“Venezuela Bolivariana” well received in Belfast

On Thursday 8 a group of trade unionists, activists and some students gathered at the John Hewitt pub in central Belfast. The venue could have not been better suited for the occasion – a pub named after a socialist poet (and ironically enough a teatotal!).

After a short introduction by Tomás Gorman and Ramon Samblas from the Hands Off Venezuela campaign, the film “Venezuela Bolivariana, the people&struggle in the fourth world war” was shown. When the film ended, Ramon explained how the revolutionary events have developed in Venezuela since the defeat of the coup d’etat in April 2002. He concluded by explaining the historical battle that workers are having to implement “co-gestion” or in other words workers' control. When he told the audience about the First Latin American Summit of Occupied Factories, a lot of eyebrows raised in surprise. The debates and conversations about Venezuela went on closer to the bar around a pint of Guinness and £35 worth of literature was sold.