On May 4^th 2006, Jorge Martin, Hands Off Venezuela International Campaign Secretary, spoke in Edmonton, Alberta as a part of his speaking tour in Canada and the US. This event was jointly organized by the New Democratic Youth of Alberta (NDYA) and Fightback (www.marxist.ca).

 

Jorge Martin spoke for about an hour about the relevance of the Bolivarian Revolution to the trade union movement around the world and most notably, the factory occupation movement by workers in Venezuela. This was then followed by half an hour question-discussion period. Issues such as: what needs to be done to broaden the base of the Bolivarian Revolution in the event Chavez is assassinated, the media/press situation in Venezuela, the ideological base of the Bolivarian Revolution, and the forces that are holding the revolution from completion (foreign Imperialism, the “opposition”, and weak elements in the Venezuelan State) were brought up in the discussion. At the end of his talk, Jorge mentioned something that characterizes the HOV campaign, he said “ We’ve brought speakers from Venezuela, … one thing that they always said is: look, the best way you can help the Bolivarian Revolution is to set the condition in your own countries for similar revolution to take place.”

 

The speaking event was a success and well attended by around 50 people. Among the audiences are representatives from the Cuba Solidarity – Pastors for Peace, members of Fightback, the NDYA, Edmonton IWW, the Venezuelan community in Edmonton, and Ramon Antipan, the President of Edmonton Local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which has been very supportive of HOV in Canada. Books and DVDs on the Venezuelan Revolution were sold quite well. The hat was passed and some $200 was raised to help pay for the meeting room and the cost of Jorge’s transportation.

 

Jorge’s talk was recorded by CJSR FM88, an independent radio in Edmonton, and can be downloaded at www.cjsr.com/news under Rise Up show.