THE visit of the left bourgeois nationalist leaders Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela to Europe is much appreciated, and is a timely reminder of the worldwide nature of the struggle against imperialism; and that the masses of South America, the Middle East and many other parts of the world are pushing rapidly to the left.
Morales has spelt out that his country, countrymen and women have been exploited and plundered for 500 years, but that period of history is now coming to an end with his nationalisation decrees for the gas and oil industries.
Chavez, who bases himself on the tradition of the 19th century nationalist leader Simon Bolivar, has spent the oil revenues of Venezuela on developing the living standards of the poor and oppressed, who are the bedrock of his regime.
However, their visit is not just an example of the revolutionary masses being able to twist the tail of the imperialist powers.
Chavez has also pointed out that Iran is in the sights of the US ruling class and warned that in the event of a US attack on Iran, both Iran and Venezuela will stop supplying their oil to the US and its allies, of which Britain is the number one running dog.
He even made the point that the British middle class will not be able to drive around in their cars if oil prices rise to $100 a barrel.
He did not have to make the point that if or when the US attacks Iran, or Venezuela for that matter, it will have the support of British imperialism, no matter whether the government is led by Blair, Brown or Cameron.
He did not have to make that point because everybody in the audience knew it, just as did the TUC leaders whom he met yesterday morning.
The central point of the visit of Morales and Chavez to the EU is that the struggle against imperialism is a word struggle.
The Venezuelan and Iranian masses will deal the imperialist powers very heavy blows if they are invaded, but everybody knows that a very heavy price will have to be paid for that resistance.
The whole point is that the workers of Europe and the US must stop the imperialist powers from carrying out their war plans.
This means organising the US and British workers in particular to bring down the Bush and Blair regimes to prevent war, and to banish war from the planet by overthrowing US and British capitalism and imperialism.
The fact of the matter is that the TUC, the Labour leaders and the MPs who met Chavez stood by and watched the US-UK armies invade and destroy Iraq, making it a living hell for the Iraqi people.
Despite the fact that millions marched against the war in Britain, the TUC never even called a single mass demonstration or strike to oppose the war.
In fact, the TUC general secretary Brendan Barber helped to sell out the 2002 firefighters’ struggle, thus allowing Blair to muster enough troops, who had previously been breaking firefighters’ strikes, to go to war in Iraq.
The issue is that despite the massive opposition of the British people to any war with Iran, the Labour and trade union leaders will do the same again.
Real support for the embattled Venezuelan, Bolivian, Iranian and Iraqi people means building up the revolutionary leadership in Britain and the US to bring down the Bush and Blair regimes in order to smash their war plans and go forward to socialism.
The warning of Chavez about the danger of nuclear weapons being used in the Gulf makes this struggle to mobilise the masses to smash British capitalism all the more urgent.
This is the real lesson from the visit to Europe by Morales and Chavez.