Post by RedFlag32 on Feb 7, 2006 13:56:28 GMT
Upping ante on globalisation war
DAVID LYNCH
07/02/2006
As election after election brings further left-wing governments to power, South America has become the focus of fascination and inspiration for the anti-globalisation and global justice movement.
While the US has its hands full with its occupation of Iraq, most of the countries that it has traditionally regarded as part of its “sphere of influence” have fallen to the left.
Brazil, Argentina and, more recently, Bolivia and Chile have elected governments promising social justice at home for poor peasants and workers and voicing strong criticism of US foreign policy abroad.
Undoubtedly, Hugo Chávez and his “Bolivarian revolution” in Venezuela have most captured the imagination of those who question the neoliberal economic world view.
Last month, the sixth World Social Forum – a coming together of various groups of trade unions, peasant groups, indigenous people, and radical political organisations – met in the Venezuelan capital at the heart of Chávez’s revolution.
Rory Hearne from Dublin was there, representing the People Before Profit Alliance and Shell to Sea, so the issue of Rossport and the Corrib row with Shell Ireland was discussed by delegates from across the world.
However, Hearne said the lessons he learned from the World Social Forum and through witnessing the Bolivarian revolution at first-hand had a resonance for people in Ireland.
“The lessons are that, despite what it might seem like from here in Ireland, global capitalism and, in particular, the US is currently quite weak.
“The neoliberal project led by the US is a failed model in the minds of the majority of people across the developing world,” he told Daily Ireland.
“I saw this in the Venezuelan revolution and the thousands of delegates who attended the World Social Forum, who represent movements that are currently in conflict with multi-national corporations and imperial military interventions from Venezuela to Iraq.
“The final assembly of the WSF stated clearly that the anti-corporate globalisation movement defeated the Free Trade Area of the Americas proposals in Argentina last November and has the World Trade Organisation in disarray.
“This is because there are huge protests wherever the WTO summit goes. The movement also has the US bogged down in Iraq because of the successful popular resistance there and now is creating alternatives such as the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela.
“The final lesson is the central importance of defeating US imperialism as they are the ones holding together economic capitalism and giving military backing to corporations like Bechtel, Shell, Microsoft etc to exploit throughout the world.
“Chávez called for a global united front against Bush. The anti-war demonstrations on March 18 will be an opportunity for the Irish movement to be part of that.”
In these pages two weeks ago, Mick O’Reilly, the leader of Ireland’s Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union, bemoaned the fact that the Irish labour movement seemed not to be interested in the “great things happening in Latin America”.
Rory Hearne agreed and said the trade union movement as well as those involved in the left in Ireland could learn a lot from both the World Social Forum and the revolution in Venezuela: “From what I saw, the Irish labour movement could learn firstly that immigrants are our brothers and sisters in this struggle and not our enemy. Across Latin America, the new union movements are involving the indigenous populations and workers from diverse country origins and backgrounds,” he said.
“The movement has won huge advances – for example, in Bolivia, overthrowing the government and forcing the re-nationalisation of the water or, in Venezuela, workers have occupied factories and are running them themselves and distributing the profit among the workers and the community rather than to fat-cat elite bosses.
“The labour movement could learn that, rather than relying on governments or political parties who talk left or talk about supporting workers to bring change like Lula [Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva] and the PT [the Workers’ Party or Partido dos Trabalhadores] who then turn around and do the bidding of the bankers instead, they should bring that change themselves through direct confrontation, through militant action, through independent political organisation.
“They could learn that opposition, confrontation and solidarity should be the principles of the movement, not talks, partnership, division and agreements with the bosses.”
Hearne also spoke to ordinary workers in Caracas, where he said support for the revolution was strong.
“I spoke to some of the leading workers occupying the factory at the World Social Forum in Venezuela. They were euphoric talking about their struggle. They said themselves they were transformed through this process and want the world to see what they are doing.
“Thousands took part in a march through Caracas. The march was called by indigenous groups, landless peasant movements, feminist collectives, workers’ co-ops and anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist organisations.
“The march was in support of the revolution and Chávez but demanding that it deepens, goes further and confronts imperialism, the multi-nationals and the remaining corruption, bureaucracy and reformism within the Bolivarian state. Some of the banners read ‘No revolution financed by the multinationals. The logo of the Chávez government is ‘Ahora es de todos’ – now the government is for all,” said Hearne.
The highlight for many who attended the World Social Forum was when President Chávez proclaimed “socialism or death” at the end of his rousing speech to a rally of around 10,000 people at the Poliedro stadium in the capital Caracas.
Chávez told the cheering thousands: “Injustice and inequality are losing. It is now up to us to define the formula of unity for victory. We need unity of all our currents.
“While respecting the right to autonomy of the movements, including the green movement and the various political and national movements, all of us should get together in a victorious offensive against imperialism.”
Predictably, Chávez blasted the US empire. “It is the most perverse empire in history — it talks about freedom while invading and destroying other nations… The empire is very powerful but not infallible. This century, we will bury the US empire. The empire has to face the people of Venezuela and Latin America. It has failed in Iraq already
DAVID LYNCH
07/02/2006
As election after election brings further left-wing governments to power, South America has become the focus of fascination and inspiration for the anti-globalisation and global justice movement.
While the US has its hands full with its occupation of Iraq, most of the countries that it has traditionally regarded as part of its “sphere of influence” have fallen to the left.
Brazil, Argentina and, more recently, Bolivia and Chile have elected governments promising social justice at home for poor peasants and workers and voicing strong criticism of US foreign policy abroad.
Undoubtedly, Hugo Chávez and his “Bolivarian revolution” in Venezuela have most captured the imagination of those who question the neoliberal economic world view.
Last month, the sixth World Social Forum – a coming together of various groups of trade unions, peasant groups, indigenous people, and radical political organisations – met in the Venezuelan capital at the heart of Chávez’s revolution.
Rory Hearne from Dublin was there, representing the People Before Profit Alliance and Shell to Sea, so the issue of Rossport and the Corrib row with Shell Ireland was discussed by delegates from across the world.
However, Hearne said the lessons he learned from the World Social Forum and through witnessing the Bolivarian revolution at first-hand had a resonance for people in Ireland.
“The lessons are that, despite what it might seem like from here in Ireland, global capitalism and, in particular, the US is currently quite weak.
“The neoliberal project led by the US is a failed model in the minds of the majority of people across the developing world,” he told Daily Ireland.
“I saw this in the Venezuelan revolution and the thousands of delegates who attended the World Social Forum, who represent movements that are currently in conflict with multi-national corporations and imperial military interventions from Venezuela to Iraq.
“The final assembly of the WSF stated clearly that the anti-corporate globalisation movement defeated the Free Trade Area of the Americas proposals in Argentina last November and has the World Trade Organisation in disarray.
“This is because there are huge protests wherever the WTO summit goes. The movement also has the US bogged down in Iraq because of the successful popular resistance there and now is creating alternatives such as the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela.
“The final lesson is the central importance of defeating US imperialism as they are the ones holding together economic capitalism and giving military backing to corporations like Bechtel, Shell, Microsoft etc to exploit throughout the world.
“Chávez called for a global united front against Bush. The anti-war demonstrations on March 18 will be an opportunity for the Irish movement to be part of that.”
In these pages two weeks ago, Mick O’Reilly, the leader of Ireland’s Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union, bemoaned the fact that the Irish labour movement seemed not to be interested in the “great things happening in Latin America”.
Rory Hearne agreed and said the trade union movement as well as those involved in the left in Ireland could learn a lot from both the World Social Forum and the revolution in Venezuela: “From what I saw, the Irish labour movement could learn firstly that immigrants are our brothers and sisters in this struggle and not our enemy. Across Latin America, the new union movements are involving the indigenous populations and workers from diverse country origins and backgrounds,” he said.
“The movement has won huge advances – for example, in Bolivia, overthrowing the government and forcing the re-nationalisation of the water or, in Venezuela, workers have occupied factories and are running them themselves and distributing the profit among the workers and the community rather than to fat-cat elite bosses.
“The labour movement could learn that, rather than relying on governments or political parties who talk left or talk about supporting workers to bring change like Lula [Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva] and the PT [the Workers’ Party or Partido dos Trabalhadores] who then turn around and do the bidding of the bankers instead, they should bring that change themselves through direct confrontation, through militant action, through independent political organisation.
“They could learn that opposition, confrontation and solidarity should be the principles of the movement, not talks, partnership, division and agreements with the bosses.”
Hearne also spoke to ordinary workers in Caracas, where he said support for the revolution was strong.
“I spoke to some of the leading workers occupying the factory at the World Social Forum in Venezuela. They were euphoric talking about their struggle. They said themselves they were transformed through this process and want the world to see what they are doing.
“Thousands took part in a march through Caracas. The march was called by indigenous groups, landless peasant movements, feminist collectives, workers’ co-ops and anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist organisations.
“The march was in support of the revolution and Chávez but demanding that it deepens, goes further and confronts imperialism, the multi-nationals and the remaining corruption, bureaucracy and reformism within the Bolivarian state. Some of the banners read ‘No revolution financed by the multinationals. The logo of the Chávez government is ‘Ahora es de todos’ – now the government is for all,” said Hearne.
The highlight for many who attended the World Social Forum was when President Chávez proclaimed “socialism or death” at the end of his rousing speech to a rally of around 10,000 people at the Poliedro stadium in the capital Caracas.
Chávez told the cheering thousands: “Injustice and inequality are losing. It is now up to us to define the formula of unity for victory. We need unity of all our currents.
“While respecting the right to autonomy of the movements, including the green movement and the various political and national movements, all of us should get together in a victorious offensive against imperialism.”
Predictably, Chávez blasted the US empire. “It is the most perverse empire in history — it talks about freedom while invading and destroying other nations… The empire is very powerful but not infallible. This century, we will bury the US empire. The empire has to face the people of Venezuela and Latin America. It has failed in Iraq already
