The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 69/No. 9           March 7, 2005  
 
 
Penn. youth build Venezuela festival
 
BY RON SMITH  
PITTSBURGH— A group of youth in western Pennsylvania have formed a local organizing committee (LOC) to build a delegation from the area to the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students, which will take place August 7-15 in Caracas, Venezuela. The Western Pennsylvania LOC held its first fund-raiser February 10. The event was a film showing and discussion on The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a documentary depicting the April 2002 imperialist-backed coup against the government of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, and the mass mobilizations of workers and peasants that defeated it. The event was held at a local night spot, The Shadow Lounge, in East Liberty. “We wanted to help people understand the situation in Venezuela, the real politics,” said Chris Sang, a member of the committee and a student at the University of Pittsburgh. “It was also very important to show the power of the people, and also show that without the people, Chávez wouldn’t be in power. They rallied to his side, and actually were fighting for themselves. Venezuelans don’t want to be controlled by the 10 percent of the people. That is not democracy.”

The film showing drew 15 people. Discussion after the film revolved around the possibilities of revolutionary action in the United States, the role of 20,000 Cuban volunteers participating in health-care and education programs in Venezuela, the role and control of media in society, and the planning of activities for the local committee. Members of the committee are building the youth festival at several local campuses and in working-class communities. They are making presentations to a number of student groups, setting up information tables at campuses, and posting flyers weekly. The committee holds a weekly Sunday meeting at a coffee shop near campus open to all interested in supporting the work of the youth festival. The most recent gathering, held February 20, drew 12 people, two of whom were attending their first meeting. “We are striving to make the delegation as inclusive as possible,” Sang stressed. On February 15 the LOC sent a delegation to Penn State University. After meeting with these members of the group, students on campus interested in the festival decided to form a new committee themselves.

“We seek to reach people who may never have been outside of Pittsburgh, to get them go to Venezuela,” said Sang. “And it is important for others to see that they are not alone, for them to see what others around the world are going through, and that we are on the same path. This is reaching across borders, cultures, and languages.”

For more information and to get involved, contact the committee at worldyouthfest_wpa@yahoo.com
 
 
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Build the world youth festival in Venezuela  
 
 
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