March 8, 2005
Women support Chavez
Friday February 25, 2005
It is appropriate for women to comment on plots against Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, since women have most to lose from his assassination (Bush is plotting to kill me, says Chavez, February 22). Behind the elected military man there is a women's revolution. Women are the majority, as users and service providers, in all government social programmes to tackle poverty - literacy, education, health, water, housing, and land rights. Venezuela's crime is its refusal to privatise oil and hand it over to US corporations. Behind this refusal are economic priorities diametrically opposed to those of the would-be US assassins.
["The economy must be at the service of human beings, not human beings at the service of the economy. And since 70% of those who live in conditions of poverty are women, economic change must start with women," explains Nora Castañeda head of Venezuela's Women's Development Bank*.] Women are least likely to accept defeat when loved ones are kidnapped, murdered and disappeared - we have been the hidden majority in human rights organisations everywhere. Women were the majority to come out demanding the return of Chavez, which reversed the 2002 coup. They have been the majority in the electoral battle units which ensured his victory in the 2004 referendum and regional elections that followed. Latin America will go up in flames if Chavez is killed. And Europe? Will it allow the US government to get away with preaching democracy while assassinating popular elected governments?
Nina Lopez
Global Women's Strike
Cristina Navarrete
Sara de Witt
Latin American Group for Venezuela
Maggie Ronayne
Lecturer at the National University of Ireland, Galway The sentence in [] was in the original letter but cut from the published version.
… Nora Castañeda and Angelica Alvarez, Banmujer's promoter co-ordinator, will be speaking at the London School of Economics and in a number of other cities as part of the European tour organised by the Global Women's Strike.
Las mujeres apoyan a Chávez
Viernes 25 de Febrero del 2005
Resulta apropiado que las mujeres se pronuncien sobre los planes contra el presidente de Venezuela Hugo Chávez, ya que las mujeres son las que más tienen que perder con su asesinato ("Bush está planeando matarme", dice Chávez, 22 de Febrero).
Detrás del militar elegido hay una revolución de mujeres. Las mujeres son mayoría, como usuarias y proveedoras de servicios, en todos los programas sociales del gobierno dirigidos contra la pobreza ˆ alfabetización, educación, salud, agua potable, vivienda y reparto de la tierra.
El crimen de Venezuela es negarse a privatizar el petróleo para entregárselo a las transnacionales norteamericanas. Detrás de este rechazo están las prioridades económicas diametralmente opuestas a las de aquellos norteamericanos que quieren asesinar a Chávez.
["La economía debe estar al servicio de los seres humanos, no los seres humanos al servicio de la economía. Y como el 70% de quienes viven en condiciones de pobreza son mujeres, para cambiar la economía hay que empezar con las mujeres,‰ explica Nora Castañeda, presidenta del Banco de Desarrollo de la Mujer de Venezuela.*]
Las mujeres son las que menos fácilmente aceptan la derrota cuando seres queridos son secuestrados, asesinados y desaparecidos ˆ hemos sido la mayoría oculta en las organizaciones de derechos humanos en todo el mundo. Las mujeres fueron la mayoría que salió a demandar el regreso de Chávez, lo que derrotó el golpe de estado del 2002. También fueron la mayoría en las unidades de batalla electoral que aseguraron su victoria en el referéndum del 2004 y en las elecciones regionales posteriores.
Si matan a Chávez estallará toda América Latina. ¿Y Europa? ¿Permitirá que el gobierno de Estados Unidos predique la democracia mientras asesina a gobiernos elegidos por el pueblo?
Nina López
Huelga Mundial de Mujeres
Cristina Navarrete
Sara de Witt
Grupo latinoamericano por Venezuela
Maggie Ronayne
Profesora, Universidad Nacional de Irlanda, Galway
[La frase entre corchetes estaba en la carta original pero no fue publicada.]
… Nora Castañeda y Angélica Álvarez, promotora coordinadora de Banmujer, hablarán en la London School of Economics el lunes, 14 de marzo, a las 20:00 y en varias otras ciudades como parte de su gira europea organizada por la Huelga Mundial de Mujeres.
Bush is plotting to kill me, says Chavez
Toby Muse in Bogota and Julian Borger in Washington Tuesday February 22, 2005
<http://www.guardian.co.uk>The Guardian
The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez. Photograph: Marcelo Garcia/AFP/Getty Images
Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, accused George Bush of plotting to assassinate him yesterday, and warned that all Venezuelan oil exports to the US would stop in the event of his death. "If I am assassinated, there is only one person responsible: the president of the United States," Mr Chavez said during his weekly radio and television show, Hello President. He offered no proof of any conspiracy but said the Cuban president, Fidel Castro, had warned of a possible plot against him last week. "If, by the hand of the devil, these perverse plans succeed ... forget about Venezuelan oil, Mr Bush," Mr Chavez said. "I will not hide, I will walk in the streets with all of you ... but I know I am condemned to death," Mr Chavez told his listeners. The White House said no one was available to comment on Mr Chavez's claim yesterday, a federal holiday. Relations between Washington and the left-wing Venezuelan leader have been strained since Mr Chavez took office in 1999. His determination to raise the price of oil and his close friendship with Mr Castro have served as a constant irritant to Washington. In recent years, relations have been strained further as Mr Chavez became a vocal critic of US policy both in Latin America and around the world. American officials have also expressed concern about Venezuela's decision to improve China's access to its oil fields. Mr Chavez accuses the CIA of having a hand in the military coup that briefly deposed him in 2002, and says the US continues to back his political opponents. The Bush administration has denied involvement in the attempted overthrow, but appeared to give its approval at the time. A prosecutor investigating the coup attempt died last year when his car was booby-trapped with explosives.
The Chavez government suggested the assassination had been carried out by former Venezuelan officers who were involved in the putsch, some of whom now live in exile in America.
The US has stepped up its rhetoric against the Venezuelan president lately, with the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, calling the country a "negative force" in Latin America and accusing Mr Chavez of turning it into a totalitarian society.
Many in Washington suspect that Mr Chavez may be supporting Marxist rebels in neighbouring Colombia, a country that has received billions of dollars in military aid from the US.
Venezuela's recent purchase of 100,000 rifles and 40 helicopters caused concern in Washington and Colombia. Mr Chavez denies setting off a new regional arms race, saying the armaments are for defence alone.
Despite the feud between their governments, the two countries' economies remain entwined. Oil is Venezuela's largest export and the US buys about 1.5m barrels a day, making it the fourth-largest supplier of American oil.
This is Mr Chavez's second noisy diplomatic spat in as many months. A war of words broke out earlier this year between Colombia and Venezuela, after the abduction of a leading member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Farc, in Caracas.
Mr Chavez said Colombia had violated Venezuela's sovereignty, while Colombia's right-wing government accused Mr Chavez of harbouring members of the Marxist organisation.
Mr Chavez threatened to end all bilateral agreements until the issue was finally resolved.
He has frequently caused controversy at home with his offhand remarks.
The country's Catholic clergy were appalled when he labelled the church a "tumour" on Venezuelan society and the opposition protested when he called the country's rich "the squalid ones".
Mr Chavez's claims of an assassination plot come as he is embarking on one of the most radical phases of his promised revolution.
The government has announced it will take over the running of land and businesses that are not being fully exploited by their owners. Explaining the move, Mr Chavez said: "There is a wise old saying, the owner of the warehouse should use it or sell it."