[NYTr] More than 150 European Parliamentarians Declare Support for Venez Reforms Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:50:34 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Venezuelanalysis - Nov 30, 2007 http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/2930 Over 150 European Parliamentarians Declare Support for Venezuelan Reform by Venezuelanalysis.com Over 200 representatives from 13 European countries - including over 150 MPs, MEPs and regional politicians together with representatives of trade unions, national student bodies, women's organisations, peace movements, writers and academics - have backed a statement in support of the Venezuelan government's policies of social progress and democratic inclusion. They have called for the outcome of the Venezuelan referendum on proposed constitutional changes, on 2 December, to be respected. Signatories to the statement include Ken Livingstone; Fausto Bertinotti, the Head of the Chamber of Deputies in Italy; Paolo Cento, Under-secretary of State to the Italian Ministry of Economy; former German Finance Minister Oskar Lafontaine MP and Lothar Bisky MP, the co-Chairs of the Die Linke party in Germany, French Senator Jean-Luc MC)lenchon and Willy Meyer MEP, Vice-Chair of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Group. The statement says that 'the lives of millions of Venezuelans have been transformed by the progressive social and democratic policies of Hugo ChC!vez's government' and concludes that: 'Venezuela is one of the few countries in the world where both the constitution, and any revisions to it, must be approved by a majority of citizens in a national referendum. We call on the international community to respect the outcome of the coming referendum and support the sovereign and democratic right of the Venezuelan people to self-determination'. The statement has attracted support from Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland after being launched at the first Europe-wide conference in support of Venezuela held on November 10 in London. Support from across Europe: In Britain, support for the statement has come from Ken Livingstone, and 24 MPs and MEPs from four parties, including recent Labour deputy leadership candidate Jon Cruddas MP and the Chair of Labour Friends of Venezuela, Colin Burgon MP and Jeremy Corbyn MP, vice-Chair of All Parliamentary Group on Latin America. Other prominent figures to sign the statement include Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter; the writers John Pilger, Tariq Ali, Richard Gott, and Victoria Brittain, film maker Ken Loach and prominent campaigners Tony Benn and Bruce Kent. Broad trade union support came from 11 unions representing millions of workers, including the Deputy General Secretary's of Britain's two largest unions, UNITE and UNISON, six General Secretaries. Gemma Tumelty, President of the National Union of Students, with over five million members, also signed. Over 80 Italian Parliamentarians, from four separate parties, signed the statement backing Venezuela's right to self-determination. These included Fausto Bertinotti, Head of the Chamber of Deputies (PRC party), Paolo Cento, Under Secretary of State to the Ministry of Economy (Green Party), Senator Giorgio Mele (Democratic Left for a Social Europe) and Giuseppe Scobio, Deputy and President of the PdCI party. In France, support for the statement came from political figures including FranC'oise Castex, Socialist Party MEP; Francis Wurtz MEP, Chair of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left Group in the European Parliament; Alain Lipietz, Green Party MEP. Regional leader Francois Auguste of the Region Rhone-Alps also gave support. A wide range of representatives of French civil society includes William Maunier of the SNRT-CGT trade union; Jean-Baptiste PrC)vost, Vice-President of UNEF the National Students Union; Bernard Cassen Director General of Le Monde Diplomatique and Janette Habel, Professor, Institut des Hautes Etudes d'AmC)rique latine; In Germany, Lothar Bisky and Oskar Lafontaine, the Chairs of the Die Linke Party, alongside Gregor Gysi, Chairman of Die Linke Parliamentary Group, Norman Paech Germany a member of Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affairs and Sevim Dagdelen MP and Helmuth Markov MEP backed the statement. They were joined by representatives of civil society including Reiner Braun, Executive Director, IALANA (International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms) and Peter Wahl of the WEED (World Economy Ecology and Development) NGO. In Spain: Willy Meyer MEP, Vice-Chair of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly was joined by Mayors and regional representatives including: RamC3n ArgC