AUT: Chavez's reforms

[Scott Hamilton <s_h_hamilton@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thiago argues that Chavez has given his supporters no
reforms since coming to power, and that the US
antipathy to him is based on paranoia. While I
certainly wouldn't rule this out, I did come across a
list of his supposed reforms in an 'Appeal to the
Women of the World' to support him against the
'strike' being circulated by email. I don't have a URL
for the text, which is very long, so I'll just post an
excerpt, and anyone who wants the full thing can e
mail me. I don't know whether these claims are
accurate or not, but I'll ask someone who does know
when I get the chance.

"By 1999 the population created and passed with a 72%
vote a revolutionary >new Constitution.  Women,
Indigenous communities who, as in the rest
of the >Americas, have been under threat of genocide
for centuries, other women and >men of colour, and
other social groups who suffer discrimination, won
>rights >fought for over years:
>
>* A just distribution of wealth.
>* Full legal and pay equality between women and men
in employment.
>* The recognition of housework as an economic
activity that creates >surplus value and produces
social wealth and well-being.
>* Social security and a pension for housewives.
>* A minimum wage, an 8-hour day, no compulsory
overtime and the >right to paid holidays. Women, the
lowest paid everywhere, who do a double
>day of unwaged caring work on top of low-waged work,
would benefit most.
>* Protection from discrimination based on sex, race,
politics, age, >religion and disability.  Positive
steps to favour those who may be >discriminated
against, marginalized or vulnerable, and punishment of

those >guilty of abuse or mistreatment.
>* Recognition of Venezuelan sign language, and the
use of subtitles >in TV programs.
>* Recognition and protection of Indigenous
communities, their social, political and economic
organizations, cultures, religious and
>health >practices, the collective ownership of
ancestral land and knowledge. >Bilingual education in
Indigenous areas.  Women stress that it is
their >work
>that has kept cultures and languages alive.
>*  Outlawing the patenting of genes, technologies and

inventions >arising from ancestral knowledge or
resources.
>* No privatisation of water; food security through
sustainable >agriculture; protection of the
environment.
>* No oil privatisation ? the State will keep 100% of
oil shares.
>
>Always the poorest everywhere, women have the most to
gain from all these >reforms.  Despite the elite?s
power to frustrate change, there have
been >remarkable achievements that we have not yet won
in most countries in spite >of our own years of
struggle.
>
>* A strong commitment to tackling domestic violence
and the >machismo >of the justice system.
>* A Women?s Bank that puts money for income
generation directly >into >women?s hands.
>*  Better child nutrition and greater school
attendance through free >breakfast programs and a
clampdown on schools illegally charging fees.
A >dramatic drop in the infant mortality rate.
>*  The distribution of title deeds to land built on
by squatters, >mostly woman-headed households in the
shanty towns on the Caracas hills.
>*  A law distributing unused state and private land
to rural people. >Women, including Indigenous women,
are often the main agriculturalists.
>*  Subsidies of $1000-$2000 to small farmers ? a lot
for people >earning $15 a month.


=====
"Revolution is not like cricket, not even one day cricket"

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