Venezuela & AFL-CIO

Nathan Newman nathan at newman.org
Thu Apr 25 17:58:47 PDT 2002


To just say that the CTV members are "middle class" and anti-left still doesn't explain what Chavez was doing that led the mass membership of the unions to elect leadership opposed to Chavez. It is clear that Chavez was seeking to violate union organizing rights and independence, but what else?

And for all Chavez is praised, it hasn't been clear to me what he has done that is so positive other than his rhetoric. It was clear that despite his early popularity, much of the population had grown disillusioned with Chavez, which was what made the general strikes so effective.

Nathan Newman nathan at newman.org

----- Original Message -----

From: SergioL652 at aol.com

In a message dated 4/25/2002 3:05:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time, nathan at newman.org writes:

Now, did the CTV second the US government's foreign policy goals? Or did

they just happen to align against Chavez? And was it the foreign policy of

the US to yank support for the coup when the business types grabbed control

in the chaos?

The CTV, from what I read in Spanish language news reports from various sources supported the first two general strikes earlier this year and the April 11 coup. I still have not seen any evidence that they changed their minds. It appears that the CTV membership is solidly middle class and affected by some of the changes Chavez brought. Also, there has been a fair amount of red-baiting in Venezuela, with the most common complaint I hear from the Anti-Chavez crowd that he named known leftists for his cabinet and, of course, his friendship with Castro.

Déjenme decirles, a riesgo de parecer ridículo, que el revolucionario verdadero está guiado por grandes sentimientos de amor.

Che

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