VENEZUELA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
MPs and Civil Society call on William Hague to Respect Venezuela’s Democracy
 
Over 200 prominent people from across society have called on the British government to respect the results of the Venezuelan Presidential election this Sunday.
 
The call has been made against growing fears that Venezuela's right-wing opposition will not accept the election results if they lose and are lobbying governments around the world to not recognise the results. In contrast Hugo Chavez has said he will abide by the results
 
Some 60 British parliamentarians from six parties and a range of figures from across civil society backed the statement. Prominent academics supporters included Professor Ernesto Laclau and Professor Doreen Massey; 16 trade union General Secretaries including TUC General Secretary (Designate) Frances O’Grady; human rights campaigners included lawyers Anthony Gifford QC and Imran Khan, plus many others including veteran peace campaigner Tony Benn and Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London.  From the world of culture, poet Benjamin Zephaniah, and musicians Drew McConnell (of the band Babyshambles) and Jon McClure (Reverend and the Makers) have supported the call.
 
Venezuela Solidarity Campaign Secretary Francisco Dominguez said
 
“The tremendous support this statement has received from British society shows the strength of concern there is that some extremist elements of Venezuela’s right-wing opposition may not respect the will of the Venezuelan people following Sunday’s election if, as the polls suggest, Hugo Chavez is re-elected.
 
He added: "As Jimmy Carter has said, Venezuelan elections are the best in the world. William Hague’s must listen to these voices.  We know that the Venezuelan right has been lobbying the British government to reject the outcome. The British government should not go along with any such attempts to undermine Venezuela’s democracy. Instead, it must respect the official results issued by the independent National Electoral Commission. To do anything else would be a betrayal of the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their own future.”
 
Notes to Editors:
  1. The full statement and a selection of signatories can be found below.
  2. For comment and information contact info@venezuelasolidarity.co.uk

STATEMENT: RESPECT THE WILL OF THE VENEZUELAN PEOPLE

“On 7th October 2012 Venezuelans will be voting in their Presidential election. In recent years, Venezuela’s democracy has been deepened with the country having more elections than nearly anywhere else in the world, all certified free & fair by respected international bodies. Record numbers are registered to vote – up from 11 million in 1998 to 19 million today - due to the removal of obstacles that stopped many poorer people voting. 
 
Alongside this expansion of democracy, there has been a flowering of social programmes that have delivered free healthcare for millions, eradicated illiteracy & lifted millions out of poverty.
 
This year also marks 10 years since the temporarily successful US-backed coup against the Chavez-led government. Since then we have seen attempts – some successful, others not – to undermine elected governments in Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras & Paraguay, showing how real threats to social progress & democracy in the region remain. Political parties, & other movements, engaged in these destabilisation campaigns have received millions of dollars from US bodies such as the National Endowment for Democracy, International Republican Institute & USAID.
 
Worryingly, in Venezuela, US government interventions have continued - mainly through tens of millions of dollars of funding to right-wing opposition movements including for the coming elections.
 
There are concerns that some opposition movements may not recognise the outcome at the forthcoming election, which polls indicate Chavez is set to win, in an orchestrated attempt to discredit the outcome & to isolate Venezuela internationally.  We the undersigned believe it is for the Venezuelan people alone to choose their next government, free from any external intervention, & governments around the world should respect the results & engage constructively with the country.”
 
Yours,
 
Colin Burgon, Venezuela Solidarity Campaign & Labour Friends of Venezuela
Tony Benn                         
Ken Livingstone               
Dave Anderson MP
Richard Burden MP        
Ronnie Campbell MP    
Martin Caton MP            
Katy Clark MP   
Vernon Coaker MP        
Michael Connarty MP  
Jeremy Corbyn MP        
David Crausby MP          
John Cryer MP 
Nic Dakin MP    
Ian Davidson MP             
Jim Dobbin MP 
Frank Doran MP              
Paul Flynn MP  
Roger Godsiff MP           
David Hamilton MP        
David Heyes MP              
Kelvin Hopkins MP         
Rt Hon George Howarth MP        
Huw Irranca-Davies MP
Cathy Jamieson MP       
Graham Jones MP         
Rt Hon Sir Gerald Kaufman MP 
Ian Lavery MP  
Tony Lloyd MP
Andy Love MP
John McDonnell MP      
Ian Mearns MP
Graeme Morrice MP      
George Mudie MP          
Teresa Pearce MP          
Yasmin Qureshi MP        
Linda Riordan MP            
Virendra Sharma MP
Jim Sheridan MP             
Dennis Skinner MP         
Andy Slaughter MP        
Chris Williamson MP      
Mike Wood MP (all Labour Party MPs)
George Galloway MP (Respect)
John Leech MP (Liberal Democrat)
Elfyn Llwyd MP (Plaid Cymru)
Caroline Lucas MP (Green Party)
Angus MacNeil MP (SNP)
Lord Nazir Ahmed           
Baroness Ann Gibson, Vice-Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Latin America
Lord (Leslie) Griffiths of Burry Port, Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Haiti
Lord Nic Rea      
Baroness Angela Smith
Jennie Formby, Labour Party NEC (pc)   
Jim Kennedy, Labour Party NEC (pc)
Martin Mayer, Labour Party NEC (pc)
Christine Shawcroft, Labour Party NEC (pc)         
Salma Yaqoob
Elaine Smith MSP
 
John Hendy QC                
Professor Billy Bowring, Director of the LLM/MA in Human Rights, School of Law, Birkbeck
Louise Christian, Senior Consultant, Christian Khan
Liz Davies
Professor Keith Ewing
Anthony Gifford, QC
Richard Harvey, Barrister, Garden Court International
Imran Khan, Imran Khan & Partners
Steve Cottingham, Partner, OH Parsons Solicitors
Thompsons Solicitors
 
Frances O'Grady, General Secretary (Designate,) TUC
Len McCluskey, General Secretary, Unite the Union
Dave Prentis, General Secretary, UNISON
Mark Serwotka, General Secretary, PCS
Billy Hayes, General Secretary, CWU
Steve Murphy, General Secretary, UCATT
Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, GFTU
Gerry Morrissey, General Secretary, BECTU
Matt Wrack, General Secretary, FBU
Jonathan Ledger, General Secretary, NAPO
Ronnie Draper, General Secretary, BFAWU
Steve Gillan, General Secretary, POA
Manuel  Cortes, General Secretary, TSSA
Mick Whelan, General Secretary, ASLEF
John Smith, General Secretary, Musicians Union
Chris Kitchen, General Secretary, NUM
 
Bert Schouwenburg,  International Officer, GMB
Mark Steel, comedian & writer
Simon Renton, Vice-President, UCU
Joe Mann, President GFTU (note: from Community the Union)
John Fray, Vice-President GFTU (note: from the National Union of Journalists)
Megan  Dobney, Regional Secretary, SERTUC
Agnes Tolmie, President, Scottish Trades Union Congress
 
Jon McClure, musician (Reverend & the Makers)
Mark Steel, comedia & writer
Victoria Brittain, writer
Benjamin Zephaniah, poet
Ken Loach, filmmaker
Linton Kwesi Johnson, poet
Richard Gott, writer
Professor Ernesto Laclau             
Andy De La Tour                              
Jon Mcclure, musician (Reverend & the Makers)              
Drew McConnell , musician
Marcel Cartier, rapper  
Michael Rosen, poet     
Ava Vidal, Stand Up Comedian  
 
Lee Jasper & Zita Holbourne, Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts
Malia Bouattia, NEC, NUS
Matt Stanley NEC, NUS
Malia Bouattia, NEC, NUS
Shadia Edwards-Dashti  , National Student Rep, Stop the War Coalition
Pav Akhtar, Director, UK Plack Pride
Mike Marqusee, writer
David Cromwell & David Edwards, Co-editors, Media Lens
Jody McIntyre, journalist             
Joabe Cavalcanti, Vicar, Church of England
Ann Pettifor, Director, Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME)
Richard Bagley, Editor, Morning star
Andrew  Murray, Unite & Stop the War Coalition
Lindsey German, Convenor, Stop the War Coalition
Jose Vallejo Villa, Justice for Cleaners
 
Matthew Brown, Bristol University
Professor Ray Bush, Professor in African Studies & Development Politics, University of Leeds
Dr Julia Buxton, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford
Michael  Derham, UNN
Dr Mark Dineen, University of Southampton
Dr  Francisco Dominguez, Head, Department for Brazilian & Latin American Studies, Middlesex University
John Gledhill, University of Manchester
Peter Hallward, Professor of Modern European Philosophy, Kingston University
Dr Peter Lambert, Specialist on Paraguay, Bath University
Dr Steve Ludlam, Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield
Hazel Marsh, Lecturer, University of East Anglia
Professor Doreen Massey, Emeritus Professor, Open University Faculty of Social Sciences
Dr Diana Raby, Senior Fellow, Latin American Studies, University of Liverpool
Professor Jonathan Rosenhead, LSE
Lee Salter, University of West England
 
To add your name or for a fuller list, please contact info@venezuelasolidarity.co.uk