Featured image: The Guardian
The socio-political environment in Venezuela has been becoming increasingly dangerous for trade unionists, activists and community leaders. Human Rights Watch has said: “Venezuelan authorities are committing widespread human rights violations against protesters, bystanders, opposition leaders, and critics following presidential election.” They continue: “International observers have raised serious concerns about the 29 July announcement by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) that Nicolás Maduro had been re-elected president. Following the announcement, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets, in largely peaceful protests, to demand a fair counting of the votes. Human Rights Watch has documented that Venezuelan authorities and pro-government armed groups known as “colectivos” have committed widespread abuses, including killings, arbitrary detention and prosecution, and harassment of critics.”
In this context, a worker education organisation in Venezuela has recently been forced to stop in person/face-to-face study circles for fear of dangerous retaliation by the government. We spoke on condition of anonymity to the worker educator:
Can you tell us what you are currently doing?
I am currently coordinator of the observation of labour conflict and facilitator in the area of training for union leaders, of the institute in which I trained in our country.
What study circles are you coordinating?
C-190 study circles, in which we work to design and implement activities for impact on the process of the tripartite social dialogue forum, with mediation from the ILO in follow-up to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry for the development of technical criteria for the ratification of C-190 in Venezuela.
How many people are participating?
5 facilitating leaders and 40 direct participants in the study circles, for a total of 45 union leaders, distributed in different areas of the country: Capital District, Miranda State and La Guaira State.
Were these study circles online or in-person, or a combination of both?
A combination of in-person meetings and virtual meetings.
We believe it has become too dangerous to hold in-person study circles due to the current political climate in Venezuela. Is it impossible to guarantee the safety of the participants?
Yes, it is impossible at the moment to hold face-to-face meetings, due to the strong attack by the Venezuelan government. We believe that concentrating this group of union leaders could cause some violent response from the state.
Is this since the electoral results of Nicolás Maduro as president?
Before the presidential election on 28 July 2024, there was already intimidation of the union movement, with arrests and judicialisation of workers and their legitimate representatives; this situation worsened after the aforementioned election.
Human Rights Watch said “authorities are committing widespread human rights violations against protesters, bystanders, opposition leaders, and critics.” Is this correct?
Yes. With the mass detention of teenagers, the government crossed a line it has not crossed before. Human rights defenders denounced violations of due process, the confinement of minors with adults, as well as the denial of access to private defense and contact with their families. There are still 28 minors in prison of the 86 detained.
On 6 September 2023, a formal complaint was filed against the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela before the ILO, for the arbitrary detention, imprisonment and criminal prosecution of Professor Robert Franco, Secretary General of the Union of Teaching Professionals – College of Professors of Venezuela SINPRODO-CPV, Carúpano Section, Sucre State. Franco was unjustly sentenced in the first instance to 30 years in prison.
We also heard that Venezuelan authorities and pro-government armed groups known as “colectivos” have committed widespread abuses?
Yes. Currently, a new form of harassment is underway, called “OPERATION TUN TUN”, which is nothing more than the State security forces, accompanied by armed groups, going to the homes of people they consider to be against the government (witnesses at polling stations mark their homes with an x). They are detained and in many cases the whereabouts of these arbitrarily detained citizens are unknown.
With this type of repression, why are workers’ study groups threatened? What are you afraid of happening?
On 28 July 2024, within the framework of the presidential election, I was a victim of these so-called groups, when I was attacked for being in an electoral center waiting for the election results. They clearly knew of my connection with the union leadership. Later I received several verbal threats -“we know that you are a union member”. Several members of the study circles were also verbally threatened; this leads us to take precautions and avoid face-to-face meetings to prevent the threats of which we have been victims from being carried out.
What does this mean for the future of workers’ education and study groups in Venezuela?
The future that awaits the union movement is uncertain, since the orders of repression against citizens in general are changing, today they are unionists, tomorrow they are merchants, later they are just inhabitants of the country. Some of us remain in the fight for a free Venezuela. We maintain the intention of continuing with the training of union leaders and for this we are reinventing ourselves to maintain the fight for freedom and democracy.
And how does this affect workers and unions?
It means weak unions, without the ability to convene for fear of repression, and workers abandoned by their legitimate representatives.
How does it affect you personally?
It is not easy to go to work every day with the threat of arbitrary detention, and the anxiety of not knowing if I will return home safe and sound. This has affected me psychologically.
Is there any support?
Human rights organisations have provided data on the people who disappeared in the protests. This information has helped us locate some of our relatives and fellow fighters. But the Venezuelan Parliament approved a law to supervise NGOs, in the midst of the reports of arbitrary arrests of opponents after the elections in which President Nicolás Maduro was proclaimed the winner, despite alerts of fraud.
After the elections, NGOs and international human rights organisations have warned of a wave of repression with more than a thousand detainees, at least 23 deaths, the cancellation of passports of journalists and activists, judicial investigations against opponents and the temporary blocking of social networks like X.
Where to from here?
After four years of union struggle to comply with the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, it was agreed to hold the Social Dialogue Forum with the mediation of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The forum approved an action plan, with a calendar of activities, closely related to the terms of reference, also agreed by the Director-General of the ILO and the Minister of Labor. This plan is updated according to the results of each session and serves as the agenda for the next one.
The forum’s action plan includes the treatment and discussion of documented allegations of alleged stigmatisation and discredit made by organisations, as well as arrests and judicial proceedings or precautionary measures related to deprivation of liberty, and allegedly related to the exercise of activities, legitimate unions or unions.
Until the first half of 2024, four sessions have been held and the Board of Directors has been regularly evaluating Venezuela’s behaviour to comply with these recommendations, with an agenda of meetings, scheduled and agreed upon with the Government. However, to date there is little progress in the requests made by workers in relation to agreements 26, 87 and 144 vital for union exercise and labour rights.
The arrest of our colleague Professor Robert Franco was the original cause of complaint No. 3451, to which the arrest of fellow Sidoristas and journalist Carlos Julio Rojas was added.
The persecution, threats and subjection to criminal proceedings of union leaders and workers for exercising peaceful protest in defense of labour rights continues. We have more than 50 union leaders subjected to endless criminal proceedings.
The situation of Reynaldo Cortes, Gabriel Blanco and Emilio Negrín, sentenced to 16 years in prison and released in December 2023, has not implied their full freedom and annulment of the conviction, but rather they are subject to precautionary measures of presentation and a severe restriction of their civic rights, such as freedom of expression or participation in union activities.
Forced retirements in education and health and massive dismissals in the National Assembly are the complaints documented in complaint No. 3473. Instead of ceasing these anti-union practices, they have continued. Not only do we have massive layoffs in the National Assembly but also layoffs in the MASISA company and of affiliates in Channelings to FENODE.
The withholding of union dues from our public sector members continues. Complaint No. 3441 reports this practice of not delivering to union organisations union dues withheld from public sector members, the purpose of which is to weaken the union organisation by confiscating its main income. Added to this complaint is the refusal to discuss groups in almost the entire public sector. The paralysis of collective bargaining that was justified during the pandemic now has no legal basis.
The reform of all legislation that hinders freedom of association has not even begun. Not only is it one of the central recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry report, but it is also one of the agreements of the IV Social Dialogue Forum.
We regret that instead of moving forward in dismantling the legislation that makes life difficult for unions, the National Registry of Trade Union Organisations continues to demand a series of documents that violate the privacy and confidentiality of the life of union organisations and their members, and also delays the delivery of registration orders for union organisations, statutory reforms and any order that implies recognizing that the union has its registration up to date.
Likewise, the National Electoral Council has not modified any of the regulations that require elections to be held under its supervision and additionally, several years ago it stopped publishing the results of elections held under its direction.