GLW issue 688, published 2006-10-25.

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New steps forward for education

“We guarantee that all Venezuelans will receive free education, to the highest level, as a promise of the revolutionary government. This [event] demonstrates the importance that the [Bolivarian] revolution gives to education”, Hugo Chavez declared on October 8. The Venezuelan president was officially re-opening the Andres Bello high school, situated in the metropolitan centre of the Caracas. The high school has been extensively renovated and upgraded to provide for a student population of 1700, the October 9 Ultimas Noticias reported.

A Bolivarian railway

Thousands of people flocked to the La Rinconada area, south of Caracas, on October 15, to hear socialist President Hugo Chavez inaugurate the new “Ezequiel Zamora” train line from Caracas to Cua, in the Valles del Tuy — the first new above-ground train line constructed in Venezuela for more than 70 years.

Invitation to a national trade union activist workshop

A workshop involving trade unionists from around Australia is being held in Geelong on October 28 from 1pm. Socialist Alliance initiated the workshop because union activists are telling us that there are many issues in the campaign against Work Choices that aren’t getting discussed.

Remembering SIEV-X

On October 15, more than 1500 people, including survivors, attended a memorial event on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin to mark the tragic sinking of the SIEV-X on October 19, 2001, in waters between Indonesia and Australia. The event featured Arnhem logs decorated by more than 260 school, church and community groups from around Australia to signify and honour the 353 Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers who drowned. Organisers had hoped to display the logs for three weeks as a step towards establishing a permanent memorial to the worst maritime disaster in the region since World War II. Despite negotiating with the National Capital Authority since 2003 to ensure the project went smoothly, however, the NCA refused permission less than two weeks before the event. To support the campaign for a permanent memorial, visit <http://www.sievxmemorial.com>.
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