Local group promotes Venezuelan solidarity

Yawu Miller

Earlier this month, when President George Bush was in Argentina pushing his failed Free Trade Area of the Americas proposal, it was Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who was leading the opposition, rallying a crowd of 35,000 protesters along with Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona.

Perhaps more than any other event, the ill-fated 34-nation free trade area initiative cemented Chavez’s role as leading opponent of the Bush administration’s hegemony in Latin America. While Bush later railed against Chavez as an enemy of social justice and democracy, the popular Venezuelan president has been busy spreading goodwill in the region, distributing Venezuelan oil to Caribbean nations at discounted prices.

Early next month, that program will reach Boston, in the form of 12 million gallons of subsidized home heating oil to supply 45,000 low-income families and local charities. Boston is one of several U.S. cities targeted by the Venezuelan government-owned CITGO corporation.

With his open resistance to U.S.-backed trade policies, his professed solidarity of people of African and indigenous American descent and his calls to redistribute the wealth generated by the country’s oil, Chavez has earned enmity not only in the United States, but also among the wealthy, mostly white elite in Venezuela.

There as well as here, Chavez is pilloried in the corporate Spanish language press, accused of subverting democracy and waging class warfare.

Locally, a group of Venezuelan supporters decided to counter what they see as a widespread bias against the Chavez government. Modeling their group after the popular organizations the Venezuelan president established in their home country, the local Chavistas in 2003 established the Martin Luther King Bolivarian Circle.

“The opposition in Venezuela wanted to demonize the Bolivarian circles in Venezuela,” said founding member Jorge Marin. “We knew from what we’ve seen that they’re doing good work. We decided we wanted to de-demonize the Bolivarian circles and counteract the false messages out there.”

The circles, named after the 19th century South American anti-colonial crusader Simon de Bolivar, were part of Chavez’s efforts to mobilize his supporters in the country’s low-income communities.

The small group of Venezuelans and Columbians who make up the Boston group have for the past two years organized information sessions and worked with local social justice groups to raise the awareness of goings on in Venezuela. They’ve made inroads with some local Spanish-language media, gaining airtime on locally-based radio stations and local access programs.

Last week, the Bolivarian Circle assembled about 25 community members at City Hall to help prepare an agenda for Boston area delegates to the World Social Forum being held this January in Caracas. Gathered in the Piemonte Room, participants brainstormed on ideas while Circle members recorded their thoughts ranging from support for immigrant rights to efforts to send refurbished computers to Caracas.

The convening of the World Social Forum, an international gathering of progressive movements and non-governmental organizations, in Caracas underscores the centrality of Venezuela and Chavez in the resurgence of the South American left.

“Venezuela is a very open society under Hugo Chavez,” Marin said. “People are open to new ideas. Chavez doesn’t want to follow the old socialist theory. He wants to go for a Bolivarian version. Bolivar called for the rights of the less advantaged and for unity in South America.”

Despite his firm hold on the presidency — Chavez has prevailed in the eight elections and referenda held since his 1998 election to the presidency with 56 percent of the vote — Chavez largely lost the battle for the airwaves. Billionaire businessman Gustavo Cisneros, a personal friend of George Bush, runs Univision Communications and Venevision, neither of which is supportive of Chavez.

After a 2002 right-wing coup which Chavez says was backed by the U.S. failed to remove him from power, both the president and the media became even more entrenched.

Chavez has responded to the right-wing media onslaught by helping to found Televisora del Sur, a joint venture co-sponsored launched in July by the governments of Cuba, Argentina and Uruguay, aimed at promoting Latin American integration. The Republican-led U.S. Congress retaliated by voting to enable U.S. broadcasters to send signals to Venezuela.

Underlying the war of words being waged in the hemisphere’s newsmedia is a war of worldview. The populations of many South and Central American countries like Argentina have long been suffering under the weight of failed economic policies dictated by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank — entities largely seen as backing the U.S.-led neoliberal agenda.

While Chavez stands as the region’s premier opponent of U.S. policy, Venezuela is also one of this country’s more important trading partner, says Marin who notes that the country supplies one fourth of America’s petroleum.

“The U.S. and Venezuela are tied together because they need each other,” he said. “However, Venezuela under Hugo Chavez wants to reap the benefits from this deal and give it to the majority of Venezuelans.”