EYEWITNESS VENEZUELA: Bolivarian process revealed in a place called Chuao

By Larry Hales

Denver FIST

One judge of the revolutionary process ongoing in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is how far it reaches. To understand how deep the process is, how far and wide-reaching the aspirations of the Venezuelan people are, one needs to look in remote areas long neglected before the revolution began. One needs to seek out a little town called Chuao.

Chuao is not easily accessible. It is surrounded by mountains and rainforests to the south, part of Rancho Grande and Henri Pittier National Park, and by the Caribbean Sea to the north. To get to Chuao, one has to traverse mountains, pass through dense rainforests or go by boat from the beach of Puerto Colombia.

Larry Hales, squatting left, and Mike Martinez, center in front of banner, of FIST during U.S. delegation to Venezuela.

Part of the state of Aragua, located in the north-central region of the Bolivarian Republic, Chuao is a fishing village known for producing world-famous cocoa beans.

According to UNESCO, Chuao has been continually inhabited since the 16th century. The population now is primarily Afro-Venezuelan, whose descendents were brought from Africa as chattel slaves by the Spanish colonizers.

Many tourists flock to Chuao now, as it is just across the bay from Puerto Colombia, has a large Afro-Venezuelan population and a distinct culture, and is renown for its cacao cultivation, with beans that come from pods that look like huge fruit.

As revolutionaries gain ground, India to form anti-guerrilla force

By David Hoskins

Washington, DC FIST

The Interior Ministry of India recently announced plans to form a 10,000-strong elite fighting force trained to counter guerilla-warfare tactics. The ministry says it intends to deploy this force against the revolutionary forces led by the Communist Party of India–Maoist (CPI–Maoist).

CPI–Maoist activists, who have waged an armed struggle in the countryside for decades, have recently increased their presence in major cities, including New Delhi, the capital. They have been able to embed themselves in popular urban struggles in part by forming mass organizations and alliances with other revolutionary-minded groups.