On Wednesday May 10th a successful Hands off Venezuela was held in San Francisco at the Committees of Correspondence hall. This event was organized by the San Francisco Hands off Venezuela Coalition.  The International Secretary of the Hands Off Venezuela Campaign, Jorge Martin, spoke on the challenges of the Venezuelan revolution and its implications on Cuba, Bolivia and the explosion of the immigration movement in the United States.

Jorge Martin spoke on the movements of the workers in FRETECO (Revolutionary Front of Occupied Factories), including the on going events in the Inveval, Invepal and Alcasa.  He also spoke on free higher education and the development of the Bolivarian University which plans to have up to 200,000 in enrollment.   

He spoke as well of the nationalization of the Bolivian gas and petroleum industry and how the Venezuelan Revolution has affected the situation in Cuba. He also spoke on the huge immigration movement developing in the United States and how this is a reflection of the situation in Latin America and how if the U.S. were to intervene militarily in Latin America a large anti-intervention movement spearheaded by Latin American immigrants would develop.

After Jorge Martin’s speech the floor was opened to the audience for questions and answers.  When the question of the role of community media was presented, two compañeros, Ricardo Marquez and Gabriel Gil, from the Venezuelan community station Catia TV who were present at the meeting explained the positive advances in community media and the forming of communal councils.  Overall the meeting was an important step to build the solidarity in San Francisco.

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