First ever HOV meeting in Egypt!

"When we talk about the possibility of a revolution in Egypt we always refer to what is happening in Venezuela" explained an enthusiastic student. The first ever Hands Off Venezuela stall at the Cairo Conference against imperialism and Zionism raised considerable interest, mostly among the participants from the Middle East and of course from Egypt.

The link between the unfolding anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist and social revolution in Venezuela and the turmoil in the Middle East came up very naturally amongst the participants. That the conference was being held against the background of the greatest workers' mobilisation since 1945 helped in raising this interest.

The Bolivarian revolution was often compared with the post-war history of Egypt, the period when president Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal, introduced many social reforms and was on a collision course with imperialism. The political heirs of Nasser today were prompt to present Hugo Chavez as a new Nasser. Hugo Chavez's attacks on US imperialism and his condemnation of Israeli aggression against Lebanon a couple of years ago made him a hero of the Arab masses.

Quite often people would come up to our stall saying that, "Hugo Chavez is the best leader of the... Arab world we have today!" Nasser's eventual wavering and stepping back from breaking with capitalism, dismantling the bourgeois state and his not relying on the democratic initiative and control of the masses, led him into an impasse. It proved fatal to him and to the process he had set in. Although there are many differences between Nasser's Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s and Venezuela under Chavez today, the historical experience of Egypt is also as a warning for the revolution in Venezuela.

During the conference a team of Belgian and UK/USA activists discussed almost without interruption with the hundreds of interested people. Thanks to the initiative of Moroccan HOV supporters we were able to present the audience with Arabic material. In total we sold more than 230 documents in Arabic analysing the revolution in Venezuela.

The effect of the Arabic language Hands of Venezuela website and its relentless effort in spreading background articles was noticed during the conference. This website is maintained by young Arab Marxists who also established www.marxy.com, the Arabic alter ego of www.marxist.com.

A few people came up to the stall and asked us about the recent developments in the factories under workers' control. They also enquired about Sanitarios Maracay and some engaged in arguments with other Arab left people basing themselves on articles read on the website.

We also came across students from Alexandria who had sent messages of support to the workers of Sanitarios a year ago. Even the revolutionary poetry and songs of the Venezuelan singer Ali Primera are listened to by some of the activists. Poetry and songs, of considerable importance in the Arabic world, are making their comeback in the demonstrations in Egypt. The songs of the Communist poet and icon Cheik Imam can be heard once more in Cairo among the revolutionary youth. Despite censorship and dictatorship, the headquarters of the Journalists' Syndicate in the centre of Cairo, functions as a sanctuary of freedom of speech. Here we were able to hear the songs of Cheik Imam!

A Lebanese publishing house offered to sell some of our books on Venezuela that were available on our stall, with all profits going to the campaign. We thank them for this gesture of solidarity. They are also considering publishing some of our material.

The second day of the conference we organised a workshop on the Revolution in Venezuela. Twenty five people attended (filling the room!). Most of them were from Egypt but also some from Canada and Iceland. The discussion went on for three hours, nowhere near enough to cover everything. Some, logically, asked about the comparison between Nasser and Hugo Chavez, others wanted to know why the referendum was lost and what the prospects were for a socialist revolution in Venezuela.

After this workshop a group of youth asked for a second workshop!!!. As this was not officially feasible we met the next day for another few hours for an in-depth discussion. The main items of this discussion evolved on how a socialist revolution has to unfold and what is missing in Venezuela to achieve this, namely a mass revolutionary socialist party and leadership.

At the end of the three day conference a group of Egyptian socialists committed themselves to launching HOV in their country. They are considering translating No Volveran and organising a tour with someone from Venezuela. A group of people from... Iceland is also ready to launch HOV! In total 43 people from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Lybia, Canada and Iceland registered for HOV with the aim of being informed about our work.

So these were great days for the HOV team in Cairo. We want to thank the organisers of the event for their great help and seriousness. We will also remember all the people who generously offered us a lot of ‘chai' (tea), all kind of sweets and lunches. Special thanks also to all our spontaneous and professional translators. We will be back!