THE story of subversion of the UNCTAD itself by GATT that later morphed into WTO, enveloping within itself subjects like investments, intellectual property rights and a plethora of non-trade issues, is the story of continuing poverty of nations and backwardness of their development.

In a certain sense, Washington’s new round of bluster can be properly seen as merely part of an ongoing war of words and spleen against Caracas, in which Chávez more than holds his own, much to the joy of the average Latin American.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez spoke this Sunday with visitors from the United States who have benefited from the program that provides fuel at solidarity prices sponsored by the CITGO oil company.

Yesterday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela would exit from the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), and that he would consider dropping import tariffs for select agricultural goods for some neighboring countries.

So how, without a program of extensive nationalisation, with a virtual open door to foreign investment and with few apparent links to the working class, does the government of Hugo Chávez attract so much interest and support from the socialist and communist movements in Latin America and increasingly from all over the world?

Venezuelans commemorated the 4th anniversary of the April 11, 2002, coup d’etat, yesterday, with the unveiling of a monument to the victims at the Llaguno Bridge, one of the centers of the violence in 2002. 

Throughout most of its history, there has been very little interest in North America about Venezuela except as a supplier of oil. With the election of Hugo Chávez in 1999, all this changed. 

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a sovereign nation that has the absolute right, as guaranteed by the United Nations Charter and all existing international norms and laws, to establish commercial or any type of relation with any nation, anywhere in the world.

A TUC conference motion passed this September pledging support and solidarity for the Latin American country provided the backdrop for a visit which proved priceless both in terms of finding out about the situation in the country and in countering disinformation on the Chavez government.

In their reports, the international observers of these elections from the EU and the OAS declared them fair and transparent, even though there was some criticism leveled at the CNE since 41% of the voters had problems understanding the automated system. A recent opinion poll ... indicated that 74% of all Venezuelans were satisfied with their democratic system

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez blamed United States president George W. Bush for the opposition boycott to this Sunday’s congressional election describing the situation as a new US conspiracy against his government.

For the past six years we have witnessed how, in the midst of great adversity, millions of Venezuelans have taken their destiny into their own hands and worked together to achieve the construction of a society rooted in the values of solidarity, democracy and social justice.

"THE United States is simply not responsible for everything that occurs in Venezuela," says William Brownfield, Washington's ambassador to Caracas. This is the standard line that US diplomats trot out when they are in the frame over attempts to destabilise progressive governments.

In an arrant display of rank political opportunism, Venezuela’s faltering middle-class opposition parties have announced that they would boycott the December 4 legislative elections.

A revolution is presently on course in Venezuela known as the “Bolivarian revolution.” It is an antisystemic and socialist revolution, which benefits from very broad support. Since 1998, Venezuelans have repeatedly affirmed their liking for this revolution.

The revolutionary process which started in Venezuela following the election of President Hugo Chávez in 1998 has had a profound impact on the labor front. For 40 years the historically dominant Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV) had an undemocratic structure and union bureaucrats collaborated with management to quash the struggles of rank-and-file workers.

In recent months, members of the Bush administration have wrongly accused Venezuela of being a "destabilizing" force and have implied without evidence that it supports terrorist groups.

The trade union movement in Venezuela has undergone important transformations in the last four years. Its new vision is one of enabling workers through their trade union movement to win gains for themselves, rather than have them solely mandated from Caracas.

In a patronizingly racist and pro-imperialist article this past week the Los Angeles Times ("Frustrated U.S. Finds Few Willing to Join Anti-Chavez Coalition"), authors Chris Kraul and Paul Richter echoed the Bush administration’s self-imposed conundrum of "what to do with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez?"

Chavez went on to say that the headquarters of the UN should be moved, mainly because of the illegal action the U.S. government has engaged in, particularly with its war against Iraq. He pointed out that the U.S. invaded Iraq on the pretense of the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, but that these were not found there.