Max Crema, Vice-President Services of Edinburgh University Students’ Association and NCAFC secretariat 

NCAFC has been accused by Twitter of being ‘chauvinistic eurocentric’ for not passing a motion from SBL regarding the ‘amazing achievements’ of the Hugo Chavez’ regime in Venezuela.
I feel I must reply to this for two reasons:
A) As a Latinamerican Indigenous Queer woman, who spoke againts the text and intent and general feeling of the motion, I feel offended as an activist and on a personal level.
B) I want people to unfderstand why most people in NCAFC were against it and ensure our members and supporters understand why it is against our beliefs, political stands and struggle to support Chavez. It does not mean we support coup attempts or US intervention. It means we can not beatify Chavez.
Note I said ‘Chavez’. We support the struggles and courage of the Venezuelan people and would like to extend our solidarity and support. However this motion was not about the people but about the government.
I do not wish people to go with the erroneous idea that Venezuela now is ‘communism heaven’ and Chavez is the beacon of light, truth and socialism this motion pretends.
We can start demythifying the figure of Chavez hisef. They will have us believe he roose to power after decades of fighting the People’s fight. In fact, up til 1994 he had a succesful career in the Army and rose to Colonel. He attempted a coup d’etat that year and was imprisioned for this. Note it was not a socialist revolution he led. It was a military coup, not unlike the ones a lot of other countries in Latinamerica have suffered. Let us be clear, then, that while, for instance, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile AND Venezuela had reptressive governments that used the US funded military and contrarevolutionary groups to curb political dissent, the radical wing of which were popular Liberation Armies, Hugo Chavez WAS in those armies killing, torturing and opressing civilians and guerrileros. Take a moment to consider this.
Repression, harrassment to NGO’s and the media and attacks on disidents are commonplace under Chavez and their human rights record has been challenged by independent international human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch who this year reported that “without judicial checks on its actions, the government has systematically undermined free expression, workers’ freedom of association, and the ability of human rights groups to function” Amnesty International has falgged this up too, as well as concerns that Venezuela’s decision to “pull out of the Inter-American Court is an affront to the victims of human rights violations.”

While we can aknowledge that the nationalisation of oil has brought back the wealth of the country to Venezuelan hands, it would be mistaken to believe that everyone has a fair share of it. Independence does not always mean justice for all. A common post colonial characteristic indeed is that this wealth merely changes hands, from the Colonial Power or Burgoisie clique to a national but still small group who benefit from this and nationalise theft, corruption and racism. Independence in Latinamerica has merely ment a change in ruling classes. We have gone from opressor to another one. This is not a dicatorship of the proletariat or a socialist paradise but a system of concentration of power and wealth in a few hands. In January 2012 Chave’ daughter Rosinés Chávez posted photos of herself at home posing next to a big stalk of US dollars which angered Venezuelan’s and highlighted the hypocrysy of her father’s government.
We are also led to believe that education has just become free and accesible to everyone under the current government. In fact it was in June 1870 that the then President Antonio Guzman passed the Decreto de Instrucción Pública, Gratuita y Obligatoria (Decree of Free, Public and Compulsory Education) which makes the State responsible for providing universsal education for all Venezuelans and produce the materials and texts necessary fo rthis effect. The Decree includes Further and Higher Education in Article 3 which states that it is ‘free and voluntary’ inasmuch as students can access colleges and institutions to “further knowledgee” if they so wish and this education will be provided by the State.
I do know we should learn from this remarkable act that even preceeded European legislation to that effect. This is to be applauded but credit must gp where it belongs. We can also learn lessons from our neighbours Scotland whose education system is reknowed and, also, free.
However, if this is in the spirit of the struggle for free eeducation, as a Movement, we should be instead looking at students who have actaully fought, being inmprisioned, tortured and even killed for free, democratic, universal and scientific education all over the American Continent. Remarkable examples to follow are coming from Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, who are also facing the bullets to keep education free and for democracy and justice. (See A brief intro to the Mexican case at the end of thsi article)

In the interest of our struggle agains racism we also have many examples to follow and, sadly much to support, in Latinamerica. The Indigenous Peoples from Canada to Argentina are as we speak living in poverty with no prospects and suffer racism and discrimination every day. They are being reconquered in every country of Latinamerica by our governments who are giving our lands to mining Canadian companies like Inment and Barricks Gold from Guatemala to Argentina resulting in forced repatriations, displacement and resettlements of Indigenous communities like The Wikariika, Mapuche, Kolla to name only a few. This ethnic cleansing to satusfy the Canadian Industry’s exploitation of our lands in search of Lithium and also water has also “resulted in attacks, death threats and the murder of anti-mining leaders, carried out by municipal police or private security forces contracted by the companies”.
In Venezuela the situation is no different but the indistries are. Ecotourism and Culture tourism are adversely affecting the sustainability of local environments. Moreover the Venezuelan government is displacing indigenous for this companies and selling contracts to European companies to invade sacred lands to establish eco tours like Angel Falls in Pemom territory. Rcently Indigenous Peoples have appealed against this invasion but the govermnment has refuse to akcnowledge their right to defend their holy places that have even resulted in attacks to communities like the Yukpa and murder of activists.
Last but not least in a recent event I ran with ULU and Trans organisations we read the list of 265 Trans* people killed a vast majrity of whom were in Latinamerica (Brazil and Mexico mainly) Quite a few were in Venezuela and of those most were teens and their name was ‘unknown’ and the crimes were not investigated. The LGBTQ rights record then is far from ideal in a self styled socialist republic. Chavez’ open support for the alleged rapists Julian Assange and his defender and rape apologist George Galloway shows his disregard for Women’s Liberation.
In conclusion, I belive we must be cautious about jumping on the Venezuela cult of personality bandwagon and must refuse to support a government of this characteristics in light of this evidence but also because our solidarity an dsupport is badly needed elsewhere by Indigenous Peoples, Students, Soacial Movements, Woment, and the LGBTQ communities

Thais Yanez
Anti Fascism Anti Racism Officer, Birkbeck SU
London Student Liberation Network
NCAFC LGBTQ Representative

A brief intro to the Mexican cause

Mexican students, for instance have rejected, fought and stopped tuition fees in Higer Education 5 times since 1986 when the Consejo Estudiantil Universitario (CEU) formed by Universities, Fculties, Colleges and High Schools belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (oldest and best of Latinamerica and a beacon of light in the struggle), and Academics and Workers created a massive movement that took the streets and went on strike and forced the authoritoes to capitulate and call a Demcratic Congress in 1990 where students, academics, workers and authorities discussed changes to the University’s governance, laws and, above all, to guarantee free access to education. I was a delgate there from the radical left section of the CEU in my high school, and although the changes we proposed did not all succeed, we did manage to stop the tuition fees. The authorities since then have tried to push through fees in every generation but every tome they have been defeated by direct and radical action such as demos, huge marches, occupations of WHOLE school and universities, Strikes, etcetera. Many have been arrested, expelled and we have all been criminalised and vilifed by the media and government but the struggle still goes on. Now the students are fighting for democracy and against the imposition of a president who, the day he took posession, 1st December 2012, ordered repression of students and protestorss and dhad over 70 people arrested and more beeaten and even killed. In the interest of Internationalis Solidarity and lessons to learn NCAFC ought to liaise with Mexican students but not exclusively. ULU has links to Quebecois students and I urge us all too support Mexico, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil.