300 gather in Brighton to see The Revolution Will Not be Televised

A packed audience of 300 at the Duke of York's Cinema in Brighton watched 'The Revolution Will Not be Televised' on June 14th and afterwards 70 people crammed into a meeting room above a pub to hear Jorge Martin speak on the situation in Venezuela now and the hopes and challenges for the future. 

The film still has the power to keep audiences on the edge of their seats even after several viewings, and especially for those in the audience who had never seen it before it was a stirring experience.

The discussion afterwards was lively - Jorge gave a very detailed and thorough account of the developments Chavez is spearheading to consolidate the Revolution and the tangible changes in education, health and employment for the people previously marginalised by right wing governments. He also spoke about the international dimension of the Revolution, the cooperation on trade and health and social programmes with Cuba, and the spread in Latin America of resistance to the United States' and its neoliberal policies.

There was some dissent from anti-Chavez Venezuelans in the audience who raised the issue of Chavez's autocratic tendencies - a smear generated and circulated by elements of the press in this country - but the audience, many of them new to the issues raised, were overwhelmingly supportive of the Venezuelan Revolution, and fascinated by the tactics Chavez has taken and will have to take to overcome the threat of US intervention.

The organisers were very pleasantly surprised by the huge response to the event - about 40 people signed up to receive regular news bulletins on Venezuela - and we hope to build on this success to develop our campaign in Brighton.