The Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CTV, English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: Confederation of Workers of Venezuela) is a federation

Federation

A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...

 of labor union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

s in Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

. It has close links to the Democratic Action

Democratic Action

Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period...

 party.

The union federation has been a consistent and key opponent of Venezulean President Hugo Chávez

Hugo Chávez

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...

. In the year 2001, two years after his first election to President, Chávez's government ordered the union federation to undertake its first-ever direct leadership elections. Although the Supreme Court

Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela)

The Supreme Tribunal of Justice is the highest court of law in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is the head of the judicial branch.The Supreme Tribunal may meet either in specialized chambers or in plenary session...

 refused to certify the results, the winner Carlos Ortega

Carlos Ortega

Carlos Alfonso Ortega Carvajal is a former union and political leader in Venezuela. Ortega, then head of Fedepetrol, the oil workers union, was elected leader of the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela union federation in 2001...

 assumed the presidency. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions , and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when it merged with the World Confederation of Labour to form the...

 (ICFTU) condemned Chávez's interference in the affairs of free trade unions.

In 2002 and 2003, the CTV received funding from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

' National Endowment for Democracy

National Endowment for Democracy

The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...

 via the American Center for International Labor Solidarity

American Center for International Labor Solidarity

The American Center for International Labor Solidarity , better known as theSolidarity Center, is a non-profit organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO labor federation that serves as a conduit for US foreign aid....

.

In 2003, a new union federation, the Unión Nacional de Trabajadores de Venezuela (UNT, National Union of Workers) was started by people in the labor movement who supported Chávez. Some unions disaffiliated with the CTV and affiliated with the UNT.

External links

• CTV official site.