Hands Off Venezuela London celebrates 5th anniversary of defeated coup

On the night of the fifth anniversary of President Chávez's return to power, Hands Off Venezuela gathered supporters in central London to celebrate the defeat of the April 13th coup d'etat, with music, video and live performance.

The event, which was titled The Revolution Was Not Televised, brought together activists with people who wouldn't normally be motivated to attend a political meeting. The Latin American-themed Masque bar in King's Cross was the perfect venue for this intimate underground gathering.

The evening kicked off with some of the many revolutionary songs produced in Venezuela over the last eight years - from updated versions of the classic 'Uh! Ah! Chávez No Se Va!' by Groupo Madera to Cristobal Jimenez via 'Y Bajaron' by Lloviznando Cantos, interspersed with Chávez samples mixed over Reggaeton beats.

A short film grabbed the crowd's attention as some present were witnessing the events leading to the 2002 coup in Venezuela for the first time.

HOV international secretary Jorge Martin then addressed the crowd on the importance of highlighting this event in history. Jorge reminded the crowd that there is a long tradition of coups being implemented in South America and stressed that this coup failed, not because it was badly organised, but due to the manifested revolutionary spirit of the majority of the Venezuelan people.

Consciousness-raising DJs then went on to play Venezuelan and Latin American music as well as choice cuts including Gil Scott-Heron's seminal 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised', from which the name of the famous coup documentary came from.

JC Kamau then performed some spoken-word poetry, covering subjects such as the effects of globalisation and poverty throughout the world. His down-to-earth and honest persona warmed him to the crowd instantly.

He was followed by David J, who amazed the crowd with his fast-flow acappellas and improvisations. He finished on a very poignant note with a song about a friend who died, literally around the corner from the location in King's Cross during the 7/7 bombings in London two years ago and the insanity of that situation.

With people continuing to show up later in the evening, the spirit of solidarity and action was kept alive until the small hours, with plenty of seeds having been sown in the minds of people previously unaware of the real revolutionary nature of the process in Venezuela.

It was important to mark this date in history and the Hands Off Venezuela campaign did so successfully, as they continue to work tirelessly in defence of the Bolivarian Revolution in Britain and throughout the world.