Students will no doubt
be well acquainted with the dire state of student union meetings. Usually, they
are to be dreaded. They drag on for hours, the bureaucrats and political
fetishists gorging themselves on the disappointment and disillusionment of
genuine activists as they realise that, after 3 hours, nothing political has
been discussed, and we’re still talking about the minutes of the last
meeting! At the previous union council meeting I attended, there was, in
all seriousness, a half an hour debate about the enforcement of good grammar.
On Thursday, 6th
March, supporters of Hands Off Venezuela broke the deadlock. With the
deadline for emergency resolutions to National Union of Students looming, we
decided, almost flippantly, to send a motion to union council calling for
affiliation to the HOV campaign, and that this motion, if passed, be sent to
NUS conference on April 1st-3rd, opening the prospect of
the whole of the NUS affiliating to HOV. This was done with the recent Colombia/Venezuela/Ecuador
‘tensions’ in mind. But we did not believe that this would even get discussed
at union council, as the above mentioned tiresome, bureaucratic nature of the
meetings, dragged out by the right-wingers, is then used by the very same
people as an excuse to end the meetings and avoid discussion of anything
political they do not like. “Let’s not discuss this. We all want to go home.”
 |
| plastic cup |
As our motion came up
for discussion, council had been debating the use of plastic cups in the bar
for some time. This was the perfect backdrop for the Tories to say “let’s all
go home.” But what was interesting about this motion, was just how riled up it
got them, and how much everyone wanted to discuss it. After Martin Hall (mover
of the motion, who has been working tirelessly for these sort of results) gave
his opening speech, the Tories made their intervention, calling Chávez a
dictator and the financer of most of the world’s terrorists! Interestingly,
they also brought up Socialist Appeal, since Martin is a supporter.
But the attacks of the
Tories were so aggressive, that they appeared to unite the whole of the rest of
council behind us. Interestingly, many members of the union executive, usually
very depoliticised, spoke strongly for our motion. The tensions were high, but
council was for once exciting and politicised, and it seemed to really impress
everyone and win a remarkable number of people to our ideas, at least for the
duration of the meeting.
But the most interesting
thing was that, in similar fashion to their attempts to cut discussions short
by arguing we should ‘go home’, some of the Tories stormed out before the vote,
presumably half in frustration (they fumed that the motion was ‘disgusting’!)
but also to sabotage the whole motion – by cutting the numbers in the meeting,
they made it ‘inquorate’ (too few people) thus cutting the meeting short. But
no one paid attention, sick of their antics (they’ve done this before, trying
to halt all progressive motions), and the motion was passed with only 3 voting
against! After the tense debating, everyone (even those normally opposed to us)
seemed genuinely enthralled and delighted, some hugging Martin, who received a
round of applause, something unheard of!
Because of their
anti-democratic behaviour, many are now calling for these Tories to be kicked
off council and one of them removed from his executive role. Another has
resigned. We do not necessarily support this witch hunt atmosphere, however it
is quite remarkable the effect this only briefly thought-through motion has
had. Student union politics is now polarised and genuinely political.
The resolution passed by
UEA Student Council and the shorter resolution to NUS are appended below. We
call on all HOV supporters, if there is still time in their university, to get
elected to go to this conference and support the motion. If it passes, the
whole of the National Union of Students (which comprises something like 4
million students) will be affiliated. This will give the campaign a massive
boost in the UK and in Venezuela.
Long live the
revolution!
Emergency
Resolution on Crisis in Latin America
Council Notes:
- That the
Venezuelan government has helped unify the Latin American continent,
increasing trade amongst its own nations and thereby achieving greater
autonomy from the USA. - That
university education is free for all in Venezuela, and that since 1998
there has been a huge increase in expenditure on free, national education. - That there
are many Venezuelan students enrolled in the UK, being the third most
popular destination for Venezuelans, and that Colombia has even more of
its students enrolled in the UK, having 3,345 in 2003/4. - That
Colombia’s enormous arms expenditure, funded by the US and UK, massively outweighs
that of its neighbours and has sparked a Latin American arms race that can
only be hugely destabilising for the region and world. - That
Colombia’s recent and ongoing provocation of its neighbours and incursion
into their sovereignty has destabilised the entire region, raising the
possibility of Latin America’s first war in over a decade. - That formal
affiliation to Hands off Venezuela campaign will not cost the union any
money.
Council Believes:
- Venezuela’s
government, in particular its prioritisation of funding for education, is
a beacon of inspiration for students nationally. - That Hands
off Venezuela is leading the international student campaign in solidarity
with Venezuela against the threat of war, operating in over 30 countries
and present on campuses all over the UK, such as London, Cardiff, Sussex
and Manchester, and has over 6 million workers affiliated via trade
unions. - A war in
this region of Latin America would reverberate around the world because of
the enormous natural resources present and their proximity to the US. - That
students have always and must always be at the forefront of the anti-war
movement.
Council Resolves:
- To formally
affiliate to the Hands off Venezuela campaign. - To send the
following emergency resolution to NUS Confernce.
Emergency Motion
on Crisis in Latin America
Conference
Believes:
1.
That university education is free for all in
Venezuela.
2.
That there are many Venezuelan students enrolled in
the UK, being the third most popular destination for Venezuelans, and that
Colombia has even more of its students enrolled in the UK, having 3,345 in
2003/4.
3.
That Colombia’s enormous arms expenditure, funded by
the US and UK, massively outweighs that of its neighbours and has sparked a
Latin American arms race that can only be hugely destabilising for the region
and world.
4.
That Colombia’s recent and ongoing provocation of its
neighbours and incursion into their sovereignty has destabilised the entire
region, raising the possibility of Latin America’s first war in over a decade.
Conference
Further Believes:
- Venezuela’s
government, in particular its prioritisation of funding for education, is
a beacon of inspiration for students nationally. - That Hands
off Venezuela is leading the international student campaign in solidarity
with Venezuela against the threat of war, operating in over 30 countries
and present on campuses all over the UK, such as London, Cardiff, Sussex,
Manchester, and has over 6 million workers affiliated via trade unions. - A war in
this region of Latin America would reverberate around the world because of
the enormous natural resources present and their proximity to the US. - That
students have always and must always be at the forefront of the anti-war
movement.
Conference Resolves:
- To formally
affiliate to the Hands off Venezuela campaign. - To campaign
with Hands off Venezuela and trade unions to put pressure on the
government to stop its support for Colombia, condemn their actions in
Ecuador and raise student awareness about the Venezuelan revolution as a
whole.
