Hands Off Venezuela

On Monday, May 7^th nearly 50 people came out to the Vancouver stop of the Jorge Martin tour. Jorge spoke for an hour about the history of the Bolivarian revolution, detailing the events surrounding the coup and the lockout. He also detailed Chavez's new turn towards socialism and the building of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. He explained that there are three main challenges facing the Venezuelan revolution today. One - the economy is still owned and controlled by the oligarchy allowing them to sabotage the revolution, two - the old capitalist state is still in control allowing layers of the bureaucracy to sabotage the revolution from within and three - there is no unified revolutionary organization that the masses can organize and educate themselves through.

This was followed by a lively discussion with topics ranging everywhere from capitalism's inability to solve the environmental crisis to the role of Cuba in the Bolivarian revolution. There was tremendous enthusiasm and excitement about the events taking place in Latin America. As Jorge put it "For the first time in generations, our side is winning!"

The enthusiasm of the crowd was shown by the money raised through the collection. Despite having just under 50 people at the event, over $225 was collected to help fund the tour and the Hands Off Venezuela Campaign. The success of the Jorge Martin tour in Vancouver and across Canada is a sign of things to come. As the revolutionary process in Latin America deepens, the solidarity movement will grow.

Long live the Bolivarian Revolution!

Forward to socialism of the 21^st century!

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