Caracas, Venezuela – On December 17, the Constituent Assembly of the Venezuelan Working Class welcomed international delegates to share in their historic achievement of integrating the trade union movement into the national plan of resistance and advancing the cause of the working class in the national democratic Bolivarian Revolution.
Officially titled the Congress of Latin America, the Caribbean, and World in Defense of Peace, the gathering was chaired by trade union leader and member of the national leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Francisco Torrealba.
After spirited renditions of the Venezuelan national anthem and The Internationale, Torrealba introduced Wills Rangel as the first speaker to a roaring standing ovation from all. Rangel is an elected representative of the National Assembly and President of the Central Bolivariana Socialista de Trabajadores de La Ciudad, El Campo, y La Pesca (CBST-CCP) and president of the Oil Workers Federation (FUTPV).
Rangel opened his remarks by stating “We started this process in October of meeting and developing at every level of workers right down to the base with the fundamental objective of mobilizing the working masses at the national level. What happened yesterday, with our first-ever worker-president, Nicolas Maduro, was the first time workers presented their demands to the president. This is just the start, we need to continue with our constituent assemblies and involve more workers who want to participate.”
One of the delegates from Cuba, Niurka González Orberá, a union leader at the University of Havana and secretary-general of her national union, added that this is the “first constituent assembly of the working class was democratic from the base to the national level.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Yvan Gil spoke next with a message to Trump and the Venezuelan oligarchy who want war and privatization: “We welcome the confrontation because we will come out of this [situation] independent and capable of heading toward complete liberation.” He added that “the horizon is ours, our struggle is not just resistance but a revolutionary offensive in unison with the communes.”
After a series of international delegates from Chile, Niger and Brazil spoke, the Congress’ final speaker, Blanca Eekout closed the proceedings. Eekhout served as the Minister of People’s Power for the Communes and Social Movements of Venezuela and is the current president of the Instituto Simón Bolívar for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples (ISB) which advocates for peace, solidarity and human rights in Venezuela.
Eekout stated, “We are here in front of a new threat, a leader of the corporations with his new Monroe Doctrine, a representative of the most powerful multi-millionaires. On the other side, with Bolivar, is a worker. A worker-president at the head of a revolution that doesn’t give up for nothing and nobody.”
Eekhout continued “In this moment it is crucial to go on the offensive. This phase of imperialism, in absolute decline and desperation is no longer using a mask. The only way it can maintain itself is barbarity, war and genocide like in Gaza.”
Eekhout concluded, “Why Venezuela? Why is the head of the capitalists putting their aggression toward Venezuela? We know they’ve said that our oil is theirs, that they want our natural resources. But that’s not really it. It is because we decided to transition to socialism, toward a communal state, with the working class as the protagonist. They don’t want an example of what the people can do, they can govern themselves. They can’t accept it.”
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