Caracas Youth Festival Starts

A full week of activities has been prepared, with discussions, seminars and plenaries taking place in several venues across Caracas, plus day-trips to other cities in Venezuela as well as rural communities. The new Bolivarian University, which is situated in the ex–headquarters of the state oil company, PdVSA, will serve as a convergence centre for the festival, as well as being one of the main venues with events focusing on Education, Technology and Communications.

The festival offices and press centre (indymedia journos welcome!) are situated in the Parque Central complex, where a number of plenaries are also being held, on the topics of Economy, Employment and Development. Nearby is the Teatro Teresa Carreno, a cultural centre of Caracas, where seminars on Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights will take place. Peace, War, Imperialism and Terror will be debated at Fuerte Tiuna, the main military barracks in Caracas, where delegates from Cuba and Vietnam will also be staying. The opening and closing ceremonies of the festival (on the 8th and 15th) are happening there as well, in the Paseo los Proceres, and a "Tribunal against Imperialism" is taking place on Saturday (13th) and Sunday (14th) in the Poliedro stadium nearby. There are also many social events being organised, including the Hip-Hop Summit on Wednesday (10th) and a Peace Concert on Sunday (14th). A special event is happening at the alternative youth camp in the barrio La Vega all day Saturday (13th).

Whilst in Venezuela, delegates will have the chance to visit communities in Caracas and around the country to see for themselves the transformation taking place here. They will also be able to experience the social programmes (or missions) such as Barrio Adentro (the foundation of a Venezuelan NHS), Mision Robinson 1 & 2 (which have now practically eradicated illiteracy) and Vuelvan Caras, the employment mission responsible for linking up all the co-operatives in the country and which is at the heart of Venezuela's new "Socialism for the 21st Century".

The festival ends on Monday 15th August, with the whole day dedicated to “Solidarity with the People of Venezuela and their Bolivarian Revolution”. This day is the first anniversary of the spectacular victory by the people in defeating the recall referendum against President Chavez, who was elected by a landslide in 1998. This new democratic right of Venezuelans to unelect any of their representatives was enshrined in their 1999 constitution, which also states that the government must be "participatory, decentralised, alternative, responsible and pluralist." At least a government which spends over $8-million of petro-dollars on a youth festival, subsidising flights for activists from all over the global South, could indeed be described as "alternative". For the international delegates over here it's now time to discover what this so-called Bolivarian Revolution is really all about.