Appeal of Venezuelan Militants: Neither putschism nor interventionism!
SIGNATORIES
Raúl Ordóñez, constituent, president of the Federation of hydraulic enterprise unions of Venezuela (Fedesiem Hidriven), CBSTT; Sergio Castellanos, general secretary of the Coromoto hospital workers union of the state of Zulia, member of the regional federation of the CBSTT of Zulia; José Quintero, general secretary of the Bolivarian security agents union of the western region (Sittraviboc); José Mendoza, labour lawyer, president of the Giuseppe-Raspa Foundation Labour Law and Human Rights Observatory; Alberto Salcedo, union militant; Octavio Ferrer, general secretary of the union Sinprotrans; Andrés Peláez, general secretary of the union Sintrahocum-Zulia; Joel Barrera, union STHC; Mirla Castellano, general secretary of Siproenf; Marconi Ocando, general secretary of Simehocoma; Humberto González, secretary of Reclamo, of Fedesemhidroven; Denis Ospino; Ramón Camejo ; José Martínez ; Lewis Herrera, of Suntrabmercal-Zulia; Wilfredo José Abreu Pérez, pipelines.
Neither putschism nor interventionism!
Recognition of Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela!
For the defence of sovereignty, the conquests and the self-determination of our nation!
We, union leaders, militants in the labour movement, workers, young people in the collective Youth Labour, member of the International Liaison Committee of workers and peoples (ILC), We declare ourselves opposed to the putschist attack against our homeland directly propelled the intervention of American imperialism and the “Lima car- tel”, in the form of the self-proclamation of Juan Guaido, an illegitimate usurper for whom no one has voted as “interim president” and whose principal function is to serve as leverage for the policies dic- tated by the White House, which seeks nothing else than to establish the illusion of a dual power accelerating a crisis to dislocate the nation-state, be it by an internal conflict of by an eventual direct military intervention. An intervention supported by Donald Trump and his direct agents in Latin America (Bolsonaro, Macri, Piñeira, Duque), the Canadian govern- ment, as well as the governments of France, Germany and Spain, which have knelt before Trump’s policy of threats, supporting the war-like interventionist policies of imperialism.
The current imperialist intrusion in Venezuela is nothing new. 11 April 2002, they backed the coup d’état against President Chavez when they recognised the dictator Pedro Carmona Estanga. The same during the oil strike in 2003; in 2017, they propelled the violence in the streets (the guarimbas, groups of shock troops set up by all the reactionary forces to try to destabilise Venezuela – translator’s note) which led to the deaths of 131 people; the American government organised, trained, financed and armed the attempted assassination of an elected president, Nicolas Maduro, at the same time that it organised the economic blockade, the disinformation campaign and the calumnies against the government.
Once again, oil is at the source of the putsch. The usurper, Juan Guaido, under the pretext of re-establishing democratic order and fighting the humanitarian crisis, did not delay in showing the true reasons why the international interested parties are mobilised. They are tied to the oil industry, and the premeditation is visible. Among the immediate plans of the freshly proclaimed “transitional government”, there is found the renewal of the presidency of the board of directors of Citgo Petroleum Corporation, a subsidiary of PDVSA (the big state-owned Venezuelan petroleum company translator’s note) whose operational capacity reaches 750,000 barrels per day, the equivalent of 4% of the oil refined in the United States. Guaido foresees the creation of a “new national hydrocarbon law establishing flexible fiscal and contractual rules for projects adapted to the price of oil and to the cycle of petroleum investment”.
The method of the coup d’état in Venezuela is a dangerous precedent, established by the imperialist powers. It is not only dangerous for our nation, but also for other countries, because the imperialists can organise a similar set of actions against the legitimate governments of other countries desiring to act in a sovereign and dignified manner and according to a path in favour of the interests of the country.
American imperialism, its supremacy threatened, tied to the crisis that cuts across the capitalist system, leads the entire world into catastrophic scenarios beyond all reason, thus opening a new period in which competition and trade conflicts no longer oppose each other, as in the past, according to established national bases. The current situation is a fight to the death, a true war where trusts and monopolies oppose each other for the conquest of markets and raw materials. With this goal, they try to finish with any hindrance, any agreement, international treaty or regulation, thus threatening to smash and to dislocate the nation-state. This is the true background of the political crisis in our homeland.
We appreciate the declarations from Mexico and Uruguay on the Venezuelan crisis. These two nations have called on all those involved to reduce the tensions and avoid an escalation of violence that could worsen the situation. The first big victory against this “empire” is to avoid it leading to war and destruction, without renouncing our dignity as a nation. It is in this sense that we support Nicolás Maduro, in his measures to dialog with the political sectors of the country following the initiative taken by the governments of Mexico and Uruguay for a national dialog. This must take place in the framework of respect of the Bolivarian Constitution of the Republic and the recognition of our institutions as a nation.
We support President Nicolás Maduro in his decision to break off bilateral relations with the North country (common Latin American way of designating the United States – translator’s note) and to have the diplomatic personnel of the American embassy leave our country. Despite their failures in the diplomatic field, imperialism and its allies continue their international offensive against Venezuela. The sanctions against PDVSA-Citgo announced by John Bolton block 7 billion USD in assets, as well as a bit more than a billion USD as export losses in the coming year, the retention of 14 tons of gold worth 550 million USD by the English banks and 1.65 USD by Euroclear, in an act of imperialist piracy.
This Monday, General Marc Stammer, commanding general of the United States Army Southern Command has come to Columbia to meet with the core of military and police chiefs of this country and go back over border subjects. According to policy analyst Ned Price, he was able to see during the press conference what was on the notepad of National Security Advisor John Bolton: a paragraph said “5,000 soldiers in Columbia”, which indicates an imminent announcement of a de- ployment of military forces or an escalation in the military intervention.
How to win the battle against the putsch
As far as we are concerned, it is not enough to confront the putsch-ism and interventionism of imperialism represented by Donald Trump and the Lima cartel. While the government continues to negotiate with the industrialists of Fedecamaras, Consecomercia, Venenchamp, Fedenagas, Fedeagro, Cavefar, the Polar businesses, the private and transnational banks, all while granting them dollars and credits to reactivate their production lines, during this time the exchange rate is freed up, their import tariffs are reduced and the price of staple goods is adjusted to the dollar, or they are exonerated from paying the income tax (ISLR) accorded to oil businesses. These measures include the big transnationals that operate in the country and in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
The industrialists now continue their conspiracy plot, no longer by closing off trade, but by increasing prices terrifyingly. To this is added the chaos of the public services and, once again, the return of the sale of currency. The bureaucracy, corruption and inefficiency play into the even greater deterioration of the living conditions of the working people. As long as employers are not reigned in to keep to the agreements signed with the government, wages cannot return to their true value. It thus follows that, if this policy is not reversed, we will facilitate the game of the putschist plan, and this will be used to drain the support of the working people, of those who, like us, live off of their wages, and will serve as an argument for imperialists and their lackeys to justify their policies.
Consequently, we immediately demand emergency measures:
Apply article 114 of the Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela: “It is forbidden for the economic plan to practice speculation, hoarding, usury, cartelisation and other related crimes, which will be severely punished according to the law.” This law against corruption exists, and it does not seem that it has been applied; in other words, the National Assembly must intervene to bring order to this situation and eradicate the price war by severely punishing those responsible.
Control, laws in hand and under their surveillance, with the workers, the militia, the popular power and state organisations, the verification of prices, the distribution and sale of foodstuffs in order to guarantee the jointly-decided prices.
A law setting up full indexation of the minimum wage, adaptable or tied to the growth of inflation. Through indexation, pay tied to the value of oil on the market.
The pay scales imposed by the Minister of Planification show that the unilateral deterioration imposed on the collective agreements are contrary to what was established in the Constitution and in the LOTTT (organic law of labour and labourers – translator’s note) and contribute to reducing real wages to dust, to which is added the discretionary increases in minimum wage for the workers. We demand the application of the pay increase on all the scales. Some ministers, gubernato- rial offices, city governments and institutions do not respect this orientation of President Nicolás Maduro.
We demand the publication of the increase of the na- tional minimum wage in the Official Journal. This is the legal tool with the function of publishing the rights, rules decrees and other acts issued by the public powers of the state in order for them to be properly observed and applied in their jurisdictions and on the national territory.
We call for the creation of defence committees in each work centre to guarantee electrical, water, telecommunication and food production services in collaboration with the Bolivarian militia.
We call on the Bolivarian Socialist Centrale of Workers of the City, Country and Fisheries (CBSTT-CCP), the independent unions and the collectives to ensure, to- gether with the grassroots unions, that a calendar of permanent mobilisation and actions be autonomously ensured in the framework of the defence of sovereignty against the attacks from imperialism and the continuation of the coup d’état.
Caracas (Venezuela), January 30, 2019
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