The Global Women’s Strike invites you to
Meet two organisers from Venezuela
on tour in Europe during October 2006

Juanita Romero speaks for the Land Committee in Guaicaipuro, Miranda State, co-ordinating grassroots self-activity on housing, an urgent problem as the 70's oil boom pushed 80% of Venezuelans into the cities.  She co-ordinates the Neighbourhaood Mothers Mission through which women with least receive financial recognition for their caring work.  She works with the Women's Development Bank, to which Chavez recently awarded $50 million to help older women, women with disabilities, sex workers, teenage mothers and women in prison to form co-operatives and build a 'caring economy'.

Gastón Murat has a long experience in the Socialist League and in the movement which led to the revolution.  He is a founding member in Miranda State of the Fuerza Bolivariana de Trabajadores and of UNT (Unión Nacional de Trabajadores), formed to defeat the corrupt trade union leadership who were inolved in the 2002 coup.

Two events at Bolívar Hall, Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
54 Grafton Way, London W1 Warren St, Entrance by donation
Spanish / English with interpreters.  We regret the hall is not wheelchair accessible.

Film premiere: Journey with the Revolution
Saturday 7 October 2-6 pm
Spanish/English with subtitles. A lively journey with the midwives, housewives, gay and disability activists, nurses, doctors, teachers and others running the health clinics, the soup kitchens, the land committees, education programmes, and Women’s Development Bank, which are transforming Venezuela.  Features Sharmini Peries, President Chávez’s Adviser on International Relations.  A Global Women’s Strike production.

Followed by: Women & the Bolivarian revolution
Discussion lead by Venezuelan organisers Juanita Romero and Gastón Murat. All Venezuela solidarity groups are invited to comment.
 

A comparison by Selma James:
Nyerere and Chávez – New passions and new forces
Thursday 12 October 6-8 pm, International Day of Indigenous Resistance
Like President Chávez, Julius Nyerere, the first president of an independent Tanzania, rejected capitalism and worked to develop a society based on co-operation and on bringing together the peoples of the continent of Africa.  Selma James is the founder and co-ordinator of the Global Women’s Strike, and colleague and widow of CLR James, author of The Black Jacobins, a history of the Haitian revolution which President Chávez often speaks about.

Other events with Juanita Romero and Gastón Murat:

Sunday 8 October, 2pm
Venice (Italy): at the Sixth Annual Bookfair for Peace
A film-showing of Talking of Power
Sex, race and class in revolutionary Venezuela.  From the hills of Caracas to the banks of the Orinoco, the grassroots tell us how they are changing our world. Followed by discussion led by Juaniuta Romero and Gastón Murat. 
Read the Italian press coverage of this event here

Tuesday 10 October, 5.30pm
Galway: Huston Film School, National University of Ireland,
(opposite the Cathedral). Fully wheelchair accessible.
A film-showing of Journey with the Revolution, hosted by Rod Stoneman, producer of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised  Followed by discussion led by Juanita Romero and Gastón Murat. 
Wednesday 11 Oct 12-1pm Winning Accountability From Professionals - the Land Committees in Venezuela  A class in the Department of Archaeology, hosted by Maggie Ronayne AC215, Arts/Science Building, NUI Galway
Chavez honorary doctorate nomination:
Nomination by Maggie from the Strike in Ireland to the President of her university and the National University of Ireland

Dublin: Wednesday 11 October, 7.30pm
 Hosted by the Students’ Union, University College Dublin. Journey with the Revolution followed by discussion led by Juanita Romero and Gastón Murat. Theatre R, John Henry Newman Building (Arts Block), UC Dublin. Steps to hall, please call before if you need help with access: 087 7838688 or ireland@allwomencount.net

Edinburgh: Friday 13 October
Afternoon: Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, Rosie Kane MSP
5pm: Speaking at the plenary of the 10th Independent Radical Book Fair, on "The Winds of Change in Latin America " organised by Wordpower. Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 30-38 Dalmeny St, EH6.

Glasgow: Saturday 14 October, 11am-1.30pm Partick Borough Halls, Stewarton Street, Partick. Workshop on Participatory Democracy with speakers Juanita Romero and Gastón Murat. Hosted by Scottish Socialist Party. Contact: Catriona Grant 07717 204426
2-5pm: Renfield St Stephen’s Church, 260 Bath St, G24. Film showing of Journey with the Revolution. Presentation by Juanita Romero and Gastón Murat & discussion.
Hosted by Positive Action in Housing. Contact: David Reilly 0141 353 2220
 - Scottish Socialist Voice: Talkin’ bout the revolution
Venezuelan activists visit Glasgow to talk wages for housework and why communities lie at the heart of grassroots resistance
 - Morning Star: All Change for Women: JUANITA ROMERO and GASTON MURAT explain how Venezuelan women have benefited from the Bolivarian revolution

Barcelona: Monday 16 October 7.30pm
Pompeu Fabra University, Humanities Faculty, Barcelona
C/. Ramon Trias Fargas 25, 08005 , metro: línea 4, Ciutadella (Vila Olímpica)
Women and the Bolivarian Revolution the book launch of:

Creating a Caring Economy – Nora Castañeda and the Women’s Development Bank of Venezuela and debate with two activists of the Bolivarian process, Juanita Romero y Gastón Murat.  Accompanied by Nina López, international coordinator of the Global Women’s Strike and editor of the book.  Organized by: Cátedra UNESCO – Intercultural Studies and the Global Women’s Strike.

The Global Women’s Strike has worked with the Venezuelan revolution since 2002, organising for Venezuelans to tour the US and Europe, producing documentaries, books and pamphlets, drafting parliamentary motions and speeches, reporting back from solidarity events in Venezuela and as international observers in the 2004 presidential referendum.

Publications (English & Spanish) include: Trade unions, the US State Department and Venezuela (2003); Creating a Caring Economy: Nora Castañeda and the Women’s Development Bank of Venezuela (2006). 
Documentaries: Venezuela: A 21st century revolution (2003);
Enter the oil workers (2004); Talking of power (2005)

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