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A Country In The Midst Of Revolutionary Change
Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 12.09.33 PM
Note: Venezuela has been in the midst of a radical transformation even
before Hugo Chavez was elected in 1999. For years the country was a classic
oligarchic run nation where wealth was controlled by a small number of
people and there were high levels of poverty, illiteracy and social problems
resulting from an unfair economy. Chavez brought in the ideas of the
Bolivarian Revolution and 21st Century Socialism. This included a new
constitution that changed the power structure and resulted in decreases in
poverty and illiteracy, the creation of worker owned cooperatives, community
councils that allowed direct democracy, community-based media and so much
more. But, the oligarchs continue to fight back, to return to the old ways.
Venezuela also continues to have economic challenges because the country is
dependent on one major source of income oil. As the price changes it
impacts all aspects of the country. Right now the price of oil has dropped
dramatically with negative impacts on the economy. The oligarchs still
control the mass media, which has been a constant critic of the government.
They also control many of the businesses and some have been caught hoarding
basic necessities or sending them into Colombia in order to create shortages
in Venezuela and anger at the government. And, there have been major
problems with the valuation of currency, a black market in currency and
inflation.
It is not easy to throw of the oligarchs when they still retain so much
power, and it is not made any easier with the United States doing all it can
through agencies like the USAID and National Endowment for Democracy doing
all they can to aide the oligarchs and foment dissent. It is also made more
difficult with the US allied Colombia on the border also causing problems.
Venezuela could be a great laboratory many countries could learn from.
Recent research shows that the United States is also an oligarchy,
controlled by money which has corrupted the political system. How do we
break-away from being a neo-liberal oligarchy that seeks to cut the social
safety net, privatize and commodify public goods and de-regulate big
business so it can profit from cheap labor, an unfair finance system,
environmental degradation and what would normally be defined as corrupt
practices. Rather than stifling change in Venezuela the US should let the
country, and others in the region and world, evolve so we can learn better
governance and economic management. KZ
Venezuela At A Crossroads
Will the current economic crisis be overcome? What does the future hold for
Colombian-Venezuelan relations? Will the people continue to support the
party of Chavismo?
Despite two years of economic difficulties in Venezuela, as well as months
of organized violence and destruction at street barricades by some sectors
of the opposition, a majority of Venezuelans continue to firmly support
socialism. But what is the way out of this difficult situation? Over the
next few months teleSUR English will be providing a deep analysis that
contrasts with that of the mainstream, hearing from people on the ground in
Venezuela. This first contribution was written collectively by members of
the Tatuy television collective*, in Merida, Venezuela.
In order to understand the Venezuelan reality, it is necessary to go beyond
the headlines that appear every morning on a smart phone and go beyond the
basic news treatment by some local radio or TV outlets, as Venezuela is not
only facing a series of controversial circumstantial situations, but also
has set out a social, cultural, and political project that defines
contemporary world history and is facing an important crossroads: the
challenge of losing or preserving and deepening a socialist revolution.
Many other nations, peoples, and organizations throughout the world have
many expectations about the future of the Bolivarian revolution. Will the
current economic crisis be overcome? What does the future hold for
Colombian-Venezuelan relations? Will the people continue to support the
party of Chavismo? Will the lack of basic goods condemn the revolution? To
answer these questions it is necessary to do a review of the structural
causes of the recent political and economic phenomenons in this country.
Despite the amount of time the Chavista government has been in power, and
despite the advances in various social matters, the Bolivarian process has
not been able to overcome capitalist and rentier logic based on a
single-product economy, dependent entirely on the price of oil, with limited
industrial development, which worsens with the ongoing global crisis. All of
this is in addition to the moral blow with the death of the promoter of the
revolutionary project in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, who promoted overcoming
that dependency, the diversification of the economy, the political
strengthening of the state, welfare and a series of goals organized within
his last platform, known as the Plan of the Homeland. Other contradictions
have emerged in this process that impede the radicalization of the socialist
project: the opportunist and reformist policies that have been inherited by
old political traditions, which in the face of todays ambiguity, do not
fight against corruption and bureaucracy but rather maintain it, which
undoubtedly slows the strategic objectives of the revolutionary plan. This
situation is the result of a power struggle between two antagonistic
socio-economic models within a revolutionary process with pacifist
characteristics.
In the midst of this contest, the immediate reaction by a part of the
hegemonic national and international powers has been swift, precisely
because the Bolivarian revolution has acted as a brake on their economic,
financial, and political interests, becoming an alternative to the
prevailing neoliberal model. Violent barricades with painful results,
economic sabotage, a boycott of the national oil company and even a coup
detat, have been some of the reactions of the historically dominant class.
Now they have sharpened and are using different political strategies, such
as the hoarding of basic goods, hyper inflation, the devaluation of the
national currency, the export of contraband goods in the border regions,
currency flight, social decomposition, among other problems that have,
without a doubt, affected the daily life of the Venezuelan people. They are
putting the Bolivarian government in check and feed the perception of
ungovernability, precisely in the year that will electorally define the
confidence of the people in their process, in the upcoming National Assembly
elections (in December).
Nonetheless, the Chavista government has spared no effort in confronting
these different issues, efforts that have essentially consisted of a solid
alliance between the government, the armed forces, and the organized people;
a strong institutional presence grounded in the optimal management of
different areas like the distribution and subsidy of basic foodstuffs,
adjustment and control of prices, citizen security, the spreading of
education to the masses, the stimulus of the productive apparatus through
research and funding, without forgetting a coherent participation on the
international scene, which coincides with solidarity with other countries in
the world. But unfortunately this has not been enough to defeat the
aspirations of the empire and the national bourgeoisie: the majority of
national production is still in the hands of private companies; the
state-owned companies or those created by the revolution have not reached an
optimal organizational level nor optimal operation; the role of the party of
the revolution, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has been timid and
ambiguous in overcoming the logic of electoralism, diminishing the strength
of the role of a vanguard organization that guides its government and its
people through the true revolutionary paths. In addition, the government of
Nicolas Maduro has based its strategy on dialogue and consensus with the
enemy; which evidently has not resolved the conflict, to the contrary, it
has worsened it.
In that sense, the establishment of new means of defending the revolution is
indispensable. In the words of Chavez in the speech that was called Strike
at the Helm: Conditions that guide the transition to socialism
with this
new cycle starting, we must become more efficient in the revolutionary
construction of a new political, economic, social, and cultural model. This
will only be achieved through the radicalization of what, until this point,
has been built. Starting with urgent policy measures in different areas,
such as the nationalization of the banking sector, placing the financial
apparatus at the service of the revolution, avoiding the flight of capital
abroad, speculation and the increase of activity of the parallel currency
exchange market, nationalization of foreign trade, planning of imports,
activating national production and regulating prices. Also, conglomerating
all nationalized companies, bringing them together in an organic system that
President Maduro himself requested in September, 2014: We must strengthen
the administrative, direction, management capacity (
) create a large
conglomerate of the system of state-owned and socialist enterprises in
Venezuela, with its various corporations that will group together service
and production facilities. A measure that has been delayed but one that
represents a key way out of the dependence on oil profits and traditional
commercial relations, all those manifestations of capitalist logic. Demands
made by President Chavez in October 2010, Please, I plead you to listen to
this reflection
let us put our knowledge to work on the creation of a new
system, let us not convert production into commodities automatically. That
is capitalism!
Other measures will be just as necessary; the immediate rescue of the
revolutionary spirit, offering up clear measures to reinvigorate the morale
of the people, reaffirming conviction in socialism as a way to overcome the
barbaric capitalist system that degenerates and puts humanity in real
danger. In the words of the heroic theoretician Che Guevara, The state
sometimes makes mistakes. When one of these mistakes occurs, a decline in
collective enthusiasm is reflected by a resulting quantitative decrease of
the contribution of each individual
Work is so paralyzed that
insignificant quantities are produced. It is then the time to make a
correction.
To rectify in this case is not to use a cliché in the vocabulary of the old
left. Instead, it speaks to the need to go to the root of the issue, to
transform the essential. We should understand that the crossroads facing the
Bolivarian revolution is not for more dividends and benefits, but between a
murderous, outdated and harmful system like capitalism, and a system of
organization that is liberating and highly humanist, such as socialism.
The Bolivarian government has the obligation to rectify its policy of
conciliation between classes, it has the obligation to radicalize. Many
think that radicalization means losing the government, but in reality if you
do not radicalize you cannot govern. The government has on its side a people
that is majority Chavista, that in times of heightened class struggle and
electoral polarization strongly advances and provides a crucial support.
Likewise, the Venezuelan government receives the majority of foreign
currency through oil revenues.
If it doesnt radicalize, austerity and the far right will impose
themselves, or the path of conciliation will eliminate the socialist
characteristics of the revolution and convert it into a social-democratic
ogre in the style of the Mexican PRI party, remaining in power but at the
expense of its own revolutionary sense of existence. The path of
conciliation means being resigned to reforming the rentier capitalism that
characterized the Venezuelan economy and merely decorates the bourgeois
structure of the Venezuelan state.
While there are no definitions, while the above isnt clear, uncertainty
prevails in the population, discontent increases, confusion prevails. By way
of a government of national unity, demobilization will be gradual and
monitored, with the possibility of civil conflict.
*The Tatuy television collective is based in Merida state and aims to cover
news and issues from a local and socialist perspective: working with
communal councils and social organizations to ensure that television isnt
just passively watched, but is a communication tool for organizing. It
receives some support from national government organizations, but depends
mostly on the volunteered time of dedicated members
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A Country In The Midst Of Revolutionary Change
Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 12.09.33 PM
Note: Venezuela has been in the midst of a radical transformation even
before Hugo Chavez was elected in 1999. For years the country was a classic
oligarchic run nation where wealth was controlled by a small number of
people and there were high levels of poverty, illiteracy and social problems
resulting from an unfair economy. Chavez brought in the ideas of the
Bolivarian Revolution and 21st Century Socialism. This included a new
constitution that changed the power structure and resulted in decreases in
poverty and illiteracy, the creation of worker owned cooperatives, community
councils that allowed direct democracy, community-based media and so much
more. But, the oligarchs continue to fight back, to return to the old ways.
Venezuela also continues to have economic challenges because the country is
dependent on one major source of income oil. As the price changes it
impacts all aspects of the country. Right now the price of oil has dropped
dramatically with negative impacts on the economy. The oligarchs still
control the mass media, which has been a constant critic of the government.
They also control many of the businesses and some have been caught hoarding
basic necessities or sending them into Colombia in order to create shortages
in Venezuela and anger at the government. And, there have been major
problems with the valuation of currency, a black market in currency and
inflation.
It is not easy to throw of the oligarchs when they still retain so much
power, and it is not made any easier with the United States doing all it can
through agencies like the USAID and National Endowment for Democracy doing
all they can to aide the oligarchs and foment dissent. It is also made more
difficult with the US allied Colombia on the border also causing problems.
Venezuela could be a great laboratory many countries could learn from.
Recent research shows that the United States is also an oligarchy,
controlled by money which has corrupted the political system. How do we
break-away from being a neo-liberal oligarchy that seeks to cut the social
safety net, privatize and commodify public goods and de-regulate big
business so it can profit from cheap labor, an unfair finance system,
environmental degradation and what would normally be defined as corrupt
practices. Rather than stifling change in Venezuela the US should let the
country, and others in the region and world, evolve so we can learn better
governance and economic management. KZ
Venezuela At A Crossroads
Will the current economic crisis be overcome? What does the future hold for
Colombian-Venezuelan relations? Will the people continue to support the
party of Chavismo?
Despite two years of economic difficulties in Venezuela, as well as months
of organized violence and destruction at street barricades by some sectors
of the opposition, a majority of Venezuelans continue to firmly support
socialism. But what is the way out of this difficult situation? Over the
next few months teleSUR English will be providing a deep analysis that
contrasts with that of the mainstream, hearing from people on the ground in
Venezuela. This first contribution was written collectively by members of
the Tatuy television collective*, in Merida, Venezuela.
In order to understand the Venezuelan reality, it is necessary to go beyond
the headlines that appear every morning on a smart phone and go beyond the
basic news treatment by some local radio or TV outlets, as Venezuela is not
only facing a series of controversial circumstantial situations, but also
has set out a social, cultural, and political project that defines
contemporary world history and is facing an important crossroads: the
challenge of losing or preserving and deepening a socialist revolution.
Many other nations, peoples, and organizations throughout the world have
many expectations about the future of the Bolivarian revolution. Will the
current economic crisis be overcome? What does the future hold for
Colombian-Venezuelan relations? Will the people continue to support the
party of Chavismo? Will the lack of basic goods condemn the revolution? To
answer these questions it is necessary to do a review of the structural
causes of the recent political and economic phenomenons in this country.
Despite the amount of time the Chavista government has been in power, and
despite the advances in various social matters, the Bolivarian process has
not been able to overcome capitalist and rentier logic based on a
single-product economy, dependent entirely on the price of oil, with limited
industrial development, which worsens with the ongoing global crisis. All of
this is in addition to the moral blow with the death of the promoter of the
revolutionary project in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, who promoted overcoming
that dependency, the diversification of the economy, the political
strengthening of the state, welfare and a series of goals organized within
his last platform, known as the Plan of the Homeland. Other contradictions
have emerged in this process that impede the radicalization of the socialist
project: the opportunist and reformist policies that have been inherited by
old political traditions, which in the face of todays ambiguity, do not
fight against corruption and bureaucracy but rather maintain it, which
undoubtedly slows the strategic objectives of the revolutionary plan. This
situation is the result of a power struggle between two antagonistic
socio-economic models within a revolutionary process with pacifist
characteristics.
In the midst of this contest, the immediate reaction by a part of the
hegemonic national and international powers has been swift, precisely
because the Bolivarian revolution has acted as a brake on their economic,
financial, and political interests, becoming an alternative to the
prevailing neoliberal model. Violent barricades with painful results,
economic sabotage, a boycott of the national oil company and even a coup
detat, have been some of the reactions of the historically dominant class.
Now they have sharpened and are using different political strategies, such
as the hoarding of basic goods, hyper inflation, the devaluation of the
national currency, the export of contraband goods in the border regions,
currency flight, social decomposition, among other problems that have,
without a doubt, affected the daily life of the Venezuelan people. They are
putting the Bolivarian government in check and feed the perception of
ungovernability, precisely in the year that will electorally define the
confidence of the people in their process, in the upcoming National Assembly
elections (in December).
Nonetheless, the Chavista government has spared no effort in confronting
these different issues, efforts that have essentially consisted of a solid
alliance between the government, the armed forces, and the organized people;
a strong institutional presence grounded in the optimal management of
different areas like the distribution and subsidy of basic foodstuffs,
adjustment and control of prices, citizen security, the spreading of
education to the masses, the stimulus of the productive apparatus through
research and funding, without forgetting a coherent participation on the
international scene, which coincides with solidarity with other countries in
the world. But unfortunately this has not been enough to defeat the
aspirations of the empire and the national bourgeoisie: the majority of
national production is still in the hands of private companies; the
state-owned companies or those created by the revolution have not reached an
optimal organizational level nor optimal operation; the role of the party of
the revolution, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has been timid and
ambiguous in overcoming the logic of electoralism, diminishing the strength
of the role of a vanguard organization that guides its government and its
people through the true revolutionary paths. In addition, the government of
Nicolas Maduro has based its strategy on dialogue and consensus with the
enemy; which evidently has not resolved the conflict, to the contrary, it
has worsened it.
In that sense, the establishment of new means of defending the revolution is
indispensable. In the words of Chavez in the speech that was called Strike
at the Helm: Conditions that guide the transition to socialism
with this
new cycle starting, we must become more efficient in the revolutionary
construction of a new political, economic, social, and cultural model. This
will only be achieved through the radicalization of what, until this point,
has been built. Starting with urgent policy measures in different areas,
such as the nationalization of the banking sector, placing the financial
apparatus at the service of the revolution, avoiding the flight of capital
abroad, speculation and the increase of activity of the parallel currency
exchange market, nationalization of foreign trade, planning of imports,
activating national production and regulating prices. Also, conglomerating
all nationalized companies, bringing them together in an organic system that
President Maduro himself requested in September, 2014: We must strengthen
the administrative, direction, management capacity (
) create a large
conglomerate of the system of state-owned and socialist enterprises in
Venezuela, with its various corporations that will group together service
and production facilities. A measure that has been delayed but one that
represents a key way out of the dependence on oil profits and traditional
commercial relations, all those manifestations of capitalist logic. Demands
made by President Chavez in October 2010, Please, I plead you to listen to
this reflection
let us put our knowledge to work on the creation of a new
system, let us not convert production into commodities automatically. That
is capitalism!
Other measures will be just as necessary; the immediate rescue of the
revolutionary spirit, offering up clear measures to reinvigorate the morale
of the people, reaffirming conviction in socialism as a way to overcome the
barbaric capitalist system that degenerates and puts humanity in real
danger. In the words of the heroic theoretician Che Guevara, The state
sometimes makes mistakes. When one of these mistakes occurs, a decline in
collective enthusiasm is reflected by a resulting quantitative decrease of
the contribution of each individual
Work is so paralyzed that
insignificant quantities are produced. It is then the time to make a
correction.
To rectify in this case is not to use a cliché in the vocabulary of the old
left. Instead, it speaks to the need to go to the root of the issue, to
transform the essential. We should understand that the crossroads facing the
Bolivarian revolution is not for more dividends and benefits, but between a
murderous, outdated and harmful system like capitalism, and a system of
organization that is liberating and highly humanist, such as socialism.
The Bolivarian government has the obligation to rectify its policy of
conciliation between classes, it has the obligation to radicalize. Many
think that radicalization means losing the government, but in reality if you
do not radicalize you cannot govern. The government has on its side a people
that is majority Chavista, that in times of heightened class struggle and
electoral polarization strongly advances and provides a crucial support.
Likewise, the Venezuelan government receives the majority of foreign
currency through oil revenues.
If it doesnt radicalize, austerity and the far right will impose
themselves, or the path of conciliation will eliminate the socialist
characteristics of the revolution and convert it into a social-democratic
ogre in the style of the Mexican PRI party, remaining in power but at the
expense of its own revolutionary sense of existence. The path of
conciliation means being resigned to reforming the rentier capitalism that
characterized the Venezuelan economy and merely decorates the bourgeois
structure of the Venezuelan state.
While there are no definitions, while the above isnt clear, uncertainty
prevails in the population, discontent increases, confusion prevails. By way
of a government of national unity, demobilization will be gradual and
monitored, with the possibility of civil conflict.
*The Tatuy television collective is based in Merida state and aims to cover
news and issues from a local and socialist perspective: working with
communal councils and social organizations to ensure that television isnt
just passively watched, but is a communication tool for organizing. It
receives some support from national government organizations, but depends
mostly on the volunteered time of dedicated members
A Country In The Midst Of Revolutionary Change | PopularResistance.Or
