive itinerary which will include a visit to the National Assembly to meet the Foreign Relations Committee, participation in the May Day march with half a million Venezuelan workers, visits to endogenous development centers and cooperatives – one of the backbones of the social and economic revolution taking place in Venezuela – the 23rd January district, the most revolutionary and well-organised in Caracas, visits to see the development of the National Health Service from health modules staffed by Cuban doctors up to major hospitals and clinics being refurbished under the Barrio Adentro III plan, meet social organisations and trade unionists to exchange ideas and strategies, visit to the food and soup kitchen mission Mercal, visit a Bolivarian school and the Bolivarian University, and most importantly have direct contact with the Venezuelans themselves to exchange ideas and impressions, inform them of what life in the UK is like and learn from their progress and experience.

VSC tour to Venezuela - May Day support

At the same time VSC intends to sponsor the “Ali Primer Chess Club” in the centrally located town of La Victoria in Aragua State. The chess club, established last year in the Campo Elias Square by the local Communist Party, is extremely popular with young people and VSC wishes to contribute to this organised activity widely recognised as a tool for intellectual development and concentration in developing youngsters.

The delegates will then return to Britain and give a firsthand report on Venezuela both from Caracas and in the provinces to the TGWU and others. In fact, the only way to understand what is happening in Venezuela is to go there and witness the huge steps being taken by the Chávez government to pull the mass of the population out of endemic poverty and social exclusion. This situation was created by the corrupt governments from 1958 onwards and the legacy of being a colony of the Spanish Empire for more than 320 years until independence on July 5th 1811.

Long live the Bolivarian Revolution!

Andy Goodall, VSC Co-ordinator
May 2006

TUC Support Venezuela Solidarity

In late 2005 we updated our name from VSUK to VSC. This was done to make the name clearer and fits in with the tradition within Britain regarding solidarity movements ( PSC - Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, CSC - Cuba Solidairty Campaign and others).

TGWU Tour delegates