madam president this resolution purporting to be about human rights in venezuela exposes a massive hypocrisy among the right-wing parties in this parliament
the real agenda here is not to defend human rights but in fact to advance the overthrow of the government of hugo chávez in venezuela and to give succour to the right-wing pro-big-business opposition in venezuela which still controls large swathes of the privately-owned media and industry and landed estates and includes those who attempted an open coup less than ten years ago
the chávez government has carried out certain progressive measures which have improved the lives of the most impoverished sections of society but that has meant that chávez opposed the neoliberal economic policies which the european union and the united states have been forcing on many countries in latin america policies such as deregulation liberalisation and privatisation of their economies that primarily benefit the major transnational corporations based in the eu and the united states
that is why we have this campaign of vilification
i demand that this judge afiuni and all prisoners in venezuela are treated with dignity and are afforded a scrupulously fair trial
i and socialist colleagues of mine in venezuela socialismo revolucionario for example do have major problems with some aspects of the chávez policies increasing tendencies towards bureaucratisation and a stalinist-type tendency to try to abuse and discredit opposition that comes from the left in venezuela and in the labour movement
we want to see the major resources in venezuela in public ownership but under a genuine regime of democratic workers control and management that will lay the basis of enough wealth and services to transform the lives of the big majority of the people of venezuela ending horrific problems such as poverty and crime but also providing full democratic social and human rights for all
