Statements

On August 1, the elected Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez announced it would revoke the concessions to use state-owned airwaves to 32 private radio stations and two regional TV stations and instead grant concessions for use of these airwaves to community stations.

This has been presented in the global corporate media as an attack on freedom of speech and further evidence of Venezuela’s supposed slide into dictatorship.

In support the Venezuelan government’s stance on public education and the new Organic Education Law

While neoliberal governments around the world have been pushing an aggressive agenda to de-fund and privatise public education, the Venezuelan government has been one of the few to go against the trend, expanding access to free, public education for the poor and historically excluded majority.

A statement from the Australia–Venezuela Solidarity Network

On Sunday February 15, Venezuelans voted in a referendum to change the country’s constitution to allow elected officials to re-stand for election without restriction. Previously, Venezuela’s constitution allowed elected officials, including the president, to stand for only two terms.

A statement by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network
December 10, 2008

The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network condemns the murder of Venezuelan trade unionist Simon Caldera, who was shot in Aragua state on December 4. Caldera was a leader of the pro-revolution Bolivarian Construction and Industry Union.

To President Hugo Chavez Frias

Congratulations on a decade of Presidency

Dear President Chavez,

The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network sends revolutionary greetings and our heartfelt congratulations on the 10th anniversary of your election as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

We are honoured to be actively building solidarity with Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution among the people of Australia, and will continue to stand up proudly for the remarkable achievements of the Venezuelan people in your struggle to construct socialism of the 21st century.

A statement from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network
November 28, 2008

In the aftermath of the November 23 regional elections, Venezuela’s right-wing opposition has launched, in the states it won, an all-out assault on grassroots community organisations.

A statement from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network
November 25, 2008

The results of the elections for local mayors and state governors held in Venezuela on November 23 underlined the continuing mass support for the Bolivarian revolution led by President Hugo Chavez.

A statement by the AVSN
September 30, 2008

As a broad network of organisations and individuals that has closely studied the significant changes in Venezuelan society since 1998 – including organising eight study tours to Venezuela involving more than 150 Australians from diverse backgrounds - we are obliged to respond to the biases, distortions and lies contained in the Human Rights Watch report “A Decade Under Chavez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela” released in September 2008.

In defence of democracy and sovereignty for Venezuela

A statement from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network
September 14, 2008

On September 11, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez gave the United States ambassador in Caracas 72 hours to leave the country. The announcement was made in solidarity with Bolivia, after Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled US ambassador Phillip Goldberg for collaborating with the far-right opposition movement that has been organising violent protests for weeks to seize control of Bolivia's wealthy eastern provinces.

Oppose the US war plans for Colombia and Venezuela

On February 12, Colombia’s Senator Piedad Cordoba announced the suspension of the rescue operation of three Colombian parliamentarians who were to be liberated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The operation was suspended due to bombings by the Colombian military that put the lives of the prisoners at risk. The operation would have represented the second unilateral step by the FARC towards attempting to reach a humanitarian accord, following the earlier release of two prisoners in January.