Student Broad Left

Below we share NUS Black Students’ Officer, Aaron Kiely’s report from the NUS Black Students’ Campaign Black History Month 2012 event which took at Bolivar Hall in London.

Over 100 people packed out Bolivar Hall in London for a meeting marking Black History Month on how social progress in Venezuela under the government of Hugo Chávez has benefited the Black communities in Venezuela and the wider Caribbean.

Leading anti-racist campaigner Doreen Lawrence and Dianne Abbott MP both reported on their recent visit to Venezuela as official elections observers where they witnessed the landslide victory of Hugo Chavez.

Opening the meeting, organised by the NUS Black Students campaign and Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, Aaron Kiely, NUS Black Student’s Officer, said

“Historically Latin America has been dominated by slavery, colonialism and, in many cases, the extermination of its original inhabitants. But today it is a place that is inspiring people across the world as an alternatives to cuts, inequality and scape-goating we are seeing in Europe.

“Venezuela’s amazing achievements in access to free education, free healthcare and poverty reduction are increasingly becoming a reference point. What is less known about Venezuela is that these gains are also very significant for the black communities … Hugo Chávez is the first president in Venezuela’s history to honour his Indigenous and African ancestry and has said “Hate against me has a lot to do with racism.”

Doreen Lawrence was the first speaker and reported back on her experience as an electoral witness. She called the electoral process in Venezuela “far in advance of the system used here” and dismissed allegations that Venezuela’s election is anything other than free and fair saying “hand on heart I did not see anything “irregular”.

Over 80% turned out to vote in Venezuela’s Presidential election, which saw a record vote for Hugo Chavez, and Doreen Lawrence described how “people came with their own chairs” as the huge turnout meant “they knew he long wait to vote”. She explained that she had spoken to supporters of the opposition candidate who said that they were happy with the electoral process.

Once the results for Hugo Chavez were announced she said “people in the street were jubilant” and huge numbers “were out cheering”. She explained that “Chavez is popular because of all the work that he does for the communities.”

Diane Abbott MP, Britain’s first Black woman MP addressed the meeting saying that the elections results were “a victory for the poor and for the underclass in a robust free and fair election.”

She said that those fighting for justice across the world can take encouragement from Venezuela as Hugo Chavez “poses a challenge to neo-liberalism which we have here in Europe”.

That she says is the real reason why Chavez faces opposition from wealthy and powerful across the world, not because of false claims of dictatorship or a lack of freedoms in Venezuela. She pointed out how some government are “are always happy to support a dictator when they are on our side”.

The real threat, she explained, coming from Venezuela was the threat of a good example. She said “no wonder they are scared of Chavez. Imagine if Nigeria did what Venezuela has done with its oil.”

Describing voting day she said that it is a “more robust system than in the UK or USA”. She said that the electronic voting system was verified by all the parties and that “every voter “gets a little receipt” which can be checked with a paper vote too. All ballot papers “carry pictures of the candidates” to help those who have problems reading and writing.

Ambassador Samuel Monaca then addressed the historic racism in Venezuela that accompanied it colonial domination.

He explained that “30-50 million original inhabitants of the Latin America died in the first century of empire” in Latin America. He explained the links to the presence of large African populations in Latin America today saying as colonial powers had killed off the original inhabitants then “20m African people had to be forced to come to this region” to replace the original labour force and “and that was the beginning of the African slave trade”.

This history lies explains why Venezuela is an incredibly diverse society, with three quarters of its population mixed heritage, of African origin or Indigenous origin.

He said Latin American colonial history was of “a tiny white elite ruling over millions of people” and pointed out that it was not until 1888 in Brazil and 1898 that the slave trade was overturned. He explained that this racist legacy has continued to shape Latin American societies.

The meeting then heard how Venezuela today is addressing some of the historical racist inequalities. This includes celebrating Venezuela’s African heritage with May 10 is now celebrated as African-Descendent Day. A special committee of the Parliament to deal with equal rights for Black people led to the 2011 Law Against Racial Discrimination and a Presidential Commission has been set up to tackle racism in education and to ensure that curricula reflect Venezuela’s multicultural character.

Luke Daniels of Caribbean Labour Solidarity addressed the wider significance for the Caribbean of the advance of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

He said “Venezuela is important as a beacon that we can look to” to show there is an alternative. He said free healthcare and education for all, the reductions in poverty and the redistribution of wealth “all show the ideas of 21st Century socialism are alive in Venezuela” he said “we need people to inspire us” and that is what Venezuela is doing today.

However he warned that it needs international solidarity to defend these gains. He recounted how the Grenada Revolution was “finished off by US marines” in 1983 and how Haiti has been invaded by foreign powers over a dozen times in its history as revenge for daring “to stand up for itself” under the leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture. Today he said Venezuela faces similar threats and pressure.

He explored the increasing co-operation between Venezuela and the Caribbean.

Luke explained that this solidarity has included “free eye operations for people of the Caribbean” paid for by the Venezuelan government as part of Mission Miracle.

Venezuela’s provision of cheap energy and other assistance is providing greater resources for the Islands to spend on social projects. Luke referred to the statement from CARICOM – the organisation of 15 Caribbean nations – that thanked Hugo Chavez for the support in providing energy to the islands at more manageable costs which is allowing more money to be spent on social projects. This expressed:

“the Community’s heartfelt appreciation for your Government’s generosity and solidarity in extending the PetroCaribe and ALBA initiatives to CARICOM Member States. These initiatives have contributed significantly to meeting the energy needs of the Region as well as to the implementation of a number of social programmes and development initiatives in the Community.”

Likewise Aaron Kiely mentioned the solidarity provided by Venezuela in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Venezuela was singled out by the Haitian government for the support it has provided with its President explaining that:

“The cooperation with Venezuela is the most important in Haiti right now in terms of direct impact…we are grateful to president Chavez for helping us from the bottom of his heart”.

Venezuela’s increasing relations with Africa were also explored with the audience learning that Venezuela has seen the establishment of a Ministry for Africa and opened large numbers of Embassies across the continent. There have also been two recent South America-African summits reflective of Venezuela’s attempt to build South-South co-operations to replace the failed policies of North-South domination and building a new world not dominated by Western neo-liberalism.

Following questions and answers Doreen Lawrence’s closed the meeting explaining how “Venezuela is moving in the right direction and we should applaud them for that.”

The meeting was then followed by a performance buy Venezuelan band Afro American Project and the launch of a photo-exhibition exploring the lives of afro-Venezuelan community.