DR.
CAROLINE LUCAS
Commissioner
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
March 8th 2005 Dear
Commissioner, As
you may well be aware, 2005 is the UN Year of Micro-Credit. To celebrate
this fact, two women from Banmujer, Women’s Development Bank, in
Venezuela have been visiting the UK and my South East constituency. Nora
Castaneda and Angelica Alvarez have championed micro-credit as a vital
tool in the empowerment of women in their country. Over 70% of those
living in poverty in Venezuela are women, and the Women’s Development
Bank is being used to build an economy based on co-operation and mutual
support as a way out of such poverty. Nora and Angelica were among
voters who, in 2004, elected Hugo Chavez, founder of the Banmujer, as
President of Venezuela. One of Chavez’s goals is to direct
Venezuela’s huge oil revenues towards eliminating poverty, in part by
refusing to privatise the oil and water industries. These actions have
been heavily criticised by the US government. I
believe that the work being done by Banmujer is radically changing the
lives of many, many women, and their families, for the better. I am
worried that opposition to the Venezuelan government’s programme may
be detrimental to micro-credit projects and those with similar
objectives. And I would question any attempt by the US to interfere with
the policies of a democratically elected leader. This
matter is of such importance that I am requesting it be raised with the
US administration at the earliest opportunity. It should also form part
of discussions about the future development of the EU/Transatlantic
Partnership. I
look forward to hearing from you. Yours
sincerely,
Suite 58, The
Hop Exchange, 24 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TY, UK |
