A “Venezuela-Brazil Solidarity” meeting organised by the Latin America Solidarity Network (LASNET) was held on June 8 in Melbourne.
It brought together a wide array of activists, including members of the Socialist Alliance, Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) and trade unionists.
Daniel Gasparri Rey, Charge d’Affairs in the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Australia, spoke about the economic and political situation in Venezuela and explained the nature of the upcoming constituent assembly.
“In Venezuela, people’s power is regarded as having the same legitimacy as the Presidency and the parliament”, he said.
“The upcoming Constituent Assembly will be an exercise of that power and allow the country to progress towards peace and solve the current economic crisis.”
Pamela Cortez, an activist from the Brazilian community in Melbourne, spoke about the implications of the hard right coming to power in Brazil with the illegitimate government of President Michel Temer.
The free market reforms recently passed by the right-wing coup government are an insight into what the ruling classes across Latin America wish to see reintroduced across the entire continent.
[Published in the Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network July 2017 special liftout.]
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