In this weeks issue:
IRAN - USA READY TO ATTACK (In English and Spanish)
US SLASHES HEALTH BUDGETS TO RAISE MORE CASH FOR WAR
Opening the source of Linux - Magnus Lawrie describes how he became an advocate of Linux
UK- BLAIR INCREASINGLY DESPERATE TACTICS AS LABOUR TRIDENT REBELLION GROWS
BRITAIN- RECLAIM YOUR BANK CHARGES!
CUBA FILMS IN CHICAGO
POLITICAL FILMS ON VENEZUELA
NEXT WEEK- G8 Special. Those who want to contribute articles send to SLUL Revolution or HiggleDpiggle Snoats.
IRAN – USA READY TO ATTACK
Spartacus Attenborough, SLLU member from Spain, writes on the worsening situation surrounding Iran.
The situation over Iran is worsening, and this is not just another imperialisitc adventure of Bush gov . This time we have by one side the threat over a set of countries making cooperation in order to avoid the globalization stream, we are talking with Iran and Venezuela, Nicaragua and other African countries (Gambia may be) that want to find another way for developing. In the other hand we have another obscure reason, the same reason for which the US gov started the war against Iraq, namely the intention of Iranis to change the petrol currency form dollars to euros (something that Saddam Hussein administration wanted to do just before the invasion).
Uranium enrichment in Iran and shi-ite militias support in Iraq are just excuses (sustained by their clasical "proofs") for striking Iran.
The worse of all of this is that NO ONE IS ANSWERING THIS POLITICS, the things are moving too fast TODAY (Wednesday) IRAQ CLOSED SYRIA AND IRAN BORDERS!! And US Army in Iraq is "finding every day, proof"
YESTERDAY THEY SAID THAT THEY FOUND A NUMBER OF AUSTRIAN RILFES FOR SNIPERS, AN ENVOYS THAT US INTELLIGENCE SAID IT WAS IRANIAN.
ALL OF THIS LIES OF COURSE!! BUT WHO IS facing the facts? Who are on the streets against the war again?
AS LEFT ORGANIATIONS WE MUST TO UNITE OUR EFFORTS AND WE MUST INFORM THE PEOPLE ABOUT THIS ISSUE NOW!
Spartacus article in Spanish:
La situación sobre Iran está empeorando, y esto no es sólo otra aventura imperialista de la administración Bush. En esta ocasión tenemos en primer lugar una amenaza conjunta sobre una serie de paises que cooperan con el objetivo de evitar la corriente globalizadora, estamos hablando no sólo de Iran sino además Venezuela, Nicaragua y otros paises africanos (Gambia sería uno de ellos) que quieren encontrar otra vía para el desarrollo. Por otra parte existe otro oscuro motivo, el mismo motivo real por el que la admisnitración USA empezo la guerra con Irak: en esta ocasión se trata de la intención de los Iranis de cambiar las trnaferencias de crudo de dolares a euros (algo que la administración de Saddam Hussein quiso hacer justo antes de la invasión).
El enriquecimiento de uranio en Iran y el apoyo a las milicias chiitas en Irak son sólo excusas para golpear a Iran (sostenidas por sus clásicas "pruebas").
Lo peor de todo esto es que NADIE ESTA RESPONDIENDO A ESTA POLITICA, las cosas se están moviendo muy rápido, en el dái de hoy (14/02/07) IRAK CERRO LAS FRONTERAS CON SIRIA E IRAN !! Y el ejérctio USA en Irak está "encontrando cada día sus pruebas" AYER DENUNCIABAN QUE UN ENVÍO DE RIFLES DE PRECISIÓN AUSTRÍACOS FUE EN CONTRADO EN MANOS DE LA INSURGENCIA , CUANDO LA INTELIGENCIA MILITAR ASEGURABA QUE SU DESTINO DEBÍA SER IRAN.
Por SUPUESTO TODO ESTO SON MENTIRAS O MANIPULACIONES!! PERO QUIEN SE ENFRENTA A ESTOS HECHOS? Quien sale a las calles esta vez contra la guerra?
COMO ORGNAIZACIONES DE IZQUIERDAS DEBEMOS UNIR NUESTROS ESFUERZOS Y CONCIENCIAR Al PUEBLO SOBRE ESTE ASUNTO.
Spartacus Attenborough
SLLU member
More on this:
In UK – Watch “Once Upon a Time in Iran” Thursday 21.00 gmt. Once Upon A Time In Iran is a mysterious country at the heart of the so called 'Axis of Evil'. Last year, against all expectation, the people of Iran elected a new president who seems not only determined to go nuclear but has also stated that Israel has no right to exist. So who are the people who voted this President into office?
Once Upon A Time In Iran follows a devout band of Shia Muslims as they make a pilgrimage in the summer of 2006 to the holy shrine in Karbala, across the border in war-torn Iraq.
Amongst the pilgrims on this most dangerous of journeys are hard-line revolutionary guards, athletes, former soldiers and influential traders. The pilgrims' tales are complex, touching and funny, but also expose the deep divide between the West and Islam. While exploring their lives and realities, the film also captures the pilgrims as they come to terms with the possibility that they may never return from Iraq - with murderous attacks launched against Shia Muslims in Iraq almost daily. The road to Karbala may also transform them into martyrs and guarantee their entry to paradise.
Once Upon A Time In Iran also follows President Ahmadinejad as he travels through the Iranian provinces rallying support for his campaign against Britain and America before his showdown with President Bush.
American preparations for invading Iran are complete
By Dan Plesch
American military operations for a major conventional war with Iran could be implemented any day. They extend far beyond targeting suspect WMD facilities and will enable President Bush to destroy Iran's military, political and economic infrastructure overnight using conventional weapons.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17091.htm
===
Next Stop: Tehran
By Philip Giraldi
For the past two years, the U.S. has been conducting secret operations inside Iran, employing Special Forces units operating out of Afghanistan, while Pentagon-supported dissidents have been carrying out armed raids into Iran?s predominantly Arab provinces.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17093.htm
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StratCom and the Plan To Attack Iran
By Tim Rinne
Under “CONPLAN 8022? (Contingency Plan 8022), the Omaha-based command center is now commissioned to strike anywhere in the world within minutes of detecting a target deemed a threat to the United States’ national security. And the projected attack against Iran-which could well include nuclear as well as conventional weapons-will be planned, launched and coordinated by StratCom.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17095.htm
US slashes health budgets to raise more cash for war
American social programmes are to be ruthlessly slashed, to free up more money for the war in Iraq and fund further tax breaks for George W Bush’s rich friends.
For the second year running, the president is proposing to kill off a low-cost healthcare programme for Native Americans living in urban areas.
Under cover of incremental increases to Native American programmes in general is a bid to eliminate the $33million Urban Indian Health Programme, a system of 34 health clinics serving low-income Native Americans living outwith reservations.
An identical bid was halted last year by Congress, so it seems likely it will be stopped in its tracks again. But no one is feeling complacent.
Bill Martin, of the Indian Family Heath Centre in Great Falls, Montana, is concerned that the expenses for war - $99.6billion has been requested from Congress by Bush for this year, and $145billion for next - are hammering crucial social programmes.
“Most of us are not in favour of the continued aggression (in Iraq) and we’d like the money to be poured into social programmes in the US (instead).
“We’re watching (domestic) programmes suffer terribly financially while billions are going overseas.”
Education subsidies for Native American children in state schools are also being targeted, with Bush proposing the withdrawal of the $16billion Johnson O’Malley programme, which provides tutoring and other services for Native American students, many of whom are disadvantaged by the American school system. Up to 350,000 school students could be affected.
Bush would also like to take a hatchet to the Medicaid programme, which provides health coverage for around 55million of America’s poorest citizens.
Services affected would include the reimbursement to schools for providing assistance, such as speech and physical therapy, to students who need it. Schools would still provide these services, as they are obliged to under law, but it would leave them with funding shortfalls for other services.
Publicly-owned hospitals and nursing homes, as well as teaching hospitals, would also feel the impact.
Congress may not be able to stop this one, as Bush plans to bypass the democratic process simply by re-calibrating federal regulations to limit the level of reimbursement for providing services.
Again, it is the most powerless citizens who will suffer while their almost unaccountable and too-powerful president wreaks havoc.
Opening the source of Linux
Magnus Lawrie describes how he became an advocate of Linux.
Ten years ago I was an unassuming Microsoft Windows computer user. It seemed a relatively safe world view to adopt and I knew conflict only in as far as I had allied myself with the Personal Computer crowd and not with the Macintosh Lovers (of whom I knew a few).
This argument between brands was the total extent to which I understood computers to mean politics. That my view was limited to these two-dimensions is hardly surprising, since I had no idea of the evolution of computing, or much knowledge of the varied landscape of architectures and operating systems that have existed over the years - In the early 1980s my family had owned a Sinclair ZX81, our neighbours a BBC Micro. I had written a few lines of BASIC and played an awful lot of hours on computer games.
Then in 1997, I went to live in Cologne. There I succeeded in getting a battered old computer for about £20. It held together running a copy of Windows95 but was slow in every respect. Being new to the city and remote from my home in Scotland, I was also rather limited in the software available to me.
The solution to both problems was handed to me on an unbranded CD. On the CD was the installer to put a Linux-based operating system on to my PC. With help from my new found Linux friend (who had brought the CD to me) I went through the install and right away I had a faster running machine (due to leaner, more efficient software) and the availability of a ton of free-to-use applications.
But this was 1997 and Linux was still very young. Unlike in today’s main distributions of Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora and Suse are a few) it was an apparently complex task to go from a few characters, in white on a black screen, to the kind of graphical interface which people commonly now use to run browsers and other ‘point and click’ applications.
There was further work involved to access my re-sized Microsoft disk partition from within Linux. This too was less easily achieved then. However, in the interim there has been much work put into writing the software to have Linux run on more kinds of hardware and be compatible with more technology standards. Typically in the newer Linux distributions, installer software will do much of this work for you. I remember that at the time I solved this last problem by throwing out Windows altogether. I still do recommend this approach.
Such was the beginning of my transformation from Windows consumer to Penguin advocate. Yet I used Linux for some time before I came to understand its context; In some ways Linux came out of a prior effort (begun in the early 1980s) to establish a Free alternative to a proprietary system called UNIX.
The project, called ‘GNU (for GNU’s not UNIX)’, was led by Richard Stallman, later of The Free Software Foundation (FSF). Significantly, many (but not all) contributions to the GNU project were voluntary. Stallman set out a license called the General Purpose License (GPL) which guarantees the legal right of the recipient (the user of the software) to freely use, alter and redistribute the code and to do so for whatever purpose they choose.
Much of the software developed for GNU eventually came to be used in Linux and since then a truly worldwide community has grown up with the will to make and use Free Software. Because of this community, and because of the rights set out in the GPL, I have a friend still: the one who in 1997 gave me a Linux CD. n www.gnu.org
International Womens Day
The Scottish Socialist Party Womens Network is organising a demo at Cornton Vale prison on
Saturday March 10th at 12 noon for International Womens Day. Everyone
is welcome to attend - men, women and children. Please bring a ribbon
or a flower to decorate the fence.
Reclaim your bank charges! The banks are acting illegally demanding bank charges for late payments from accounts, etc. It is your money, don’t let your bank rob you! Go to www.consumeractiongroup.org for more details.
UK- BLAIR INCREASINGLY DESPERATE TACTICS AS LABOUR TRIDENT REBELLION GROWS
The UK government is resorting to increasingly desperate tactics to win over its own backbenchers, as criticism of its Trident replacement plans grows.
The leadership is concerned that it has not won the argument within the Labour Party, and will have to rely on whipping enough MPs to vote with the Conservatives in order to win a parliamentary vote. On Thursday 8th February, Kali Mountford MP, the PPS to the Defence Secretary Des Browne, invited all Labour MPs to visit Faslane naval base and sail on a Vanguard (Trident) submarine on Saturday 24th February. On the same day, tens of thousands of people, including Labour Party members, will be marching through London and Glasgow on co-ordinated 'NO TRIDENT' demonstrations.
In Parliament, as many as 74 Labour MPs have now called on the government to delay a debate to allow for greater consultation.(1)
The party leadership threw out resolutions seeking to make the decision-making process more accountable to the party membership at the 30th January National Executive Committee meeting. At the 3rd February National Policy Forum, no vote was held despite a plenary where results of two initial polls of party members showed a majority against a replacement.(2)
This follows the decision to rule out of order all resolutions on Trident at the party conference last September.(3)
Jeremy Corbyn MP for Islington North and Chair of Parliamentary CND said: Arguments against replacing Trident are so obvious on grounds of morality, sense, security and money that it makes the increasingly desperate attempts by the pro-arms lobby look more like scaremongering than an intention to engage in rational debate.?
Fabian Hamilton MP for Leeds North East, who has visited Faslane Naval Base, said: My visit to Faslane in early January was a great education. Until then I had no idea exactly how Britain's Independent Nuclear Deterrent actually worked but whilst there I and my colleagues saw first hand the Vanguard submarine and all the staggering array of control systems. We also gained a valuable insight into the operations of the submarines. Seeing the submarines at first hand and the base itself, and beginning to understand just how it all worked has made me more determined to vote against the renewal of the submarine-based delivery system which costs us all so much money. This vast amount of cash could be far better used not just by the Royal Navy but also by other parts of the public service. I still cannot see how this Independent Nuclear Deterrent would make any of us safer from any outside threats to our people. It is clear that the government believes that Labour MPs visiting Faslane just before any vote in the Commons on the renewal of the Vanguard class submarines will persuade doubters to support the design and building of a new delivery system for Trident. In my case, it has not.?
Katy Clark MP for Ayrshire North and Arran said: "I would like to have gone to see at first hand what goes on in the base. Instead I will be on the streets of Glasgow. Along with thousands of others, I'll be protesting against billions of pounds of our money being wasted on a more sophisticated nuclear weapons system to be based in Scotland"
Kate Hudson, Chair of CND said: "No amount of day trips can obscure the fact that all evidence suggests the majority of Labour Party members oppose Trident. The refusal of the Labour leadership to allow a vote or genuine debate in the Party indicates they are aware of this reality. Rather than looking at expensive weapons of mass destruction on 24th February, MPs would do better to come to the demonstrations in London or Glasgow, to appreciate the scale of popular opposition.?
CND, the Stop the War Coalition, and the British Muslim Initiative are organising a national demonstration in London on Saturday 24th February, calling for No Trident and Troops Home from Iraq. It is expected to be Britains largest anti-nuclear demonstration in decades. A demo will also take place in Glasgow at 11.30am on 24th in George Square.
This message has originated from CND UK, 162 Holloway Road, London N7 8DQ, and has been forwarded by Scottish CND
CUBA FILMS IN CHICAGO:
Here is a listing of political films on Cuba and Venezuela that
have shown or are going to show in Chicago. Please get in touch if
you're interested in showing one in your area. We also have some
other Cuban movies not listed below.
Stan Smith
Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban 5
2961 S. Bonaparte
Chicago, Ill. 60608
773-376-7521
Cuban and Venezuelan films on the revolutions:
POLITICAL FILMS ON CUBA:
Fidel, 2002, 91 min
Fidel, an award-winning documentary by Estela Bravo, spans
Castro's life from his early childhood and college days to his
Presidency of Cuba and includes interviews with Harry Belafonte,
Nelson Mandela, Alice Walker, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Sydney Pollock,
and others. Rare footage shows him swimming with his bodyguards,
working in the fields cutting sugar cane, visiting his childhood
school and talking with Elian Gonzales, the six-year old boy who
became a rallying point for Cuban exiles in Miami.
Mission Against Terror, 2004 45
min
Mission Against Terror, provides a thorough understanding of the
struggle for the "Cuban Five" - Cuban men imprisoned in the United
States since Sept. 12, 1998 for infiltrating the Miami based anti-
Cuban terrorist organizations. They remain political prisoners in the
United States. This is the best film on the case of the Cuban 5.
Che: Love, Politics and Rebelliousness, 1995 47min.
A Cuban documentary, the only one in English, on the life and
contributions of Che Guevara. It is an honest and unromanticized
account of his life and his role in the Cuban Revolution. It presents
a factual account of Che's accomplishments without painting him as
some Don Quixote. Unlike some non-Cuban films on Che, this film does
not distort his relations with Fidel Castro.
Mountain of Light, 2005, 53 min
Among the achievements of the Cuban revolution, none is known as
far and wide as its healthcare system, not only within Cuba but
internationally. Doctors and paramedics from Cuba, who serve in more
than 70
countries, are, for many in the Third World, their only lifeline.
This riveting and poignant documentary presents the experiences of
about a dozen Cuban medical personnel serving in Guatemala, Haiti,
Honduras, Burkina Faso, Mali, Botswana, and Namibia. Whatever the
politics that viewers bring to this film, they are likely to be
touched by the sheer humanity of the Cuban practitioners in some of
the most remote regions of the world.
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. 2006 53 min
When Cuba lost access to Soviet oil in the early 1990s, the country
faced an immediate crisis – feeding the population – and an ongoing
challenge: how to create a new low-energy society. Cuba transitioned
from large, fossil-fuel intensive farming to small, less energy-
intensive organic farms and urban gardens, and from a highly
industrial society to a more sustainable one. As the world
approaches "peak oil," Cuba provides a valuable example of how to
successfully address the challenge of reducing our energy use.
Desafio (Challenge)
In the 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the
tightening of the US blockade, Cuba faced a crisis known on the
island as the Special Period. Desafio presents a good introduction to
the challenges of the period and shows how the Cuban people have
fought to maintain their revolution.
Gay Cuba 1995, 57 min.
Gay Cuba documents the promising changes taking hold in Cuba's
attitude towards gays since the 1960s. In contrast with the history
of random arrests of bar patrons and the quarantine of HIV positive
citizens, the interviews which form the core of this film show that
the changes in party policy and the opening of channels for the
discussion of sexual identity have allowed gay Cubans today to lead
much more open lives. The liberal views expressed in street
interviews and the contrast drawn with the repression practiced in
other parts of Latin America illustrate the on-going revolutionary
efforts to make very real and positive changes.
Butterflies on the Scaffold, 1996, 70 min
A historically poor and abandoned Afro-Cuban neighborhood of Havana
is transformed by beautiful and charismatic drag queens. Cuba's first
and only "dragumentary" takes us on stage for the show, backstage for
the preparation, and out to the community, where interviews with
community leaders show how their attitudes changed and their insight
grew.
Portrait of Teresa, 1979, 115 min
An excellent and uncompromising fictional movie on women's
liberation, the issues women face in terms of traditional ideas held
by both men and women, and the practical day-to-day difficulties
women confront in their struggle for self- determination.
Up to a Certain Point, 1983 72 min
A film from Tomas Gutierrez Alea that questions the hypocrisy of men
who profess support for women's rights but fail to challenge their
own old-fashioned attitudes. Self-proclaimed intellectuals who look
down on workers are also skewered.
Cuban Story, 1959 60min
A documentary film of the Cuban revolution in its very early years by
Errol Flynn. The documentary footage is excellent; a unique
documentary of Castro's uprising, hosted by Flynn, featuring
unrivaled footage of the conflict and Castro himself. Circumstances
outside their control shelved the film for nearly fifty years.
Waiting List, 2000, 106 min
Juan Carlos Tabio's magical comic hit is almost a Cuban-socialist-
humanist Waiting for Godot. A run-down bus station in rural Cuba is
the setting, a disparate group of passengers are the characters, and
it's the bus for which they wait and which never arrives. As they
come to the realization that they're stuck living in the station,
they use their time to fix it up, and to engage in amorous pursuits.
Set in the Special Period, Waiting List shows what the Cuban people
can accomplish left to themselves.
Cuba: The Accidental Revolution, 2006 92 min
This documentary celebrates the country's success in providing for
itself in the face of a massive economic crisis, and how its latest
revolutions, an agricultural revolution and a revolution in science
and medicine are having repercussions around the world. However, the
film is marred by cheap anti-Cuban propaganda: it is a police state,
Castro is a dictator.
Part One examines Cuba's response to the food crisis created by the
collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989. Without fertilizer and
pesticides, Cubans turned to organic methods. Without fuel to
transport food, Cubans started to grow food in the cities where it is
consumed. Urban gardens were established in vacant lots, school
playgrounds, patios and back yards. As a result Cuba created the
largest program in sustainable agriculture ever undertaken. By 1999
Cuba's agricultural production had recovered and in some cases
reached historic levels.
Part 2 points out that Cuba has been blockaded since 1961, but today
Cuba has the highest quality of life in the region, the highest life
expectancy, and one of the highest literacy rates in all of Latin
America. With the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, Cuba lost the foreign
exchange needed to pay for expensive drugs and medicines. As a
result, much of Cuba's medicine today is based on medicinal plants.
There are 25,000 Cuba doctors serving in 68 poor countries around the
world. The Latin American School of Medical Science has 10,000
students from developing countries primarily in Latin America and the
Caribbean. They are educated for free with the understanding they
will return to their home countries to practice.
Clandestinos, 1987,103 min.
This classic Cuban film centers on two Cuban youth and their struggle
in the urban underground movement against dictator Fulgencio Batista
in the late 1950s. Suspenseful and inspiring, it portrays the heroism
of the Cuban youth and their sacrifices that brought the Revolution
to fruition.
I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba) 1964 141 min
The film is divided into four distinct chapters which provide a
roadmap of Cuba's journey towards revolution. The country's
victimization at the hands of an economically and socially rapacious
America is bared to see. A young girl from the slums is used for sex
by a hypocritical tourist, while a hardworking farmer loses his sugar
cane crop to the monstrous United Fruit Company. Elsewhere, an
idealistic student is made a martyr by the police and a peaceful
mountain family lose a baby son to bombs from the sky. "I Am Cuba,"
Mikhail Kalatozov's 1964 masterpiece is a visually stunning piece of
filmmaking - slash - fascinating historical artifact. It is the first
and only Soviet-Cuban cinematic collaboration.
After the Battle 1991, 58 min
In 1975, the first Cuban soldiers went to Angola to help defend that
newly independent government from invasion by South African troops.
After nearly fourteen years of bitter conflict, the Angolan War
ended, Namibia was established as an independent state, and Cuban and
South African troops have returned home. Filmed on location in
Angola, South Africa and Cuba, this Estela Bravo documentary examines
the politics of the war from both sides and features remarkable
combat footage, archival material and interviews with Cuban and South
African soldiers as well as grieving families of those who died in
the war.
Comandante, 2003 93 min
Oliver Stone traveled to Havana to meet with Cuban leader, Fidel
Castro, and over three days, the two men engaged in a series of frank
conversations, which culminated Comandante. Stone films Castro
working at his office, touring a medical school and a museum, and
follows him through the streets where he mingles freely with Cuban
citizens. Stone and Castro discuss pivotal moment in world history
such as President Kennedy's assassination, the Bay of Pigs invasion
and the Cuban missile crisis. The Cuban leader had agreed to the
interview under the condition that he could stop filming at any
moment. The production team taped over 30 hours of interviews and
Castro never exercised his power to stop the cameras. The film was
not allowed to be shown on United States TV.
Looking for Fidel, 2004
In spring 2003, following a wave of hijackings, three hijackers were
arrested, tried and executed in Cuba. At almost the same time, about
75 "political dissidents" in the pay of the US were arrested,
convicted and imprisoned. Looking for Fidel includes fascinating
conversations between Stone and Castro about Cuban politics, human
rights, Castro's succession, democracy and Cuba's future. This
second film by Oliver Stone is much inferior to the first, but
(therefore?) it was shown on US TV.
Fidel, 1969 96 min
This Saul Landau documentary is a personal profile of Fidel Castro
and a view of the developments since the revolution 10 years before.
There are images of Fidel listening to complaints, arguing, laughing
and philosophizing. Fidel encounters with a wide range of Cuban
citizens, revealing both the popular support for, and bitter
complaints about, the social transformations then under way. The film
provides a capsule history of the revolution, features in-depth
interviews with Castro about his family history, political philosophy
and the problems of revolutionary social transformation, and both pro
and con comments on the new society from farmers, peasants, students,
and political prisoners.
Cuba: The Uncompromising Revolution, 1988, 54 min
The film portrays Cuba after three decades of revolution. It weaves
together archival footage, occasional flashbacks from earlier Landau
pictures, recent personal interviews with Castro and scores of on-the-
street and on-location interviews with women, professionals and
workers. The Cuban leader reflects on his life and Cuba--past,
present and future. In numerous other interviews, including
encounters with people on the streets, Cuban citizens voice their pro
and con feelings about the revolution and Cuban society. Saul Landau,
the director, also adds his own commentary on the state of the
revolution and his views of its problems.
Greening of Cuba, 1996, 38 min
Cuban farmers and scientists work to reinvent a sustainable
agriculture based on ecological principals and local knowledge,
rather than imported agricultural inputs. Cuba is now the country
most advanced in the development of organic farming. Told in the
voices of Cuba's campesinos (farmers), researchers, and organic
gardeners, The Greening of Cuba reminds us that First and Third World
nations alike can choose a healthier life and still feed their people
POLITICAL FILMS ON VENEZUELA:
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, 2003 74 min
Hugo Chavez is a colorful folk hero, beloved by his nation's working
class and a tough-as-nails, opponent to the power structure that
would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the
presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed
from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably,
he returned to power amid cheering aides. Their film records what was
probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état. It's a unique document
about political muscle and an extraordinary portrait of the man The
Wall Street Journal credits with making Venezuela "Washington's
biggest Latin American headache after the old standby, Cuba."
Llaguno Bridge: Keys to a Massacre, 2004, 105 min
This documentary features images, testimonies and facts relating to
the counter-revolutionary coup d'etat of The Revolution Will Not Be
Televised in April 2002. The film unmasks the conspiracies and plots
leading up to the so-called massacre at the Llaguno Bridge. Palacios
explores how the Venezuelan media twisted facts and news reality to
blame the massacre on President Chávez. This work also shows how the
people defended themselves against the Caracas Metropolitan Police
who helped execute the attempted coup d'etat.
Turmoil
2005
Is an award-winning documentary giving in depth analysis of the oil
production shut-downs that threatened the Chavez government. The
oligarchy took a win no matter the cost stance that destabilized the
economy and embraced the US administration. Turmoil includes much
history, including Chavez's own 1992 coup attempt, oil politics, and
Chavez' predecessor, Carlos Andres Perez.
Venezuela Bolivariana: People And Struggle Of Fourth World War,
2004, 76 min
Is as powerful or more as Venezuela Rising and the Revolution Will
Not Be Televised, and is more encompassing in its history. It
examines the evolution of the popular movement in Venezuela, the
Caracozo Riots of 1989, the Military Rebellion, the election of Hugo
Chavez, the failed 2002 U.S. coup, capitalist devastation, and 500
years of struggle. The main theme is how the Bolivarian Revolution,
thanks to its incredible grassroots and networking power, is a
revolution that transcends the national frontiers of Venezuela and
contributes concrete alternatives to the fight against neoliberal
capitalism.
The Old Man and Jesus: Prophets of Rebellion, 2005, 70 min
This documentary examines the lives of two men who live on the
streets of Caracas in the middle of the counter-revolutionary
offensive that tried to halt the revolutionary process taking place
in Venezuela and fueled with the arrival of Hugo Chavez to the
presidency. The wise poetry of the Old Man and the explosive verb of
Jesus give a direct account of the commitment to liberation that
grows from the Venezuelan people, far beyond the influence of leaders
or enlightened vanguards. This film is a documentary prophecy of the
rebellion that minute-to-minute is silently planned below the bridges
and sewages of a world that sooner or later will rise in thirst for
justice.
Chavez: Venezuela, and the new Latin America, 2004, 55min
In Feb. '04 Alea Guevara (daughter of you know who) conducted an
extended interview with Hugo Chavez, exploring Venezuela's
revolutionary terrain post April 2002, when Chavez survived a coup
instigated by the U.S. Featuring interviews with Hugo Chavez, and
Jorge Garcia Carneiro, newly appointed head of the Venezuelan Armed
Forces, along with others involved in the country's many social
programs. This film offers an opportunity to glimpse through the
information blockade imposed by the U.S. and into a country rich with
hope, dreams, and oil.
Venezuela Rising, 2005
The documentary film about political participation in Venzuela that
focuses on a popular barrio's mobilization for the presidential
referendum. Seen through the eyes of grandmother and community
organizer Gladys Bolivar, the documentary follows her and her
compatriots five days before it is to be decided by popular
referendum whether Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will continue in
office or step down. The entire nation has been mobilized – will it
be SI – yes he will be recalled, or NO – he will remain in office.
Most in Venezuela feel that no less than the entire future of their
country is at stake.
Venezuela From Below 2004, 67 min
This focuses on the rank and file and their enormous strength and the
capacity for self organization, of taking matters into their own
hands, in the process of transformation that is taking place in
Venezuela. Workers from the oil company PDVSA report how they
protected the refinery during the oil sabotage, and how they were
able to reinstate production. Farmers from a cooperative in Aragua
report on their process of self-organization, the literacy campaign,
and how things should continue. A woman's bank project and several
loan recipients present their projects. Indigenous community members
near the Orinoco River speak about how their demands and struggles
are reflected in the constitution, and what has changed for them.
Workers from the occupied National Valve Company, and from the paper
production company Venepal,speak about corrupt unions, workers
control, and their struggles. Here, the people themselves are talking
about how they see the Bolivarian process, how their lives have
changed since the beginning of the process. People have organized
themselves in tens of thousands of revolutionary organizations of
different kinds, and have taken their future into their own hands.
Ref:
www.consumeractiongroup.org
www.gnu.org
www.scottishsocialistparty.org
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