Oil workers, retired workers and community defeat oil coup

The constitution prevents privatisation of the oil industry, so that its revenue can be used to end poverty. In December 2002-January 2003, oil executives, the corporate media and corrupt union leaders tried to stop the revolution by stopping the oil industry. 

Nelson Nuñez, President of SITRAPETROL, the oil workers union, told us how they defeated the "oil coup":

They called a strike in December, telling everyone that they would carry on until Chávez left. We as trade union leaders put out a statement telling workers this was not a strike over workers' demands, it was a "golpista" strike, an anti-government conspiracy. 

Within 24 hours we became travellers, going in a small plane to all the oil sites, telling workers that this was not a strike, and that Carlos Ortega [the "golpista" leader of the CTV union] did not represent the workers. 

Almost all the workers stayed, more than 180,000. These are the workers of the industry, those who operate the machines, the rigs, the plants,the wells, who open the valves, control the gas. The real workers. 

There was sabotage of all kinds by the managers. They cut cables, they removed all the industry's data. 

The company INTESA ran all the computer systems with its own staff - it was based in a CIA office right here in Venezuela. The US, through the CIA, knew everything because the production programme was invented by them. INTESA managed all that. INTESA took all the data and crashed all the computer systems. 

To re-establish all that, we had to look for technicians, retired people. It was a 24-hour, day-and-night struggle because there was a serious danger, not only to the 
workers but to the whole country. They wanted to blow up the refinery and everyone around. They had no compassion for anyone! I have no words for what they did, it has no price, no limits. It was that serious. 

But the worker of this industry has such principles, such great experience and great concern for security above all. We even practise it in our own homes. We had to proceed with a lot of care, a lot of caution. Check and double check step by step everything they had reversed and wasted until we could safely say: turn on the engine, turn on the compressors, turn on the well, open the valve, and for nothing to go wrong. 

We must acknowledge the oil workers of this country. They gave themselves entirely. Many grassroots people participated, joining with us to re-establish production. 

Today most of the trade unions are getting together to form a new federation called UNT [Workers National Unity]. The workers can see that the CTV of Carlos Ortega is an empty house. There's no one there.

What do you think about relations with the US union federation AFL-CIO, 
which has supported Ortega? 

I don't know if UNT will have relations with this federation which is "golpista", funds terrorists, and of course wants nothing to do with the process of change we're fighting for. When the time comes, we'll discuss this relationship.

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