Some Labour Day Rally Slogans From The Bolivarian Workers' Paradise Of Venezuela.

Patria y Socialismo o Muerte! Trade union activists are being murdered at an alarming rate in Venezuela - 75 in the past two years - making it one of the world's most dangerous countries for union organizers, and worse than Colombia, which over the years has been known as the most dangerous country for union organizing. Emilio Bastidas, a regional leader of the UNETE confederation of unions in Maracay, says hit men are killing off union leaders in a strategy designed to weaken unions opposed to El Jefe Hugo Chavez.

Libertad! With one of the world's highest homicide rates, violent crime is the top concern of Venezuelans, polls show. The government has not published official murder figures for several years. Nongovernmental organizations, citing leaked police statistics and media reports, say that between 13,000 and 16,000 people were killed last year.

Venceremos! Venezuelan farmer Franklin Brito has died after months on hunger strike in protest at the seizure of his farm in 2003 during a government land reform drive. He had demanded that president Hugo Chávez compensate him for the seizure of his holding in the south of the country where he had grown yams and watermelons. In a statement, his family said Mr Brito “lives on in the struggle of the Venezuelan people for the right to property, access to justice, for liberty and the respect of governments for human rights, both collective and individual”.

Un Mundo Mejor Es Posible! More than 4,500 inmates in three prisons in Venezuela have gone on hunger strike to protest overcrowding and mistreatment, protesters told the local media on Friday. The mass hunger strike, which began Thursday, includes 3,400 detainees at Tocoron prison, in northern Aragua state, 1,137 inmates at Vista Hermosa in south-east Bolivar state, and 80 at Minima in northern Carabobo state.

Sionismo no! In his 12 years in power, President Hugo Chávez has made speeches accusing "Semitic banks" of sabotaging the economy and lent his support to an indigenous Islamic group known as "Hizbollah Venezuela.” In June Mr Chavez accused Israel of financing the Venezuelan opposition and said that Mossad agents were trying to kill him. Now, Venezuelan Jews are fleeing the country in droves. The Venezuelan Confederation of Jewish Associations (CAIV) says half the Jewish community has fled the country for various reasons. In 2008 alone, the number of Jews in Venezuela shrank by 5,500 to 15,000. Salomon Cohen, the head of CAIV, says the exodus is being caused by the economic crisis, violence and antisemitism.

Viva Fidel! As in Cuba, the Venezuelan government barely disguises the use of official resources to finance the ruling party's campaign. When the Socialists decided to have an election rally in Barinas recently, a platoon of army soldiers were ordered to help set up. The five state TV channels, the dozens of state-backed "community radio" stations and a slew of state newspapers are unembarrassed to act as the propaganda arm of the ruling party, openly campaigning for the ruling party. Meanwhile, people who oppose the government on TV find themselves facing obscure criminal charges and radio stations that broadcast critical content are shut down en masse.

A country round its shoulders, a flag raised on a gallows tree - but I won 't let it get me down, I know there are people now who bind together what they do and live their lives like I want to. . . We will steal what we can, with the courage to be free. I have found where I belong, among the poorest company.