The Bolivarian Revolution: 
ENTER THE OIL WORKERS!

July 2004, 34 minutes, Spanish or with English subtitles, VHS PAL or NTSC
Produced by the Bolivarian Circle of the Global Women’s Strike

Venezuela is the world’s 5th largest oil exporter, yet 80% of its population lives in poverty. In 1998 President Hugo Chávez was elected to use the oil revenue to tackle poverty. In April 2002 a coup against him was defeated by the millions who took to the streets. A few months later the élite and the CIA paralyzed Venezuela’s oil company PDVSA to bring Chávez down. Oil workers took over and worked round the clock to recover production.

 

In this documentary José Bodas, Luís Felix Marín, Jesús Montilla and Tania Suárez tell how they saved PDVSA and how they are organizing to “put the oil industry at the service of humanity”. 

 

“At the beginning we couldn’t stop the sabotage, we were just oil workers. Now we have come together with the armed forces and the communities.” 

“The wives of our workmates were hand-in-hand with their husbands. They brought them food, gave all their backing, so that those workers could save the industry.”

“The Guide Committee was born a year ago – a tool for the workers to participate in building the management that is yet to be built.”
“This revolution is being fought, won or lost in PDVSA. We believe in working class management for PDVSA. It is the only way, there is no other.”

“We say no more blood for oil. We must use this energy not to destroy the planet, but so that all of us can live.”
“We know the difference between the people of the US and those who govern them. The US people are also victims of the multinationals, and they have a history of struggle.”
“It’s as if the industrial working class had been asleep … The women came out first and the military. Then the workers came, those who were not unionized – the grassroots – and placed themselves on the front line ... From that moment industrial workers in Venezuela became something entirely different.” Nora Castañeda, President, Women’s Development Bank

To get a VHS copy of “The Bolivarian Revolution: Enter the oil workers”  
send £5/$10 to Crossroads Books, Crossroads Women’s Centre,  230A Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2AB, UK  booksvideos@crossroadswomen.net  
Available on VHS (PAL & NTSC) and DVD.

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