Roberto Jorquera
Last December's National Assembly elections in Venezuela marked a significant step forward for the revolution that is unfolding there. It was the 10th consecutive electoral victory for the supporters of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
The pro-Bolivarian forces won all 167 seats in the National Assembly. Venezuelans voted at the same time for their representatives to the Andean and Latin American parliaments. The main opposition parties boycotted the elections, but all pre-election polls predicted a landslide for pro-Chavez candidates.
The Latin American Parliament was formed on December 7, 1964, at a gathering in Lima, Peru. Principle aims of the parliament, which includes 22 countries from the Caribbean, and Central and South America, are to promote Latin American integration and campaign for non-interference by imperialist powers in Latin American affairs.
Carolus Wimmer, who was elected to the Latin American Parliament, will be touring Australia in February. Wimmer has been the director of international relations for the Venezuelan National Assembly since 2002 and the international relations secretary of the Venezuelan Communist Party since 1998.
Wimmer has been an activist in the CP since 1971. He was director of the CP's cadre school from 1978 to 1991, and has been a member of the central committee since 1998 and of the political bureau since 1998. Within the Chavez government, Wimmer was an adviser to the National Assembly president, William Lara, in 2001-02.
Wimmer has also been involved in the media in Venezuela. He has been the founding director of the theoretical journal Debate Abierto (Open Debate) since 1997, and he produces a weekly radio program called "Open Debate" on Venezuela's state-run National Radio, as well as two international discussion programs on that station.
The Australian tour by Carolus Wimmer is being organised by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network. It will be an important opportunity to hear the latest news about the unfolding revolution in Venezuela and to discuss the "left turn" that is occurring across Latin America.
The election last month of Evo Morales from the Movement for Socialism as the president of Bolivia is another important strengthening of the Latin American alliance that is confronting US imperialism. Venezuela, Cuba and now Bolivia have formed an "axis of good" and are working closely with other governments in the region to develop a real alternative for economic, social and political progress in the form of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas.
Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina have signed up to some of these agreements, which take the "social missions" that have been so successful in Venezuela to the rest of Latin America.
If you would like to help publicise Carolus Wimmer's Australian tour, or to find out more about the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network in your city, email <roberto@venezuelasolidarity.org>, visit <http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org> or phone 0425 289 394.
From Green Left Weekly, February 1, 2006.
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