July 2003 Archive 

Defending Chavez’s "Bolivarian Revolution" In Venezuela, the political climate has become increasingly radical and polarised. Chávez`s supporters and opponents no longer seem to speak the same language. As a result, any attempt to analyse what is going on comes up against the problem that the normal sources of information are notoriously biased. Nevertheless, beyond the rhetoric and the confusion, the basic options open to the society are becoming clearer. On the one hand, the hard core of the opposition to Chávez is more evidently committed to neoliberalism; and, on the other, a government characterised by the multiple contradictions typical of populist regimes begins to take important measures, which point in the direction of an alternative.

War n. globalisation by other means First the US military bombed Iraq’s hospitals, bridges and waterworks. Now US corporations are harvesting profits from "reconstructing" those installations. Blood was not just shed for oil, but also for control over all Iraq’s vital services.

Workers strike over company pensions scheme A new era in British industrial relations began on Friday 18 July 2003 as workers at the French-owned company Rhodia walked out in protest at the closure of the company’s final salary pension scheme to new members.

Iraqi WMD: the Minsk connection As the row over the use of intelligence to justify war against Iraq rumbles on, Red Pepper can reveal that it too was approached with dubious information before the publication of the first ’dodgy dossier’ in September 2002.

Police breached human rights of peace protesters Anti-war demonstrators who protested at RAF Fairford during the Iraq conflict suffered fundamental breaches in their human rights according to a new report by Liberty.

Left at the altar Responding to Hilary’s article last month (When Labour is the alternative to New Labour), socialists lay out their proposals for a blessed union of the Independent and Labour left.

Blair’s Community Con Does Tony Blair ever wake up in a cold sweat, fearing that he might be found out? This month made me wonder about this more than usual. At the same time as the PM is effectively on political trial for not telling the truth to the cabinet, to parliament or to the people over WDM, the Labour Party announces that its bid for a third term will be based on community involvement and devolution. Something wrong here, Ed, as Private Eye’s Lord Gnome might say.

MEP vote puts new GM foods on the shelf Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voted through legislation to pave the way for the sale of new GM food products in the EU for the first time since a moratorium was imposed five years ago.

New alliance calls on government to withdraw bill on foundation hospital (...) A new alliance of groups against the introduction of foundation trusts in the NHS has called on the government to withdraw proposals until more consultation has taken place.

The Bitter Taste of Evian - A Diary of the G-8 Summit The G-8 Summit took place on 1-3 June 2003 in Evian, France, overlooking Lake Geneva. Too small for the large delegations and translation teams, Chirac persuaded Switzerland to lend him its hotels, highways and police forces on the other side of the lake. With Evian a no-go militarised zone even to a comedy terrorist, attention focused on three key locations outside: nearby Annemasse in France, and the coastal towns of Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland. Tens of thousands of protesters travelled from across Europe and the world to denounce the "Gang of 8", declare the meeting illegitimate and shut it down. Stuart Hodkinson was one of them. The following extracts are taken from his G-8 diary.

1 | 2