http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/way_forward_revolution_unt.htm

Venezuelan trade union leaders discuss way forward for the revolution

By Jorge Martin - www.handsoffvenezuela.org

Monday, 26 September 2005

More than 50 Venezuelan trade union leaders attended the First Trade Union and Political Education Workshop, organised by the UNT and the Bolivarian Workers’ Force (FBT), with the collaboration of the Ministry of Labour. The workshop took place in the Trade Union House in El Paraiso, Caracas from September 19 to 23 and there were trade union leaders from all over the country, representing the different regional bodies of the UNT: Mérida, Trujillo, Delta Amacuro, Amazonas, Carabobo, Zulia, Falcón, Sucre, Bolívar, Monagas, Aragua, Guarico, Anzoátegui, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Lara, Cojedes, Yaracuy, Vargas and Caracas-Miranda. Trade union leaders from different industries were also present representing workers in the electricity sector (who are at the forefront of the struggle for workers' participation and control), the sugar mills, INVEPAL (the paper mill nationalised at the beginning of the year), the oil sector, textile workers, the transport sector, and the auto sector,

amongst others.

The main aim of the meeting was to "start a process of ideological and political rearming of the trade union movement". There were a number of different workshops, including national and international labour movement history, political aspects of the trade union struggle in Venezuela and the challenge of the transformation of the socio-economic mode of production. Two of the main discussions were on the question of workers' control and management, and the need to call a new congress of the UNT and have elections to the national leadership, a process which has been postponed already once because of differences with the bureaucratic section of the UNT leadership.

The workshop passed a very interesting resolution which we reproduce here:

For a government of the workers and the people, the UNT in solidarity with the struggle of workers, peasants and the people in Venezuela and the world

For five days, a group of trade union leaders from all over the country attended the First Trade Union and Political Education Workshop, having been invited by the National Workers Union (UNT) and the Bolivarian Workers’ Force (FBT).

We would like to stress the role played by the National Coordination of the UNT and the FBT, who, together with the Ministry of Labour made all the necessary efforts to carry out this glorious gathering.

We ratify the leading role of our president Hugo Chavez Frias in this democratic and participatory revolutionary process. We understand that faced with the failure of capitalism, which is the cause of all exploitation, exclusion, oppression, hunger, pollution and misery in the world, we must go to a new model of society based on equality and with a social economy. We accept Socialism as the hope of the oppressed classes of the world; we believe that the means of production must be expropriated and collectivised, and we believe in the building of socialism of the 21st century as a government of the workers and the people.

We would like to stress the speech of President Chavez at the Organisation of United Nations (UNO); we reject all attempts of foreign intervention, and the legalisation by a small group of powerful countries of the interventionism of the empire in order to invade, kill and impose governments that will follow the interests of the empire. We stand in solidarity with the peoples of Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and with the victims of hurricane Katrina who are really the victims of capitalism and imperialism.

We reclaim the historical struggle for the emancipation of the working class and understand that the history of societies is the history of the class struggle. We reclaim furthermore the struggle of all those comrades who have built the road to militant trade unionism. We wholeheartedly reject the trade union bureaucracy which has betrayed and given away our conquests. We stand in solidarity with the comrades at SIDOR and their unity agreement to fight the trade union bureaucracy (1).

We reject the reactionary elements of the parasitical tecno-bureaucracy in the government that have erected obstacles in the processes of co-management in the Basic Industries in Guayana, PDVSA [oil company] and CADAFE [electricity company]. (2)

We reclaim the demonstration outside VTV (3) as a response of the working class in order to defend this process and to exercise the right to accountability. We denounce the anti-working class attitude of some functionaries in the Labour Inspectorate and in some gobernorships, Councils and public institutions who are putting obstacles in the way of our trade union work.

We support the actions of the national government and of peasant social movements like the Ezequiel Zamora Peasant Front in their struggle against latifundios. We recognise the need to expropriate the land and for it to be distributed to those who work it, the peasants of our country, so it can be used to create jobs and develop an agricultural economy based on food sovereignty.

We must promote, within the framework of socialism of the 21st century, a Workers’ Constituent to build the country we want as workers, to elaborate a new Labour Law, for a general increase in wages and salaries, for the outlawing of dismissals and a freeze on prices.

We are in solidarity with the struggle of the workers at the Fabrica de Guantes Mis Manos CA in Amazonas, who are facing arrest warrants, and with the workers at Snack's Lara, who are threatened with eviction from the premises. We reject the vile action of the tribunals in Amazonas and Lara, which is an expression of the Fourth Republic. We demand from the National Assembly that these factories are declared of public interest and are expropriated under workers' management; furthermore we support the National Assembly in declaring the Sugar Mill Cumanacoa in the state of Sucre of public interest so that it will be expropriated and we demand that it be managed by the workers.

We are for the relaunching of the UNT at a national and regional level, through the calling this year of a National Workers' Assembly where the Statutes and Electoral Rules should be discussed, an Electoral Commission be elected and the date for elections at all levels of the UNT be set.

The UNT is a revolutionary tool of struggle. It is a conquest of the workers in this Bolivarian revolutionary process. We invite all currents of thought in the UNT to build this powerful tool in order to fight capitalism and build the kind of country that we want and to build socialism of the 21st century. Let's open then a national debate in unity.



Caracas, September 23rd, 2005

Regional and National leaders present at the 1st Trade Union Political Education Workshop



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:



(1) SIDOR is the giant steel works in Guayana. At the beginning of September, 7 different revolutionary trade union currents which organise workers in the SIDOR trade union SUTISS, agreed to unite in a joint slate to defeat the current leadership of the union, who follow Ramon Machuca, the historic leader of SUTISS, considered by these groups as a traitor since he signed away the workers’ rights and conditions during the process of privatisation of the factory.



(2) The workers and the union at CADAFE have been fighting for some time for real workers' control in the company as against the proposal of sections of the management that want to give only token representation to the workers. High functionaries in the government have recently expressed opposition to implementing co-management in the strategic industries such as the basic industries, oil and electricity. The workers reply that they themselves are the best guarantee for the normal running of these industries since they recovered them against the sabotage of the reactionary managers during the sabotage of the economy in December 2002-January 2003.



(3) In the last few days there have been demonstrations outside the main state TV broadcaster against the removal of the programme Dossier, by journalist Walter Martinez, after he made some allegations of corruption against high functionaries.

Let's see. Oil-rich nation, leader uses money to fund social development to reduce poverty. Leader keeps getting elected by redistributing national wealth. General national consensus is that it's preferable to use profits to benefit all rather than the few.

Except for electing the same person over and over, that description could fit Norway. In Norway, all the politicans agree to spread the oil wealth.

If Chavez takes Venezuela in the direction of Norway, the country will have a high standard of living, with many free services. Prices will be high for regular things, but, people will feel taken-care-of.

If Chavez is deposed by a military coup, or assasinated by the CIA, then power will revert back to an elite group of wealthy people who already own most of the country. The grinding poverty will continue or even increase.

Therefore, this yahoo Bush Admirer is advocating terrorism to stop this popular leader.

Speaking on his Sunday radio show, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has announced that Venezuela will >>>donate<<< 1 million barrels of oil to the USA to attend the emergency caused by Hurricane Katrina.

But grumpy old Ned *wants* to keep getting stiffed by big oil in between prank calls, so he advocates killing the person who would GIVE oil away

In Cuba, medical care is free, education is free, housing costs are nominal, no one sleeps in the street or goes hungry and when a Catagory 5 hurricane strikes, not a single life is lost.

If this is "rot," we need some here.

You said: "In Cuba, medical care is free, education is free, housing costs are nominal, ..."

Get with reality. NONE of that is free. The Cuban gov't, like all gov'ts, doesn't produce anything and doesn't make a profit... it simply redistributes wealth created by and seized from its working citizens. Every school, every medical procedure... all of it... is paid for by the cuban people. If you had even a passing understanding of economics you would understand that.

"Free" education and all the rest of it is a fantasy that is believed in by economically ignorant socialists. They love to say "The government paid for it"... ignorant of the fact that ALL wealth is created by the working citizens and that ANYTHING the government 'pays for' is paying for it with cash seized from its citizens.

There is no such thing as 'free education' or 'free health' care.

For a small fee at your local community college you could educate yourself.

> let me know your address



23700 S. Western Ave, Harbor City, CA 90710

but what am I saying - you already ARE packing..

Cuba isn't a safe place to live as long as the CIA continues to drop packages into Cuba. Read this link.

http://www.transbay.net/~nessie/Pages/30.seconds.html

I'd fucking love to live there if they weren't being attacked and embargo'ed.

Whether you like them or not, the CIA is a necessary tool. If you ever get rid of it our country would be at the mercy of foreign intelligence agencies (their own version of the CIA).

If you want to live in Cuba go to Venezuela and renounce your US citizenship and defect to Cuba. Hugo would be happy to help you do this because its a propaganda tool. Communism loves a sucker.

Without the CIA terrorism in this world would be reduced to just the 'bad countries' that we as Americans could then say " you're not like us" . We can't say this because the CIA is the world's most feared terror.

Disband the CIA and prosacute the criminals in it.

Then we can have world peace.

Sheepdog... Are you shooting for some sort of record for the dumbest thing ever said?

You said: "Disband the CIA and prosacute the criminals in it. Then we can have world peace."

Are you serious? Do you have some sort of crystal meth problem?

Sure... get rid of the CIA... and watch Al Queda and other ACTUAL terrorist groups grow by leaps and bounds. Should we also get rid of British Intelligence as well?

Bottom Line: You hate the USA for reasons you can barely articulate, but utterly lack the guts to leave it because you know that you've got it good here. But it makes you feel like a real 'revolutionary' to talk trash about the US. If you want to be a real 'revolutionary' renounce your citizenship and go live in that human rights paradise we all know as Cuba. Or is reality too scary for you?

The CIA IS Al Queda and other ACTUAL terrorist groups.
Want some links?

"Bottom Line: You hate the USA for reasons you can barely articulate, but utterly lack the guts to leave it because you know that you've got it good here. But it makes you feel like a real 'revolutionary' to talk trash about the US. If you want to be a real 'revolutionary' renounce your citizenship and go live in that human rights paradise we all know as Cuba. Or is reality too scary for you?"

So utterly and perfectly well put.

Let us not forget however that sheepdog also fervently believes in the "New World Order's nefarious chemtrail plot" AND remote controlled aircraft attacks on 9-11.

Which is to say that he is clearly mentally ill and of zero credibility.

In believing the government's cospiracy theroy about your '19 savage arabs' ability to have NORAD stand down in your mind is sane. But most of us know who is very clearly insane. It's the one who accuses everyone else of same.

It's called transference or projection. I'm sure the attendents in your ward are aware of the problem.

fresca, you've stooped to a new low - and right after sheepdog brought you up too..

congratulations are in order, I think - my style

And you should know it. It was you. But I suspect, as being part of your crew, she's never too far away.

Together you two work as a team to derail sensative threads.

Kinda like a Punch and Judi show.

" It's the one who accuses everyone else of same."

Yeah, me and about 99.99% of the rest of the "deluded" world population.

Now, about those chemtrails.

Yopu really are just a crazy old fuck aren't you?

the "derailed sensitive thread" is spam he posted where I expose sheepdog's schuckstering which became a debate about science v flake shit (still ongoing - now FIOA DOD nuclear science documents will have to be called "slime" and "BS degree" for him to continue)

and the sad thing is he doesn't even understand nuclear science - it's virtually all gibberish to him, yet *I understand it completely and can explain and discuss it in detail* - so all he can do now is deny, ignore and put down - as usual - that's his "science"

Getting funny.

Did you even read what you posted?

That PDF is not about DoD radiation documentation.

It's a treatise on corporate concentration.

he doesn't even understand nuclear science - it's virtually all gibberish to him, yet *I understand it completely and can explain and discuss it in detail* - so all he can do now is deny, ignore and put down

DENY, IGNORE AND PUT DOWN

sad

And exactly WHAT does this have to do with U238+ oxide migration through active transport. Nothing.

...does this have to do with Bolovarian revolution under Chavez?

Nothing.

Buy gas at Citgo.

"WHAT does this have to do with U238+ oxide migration"

(warning - the truth is vast !)

(I originally said) -

It takes either strongly radioactive matter, selected isotopes from fission/fusion or biological/chemical binding and a very large quantity to cause radiation to rise above *background radiation* - including radiation from the sun and space



Exposing Depleted Uranium Myths

DU is 1.7 times denser than lead, and DU dust falls to the ground within 50 yards of its impact.



1943, when the inventors of the atomic bomb described uranium vapor as an agent of chemical and radiological warfare, breathable uranium is a horrific weapon with both chemical and radiological toxicity.

"Groves Memo" written by Drs. James B. Conant, A.H. Compton, and H.C. Urey to General L.R. Groves on October 30, 1943 (the "material" referred to is uranium):

"As a gas warfare instrument the material would be ground into particles of microscopic size to form dust and smoke and distributed by a ground-fired projectile, land vehicles, or aerial bombs. In this form it would be inhaled by personnel. The amount necessary to cause death to a person inhaling the material is extremely small. It is estimated that one millionth of a gram accumulating in a person's body would be fatal. There are no known methods of treatment for such a casualty.

"Two factors appear to increase the effectiveness of radioactive dust or smoke as a weapon. These are:

1) It cannot be detected by the senses

2) It can be distributed in a dust or smoke form so finely powdered that it will permeate a standard gas mask filter in quantities large enough to be extremely damaging. An off-setting factor in its effectiveness as a weapon is that in a dust or smoke form the material is so finely pulverized that it takes on the characteristic of a quickly dissipating gas and is therefore subject to all the factors (such as wind) working against maintenance of high concentrations for more than a few minutes over a given area....



"Areas so contaminated by radioactive dusts and smokes, would be dangerous as long as a high enough concentration of material could be maintained...



When a nuclear bomb is detonated fallout is deposited downwind - most often to the east toward which prevailing upper atmospheric winds blow - for a distance of up to hundreds of kilometres.



Global fallout

When a nuclear bomb is exploded, energy is released by the fissioning (splitting) of either uranium-235 or plutonium. There are a range of products of this fissioning, many of which are radioactive - that is, they are unstable and decay sooner or later by emission of energetic radiation or particles. The most well-known fission product is strontium-90, which decays by emission of a beta particle. About half the strontium-90 nuclei decay in this way in a period of about 28 years, called the half-life. Different radioactive atoms have different half-lives, ranging from a fraction of a second to many millions of years. Other biologically important radioactive species produced by nuclear explosions are caesium-137 (half-life: 27 years), iodine-131 (half-life: eight days) and carbon-14 (half-life: 5600 years).[10]

A nuclear bomb like that exploded over Hiroshima produces a total of about 800 grammes of fission products, measured one hour after the blast. The enormous heat generated by the explosion creates a huge upwards surge of air, resulting in the familiar mushroom cloud. The height of the cloud depends on the size of the explosion[11] (see Figure 1). Most of the fission products are carried into the atmosphere by this initial updraft. They become dangerous to humans when they return to earth.

If the bomb is exploded at or near the surface of the earth, a large amount of dust, dirt and other surface materials will also be lifted with the updraft. Some of the fission products will adhere to these particles, or onto the material used to construct the bomb. The very largest particles - stones and pebbles - will fall back to earth in a matter of minutes or hours. Lighter material - ash or dust - will fall to earth within a few days, or perhaps be incorporated in raindrops.

Some of the delayed fallout remains in the troposphere (see Figure 1) for days, weeks or months. This tropospheric fallout usually returns to earth within ten or 15 deg of latitude of the original explosion, mostly by being incorporated in raindrops as they are formed. The clouds of nuclear explosions larger than about one megatonne penetrate partially or wholly into the stratosphere, and deposit fission products there, which become stratospheric fallout. Since the stratosphere has no rain formation and is less turbulent than the troposphere, radioactive particles in the stratosphere can take months or years to return to earth. During this time the particles can move to any part of the globe.

By the time stratospheric fallout reaches the earth, its radioactivity is greatly reduced. For example, after one year, the time typically required for any sizable amount of fission products to move from the northern to the southern stratosphere, the rate of decay will be less than a hundred thousandth of what it was one hour after the blast. It is for this reason that stratospheric fallout does not have the potential to cause widespread and immediate sickness or death.

Plutonium

One special product of nuclear explosions is plutonium. Plutonium-239 is a fissionable substance and is used to construct nuclear weapons. It is also a highly dangerous radioactive material. It decays by emitting an alpha particle, which cannot penetrate a piece of paper or the skin. But once inside the body, plutonium-239 is a potent cancer-inducing agent. Experiments have shown that less than one milligramme of insoluble plutonium oxide is definitely enough to cause lung cancer in beagle dogs.[21] It is not known how much plutonium is required to induce lung cancer in humans, but estimates as low as a few millionths of a gramme have been made.

Previous nuclear explosions have injected an estimated 5 tonnes of plutonium into the atmosphere



The effects of nuclear war on climate

A major nuclear war would deposit millions of tonnes of dust in the stratosphere. Some sunlight would be absorbed or reflected away from the earth by the dust, causing a decrease in the earth's temperature. This in turn could conceivably trigger a major climatic change. For example, lowered temperatures could cause an increase in snow and ice near the polar caps, thus an increased reflection of light, and further lowering of temperatures.

Stratospheric dust from a nuclear war seems unlikely to cause such climatic change. In 1883 the volcanic eruption at Krakatoa deposited some 10 to 100 thousand million tonnes of dust in the stratosphere, and the 1963 Mt Agung eruption about half as much. These injections seem to have caused a minor cooling of the surface temperature of the earth, at most about half a degree Celsius, lasting a few years, with no long term consequences.

One effect is a thermal nuclear event which pushes tons of debris into a super heated cloud that rises thousands of feet and the other effect is chemical combustion of DU. This does not mostly go into the stratosphere. It rides the winds.

Buy only at Citgo, if possible.

I like this ex paratrooper turned leader. Viva Chavez and the Bolavarian Revolution,