This page will house everything we are learning about efforts to connect communities in Venezuela with communities in the U.S. and abroad.
One major effort that is in the initial stages is an exchange between the Olympia Food Cooperative in our home community (Olympia, Washington) and Cecosesola, in Barquisimeto. Cecosesola is both a cooperative that sells produce and other foodstuffs and an umbrella for a number of regional cooperatives in Barquisimeto and Lara state. Cecosesola’s member cooperatives include organic farms, a bakery, a women’s pasta cooperative, a women’s jam-making cooperative, a funeral parlor, and an appliance purchasing cooperative. Cecosesola also has several inexpensive health clinics in different neighborhoods in Barquisimeto and a health center (Centro de Salud Integral).
http://cecosesola.blogspot.com/
To read about the proposed exchange, see page 6 of the August-September 2011 Olympia Food Co-op newsletter: