Political Developments

Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Rafael Correa of Ecuador warned of possible "contagion" in their countries by the autonomy movement in the eastern Bolivian province of Santa Cruz.

A group of approximately 500 armed combatants representing the most vociferously revolutionary sectors of the Venezuelan Revolution engaged in a display of force in the historically-revolutionary parroquia of 23 de Enero in western Caracas, making painfully evident the deep and volatile divisions that threaten the tenuous unity of the governing coalition.

“The PSUV is born, destined to make history”, Chavez said of the party whose creation he called for in December 2006 to unite the various groups and mass base among the poor that support the revolution. “Its fundamental role is to be … the biggest guarantee of [the revolution’s] permanence.”

In the aftermath of the December referendum defeat, internal tensions within the Chavista coalition have begun to deepen as various sectors duke it out to control the future direction of the Venezuelan Revolution.

After Ecuador and Venezuela called on the Colombia to respect the need for peace and negotiation withFARC-EP, the Colombian military carried out an extensive armed air and land assault against the guerrillas in the sovereign territory of Ecuador.Such actions are a clear display of the US-backed-Colombian state's open negation of international law and social justice.

Colombia´s attack on the FARC and violation of Ecuadorian sovereignty on Saturday March 1 is the continuation and escalation of an on-going war that has persisted in Colombia for 40 years due to US military funding and training of Armed Forces in Colombia.

ExxonMobil isn't suing PDVSA because it needs the money. The world's largest publicly traded corporation recorded profits of $40.6-billion (U.S.) in 2007, up three per cent from 2006's record of $39.6-billion. The truth is, ExxonMobil's ultimatum has more to do with politics than economics.

In recent weeks, external and internal pressure against Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution, has intensified dramatically.

In the face of the empire's counterrevolutionary campaign United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) manifests its support for the Bolivarian government and Commandante Chavez.

Those of us who are activists in the Bolivarian revolution were getting used to winning; and as we were always faced with the task of beating the adversary, we postponed the struggle within the movement, as if Chávismo were one and indivisible, headed by an infallible leader.