Background
As most readers probably know Mission Robinson was the first of the social missions to be launched by the Chavez government in June 2003 with the aim of eradicating illiteracy in Venezuela. This Mission is named after Bolívar’s mentor, Samuel Robinson who was originally known as Simon Rodriguez but changed his name to Robinson to avoid political persecution for supporting the first clandestine independence movement of Gaul and España in 1797 when he was forced into exile until 1824. (http://www.venezuelatuya.com for biography of Simon Rodriguez - use electronic translator if you do not speak Spanish.)

The Bolivarian Revolution has adopted the name “Robinson” as a symbol of education for all as can been gathered from reading Rodriguez’ thoughts and writings. The success of eradicating illiteracy in 27 months in Venezuela was in large part due to the “Yo Sí puedo” method (“Yes, I can” in English) developed in Cuba and rubber stamped by UNESCO.

“Yo Sí puedo” method
The method is a combination of video classes and texts which take the pupil from zero reading and writing to a basic literacy level in 7 weeks, studying six hours a day. The human element was a huge volunteer force of 120 thousand facilitators, who led the classes with their tools being thousands of TV sets and VCR’s, plus millions of tapes, with Cuban advisors on hand.

Using this method Venezuela managed to teach 1.43 million people to read and write and is now declared “territory free from illiteracy” by UNESCO. In the case of indigenous peoples, these compatriots were taught to read and write in Spanish and in their own languages in line with precepts set out to protect these languages, millennium cultures and indigenous rights outlined in the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution, Articles 199, 120 and 121.

This historically unparalleled success of teaching so many people to read and write in such a short space of time, releasing them from social exclusion, or “liberating them “as Chavez has often said, and hence bringing them “into the light and out of darkness” means that there are now more than 100 thousand experienced facilitators of the “Yo Sí puedo” method available in Venezuela.

In line with the humanistic principles of the Bolivarian Revolution such as international solidarity with other nations, and within the context of the Bolivarian Alternative for America which aims at the “integration of the continent” and the “complementation of economies” instead of “competition”, the decision has now been taken for the experienced Venezuelan facilitators to cross borders and teach other fellow human beings to read and write in other countries.

First Mission abroad
Last night, March 17th 2006, the first Mission Robinson International was launched from Caracas by the Minister for Sports and Education, Aristóbulo Istúriz and the Minister for Higher Education, Samuel Moncada.

President Morales of Bolivia had requested that Venezuela and Cuba initiate Mission Robinson International in his country to eliminate illiteracy in Bolivia in 30 months. This strategy was originally agreed by Iberoamerican Heads of State in Salamanca, Spain last year, during the Ibeoramerican Summit, with the objective being to eradicate illiteracy in all Iberoamerican countries between 2010 and 2015. A special fund was set up to finance this ambitious programme at the same meeting.

Bolivia is the poorest country in South America with a population of approximately 8.4 million of which 4.3 million are indigenous peoples. Total illiteracy in Bolivia runs to 1.2 million people which represent 15% of the total population. Of the indigenous peoples, 20% cannot read and write. Thus, the main thrust of Mission Robinson International will be to teach mainly indigenous peoples to read and write – and not only in Spanish but also in their native languages of which there are three predominant ones, Aymará, Quechua and Guaraní. (All data from Bolivian Statistics Institute http://www.ine.gov.bo ) Part of the objective is to preserve these languages and cultures which represent the patrimony of mankind.

The first vanguard of 18 experienced Venezuelan facilitators and their Cuban advisors will leave for Bolivia on Sunday March 19th and go to the Bolivian province of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. President Morales will announce the launching of the pilot project of Mission Robinson International on Monday 20th March.

At the launch of Mission Robinson International, Minister Istúriz announced that the Dominican Republic had also requested Mission Robinson International to be installed there and a meeting will be held to finalize the details on March 30th – 31st in Caracas. We also understand that the “Yo Sí puedo” method is being transformed into Portuguese so that it can be implemented in Brazil where there are around 20 million illiterates out of a population of 186 million.

Implications of Mission Robinson International
Slavery, social exclusion, lack of educational access and historical poverty led the levels of illiteracy to rise in Latin America ever since the Spanish Conquest more than 500 years ago. Colonial governments and the subsequent government by European economic elites throughout the Americas after independence was secured at the Battle of Ayacucho, Peru, in December 1824, were also responsible for more than 40 million human beings being unable to read and write in this continent at the turn of the 21st century.

The 1999 Bolivarian Constitution, in its Preamble, states that the Venezuelan State “should promote peaceful cooperation between nations, foment and consolidate Latin American integration in accordance with the principles of non intervention and self-determination of peoples and the guarantee human rights”. This is the Constitutional cornerstone for internationalizing Mission Robinson and is based on the policies of Simon Bolivar’s vision of La Gran Colombia in order to integrate Latin America as a bulwark against nascent US imperialism which was evident even 180 years ago.

Mission Robinson will be the beginning of an educational process for the 40 million in Latin America and the Caribbean who cannot read and write. The Mission is humanistic in nature and Cuba and Venezuela have been instrumental is pushing the Salamanca initiative forward in practical terms with the first seeds about to be sown in Bolivia. The historical educational debt owed to the peoples of Latin America will gradually be settled as Mission Robinson International advances across the continent.

Caveats
Trade unionists and the public at large should be aware, however, that objections to the presence of Venezuelans and Cubans in Bolivia could be ammunition for the corporate press and audiovisual media, controlled in large part by US interests in Latin America. We anticipate a media offensive accusing Fidel and Chavez of “interfering in the internal affairs” of other nations, or “cubanizing and spreading communist propaganda” throughout the region, hence backing up the State department’s unsubstantiated claims that “Chavez is destabilizing the region”.

This would be a logical policy offensive of the US since it is not in their interests to have people educated since the Empire needs cheap labour and tame populations to maintain its economic and political stranglehold on the region. The US uses its lackeys to carry out its imperial designs of exploiting labour, raping natural resources and maintaining countries eternally indebted to its pawns at the IMF and World Bank.

That, however, would appear to be out of the question since “The Genie is out of the Bottle” in Latin America (http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org.uk) and Mission Robinson International will play its part in liberating the peoples of Latin America from the ignorance and lack of awareness into which they had been deliberately plunged for centuries, and make a perhaps decisive contribution for them to shape their own destinies for their children, grand children and future generations.

Andy Goodall
VSC Coordinator
andy.goodall@venezuelasolidarity.org.uk