Athens: “Hands off Venezuela and Bolivia!” – open discussion in support of the revolution

On Friday, September 26, the Greek section of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign hosted an open debate about the recent events in Venezuela and Bolivia and the future of the revolution in Latin America. The discussion took place at the Immigrant Club, with about 80 supporters of the campaign present, including workers, students and left wing party activists.

The main speakers were the ambassador of Venezuela in Athens, Rodriguez Chavez, and member of the HOV campaign Stamatis Karagianopoulos. Stamatis started by going into the recent events, underlining that the best way to support the revolution against the coup, which the oligarchy and imperialism are planning, is through the victory of the revolution in all of Latin America. He explained that solidarity action for Venezuela and Bolivia is one of the most important and urgent matters for the working class of the entire world, because, as he emphasized, "the events in these countries are not national issues, but they are linked to the future of socialism in the whole world." Finishing his speech Stamatis Karagianopoulos urged the supporters of the campaign to convey to their periphery not only the message of solidarity but also the political lessons we gain from the movement of the working class in these countries: the need for nationalization, workers' control and the replacement of the bureaucratic bourgeois state with workers' councils.

The ambassador of Venezuela gave a historical overview of past revolutionary struggles of Venezuela against colonization and he referred to the cultural differences of the people in Latin America. At the end of his speech he thanked the campaign for its rich and important activity in support of Venezuela and urged the supporters to keep on supporting the aims of the Bolivarian revolution.

This was followed by questions and a discussion opened up about important political issues, for example on the policies of Chavez and Morales. Are these the correct policies and the real essence of socialism? At the end of the discussion Ilias Kirousis announced a programme of activities of the campaign, which includes the hosting of open discussions in the faculties of Biology in Athens and Law in Komotini. All those present showed an interest in being more active in the campaign.