ORIENTATION WEEK FORUM
Tuesday March 9, 1pm
Room to be confirmed
Organised by the Latrobe University Cuba-Venezuela Solidarity Club & supported by Direct Action

By Jorge Jorquera

by Jorge Jorquera

Introduction

A revolutionary process is unfolding in Venezuela, part of a continental rebellion unparalleled since the 1960s and 70s. Bourgeois power is being challenged by the emergence of a counter-power of the working classes. The reforms of the Chavez government have re-ignited the class struggle after years of defeat and decay of the left. This is not a simple replay of the Salvador Allende government in Chile 30 years ago. The Venezuelan army is deeply divided and within it there is a revolutionary current of officers and soldiers. Chavez himself has radicalised and fallen back not on the institutions of bourgeois democracy but the revolutionary power of the working masses.

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Imagine if the Australian government provided all education, from pre-school to post-graduate level, and all medical care, free of charge. Imagine if factories that were to be closed by their owners were taken under public control and put under the management of their workers to produce for the benefit of society. Imagine if, rather than stealing East Timor’s oil and gas, and sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan to prop up US-imposed puppet governments, the Australian government sent doctors, teachers and sustainable development engineers to help lift Third World countries out of poverty. Such things are happening, not in Australia, but in two countries still struggling with underdevelopment: Cuba and Venezuela. Their achievements — in tacking poverty, disease and illiteracy; in giving ordinary people a real say in how their community services and workplaces are run; in reversing environmental destruction; and in providing medical care and cheap heating oil to the poor of other countries — show that there is a real alternative to a world based on greed, corporate profit and social inequality.

Cuba’s and Venezuela’s socialist revolutions are an inspiration to all those fighting to stop privatisation of public assets and cutbacks in public education and health care, for real action on climate change, for workers’ rights and against war. For these reasons, Cuba and Venezuela are threatened by US imperialism. The US rulers are desperate to retain control over Latin America, which they have ruthlessly exploited for more than a century. Washington recently revived its Fourth Fleet in order to threaten Cuba, Venezuela and other countries that might follow their examples. A broadly–based solidarity movement is needed to help defend Venezuela and Cuba against US-organised destabilisation and possible military attacks, and to demand an end to the cruel 48-year-long US economic blockade of Cuba. We also need to strengthen the growing international campaign to win the release of the Cuban Five — five Cubans imprisoned in the US since 1998 for the “crime” of infiltrating US-based terrorist organisations to warn about planned attacks.