Last modified: 2002-11-02 by dov gutterman
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No party is allowed to use, among its symbols, theVenezuelan
Flag or its colours (in any arranged order), the name of Simon
Bolivar and the Coat of arms. At party rallies, candidate podiums
and so on, it is alowed to use all of these (but it carries
certain controversy). Parties rarely wave flags, beyond some rags
with their colours (very rarelywith their logos on it), although
I have seen a Communist Party Flag at somerallies. A flag with
eight stars (as Bolivar's model in 1817 and 1819) has been flown
at the current party in power (Fifth Republic Movement)
rallies.But they are alligned in various positions, and move
around the flag from one rally to another
Guillermo Aveledo , 24 September 1999
As part of the murky restlessness my country is getting used
to , yet another Military officer is making political remarks:
this time, Colonel (Air Force) Silvino Bustillos remarked in a
press conference at the National Lectoral Council's free press
room thet President (retired Lt. Colonel) Hugo Chavez, was, among
some other nfr things, breaking the National Symbols Law, whichs
bans the usage of the anthem, flag and CoA by political parties
or factiones, or any politically interested group.
An hard-to-enforce law as it may be, this was already noted by me
last year on this very list. President Chavez, both as a
candidate and as a president-candidate (a first in Venezuela,
when reelection was just instituted by the 1999 Constitution) has
repeatedly used both the national flag (state and civil) and the
anthem on political meetings and rallies.
Quite conscientously or not, the use of national symbols is
forbidden in such activities (and no other candidate ever has
used these colours).
Guillermo Aveledo, 17 July 2000
by Guillermo Aveledo, 16 September 2000
The CTV is the most important labour organisation in
Venezuela. Although recently under fire, it serves as an umbrella
organisation for most of Venezuela's trade unions, much like
Britain's TUC. It has been dominated by the labour organisations
of the, again until recently, most important parties in Venezuela
(AD and Copei, with a lesser participation of the MAS and LCR;
the CTV emblem shows an uncanny familiarity to that of AD). There
are some rival trade unions associations, but this has been the
most important (founded in 1936) and the largest. It is now
challenged, although I'm not sure if aiming towards replacing the
upper cadres or removing the whole structure, by the newly formed
'Bolivarian Force of Workers'. This new movement has not shown a
flag yet.
The flag itself is a red field (typical of labour movements) over
which we see the CTV logo: a white gear (outlined in black),
which has sixteen teeth, with an inner circle divided in a
blue-yellow-red tricolor (unlike the national flag, but like the
tricolor shown in AD's logo), a white map of Venezuela (with the
white-red map of the claimed zone of Guyana by Venezuela, shown
in the logo since the 1960s), and, above it all, black, bold and
capital letters "CTV". Over the years, then logo has
suffered slight modifications, none of which are too critical so
as to be mentioned.
Guillermo Aveledo, 16 September 2000
by Guillermo Aveledo, 30 November 2000
Here's the flag of the FUERZA BOLIVARIANA DE TRABAJADORES
(Bolivarian Worker's Force), a government-supported labour union,
which was instituted in order to substitute CTV (our
longest-living and largest trade union) after today's referendum
on labour freedoms. The flag is a regular Venezuelan tricolori,
with the FBT's logo centered inside it. The logo consists of four
concentric rings, from outside to the inside: black, red, blue
and yellow. Within the rings, we have a white circle with three
antropomorphic faces (namely, what seems to be a working man with
a hard hat stands in front), drawn in red line art. Seven white
five-pointed red-embroidered stars, incremental in their size,
encircle almost half of the white circle, entering the red, blue
and yellow rings. On the sides of the ring, we have two small
trocolor tribands of yello-blue-red and, encircling it all, the
letters "FUERZA BOLIVARIANA DE TRABAJADORES" in black,
embroidered in white. This flag has been used as a paper waver
flag for supporters of the FBT, and as a huge stage flag (made
out of what seemed to be some sort of plastic or artificial
cloth) was used during a national convention of the FTB a few
months ago.
Guillermo Aveledo, 30 November 2000
UNION for the Progress
by Guillermo Aveledo, 12 September 2002
Democratic Left
by Guillermo Aveledo, 12 September 2002
MAS (Movement to the Socialism)
by Guillermo Aveledo, 12 September 2002
The "UNION for the Progress" Political Party was
formed around the groups that on year 2000 supported Lieutenant
Colonel (retired) Francisco Arias Cárdenas in his candidacy for
the Presidency of the Republic. Its principal nucleus is a party
created at the end of 1999 with the old guard of the MAS
(Movement to the Socialism) Party, called "Democratic
Left" (Izquierda Democrática). The MAS, founded on 1973,
fundamentally was originated by a rupture of the PCV (Communist
Party of Venezuela), after which then Communist Youth was
rebelled as opposed to the "stalinism" of the old
guard, criticizing the repression to the "Prague's
Spring" on 1968. The Communist Youth of Venezuela and other
leaders of the PCV were sanctioned by the Polit-bureau of
the Soviet Union Communist Party. But that one is another
history (although very near one to three of the four greaters
leaders of UNION). UNION also agglutinates some retired
militaries (some, like Arias, involved in the 1992' putsches),
old political and union leaders of left "not aligned"
and others.
Its emblem is one capital "U" in white, blue and
yellow, without greater meaning than the initial of the word
"Union". Its "flag" is its logo on target, in
proportion 1:1. It doesn't have reverse.
The Web Site of the Union is www.unionve.com.
Guillermo Aveledo (translated by Raul Orta), 12
September 2002
This image was taken by the daily "El National" of
Caracas on the so called "Opposition March" last
Thursday. The addition on the flag take my attention.
Néstor Garrido, 16 October 2002
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