Venezuela – A great confrontation is under way in Venezuela. On one side stands Venezuela’s elite – backed by the Bush administration and the big oil companies. On the other side of the barricades stand Venezuela’s oppressed and patriotic, people who are rallying around their progressive president, Hugo Chávez.

Chávez wants to use the profits from the state oil industry to meet the needs of the people. Critical of the Bush administration, he has charted an independent foreign policy and forged friendly relations with Cuba. He will not allow Venezuela’s territory or air space to be used for U.S. intervention in Colombia.

The month-long ‘strike’ – which is, in fact, a big business organized lockout – is an attempt by right wing forces in Venezuela to topple the democratically elected Chávez. A group of sell-out trade union leaders has thrown in with the elite opposition movement.

Early in the ‘strike,’ there was little support beyond a few large businesses, such as McDonald’s and other fast food chains; the supermarkets and the private schools. Then, managers and administrators of Venezuela’s oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) joined in, trying to take the president and the country hostage by their attacks on oil production.

While the ‘strike’ has little popular support, especially among the poor, it has had a significant effect on the state-owned oil company. Ali Rodriguez, PDVSA’s president, reported that the opposition has shut down the country’s main oil refinery, one of the largest in the world. The exportation of oil has been cut from 3 million barrels to 1.5 million barrels per day. The ‘strike’ is costing the economy $50 million per day and affecting all of Venezuelan society. Venezuela is in jeopardy of losing international customers and defaulting on their debt payments if oil production does not resume soon.

This ‘strike’ shows that the opposition and a significant number of Venezuela’s business elite prefer to commit economic suicide in order to oust Chávez and are not afraid of dragging the country with them.

U.S. Destabilization

Last April, president Chávez was kidnapped at gun point in a failed coup attempt. The Bush administration praised the coup, but backtracked when it became apparent that the coup plotters lacked domestic and international support.

Recently, Bush sided with the big business opposition and announced that Chávez should call for early elections. Chávez was elected to a six-year term. The Venezuelan constitution does not allow for elections at this time. Said Chávez, “The U.S. is confused. We’ll have to send them a copy of the constitution.” The opposition wants elections now so that they can use the current economic situation to blackmail voters into supporting their agenda.

Although Bush denies the U.S. had any role in the coup or the ‘strike,’ the opposition receives support, including financial support, from the U.S. government.

Ranking members of the State Department met with opposition leaders in Washington D.C. at the beginning of December during the early portion of the ‘strike.’ The State Department says the it would enjoy a ‘regime change.’

In the past year, the United States channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to American and Venezuelan groups opposed to President Chávez. The funds came from the CIA-linked National Endowment for Democracy – a nonprofit agency created and financed by Congress. The National Endowment for Democracy gave $154,377 to the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, the international arm of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

For many years, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. worked closely with the State department and CIA to disrupt trade union movements in other countries. The fact that the Center for International Labor Solidarity is channeling money to the reactionary leaders of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers is raising concerns among progressive trade unionists in the U.S. The Confederation of Venezuelan Workers is led by Carlos Ortega, a close associate of Pedro Carmona Estanga, the businessman who took over during April’s right wing coup.

Venezuela is at a crossroads. Progressives throughout Latin America are backing the government of Hugo Chávez. Oil workers from Colombia and Ecuador say they will help Venezuela’s oil industry get back on its feet. Pro-Chávez demonstrations and other acts of resistance have continued throughout the ‘strike.’ The choice is clear. The pro-poor people, pro-worker policies of the Chávez government deserve the support or everyone who supports justice.

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Chicago, IL – Chanting, “CIA! NED! Hands off Venezuela!” more than 100 trade unionists and other progressive activists braved one of the hottest days in Chicago’s history to rally here, July 24. They demanded that the AFL-CIO break its ties with the U.S. government’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The National Endowment for Democracy has worked to overthrow the progressive government of Venezuela, headed by Hugo Chavez, and has bankrolled right-wing organizations all over the world.

The demonstration was called by the Latin American Solidarity Coalition and the Chicago-based Organizing Group to Say No to the NED. Its purpose was to back efforts within the AFL-CIO convention to pass the “Build Unity and Trust With Workers Worldwide” resolution. The resolution is seen a step in transforming the AFL-CIO foreign policy program into a force for genuine international labor solidarity.

#ChicagoIL #News #NationalEndowmentForDemocracy #LatinAmericanSolidarityCoalition

The Build Unity and Trust With Workers Worldwide resolution is seen as one step in transforming the AFL-CIO foreign policy program into a force for genuine international labor solidarity. It is expected that top-level foreign policy leaders will try to undercut this effort. The July 24 demonstration has been called to support those who are working to pass the resolution inside the AFL-CIO.

The AFL-CIO has a long history of working with the CIA to destroy and disrupt progressive trade union movements in other countries. In recent years it has worked in tandem with the National Endowment for Democracy, or NED – a creation of the U.S. government that strives to bring more regions of the world under U.S. domination.

The National Endowment for Democracy has been involved in supporting efforts to overthrow the democratically elected president, Hugo Chavez, in Venezuela, and other activities around the world.

The AFL-CIO’s ‘Solidarity Center’ (formerly known as the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, or ACILS) is one of four ‘core’ institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy. In addition, the Solidarity Center gets over 90% of is annual budget from the NED.

The activities of the Solidarity Center actions have never been fully reported to union members (including many members at top levels), and there has been no transparency, no accountability and no honesty about activities that have been carried out in the name of American workers but without our knowledge (i.e., behind our backs).

The National Endowment for Democracy – despite its name and its claim to be ‘independent’ and ‘non-governmental’ – is actually a non-democratic project of the United States government that was initiated and is almost totally funded by the U.S. Congress. In 2003, its budget was approximately $31 million, and Bush wants to double that amount in the 2005-06 budget.

#ChicagoIL #News #NationalEndowmentForDemocracy #BuildUnityAndTrustWithWorkersWorldwideResolution #LatinAmericanSolidarityCoalition

Funded by the State Department, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was set up under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Its mission is “to foster corporate globalism,” and ‘free’ trade agreements. In practice, the NED works to stop revolutions in countries where the U.S. backs the rich people in power. Where pro-people governments are in power, NED works to help overthrow them.

The AFL-CIO has a long history of this kind of activity in foreign affairs. For example, in South America, a military dictatorship was set up in Chile in 1973 under CIA direction. The AFL-CIO, and especially the Teamsters, were involved in overthrowing the previous government there that the U.S. didn’t like. Thousands of Chilean trade unionists died. From involvement like this, it reached the point in the 1970s that activists started calling the union federation the ‘AFL-CIA.’

When the reform leadership under John Sweeney came to power in the AFL-CIO in 1995, unionists and others who oppose U.S. imperialism were hopeful. There were signs that the old departments that had acted against workers abroad were to be dismantled. The International Department, through its Solidarity Center, started doing positive things. For example, they supported the unionists in Colombia who were being targeted by death squads aligned with the pro-U.S. government there.

But then, in 2002, a U.S.-backed coup happened in Venezuela. Patriotic Venezuelans prevented the coup. Following these events, the news came out that the NED and the Solidarity Center had been deeply involved in supporting the efforts to overthrow that democratically elected government. Progressive trade unionists in the U.S. were shocked, and set about to stop something like that from happening again.

Resolution: Create Trust and Unity Among Workers Worldwide

This summer, the AFL-CIO is having their convention in Chicago in July. A resolution entitled, “Building unity and trust among workers worldwide” will be presented there. It was adopted in July 2004 by the California State Federation of Labor, which represents 2.5 million of the 12 million workers in the AFL-CIO.

This resolution is about building solidarity with labor movements in other countries. It calls for:

    \* Clearing the Air about AFL-CIO involvement in events like the coups in Chile and Venezuela.

    \* Detailing involvement in other countries around the world.

    \* Ending funding from the U.S. government, particularly the NED, for the Federation’s activities in other countries.

    \* Solidarity Center should be funded by union dues, led by union members and members should be informed of its activities.

The Latin American Solidarity Committee is organizing support for this resolution among trade unionists and people who support the struggles of workers here and worldwide. Their statement reads, “Organizing the unorganized, protecting workers’ rights, and building workers’ unity at home and around the world: these are the top priorities for U.S. workers. We cannot afford to support the NED’s waste of taxpayer money and of union members’ energy and resources on projects that undermine workers’ unity. We have a job to do: Organize!”

A rally will be held in Chicago to support the resolution. For more information, and to sign the petition supporting the resolution, visit the Latin American Solidarity Committee website at www.lasolidarity.org

Labor For Palestine

Labor For Palestine is a solidarity campaign among labor activists in the U.S. It was founded by organizations including Al Awda, a group that supports the right of the refugees to return to their homes in occupied Palestine, as well as New York City Labor Against the War.

On July 23, one day before the AFL-CIO convention starts, Labor for Palestine (LFP) will hold a national educational conference in Chicago on the issue of Palestine, Labor and the AFL-CIO. They criticize the national AFL-CIO for its support of the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq. In regard to Palestine, LFP is sponsoring a resolution that protests the union federation’s purchases of Israel Bonds. These have helped the Israeli government pursue its continued construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

LFP invites trade unionists and union locals to endorse and participate in this critical conference: www.laborforpalestine.org

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