Anniversary of Venezuela's coup marked

Supporters of the Venezuelan and Cuban revolutions assembled on April 11 at the Iberoamerican square to commemorate the failure of the April 2002 US-backed coup against the government of Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez.

Venezuelan charge d'affaires Nelson Davila, standing in front of a statue of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan-born South American independence hero who led a war of liberation against Spanish colonialism in the 19th century, spoke of the need for continued solidarity with Venezuela. Vlaudin Vega of the Bolivarian Circle, organisers of the event, explained that the revolution was strongly rooted in the mass organisation of the people and thus able to defeat the coup attempt. Lisa Macdonald from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network emphasised the importance of getting the word out to Australians about Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution, led by Chavez's government.

At the statue of Jose Marti, the vice-president of Cuba's Institute of Friendship with the People, Buena Ventura Reyes Acosta, stressed that solidarity bonded those who support Cuba and Venezuela.

From GLW issue 706