Latin America

What started as a small demonstration against an increase of 20 cents (barely 9 pence) in the price of public transport fares in Sao Paulo became a national mass movement which mobilised more than a million people in 80 cities. Jorge Martin analyses the protests and demonstrations that have rocked Brazil over the last week.

Hugo Chávez is no more. Always a fighter, Chávez spent his last months in a life and death struggle against a cruel and implacable enemy – cancer. He fought bravely to the very end, but finally his strength gave out. On Tuesday, March 5, at 4.25 pm the cause of freedom, socialism and humanity lost a great man. We publish here a tribute to Hugo Chavez by Alan Woods, a great friend of the late Venezuelan President.

Bolivarian candidate Nicolas Maduro won the Venezuelan presidential election of April 14 by a narrow margin. With 99.12% of the votes counted, there was a 78.71% turn out, with Maduro receiving 7,505,378 votes (50.66%), and Capriles 7,270,403 votes (49.07%). Capriles declared that he does not recognise the result and demanded an audit of 100% of the vote. Jorge Martin discusses the election results and the future of the Venezuelan Revolution.

With the presidential elections in Venezuela due to take place this weekend on 14th April, we publish here an article on the legacy of Hugo Chávez by Jorge Martin, the International Secretary of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign, which originally appeared in the April edition of Labour Briefing. It is almost an impossible task to sum up the legacy of Hugo Chávez in 650 words, but that was the space which was available.

In the last week of March, Alan Woods, founder of the Hands off Venezuela campaign and leading figure of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) was in Venezuela. He was invited to participate in the Meeting of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity. We publish here a report of the week’s events at this crucial turning point for the Bolivarian Revolution, with the presidential elections due to take place on 14th April.

It is over a week now since the death of Hugo Chávez and there are still kilometer long queues of people coming from all over the Venezuela to pay their last respects. Presidential elections have been called for April 14 and the mood is turning angry at the provocations of the oligarchy. Jorge Martin looks at the latest events in Venezuela and the future for the Bolivarian Revolution.

Alan Woods, Marxist author and writer for Socialist Appeal, appeared on BBC’s Newsnight on Wednesday 6th March to speak about the late Hugo Chavez and the Venezuealan Revolution. We publish here links to this interview along with a letter from a supporter of Socialist Appeal.

Hugo Chavez is no more. The President was just 58, and had been 14 years in power. He has been battling cancer for the last two years, but when news of his death was announced, it came as a shock. The cause of freedom, socialism and humanity has lost a courageous champion.

Yesterday, March 5, at 4.25 pm local time, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez died after battling cancer for the last two years. This was announced by Vice President Maduro. We publish here a short statement by the Hands Off Venezuela campaign.

On January 23, Caracas was once again the scene of a huge mass mobilization in defence of the revolution. January 23 is a national day of struggle in Venezuela. It was the day that the infamous Marcos Pérez Jímenez dictatorship fell in 1958, overthrown by the mass movement from below. The opposition tried to cynically take advantage of Chávez illness and called for a demonstration to protest against “the unconstitutional situation”, i.e. against the postponement of the swearing in of Chávez. The PSUV leaders responded by calling on the masses to take the streets on the same day.

Taking advantage of Chavez’s ill health, the Venezuelan oligarchy and imperialism have renewed their campaign of destabilisation against the Bolivarian Revolution. They risk unleashing the wrath of the workers and the poor. Jorge Martin analyses the latest developments in Venezuela.