Venezuela solidarity

In support to Venezuelan organizations against discrimination

venadmin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:52:05 +0000

In support to Venezuelan organizations against discrimination
US-based organizations in solidarity with Venezuela, support the Law for Gender Equality and the elimination of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Please see Aporrea’s compilation of recent news and articles about this subject.
http://www.aporrea.org/temas/71

Aporrea.org, July 17, 2009.- In recent days, after the Venezuelan Catholic Church Hierarchy’s controversial statement against the discussion of the second draft of the Organic Law of Gender Equality at the National Assembly, and within the framework of the worldwide celebration of the Gay Pride Month, an important number of progressive activists and organizations that fight in the United States against discrimination, congratulated the Venezuelan people and government for their brave decision of taking steps to eliminate discrimination against women and segregated minorities based on their sexual orientation.

The International Action Center, funded by the former US General Attorney Ramsey Clark, the National Lawyers Guild and the Gay Liberation Network, published on their websites or forwarded to ours, letters directed to the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, congratulating the progressive decision of discussing this Law, which they see as a strong symbol of the values of justice and equity that are part of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution.

This international support in favor of the approval of the Law and against the Catholic Church Hierarchy statement complemented the position of Venezuelan organizations in recent days, such as the United Socialist Front of Homosexual Liberation (Bloque Socialista Unido de Liberacion Homosexual), part of the United Venezuelan United Socialist Party, Zulian Action for Life (Accion Zuliana por la vida), A Free Country for my Children Foundation (Fundacion un Pais Libre para mis hijos), Margarita University Center for Human Rights (Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Margarita), StopVIH Organization (Organizacion StopVIH), Diverse Venezuela (Venezuela Diversa, AC), Affirmative Action (Union Afirmativa), Diverse Venezuela Zulia Chapter (Venezuela Diversa Capitulo Zulia), Reflections of Venezuela Foundation (Fundacion Reflejos de Venezuela), HR Women’s Observatory (Observatorio DDHH de las Mujeres), the Josefa Camejo Lesbian Women Collective (Colectivo de Mujeres Lesbianas Josefa Camejo), among others.

The US organizations also congratulated and thanked the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry for their gesture of solidarity with the sexual minorities in the US, reflected by the participation of the Consulate of Venezuela in Chicago in the Gay Pride Parade held in that city last June, with the participation of more than 400.000 people, including representatives of the Office of the Mayor of Chicago, the Illinois Governor, Universities, Unions and Human Rights organizations.

“We in the Gay Liberation Network do not share the hostility of some politicians against the Venezuelan Government,” says a letter from the Gay Liberation Network, sent after the recent participation of the personnel of the Venezuelan Consulate in Chicago in the Gay Pride Parade.

Activists for sexual minorities rights in the US, participate on a regular basis in activities of solidarity with the Venezuelan Revolution and acknowledge the the fact that the Venezuelan government is matching words with action.

The first draft of the Venezuelan Law for Gender Equality was approved in its first discussion at the National Assembly and has been strongly opposed by Venezuelan right-wing conservatives, such as the Catholic Church, which released a statement against the possibility of putting an end to the discrimination against some Venezuelans based in their sexual orientation and against the right of women to make decisions about their bodies, including abortion.

Unfortunately, since its first draft, the Law has been modified, eliminating some of the most progressive articles, maybe as a response to the pressure of some right-wing groups, and some lawmakers which, while being supportive of the Bolivarian Revolution, also support some conservative views influenced by the religious conservatism.

There are already 67 countries worldwide that recognize gay rights by law, among them Spain and Mexico, countries where the Catholic Church traditionally had had a strong influence.

After 10 years of Bolivarian Revolution, many Socialists hope that finally Venezuela can take the steps to make illegal this type of discrimination, as the Bolshevists did after the 1917 Revolution, in which they abolished the laws that criminalized homosexuals, legalized abortion and made it free and safe. It wasn’t after Joseph Stalin had consolidated himself in power, that all these rights were taken away from the Soviet working class.

Soa invited you to “Venezuela Delegation”

venadmin — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:18:03 +0000

Soa invited you to “Venezuela Delegation” on Wednesday, June 17 at 8:00am.

Event: Venezuela Delegation
“What´s working and what isn´t in the Bolivarian revolution. ”
What: Group Trip
Host: SOA Watch
Start Time: Wednesday, June 17 at 8:00am
End Time: Friday, June 26 at 11:00pm
Where: Venezuela, Latin America

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=70217177645&aref=19033522

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

10 Years of Chavez: American University Hosts Two Conflicting Views on the Progress of the Bolivarian Revolution

venadmin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:25:54 +0000

By Sean Hannley, Alliance for Global Justice

03-06-2009

On February 24^th, Marc Weisbrot from the Center for Economic and Policy Research and H. E. Diego Arria, the former Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations who was firmly against Chavez, were asked to sit on a panel to discuss issues relating to Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution, with a special emphasis on the implications of the referendum that removed term limits for elected officials in Venezuela and where Venezuela seems to be heading.

Dr. Weisbrot claimed he was “not an expert on revolutions” but an economist. He said that there has been “quite a campaign against Chavez and Venezuela” in the US media, and the “press often uses words like “dictatorship”” to describe the democratically elected government of Venezuela. (more…)

Afro-Roots Youth Cultural Exchange April 3-11, 2009 Trip to Venezuela

venadmin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:41:14 +0000

Afro-Roots Youth Cultural Exchange

April 3-11, 2009

Happy new Year!
This year we are planning a youth-oriented cultural exchange trip featuring the Afro-Venezuelan area in Venezuela known as Barlovento. Please visit our website to get some information about Venezuela and our last trip in 2007. It will be edited soon to give you more information about the tributes to Afro-Venezuelans and the culture that we witnessed in 2007 and hope introduce you to in 2009. Website: www.freewebs.com/mtvenezuela
www.usven.net

(more…)

U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange Labor delegation to Venezuela and Colombia - March 21, to April 4, 2009

venadmin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:27:41 +0000

US/Cuba Labor

Exchange

P.O. Box 39188 Redford, MI 48239 -Phone 313 575 4933- E-mail: laborexchange@aol.com (more…)

April (8-18), 2009 Delegation to Venezuela: Human Rights, Food Sovereignty & Social Change

venadmin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:21:14 +0000

April Delegation to Venezuela: Human Rights, Food Sovereignty & Social Change

The Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle of NY invites you to join us in April for a 10-day trip to Venezuela examining advances in food sovereignty and other initiatives for social change. Start off in the capital city of Caracas, then travel to four additional states, including visits to newly formed cooperative farms and rural development projects in the countryside; (more…)

June 17-26, 2009 Delegation to Venezuela

venadmin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:14:48 +0000

10 YEARS OF THE BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION

VENEZUELA

An inspiration or a failure?

Democracy or dictatorship?

A hope or a threat?

June 17-26, 2009

There’s only one way to know what is REALLY happening in Venezuela .

GO THERE! (more…)

U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange Labor delegation to Venezuela and Colombia - October (10-24), 2009

venadmin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:58:18 +0000

US/Cuba Labor

Exchange

P.O. Box 39188 Redford, MI 48239 -Phone 313 575 4933- E-mail: laborexchange@aol.com

Join the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange to participate in a: Labor delegation to Venezuela and Colombia from: Saturday, October 10 to Saturday, October 24, 2009- 2 weeks $1,650 * This *includes round trip airfare from New York City or Los Angeles, CA*
(more…)

Venezuela’s Referendum: Media’s Double Standards

venadmin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:02:14 +0000

Venezuela’s Referendum: Media’s Double Standards
Steve Rendall & Isabel Macdonald. Commondreams.org. February 14, 2009
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/14-6

With Sunday’s Venezuelan referendum on term limits, we can expect to hear a lot about Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez’s “plan to become president for life” and its reflection on “Venezuela’s battered democracy”–as the New York Times editors put it (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/01/opinion/01sat2.html) around the time of Venezuela’s last (failed) term limits referendum.But when Colombian President Álvaro Uribe’s efforts to change a constitutional prohibition barring a president from serving more than one term succeeded in 2005, the U.S. media took little notice, and Uribe’s reputation as the U.S.’s favorite ‘democrat’ in the region remained intact. While not identical, the two examples have some notable parallels. In Colombia, the amendment on term limits that Congress voted on in 2004, and the Supreme court upheld the following year, allowed Uribe to seek a second term in office, paving the way for his reelection. Uribe is currently pushing to amend the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. In Venezuela, Chavez is seeking constitutional changes that would eliminate term limits altogether.The change in Colombia’s term limits law was a big story in Colombia, in good part because the Colombian courts have sentenced the congress member who cast the deciding 2004 vote on the amendment to almost four years under house-arrest for taking bribes from Uribe aides (he knew nothing, of course) in exchange for her vote. And though Uribe supporters are collecting signatures to get him on the ballot for 2010 elections, the bribery affair has caused Colombian courts to raise questions about Uribe’s eligibility.Yet Uribe’s scandal-ridden term limits efforts were treated as far less newsworthy by U.S. editors than the Venezuelan government’s moves to put the question of term limits to the popular ballot. A search of “Álvaro Uribe and “term limits” in the Nexis database of U.S. newspapers and wires turns up 60 articles, in contrast to 1003 articles about Chávez and term limits. A spot check reveals that even the articles mentioning Uribe and “term limits” were often about Chávez’s efforts to lift term limits, not Uribe’s maneuvers.

Similarly, 286 articles mentioned both Chávez and “president for life,” while only 29 articles mention Uribe and that epithet–but virtually all of those 29 were again referring to Chávez’s perceived power grabs, not Uribe’s. (One Associated Press story (http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080706/NEWS04/807060434/0/APS) did compare Uribe to Chávez, but didn’t quite apply the term to Uribe: “The wonkish, diminutive but tirelessly tenacious politician [Uribe], who turned 56 on Friday, has been cagey on that score. Those who oppose the idea [of Uribe running again] say it would put him in league with his continental rival, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who has been widely branded autocratic for doing his utmost to try to stay president for life.”)

This discrepancy reinforces the findings of a recent FAIR study (http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3699), “Human Rights Coverage Serving Washington’s Needs,” which found that editors at major U.S. papers portray Colombia as a safer haven for human rights and democracy than Venezuela, despite Colombia’s vastly more dismal record.

It would seem the role of U.S. reporting and opinion on Venezuela (and Colombia) is less about informing the public about real threats to democracy and human rights in Latin America than it is about serving as a propaganda arm of U.S. foreign policy. One would be wise to remember this when reading about Venezuela’s referendum this weekend.

Steve Rendall is FAIR’s senior analyst and the co-author of FAIR’s February 2009 study, “Human Rights Coverage Serving Washington’s Needs: FAIR finds editors downplaying Colombia’s abuses, amplifying Venezuela’s.” Isabel Macdonald is the communications director at FAIR.

Clarification: An earlier version of this article was unclear with regards to the situation in Colombia; the article stated that Colombia’s amendment had “lifted term limits,” whereas it had actually changed the limit from one to two terms.
Steve Rendall is FAIR’s senior analyst and the co-author of FAIR’s February 2009 study, “Human Rights Coverage Serving Washington’s Needs: FAIR finds editors downplaying Colombia’s abuses, amplifying Venezuela’s.” Isabel Macdonald is the communications director at FAIR.

Human Rights Watch in Venezuela: Lies, Crime and Cover-ups

venadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:59:54 +0000

by James Petras

September 27, 2008

Human Rights Watch, a US-based group claiming to be a non-governmental organization, but which is in fact funded by government-linked quasi-private foundations and a Congressional funded political propaganda organization, the National Endowment for Democracy, has issued a report “A Decade Under Chavez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela” (9/21/2008 hrw.org). The publication of the “Report” directed by Jose Miguel Vivanco and sub-director Daniel Walkinson led to their expulsion from Venezuela for repeated political-partisan intervention in the internal affairs of the country. (more…)