Bush's Administration Supports Fraud to Overthrow Chavez
Stop US Intervention! Respect Democracy and Popular Will in Venezuela!
Monday, March 1st, 11:30 AM at OAS Building 17th Street & Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.
Congreso Bolivariano de Los Pueblos
[The flyer is available at <http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/English2004/DCVenez.gif>.]
Dear Sisters and Friends:
We write, in follow up to the very successful speaking tour of Nora Castañeda, President of the Women's Development Bank of Venezuela, to urge you to participate in a global protest against US and OAS intervention in Venezuela that is happening on Monday March 1 at 11:30am in Washington DC outside the OAS, 17th and Constitution Avenue, followed by a protest at US News and World Report against biased reporting that feeds the flame for intervention. Information below.
Audiences in the US learnt a lot from Nora Castañeda when she spoke of what the peaceful and democratic revolution in Venezuela is achieving, and how grassroots women who live in poverty, the majority of whom are of African and Indigenous descent, are the most involved in the process and have the most to lose if it is crushed. We heard how women won Article 88 of the constitution which recognizes unwaged work in the home as economically productive and entitles housewives to social security, and Article 14 of the Land Law which prioritizes single mothers for land distribution and guarantees food subsidies for pregnant women before and after birth. What women all over the world have been campaigning for over decades is becoming a reality in Venezuela.
As we near March 8 International Women's Day, we ask you to come out and protect and defend these and other hard-won achievements -- literacy, free healthcare in the poorest communities, etc. -- which represent a real alternative for all of us who oppose US corporate greed and military might.
We know time is tight, but people in Venezuela have asked their supporters in the US to protest a potentially dangerous situation that is presented by the imminent findings on the referendum. The Global Women's Strike is supporting this protest and we urge you to forward this message to your contacts, family and friends in the Washington DC area, asking them to please come out. There are vans going from NYC (call 718-510-5523) and Philadelphia (call 215-848-1120) to reserve a seat. Costs will be shared.
Global Women's Strike Bolivarian Circle philly at crossroadswomen.net 215-848-1120
This event will be followed by a protest in front of the US News and World Report.
What is happening?
As the February 29th deadline approaches, the Venezuelan Electoral National Council is under pressure from the US and political opposition forces to president Hugo Chavez, threatening that if the decision is not favorable to them, violence will ensue. That only a referendum independently of the number of signatures can guarantee peace. It is nothing more than a flagrant call to disrespect the law and the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Both of these instruments of law clearly state that at least 20% of valid signatures are required for a recall referendum. No fake, no duplicated signatures can be considered. People signing for others is an illegal act and not a "technicism," as the State Department is calling it.
Since the April 2002 US-backed coup and January 2003 oil lock-out which were reversed by a popular uprising, the US has been pressing to get the democratically-elected President Chavez out of power. President Chavez was overwhelmingly elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, to get the country's oil revenue back to tackle poverty and corruption and to create a caring economy in Venezuela. Recently it was uncovered that the National Endowment for Democracy has been funneling money to forces trying to overthrow President Chavez, including those participating in the April 2002 coup.
As the government reforms advance, 1.5 million new children obtained access to school, 1 million adults learned to read and write, 1.5 million people obtained access to potable water, the economy is recovering steadily in spite of the sabotage, and the PNUD recognized in their last report of 2003 that poverty has declined 3 points in Venezuela. A unique case in Latin America and the United States where the number of people in poverty increased. Venezuela has a new form of democracy that the US does not like, a democracy where people not only participate in discussions about their process of development (participation) but also have the legal instruments that allow them to make the decisions. They do not have to depend on politicians or political parties who make decisions for them, people make their own decisions about their projects of development (articles 166 and 182 of the Bolivarian Constitution). This is called "protagonism." Venezuelan democracy is then called participatory and "protagonistic." Since there is no room for corporations to influence the decision making process this kind of democracy is not liked by the USA.
As the opposition failure in collecting the required signatures for the referendum on Chavez comes to light, attempts are being made to undermine the Venezuelan Electoral Council and democratic life in Venezuela. Richard Boucher, Roger Noriega and other State Department officials and the US News and World Report, UNIVISION, and some other media outlets are misrepresenting what is happening in Venezuela with the objective of creating conditions for an OAS political and military intervention in that country.
Cesar Gaviria and the OAS have presented a one-sided view of the events also and there is danger that they will continue to follow US directions in regards to the Venezuelan process. We must act now to Stop US and OAS Intervention in Venezuela.
We must demand: Respect to the sovereign decisions of the Venezuelan Electoral Council! Respect to the Constitution and the rule of law in Venezuela! No to US Intervention in Venezuela!
For more information contact us, solidarity at casavenezuela.org Dozthor Zurlent 773.844.8285
--- <http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/English2004/washington_dc04.htm> --- -- Yoshie
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>
