Coinciding with the anniversary of the February 27, 1989 uprising in
Venezuela, La Riposte organised a very successful speaking tour in
France with Jorge Martin of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign. The
activities were organised together with the Bolivarian Circles of Paris
and Toulouse and in Portes-lès-Valence by the local section of the
Communist Party.
The first meeting was in Paris on March 1st, and took place in the
headquarters of the Communist Party of the 10th District, and was
chaired by Daniel Yegres, president of the Paris Bolivarian Circle. The
meeting room was completely packed with about 60 people present despite
the very cold weather. This is the 3rd time meetings on the Bolivarian
Revolution have been organised in these premises, so quite a lot of the
people present were already acquainted with the events. Nevertheless,
the recent turn in the Venezuelan revolution in which Chavez has openly
raised the need to go beyond capitalism and move in the direction of
socialism made it a particularly enthusiastic gathering. There were a
number of comrades from the local Communist Party section in audience,
including the branch secretary Jean-Pierre Leroux, who is an
enthusiastic supporter of the campaign. The collection raised around
120 euro, and 40 copies of different pamphlets on the Venezuelan
revolution produced by La Riposte were sold.
The next meeting took place on Thursday, March 3rd at the University of
Toulouse (Le Mirail) and was organised jointly with the local
Bolivarian Circle, which was established after the previous meeting of
the campaign there in November. The meeting was chaired by Christophe
Cambefort, a member of the Tolouse Bolivarian Circle and the secretary
of the local Young Communist branch. More than 130 people filled the
amphitheatre and again were very interested to hear about the latest
developments in Venezuela, including the nationalisation of Venepal
under workers’ control, the speeding up of the land reform, the
question of socialism raised by Chavez and the renewed campaign of
Washington against the Bolivarian revolution. There were many questions
dealing with a wide range of issues, including the relationship between
Venezuela and Cuba, the actions of the Colombian government, land
reform, the Bolivarian University, the World Festival of Youth and
Students in Caracas this coming August, etc. A collection was held at
the end, and as in Paris, quite a lot of pamphlets on Venezuela
(including one on Chavez’s speech at Porto Alegre by Alan Woods, and on
the nationalisation of Venepal) were sold. A follow up meeting of the
Bolivarian Circle has already been planned in order to continue the
campaign. 
Finally, the meeting organised in Portes-lès-Valence by the local
Communist Party section and chaired by its secretary Pierre Trapier,
was particularly interesting. More than 30 people turned up at the
George Brassens municipal meeting hall, including a number of PCF
members and CGT trade unionists. For most of them this was the first
time they had heard about the Venezuelan Revolution, and they were
particularly interested to hear Jorge Martin explain the unfolding of
the Bolivarian movement since its origins, which can be traced back the
brutal suppression of the February 27th, 1989 uprising. Just about all
the people present signed up to get involved in the Hands Off
Venezuela
Campaign, and the idea of creating a local Bolivarian Circle was
enthusiastically taken up. This work will be coordinated by Maxence
Fay, a young member of the PCF in the area and supporter of La Riposte.
In the course of the debate, a CGT member raised the question about the
need to campaign within the trade union movement in France in order to
gain recognition for the recently created UNT trade union confederation
in Venezuela. We particularly would like to thank the PCF members in
Portes-lès-Valence for the extremely warm, friendly and hospitable way
in which they received us. Coinciding with the anniversary of the February 27, 1989 uprising in
Venezuela, La Riposte organised a very successful speaking tour in
France with Jorge Martin of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign. The
activities were organised together with the Bolivarian Circles of Paris
and Toulouse and in Portes-lès-Valence by the local section of the
Communist Party.
The first meeting was in Paris on March 1st, and took place in the
headquarters of the Communist Party of the 10th District, and was
chaired by Daniel Yegres, president of the Paris Bolivarian Circle. The
meeting room was completely packed with about 60 people present despite
the very cold weather. This is the 3rd time meetings on the Bolivarian
Revolution have been organised in these premises, so quite a lot of the
people present were already acquainted with the events. Nevertheless,
the recent turn in the Venezuelan revolution in which Chavez has openly
raised the need to go beyond capitalism and move in the direction of
socialism made it a particularly enthusiastic gathering. There were a
number of comrades from the local Communist Party section in audience,
including the branch secretary Jean-Pierre Leroux, who is an
enthusiastic supporter of the campaign. The collection raised around
120 euro, and 40 copies of different pamphlets on the Venezuelan
revolution produced by La Riposte were sold.
The next meeting took place on Thursday, March 3rd at the University of
Toulouse (Le Mirail) and was organised jointly with the local
Bolivarian Circle, which was established after the previous meeting of
the campaign there in November. The meeting was chaired by Christophe
Cambefort, a member of the Tolouse Bolivarian Circle and the secretary
of the local Young Communist branch. More than 130 people filled the
amphitheatre and again were very interested to hear about the latest
developments in Venezuela, including the nationalisation of Venepal
under workers’ control, the speeding up of the land reform, the
question of socialism raised by Chavez and the renewed campaign of
Washington against the Bolivarian revolution. There were many questions
dealing with a wide range of issues, including the relationship between
Venezuela and Cuba, the actions of the Colombian government, land
reform, the Bolivarian University, the World Festival of Youth and
Students in Caracas this coming August, etc. A collection was held at
the end, and as in Paris, quite a lot of pamphlets on Venezuela
(including one on Chavez’s speech at Porto Alegre by Alan Woods, and on
the nationalisation of Venepal) were sold. A follow up meeting of the
Bolivarian Circle has already been planned in order to continue the
campaign.
Finally, the meeting organised in Portes-lès-Valence by the local
Communist Party section and chaired by its secretary Pierre Trapier,
was particularly interesting. More than 30 people turned up at the
George Brassens municipal meeting hall, including a number of PCF
members and CGT trade unionists. For most of them this was the first
time they had heard about the Venezuelan Revolution, and they were
particularly interested to hear Jorge Martin explain the unfolding of
the Bolivarian movement since its origins, which can be traced back the
brutal suppression of the February 27th, 1989 uprising. Just about all
the people present signed up to get involved in the Hands Off Venezuela
Campaign, and the idea of creating a local Bolivarian Circle was
enthusiastically taken up. This work will be coordinated by Maxence
Fay, a young member of the PCF in the area and supporter of La Riposte.
In the course of the debate, a CGT member raised the question about the
need to campaign within the trade union movement in France in order to
gain recognition for the recently created UNT trade union confederation
in Venezuela. We particularly would like to thank the PCF members in
Portes-lès-Valence for the extremely warm, friendly and hospitable way
in which they received us.