 Hello and welcome to Around the World in 8 Minutes, a show by People's Dispatch, where we look at the struggles of the working class and the oppressed, as they wage a valiant struggle against capitalism and imperialism. We begin with Venezuela, where on February 4th, tens and thousands of Chavistas took to the streets of Caracas to commemorate the National Day of Dignity. The National Day of Dignity marks the 20th anniversary of the Civic Military Rebellion of February 4th, 1992, an uprising led by Commander Hugo Chavez against the neoliberal government of Carlos Andrés Perez. The rebellion was aimed at stopping the neoliberal package brought to Venezuela by the International Monetary Fund and against the repressive reforms implemented by the government. This year, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro led a military civic walk event at the mountain barracks, where the remains of the Bolivarian Revolution leader Commander Chavez are laid to rest. On February 2nd, another event was organized marking 21 years since Commander Hugo Chavez was first phoned as the President of Venezuela. Venezuelan President Maduro and other government officials reiterated their commitment to defend the legacy of Chavez and continue working in defense of democracy, independence, peace, social justice and sovereignty. After winning the presidential elections on December 6th, 1998, against Rafael Caldera, with the highest percentage of popular votes in four decades, 56.2 percent, Chavez on February 2nd vowed to democratically reform the 1961 constitution and lay the foundation for a new and inclusive constitution. The same day, he began the revolutionary process and called for a referendum for the creation of a national constituent assembly to write a new constitution based on the principles of the liberated Simon Bolivar, the principles being socialism, nationalization and state-led economy. The plebiscite for the drafting of a new constitution was approved by 87 percent of the vote. On December 15, 1999, the constitutional draft that established a new social and people-centric model of the state was approved with 71 percent of the votes. It also renamed the country as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution, Venezuela has experienced profound social, economic and political changes. Commander Chavez introduced several policies, improving the people's access to food and housing, free health and education, promotion of employment opportunities and the extension of social security. During the administration of President Chavez, the rate of hunger, poverty and extreme poverty came down by more than 50 percent in Venezuela. This was recognized by the food and agricultural organization of the United Nations in 2012. In the same year, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ranked Venezuela as the third country in Latin America with the lowest percentage of poverty. Higher education and university education became the right of all Venezuelans during Chavez's rule. It was ranked as the fifth country in the world and the second in Latin America in terms of university enrolment. Currently, Venezuela is the Latin American country with the third highest literacy rate of 97.1 percent. The Bolivarian Revolution created the Ministry of Popular Power for Habitat and Housing, an entity that executes several social programs to provide dignified housing to the Venezuelan working class. Through these programs, over 10 million homes have been rehabilitated and over 30 million families have their own homes. The government of President Chavez also launched several healthcare programs to provide free medical and surgical services to the poorest of the poor of the country and build high technology centers to carry out special medical research and studies. These social programs have been sustained by the current government of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela led by President Maduro despite the brutal economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies against the country. In addition to these, many other social security programs have been introduced. These include the local committee for supply and production, CLAP, for house-to-house distribution of basic food products, the humanized childbirth plan, a social program aimed at protecting pregnant women throughout the process of gestation, and the great housing machine, a program to provide housing for people who live in precarious conditions. The government has also introduced several youth and student programs providing scholarships, stipends, and free food to hundreds of thousands of young Venezuelans. This marks a continuation of the legacy of Commander Chavez, which the people of Venezuela determined to protect and preserve despite all the attacks against them. We now move to South Africa where all 2,895 dismissed workers at a Toyota factory in South Africa's Cozooni Natal province have been reinstated. This was after the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa, NUMSA, intervened and engaged the management in negotiations on behalf of the workers. The negotiation ended with the company agreeing to reinstate all the workers with the written warning. It also agreed to review and reach an agreement on the terms and conditions under which it is obliged to give out bonuses. This was the issue around which a strike took place leading to the dismissal. At a meeting in December, the management of the company had praised the employees at this factory for their work and indicated that they would likely receive a quality bonus for it. However, by January, the management changed its stand. The workers who were asking for their bonus were instead asked to do overtime work by the management. The workers who were even willing for this provided the bonus was paid. Amid this deadlock, when NUMSA tried to intervene, the management refused, saying that it is an internal matter. Frustrated by the management's refusal to engage with the union, the workers downed tools on January 22nd. However, they had not gone through with the arbitration procedures mandated in the labor law in order to have a strike being regarded as protected. Participants in a protected strike cannot be dismissed by the employer for downing tools. The management's refusal to engage with the union did not allow this option for the workers. Soon after the strike began, the company warned the workers in writing that they would be dismissed if they did not return to work. When the strike action continued, the management fired 2,895 workers on January 24th. Production was hit, including of a large number of vehicles which are exported to other parts of Africa and Europe. Due to the impact of the strike, the company agreed to negotiate with NUMSA to bring the industrial action to an end. After successful negotiations, the workers returned to work on February 4th. The company agreed to reinstate all those who were dismissed. It also agreed that it would not take any further disciplinary action beyond a written warning. NUMSA said in a statement that the quality bonus issue would also be reviewed and a standard would be set which would clarify the exact terms and conditions for workers to receive this bonus. The union pointed out that the government has done everything possible to erode the right to strike. It has introduced changes to the labor law to force workers to ballot before embarking on a strike and it has also introduced a poverty national minimum wage of RAN 20 that's around $1.35 per hour which undermines centralized bargaining. Finally, we go to Palestine where a youth, Mohammed al-Hadad, was killed by Israeli forces on February 5th, Wednesday in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Mohammed was shot during a protest against a Middle East peace plan that is proposed by Donald Trump last week. According to reports, a small number of Palestinians were protesting against the deal near an illegal Israeli settlement in the city on Wednesday when police opened fire on them. The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that the death was caused by a bullet fired by the occupying forces which penetrated Haddad's heart. Hebron in the southwestern West Bank is one of the largest cities in Palestine. It is a small illegal Jewish settlement heavily guarded by occupying forces. The agitation in Hebron was part of the ongoing protests across the occupied territories against a so-called deal of the century prepared by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The deal was prepared without consulting the Palestinians who have been boycotting the US since December 2017 after Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and shifted the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. Trump's act was in complete violation of international consensus and law. Trump's peace plan is heavily biased in favor of Israel. It recognizes Israel's sovereignty over the illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and allows Israel to annex a large part of the West Bank. In return, it promises a scattered Palestinian state with limited authority and a capital somewhere in the outskirts of Jerusalem. The deal has been rejected by the Palestinians as it does not address their main demands of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. It also does not address the issue of the end of all settlements and the Palestinian refugees' right to return. Israeli forces also killed another Palestinian youth on Thursday. Yazan Abu Tabaik was killed in Israeli gunfire in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Several others were injured in the firing. The firing happened when people opposed the demolition of the house belonging to a Palestinian named Ahmad Conba who has been accused of killing an Israeli citizen. That's all we have for this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. To read these stories and more, visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for watching.