Solidarity joins with the poor and working class of Venezuela, along with millions around the world, in hailing the electoral victory of Hugo Chavez.
By this morning it had become clear that over sixty percent of Venezuelan voters had opted to continue the Bolivarian Revolution against an opposition coalition made up of various oligarchs, business leaders and media barons offering a vision for the country designed to appease their backers in Washington. In short, their aim was, and is, a return to the free market hell responsible for the misery and poverty which had blighted Venezuelan society, and Latin America in general, before Chavez first came to power on the back of a popular movement from below in 1998.
The radical reforms implemented in his six years in power have literally transformed the lives of millions of people. Just under a million children in Venezuela from the shanty towns and poorest villages now receive free education; 1.2 million illiterate adults have been taught to read and write; secondary education has been made available to 250,000 children previously excluded by their social status. As for healthcare, the 14,000 Cuban doctors sent to help the country have transformed the situation in poor communities, where 11,000 neighbourhood clinics have been established and the health budget has tripled. New homes have been and are being built, agrarian reform has redistributed large swathes of land to the poor, and an entire generation are being politicised in the process.
Internationally, Chavez has shown courage in confronting US imperialism, denouncing Bush and the neocons at the UN, as well as demonstrating his solidarity with the Palestinian, Iraqi and Lebanese people in their respective struggles against US and US-sponsored imperialism in the Middle East.
Scenes of jubilation welcomed the news of Chavez's victory all across Venezuela, with tens of thousands gathering outside the Milaflores Palace in Caracas, just as they did in April 2002 in order to reverse a US-backed attempted coup.
Chavez told the crowd:
"Today a new era has started, with the expansion of the revolution. Venezuela is firmly on the track to socialism."
Solidarity co-convener and MSP, Tommy Sheridan, tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament congratulating Chavez. The Glasgow MSP said:
"This is a fantastic result, a clear victory of the poor over the rich that will reverberate all across Latin America. It is a victory for human progress." Motion from Tommy Sheridan
That this parliament congratulates Hugo Chavez on his magnificent victory in the
presidential elections in Venezueala, believes that this is an endorsement of
his Bolivarian road to socialism and a rejection of the neoliberal approach of
Bush and Blair, further recognises that this is part of a movement to the left
throughout Latin America.
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