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Venezuela’s
Women Bank Visits San Francisco, Calls for Unity The President of the Women’s Bank of Venezuela, Nora Castañeda, is touring the U.S. to promote Venezuela’s social economy in accordance with the Bolivarian Constitution of the Republic of Venezuela. Castañeda inaugurated her tour on Thursday, Jan. 29 at St. Boniface Church in San Francisco, at an event coordinated by the Global Women’s Strike and sponsored by the Vanguard Foundation, KPFA, Dolores Huerta, Supervisor Tom Ammiano, and actor/activist Danny Glover among others. Supervisor Ammiano initiated a resolution in City Hall to declare Jan. 29 Nora Castañeda’s day in San Francisco. “Women struggled for the creation of a bank that guaranteed credit for women in poverty,” said Castañeda. And on March 8, 2002, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez established the Women’s Bank (Banmujer) and appointed Castañeda as its president. “We wanted the Venezuelan government,” said Castañeda, “to allocate resources from its budget to guarantee that these women in poverty, who want to work and be productive, receive loans (micro-credit) without any guarantee from the women besides their word; just like men have their ‘word of honor’, women have their word as well.” Since it was founded two and a half years ago, Banmujer has granted over 30,000 micro-credits to women in poverty. The bank also conducts workshops for women in topics ranging from fiscal responsibility to sexual and reproductive health. “Most people ask us ‘what does a bank have to do with all that?’ A bank must consider that one of the main problems in the work force is its health and an unhealthy work-force is unproductive, therefore the people don’t progress and progress is our aim,” added Castañeda. Banmujer calls itself “the different bank” because as Castañeda said, “this bank was not born to accumulate capital, this bank was born to bring happiness not only to Venezuelans, but in so much as we can bring hope and inspiration to the rest of the world. We want an economy that serves humanity, not humanity at the service of the economy.” Venezuela enjoys one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. In it the needs and concerns of that country’s diverse population are addressed, recognizing women specifically including its indigenous population, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual populations, the environment itself and future generations. However, despite Hugo Chavez’s landslide victory in 1998, he finds himself as the head of a country bitterly divided and in a presidency beleaguered by what Castañeda calls a campaign of “misinformation” perpetrated by special-interests opposed to Venezuela’s sovereignty over her vast and rich natural resources. Castañeda sees the adversity as an indication that her government is doing something right. For her the struggle for the rights of the Venezuelans spills over into her concern for what she feels is really at stake: the future of humanity. Before an audience of over two hundred people most of which came out to express their solidarity with Venezuela’s cause, the soft-spoken Castañeda boomed her message across the small auditorium at St. Boniface Church. “We are not here to export ‘Chavism,’ said Castañeda. “In Venezuela we are constructing a beautiful country, a better country, not just for Venezuelans, but one which strives to be a model for a beleaguered world. We bring a message of hope.” |