On 15th May at the annual general meeting of the Lewisham and Greenwich local committee of the Venezuelan Information Centre (VIC) held in the Trade Union Studies Centre in Lewisham, at Lewisham College in London, Nathalie Vivas, a Second Secretary from the Embassy of Venezuela in the UK, gave a talk about the value of women and how they have contributed to the Bolivarian Revolution.

During her speech, the diplomat talked of the leading role women play in the socialist Venezuelan Revolution. From their leadership in the political field to their participation in the popular powers, as well as their importance in the consolidation and progression of the social missions, which are mostly headed by women.

Present at the meeting were women leaders from UNITE trade union, and local representatives of the Lewisham and Greenwich VIC who support the Bolivarian Revolution, and closely follow the triumphs in social development that have been reached by the Hugo Chávez government.

At the conference the governments’ political direction was explained as having at its root the inclusion of the Venezuelan women in the development of the country, by giving them leadership roles provided  underin the Bolivarian Constitution. It was explained how these plans have been backed up by actions, for example the legitimization of sensitive public budgets for the female gender, the creation of a Women’s Bank and a Ministry of Women, also the participation of women in the National Assembly, the National Electoral Board and the Supreme Court of Justice, institutions of public power that are headed by women.

As part of her presentation, Vivas showed the achievements of the Social programme called ‘Shanty Towns Mother. The event also served as a platform to exchange concerns about poverty in Latin America and the advances Venezuela has made in this field to tackle the problem.

During the Q/A session, those present inquired into the process of regional integration that is being led by President Chávez and showed support for this project. Similarly they recognized the use of the Missions (social programmes) as an innovative tool in the process of socialist integration.

Finally, Richard Abendorff, representative of the VIC, declared that “the socialist cause in Venezuela is well organised and its achievements are an example that Venezuela is reaching out to the whole of Latin America”.

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