Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Joao Pedro Stédile: “Venezuela is Extremely Important Because it is the Battle of This Century”

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Joao Pedro Stédile: “Venezuela is Extremely Important Because it is the Battle of This Century”

Click here to access an interview with Stédile conducted by Carlos Aznarez posted on Internationalist 360°.

This past week’s Latin American Summary covered everything that happened at the International People’s Assembly (AIP), held in Caracas, in solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela represented by Nicolás Maduro. Almost 500 delegates from 90 countries of the world attended the event, and one of the most ardent supporters of this initiative in the last two years is the leader of the Landless Movement of Brazil, Joao Pedro Stédile.

I was quite impressed with the political sophistication of Brazilian activist Stédile, and now hold much hope for the continuing struggle in Venezuela, which could very well be pivotal, against the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire that is currently ravishing the world's people, threatening catastrophic global wars, and destroying the biosphere that we all depend on. Read the details. (By the way, "MST" refers to Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement.)