People’s Victory in Venezuela
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Dear Friends,
A week ago today, the forces for good in the world achieved a major victory with the reaffirmation of Hugo Chávez as the democratically-elected President of Venezuela. The social transformation of Venezuela, particularly the use of national oil revenues to benefit all Venezuelans through health care, education, land distribution, economic development, and food security programs won the day over a traditional elite and their greed for power – notwithstanding the opposition's near-monopoly over the media and support from their allies in Washington.
This will be an even bigger strike against the potential of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Venezuela has played a leading role in working to stop the FTAA, and instead build regional trade and political alliances among countries of Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Popular civic participation, from local community organizations to the national Indigenous federation, the national campesino federation and the national network of Afro-Venezuelans, mobilized 6 million Venezuelans to vote to keep President Chávez in office – close to twice as many as elected him in 2000. It was the highest voter participation in any election in Venezuela's history (10 million of the 14 million registered voters), and an incredible exercise in democracy. Social movements across Latin America, including the CUT, PT, and MST in Brazil; the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo of Argentina; Eduardo Galeano of Uruguay; Global Exchange; and the Hemispheric Social Alliance were there to celebrate the victory. For the first time in 20 years, a Latin American government won an election because of what they actually did for poor people!
Unfortunately, an opposition group funded by the US government to 'promote democracy' did a fraudulent exit poll that showed that Chávez lost – which has now put the opposition in the increasingly absurd position of rejecting the outcome and crying fraud. The opposition has once more shown their contempt for democracy by attempting to de-legitimize Chavez's victory — against Jimmy Carter's verdict that the election was free and fair.
We must now step up the pressure on the Bush administration to stop funding coup leaders to destabilize Venezuelan democracy.
Mostly, I hope we can all take a moment to celebrate one of the most exciting victories in the history of social justice organizing in decades!
With much love and hope,
Deborah
www.globalexchange.org
@ August 24, 2004