Public meeting on Haiti and Venezuela, 
House of Commons, 24 March 2004

Alarmed by the recent removal of Haiti's democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by US troops and ongoing attempts to remove Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, we write to inform you of Early Day Motion 854 VENEZUELA tabled by John McDonnell MP condemning such attempts and highlighting the achievements of the democratic Venezuelan government.

We invite you to a meeting in the House of Commons on 
WEDNESDAY 24 MARCH, 4.30-5.30pm, Committee Room 8, on this urgent issue. If you cannot come please send a message of support to: womenstrike8m@server101.com or call 020-7482 2496.

The US removed Haiti's elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide at gunpoint. Many people are concerned about attempts against another democratically elected president' Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. Venezuela is the 5th largest oil exporter in the world, yet 65%-80% of its population lives in poverty. President Chavez was elected to reclaim the oil revenue to tackle poverty and corruption.

'All across this oil-rich and poverty-riddled country, the state oil giant, PDVSA, the country's economic engine, is embarking on a radical and wide-ranging social spending program that includes building homes, running literacy programs and developing agriculture. [It] is increasing its social spending from less than $40 million in previous years to $1.7 billion this year . . . "PDVSA used to function as a transnational company only interested in maximizing oil sales," said PDVSA's president, Alm Rodrmguez. "Now, PDVSA is working with other state institutions to reduce Venezuela's exceedingly high rate of poverty."' 
The New York Times, 11 March 2004

The majority, especially women, back President Chavez who, like them, is of African and Indigenous descent. Their democracy not only elects representatives but depends on people to make the changes themselves. Nora Castaneda, President of the Women's Development Bank, says: 'We are creating a caring economy, an economy at the service of human beings, not human beings at the service of the economy. And since 65% of the world's population lives in poverty and 70% of the world's poor are women, dealing with women's poverty must be central to the economy.' The 1999 Constitution is the only one in the world which recognises women's unwaged work in the home as economically productive, creating wealth and social welfare, and entitling housewives to social security.

Government reforms have resulted in:

* An additional 1.5 million children in school getting three free meals a day
* Over 1 million adults obtaining literacy
* 1.5 million more people with access to drinking water
* Indigenous people's rights to land and bilingual education
* Two million hectares of land distributed to small farmers
* Women heads of household (over 60% of households) being prioritized for land distribution
* Food subsidies (or food vouchers) for pregnant women before and after birth
* The newly created Women's Development Bank and the Bank of the Sovereign People giving out micro-credit at low interest rates to help the poorest families who want to form cooperatives or other productive associations
* The army being incorporated into the process, distributing food and building housing
* 10,000 Cuban doctors providing free healthcare in the poorest communities
* Poverty has declined by 3 percent, uniquely in Latin America (in the US poverty has increased in the same period)
* Unemployment is expected to decrease from 15.5% to 5% by the end of the year
* The economy is expected to grow by 6%.

These achievements are under threat from the white elite and the US government, which want the oil privatized and the Free Trades Area of the Americas accepted. A 2002 coup and a CIA-backed lock-out to paralyse the oil industry were defeated as millions took to the streets. But the US continues to finance opponents of the Venezuelan process; they are using a referendum against the president as an excuse for violence, destabilization and to make way for US intervention.

The EU, especially France, has backed the US in Haiti. The UK kept silent during the 2002 US-backed coup in Venezuela. It has backed the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, lying about weapons of mass destruction to justify an illegal war and occupation which have cost over 50,000 lives so far. It is now talking about 'pre-emptive strike' as its modus operandi.

IT IS URGENT THAT MPS AND MEPS SPEAK OUT TO PREVENT ANOTHER IRAQ OR HAITI.

The Global Women's Strike was invited to Venezuela three times by the Women's Institute, and recently organised a US speaking tour for Nora Castaneda.
Tel: 020-7482 2496 Email: womenstrike8m@server101.com
Web: www.globalwomenstrike.net

Danny Glover Haiti & Venezuela: A Personal View, 3 April 
Caribbean Women Denounce the US-backed coup in Haiti
US revealed to be secretly funding opponents of Chavez The Independent 13 March 2004
The Oil Company as Social Worker New York Times, Business, 11 March 2004

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