Venezuela’s social progress under threat from US intervention

For decades most Venezuelans lived in poverty, in barrios (shanty towns) with unreliable electricity, unsafe water and desperately inadequate public services. In recent years, ordinary people’s lives have been transformed.  This inspiring process has been made possible by a sustained rise in social investment, with the government redistributing the country’s oil wealth from a small and privileged elite to the majority of people.
 
Inspiring social changes include:
  • More than 2.7 million Venezuelans have been lifted out of poverty since 1998, with extreme poverty halved, and poverty rates continuing to fall.
  • Over 17 million people now have access to free healthcare for the first time, with a national heath service being built for the first time.
  • Over 1.6 million adults have benefited from literacy campaigns with illiteracy now abolished according to UNESCO standards.
  • More than 6 million more people now have clean drinking water, with access increasing from 80% in 1998 to over 92% today.
  • 98 per cent of Venezuelans now eat three times per day thanks to government provision of subsidised food and free school meals.
  • New rights for working people - Venezuela’s minimum wage is now the highest in Latin America, unemployment has been significantly reduced and outsourcing made illegal.
  • The creation of a Women’s Development Bank and new Ministry for Women, giving opportunities to millions of previously excluded women.
  • Historic racism is being tackled with new constitutional rights for indigenous people and recognition of the rights of other black and minority ethnic communities.
  • The expansion of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra programme, which provides free musical education to thousands of children from poor backgrounds.
Due to these progressive social policies, amazingly, Venezuela has met the UN Millennium Development Goals six years ahead of schedule, whilst many countries are decades behind.
 
Additionally, although against the backdrop of global recession the Venezuelan economy shrank by 3% in 2009, the government held firm on its commitment to maintain and increase spending in areas such as health, education and poverty reduction.
 
It is the case that much still needs to be done to overcome decades of neglect of the interests of the vast majority of Venezuelans, especially in the cities, but the achievements of the current government stand in stark contrast to previous governments, who oversaw rising poverty and failing living standards for 25 years.
 
Freeing Latin America from exploitation
 
As well as this social progress domestically Venezuela is seen as a beacon of hope across Southern America, encouraging progressive regional co-operation, as an alternative to decades of US domination and neo-liberalism.
 
Venezuela’s inspiring work internationally includes:
  • The joint programme with Cuba ‘Operation Miracle’ which is providing free eye operations to hundreds of thousands of poor people in Latin America, the Caribbean and now Africa.
  • Supplying oil at preferential prices to 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries to help their economies.
  • The ALBA (‘Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas’) agreement with other Latin American and Caribbean nations - an alternative to the US-promoted Free Trade Area of the Americas.
  • Creating a Latin American television station, Telesur, to challenge US cultural domination and the distortion of the truth by the media.
Chávez’s Democratic Record
 
These changes in Venezuela have received enormous democratic approval, with Chávez and his supporters have won fourteen out of fifteen national elections and referenda since 1998.
 
In this time, democratic participation in Venezuela has increased, with millions of previously excluded people being enfranchised. Grassroots democracy has also been expanded with the formation and funding of thousands of ‘Community Councils’ across the country.
 
Contrary to distortions in the media and from opponents of the government, the annual survey of Latin American views, by the respected Latinobarametro, shows that Venezuelans have a strong approval for their democracy.
 
Venezuela next goes to the polls for National Assembly elections in September 2010. In these elections, the right-wing opposition will inevitably increase its number of seats, as it boycotted the previous parliamentary elections – in a blatant attempt to undermine their legitimacy – when it was clear they would lose.
 
Threats to social progress and sovereignty — solidarity needed!
 
Inevitably, the progressive changes of recent years have not been welcomed by the former ruling elite in Venezuela and their allies internationally who remain committed to neo-liberalism. In particular, many within the United States want to regain control of Venezuelan oil resources, by putting the old Venezuelan elite back into power, and prevent a further strengthening of national sovereignty and economic independence across Latin America.
 
In recent years, this has seen various attempts to undermine Venezuela’s elected government. The US appeared to be behind a failed military coup in 2002. The following this, organised attempts to sabotage fist the oil industry — the mainstay of the economy — strongly indicated US involvement.
 
This threat has not gone away under the Obama administration. The US National Director of Intelligence, Admiral Dennis Blair, in his annual report for 2010 classifies Venezuela as an “anti-US Leader” in the world.
This followed the announcement of more US bases in neighbouring Colombia meaning that Venezuela is surrounded by 13 US military bases in addition to the aircraft carriers and ships of the US Fourth Fleet, which was reactivated in 2008 in order to patrol the Atlantic Coast of South America.
 
The coup against the progressive government in Honduras, and the discovery of similar plots in Ecuador and Paraguay, also show the continuing threat of social progress in Venezuela being overturned.
 
Within Venezuela, the right wing opposition also continues to hold democracy and the rule of law in contempt, seeking to destabilise the government.
 
Media Distortion and Misrepresentation
 
Alongside these developments, opponents of Venezuela’s elected government have also orchestrated an international media campaign of distortion and misrepresentation aimed at isolating support for the Chávez-led Government.
 
Within Venezuela, there is great concern that such international demonization of Chávez could be used as a pretext for further interventions and ‘regime change.’
 
That is why the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign works to explain the truth about Venezuela and support the country’s right to self-determination – you can help by joining VSC today.
 
Matt Willgress, Coordinator of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign

No comments:

Post a Comment