Some 50 activists participated in a very intense day of discussions during the Conference of Hands off Venezuela in London, on May 22. The main guests of the Conference were Katy Jaimes and Elías Chacón, active in the Socialist United Party (PSUV) and the PSUV youth as well as the movement of occupied factories, who had travelled from Venezuela to report on the current situation of the Bolivarian revolution. The Conference also featured a discussion on the Fifth International led off by Alan Woods. Here we present videos of their interventions.
On Thursday April 22, Radio Nacional de Venezuela, the country’s leading radio aired an interview with the editor of Marxist.com, Alan Woods. The interview, which was broadcast live across the country, took place at 11 am and was repeated at 6 pm, lasting about an hour. The reaction from listeners who telephoned the station was extremely positive, showing once again the existence of a very receptive audience for the ideas of the IMT in Venezuela.
The Cuban Revolution is one of the great events of human history. The small island was completely dominated by US imperialism until the revolution of 1959 shattered the Batista dictatorship and introduced a nationalised planned economy in the years following the revolution. Since then impressive achievements in health care and education have been met with loud shouts of "dictatorship" from the bourgeois press. What was the background to the revolution and why did it develop in the way that it did? Where is Cuba going today?
The Honduran coup government used heavy repressive tactics on election day as the resistance vowed to continue to fight for a new constitution and the people's rights. We publish here a video report by The Real News for the interest of our readers.
Jorge Martín, international secretary of Hands Off Venezuela, addressed a recent meeting of the ULU Marxist Society in London on the topic of the Latin American Revolution. The meeting took place in the midst of mobilisations in Mexico, a coup in Honduras and the extraordinary congress of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. For Marxists the unfolding revolution in Latin America is a great source of inspiration and lessons.
Jorge Martin, international secretary of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign and contributing writer to Marxist.com was interviewed on August 29 by Sylvia Richardson of the Canadian radio CJSF on her program "Latin Waves." Topics discussed include the coup in Honduras, the expansion of US military in Colombia, the so called "war on drugs" and "Plan Colombia".
The Workers' International League held its first National Marxist School over the weekend of June 13th and 14th. As part of the School, a public event was organized jointly with Hands Off Venezuela, to discuss the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution and the lessons for Latin America. Jorge Martin spoke on the Revolution and the lessons that revolutionaries can draw from it.