Venezuela: A New Phase In The Revolution

The social and political turmoil that has rocked
Venezuela since the election of the radical left-populist former army
officer, Hugo Chávez, as President, in 1999, has now entered a new and
critical phase.

By Tony Saunois, CWI.

Chávez has now called for the arming of the population and
the setting up of a "people’s militia". He has also directly attacked
capitalism for the first time and declared that the "Bolivarian revolution
has entered a new anti-imperialist phase".

At the same time, 7,000 workers at Siderúrgica del
Orinoco (Sidor) – Latin America’s largest steel company – have been on
strike for over a month, demanding nationalisation of the plant.

This move to the left by Chávez comes in the wake of
the arrest of up to 130 Colombian paramilitaries in Venezuela following
the discovery of another plot to overthrow him or possibly assassinate
him. The threat of counter revolution, and the massive pressure from the
working class for more radical and militant measures to be taken by the
government, has pushed Chávez to the left. This is likely to open up a
critical conjuncture for the Venezuelan revolution.

The need for the working class to embrace the ideas of
socialism and to overthrow capitalism, by carrying out a socialist
revolution, is now posed as a matter of urgency. The creation of a mass
revolutionary socialist party that will fight for this is essential to
carry through the socialist revolution and decisively defeat the threat of
reaction.

US imperialism, and the Venezuelan ruling class, has
so far tried to overthrow the Chávez government on two occasions. They
were defeated on both occasions by the mass movement and intervention of
the working class and the rank and file of the army.

Spontaneous

Firstly, a spontaneous mass movement of workers, the
urban poor, and rank and file soldiers defeated an attempted coup in April
2002. After being arrested and removed from power the mass movement of
workers released Chávez from his prison cell and re-instated him as
President.

Secondly, the bosses ‘lock-out’, which ran between
December 2002 and January 2003, was eventually broken by the determined
resistance of the working class.

Throughout Chávez’s government the ruling class has
conducted a policy of economic and political sabotage. A flight of capital
has taken place and the rich elite took their wealth out of the country.
The ‘lock out’ alone cost an estimated US$40 billion in lost oil revenue.

The ‘lock out’ was followed by an attempt by the
right-wing opposition to collect the 2.4 million signatures needed to
force the recall of Chávez and a new Presidential election. This campaign
– which is still being fought out in the judiciary – was reduced to almost
farcical proportions. Initially the right-wing claimed they had collected
3.8 million names. One of their spokespeople then corrected this and said
in fact it was only 2.8 million. They then delayed handing them in to be
verified for a period of 20 days.

At that stage, they claimed they had 3.4 million but
accepted that a margin of error of at least 10% was possible. The names
submitted included people who had were dead, some more than a decade ago!
The campaign’s credibility was then struck a further blow when a
journalist revealed a taped phone conversation between an opposition
leader and his father in Paris.

During the conversation, it was said the campaign had
collected only 1.9 million signatures. The veracity of the tape was
accepted by them the signature campaign, but they took the journalist to
court for divulging it in a paper and on the television!

Far right death squads

It is against this background that the latest attempt
at counter revolution involving Colombian paramilitaries has been exposed.
Although the details remain unclear it has been established that up to 130
Colombians entered Venezuela and were undertaking arms training at a ranch
just outside Caracas. The ranch belongs to Robert Alonso, an anti-Castro
Cuban, and a leading member of the Venezuelan opposition.

Amongst those arrested are known longstanding members
of the Autonomous Self-Defence Forces (AUC), a far right Colombian
paramilitary death squad. Implicated in the plot is the former Venezuelan
President, Carlos Andrés Pérez. In a recent radio interview in Colombia
Pérez stated that Chávez should be got rid of by force because it must now
be recognised that it could not be done peacefully.

It appears that the plotters’ plan was to attack a
military base and obtain arms for a larger force that was to arrive later
from Colombia. Some reports also point to a plan to secure military
aircraft and then to bomb the Miraflores Presidential Palace. Other
reports indicate that a campaign of bombings and shootings was to be
organised as a means of provoking greater instability and as a means of
justifying an attempt to overthrow Chávez.

This also comes against the back ground of increased
tensions between Colombia and Venezuela. The Colombian government has
recently purchased over 40 AMX30 tanks from the Spanish government.
Colombia is also the largest recipient of military aid from the US after
Israel following the implementation of ‘Plan Colombia’ which was initiated
by Clinton placing Colombia centre stage of US imperialism’s threatre of
operations in Latin America. Inevitably both the Colombian and US
governments have denied any involvement in the recent paramilitary
operation.

Although it cannot be excluded this attempt was a
‘freelance operation’, by a right wing grouping operating on it own, US
imperialism, the Venezuelan ruling class, and the right wing Colombian
government of Uribe want Chávez out. Only one week before the uncovering
of this operation the Colombia Senate had passed a resolution attacking
Chávez.

Attempted coup

Bush’s regime supported both the attempted coup in April 2002 and
the ‘lock out’ in 2003/2004. The Democratic Party Presidential candidate,
John Kerry, has attacked Chávez for being ‘undemocratic’. It is possible
that both US imperialism and the ruling class in Colombia and Venezuela
are now hoping to remove Chávez by operating through proxy forces from
Colombia which work in collusion with the right-wing opposition in
Venezuela.

Venezuela is the fifth largest producer of oil
internationally and one of the largest suppliers of imported oil to the
US. The crisis in the Middle East emphasised the need for US imperialism
to have what it regards as a ‘safe’ or ‘friendly’ regime in Venezuela. US
imperialism fears that the working class and mass movement that has
developed in Venezuela could push Chávez to attack their interests more
directly than he has been prepared do until now. Recent events are
indicating that the fears of US imperialism are more than justified.

Chávez has been a thorn in the side of US imperialism.
He has supported higher oil prices and attacked US foreign policy,
especially in relation to Iraq. Domestically he has introduced some
important reforms in favour of the working class and poorest sections of
society and attacked the corrupt political elite and removed some of their
privileges.

Three million acres of land have been distributed to
peasant co-operatives. The education reform has put 3 million additional
people through primary and secondary education. Universities for the first
time have opened up to the working class – 3,200 new schools have been
opened. One million people have been lifted out of illiteracy, with a
target of 1.5 million being reached by this summer.

Millions are receiving
primary health care for the first time – one million in Caracas, alone –
through the Plan Barrios Adentro (‘Into the Neighbourhoods’) programme.
This has included the deployment of 3,500 doctors from Cuba who have been
sent into the poorest areas – including rural areas which have never
previously had access to doctors.

These reforms have been opposed by the right-wing
opposition. Chávez and his government have the overwhelming and
enthusiastic support of the mass of the working class and the most
downtrodden. He is seen by millions of the poorest sections of society as
representing their interests. As a result he is hated by the ruling class.

However, Chávez has not yet moved to overthrow
capitalism. The government has not yet nationalised any sector of the
economy. Chávez, and the ‘Bolivarian revolution’ which he has advocated,
have so far only posed the question of a ‘more humane form of capitalism’
and taken steps to ‘clean up’ the corruption and patronage with which the
ruling elite have run Venezuela.

But even this has aroused the hatred and the wrath of
the ruling class. The failure to go further and decisively break with
capitalism has resulted in a certain stalemate in the class struggle in
the recent period. Reaction has failed to triumph and has not been strong
enough to overthrow the government.

Yet, at the same time, the revolution has not taken
the necessary measures to overthrow capitalism and to begin the task of
building socialism.

Impasse

This has resulted in an impasse that may continue for
some time. However, it cannot continue indefinitely. Either the revolution
must make a decisive blow against capitalism or reaction will triumph.
Unfortunately Chávez has not posed the question of the working class
taking over the running of society and beginning to build socialism.

The failure of Chávez to adopt such a programme is
posing the greatest threat to the revolution. When reinstated by the
masses as President, following the failed right wing coup in 2002, Chávez
made the mistake of trying to placate the ruling class and to reach an
agreement with them, rather than striking a decisive blow against them. In
doing so, Chávez gave them time to prepare again to overthrow his regime
and inflict a bloody defeat on the working class.

The current impasse has undoubtedly lost Chávez some
support amongst the middle class. He was originally elected with over 60%
of the popular vote. The economic crisis has meant that although some
reforms have been implemented there is still massive unemployment.
Inflation soared to 30% and began to eat into the saving of the middle
class. 70% of the population now live below the poverty line.

In the first
three years of Chávez’s government, GDP fell by an incredible 47%. Much of
this was due to the boss’s ‘lock out’, the flight of capital out of the
country, and other acts of economic sabotage. However, the social
consequences of this crisis partly eroded support for Chávez’s government.

Initially Chávez won the support of a significant section of the middle
class. By remaining within the framework of capitalism, not acting
decisively to break from it and thereby being unable to resolve their
problems Chávez has now lost the support of significant sections of the
middle class which originally supported him.

Price of Oil

The recent rise in the price of oil, coupled with the
ending of the lock out, has increased government revenue and given it some
more room to manoeuvre. The May report by the Venezuelan Central bank
points to a growth in the economy of 29.8% in the first quarter of 2004
when compared to the same period in 2003. In other words, the collapse
caused by the lock out has now been made up. Oil related economic activity
is up 72.5%. The minimum wage was increased by 30% on May Day.

However, this does not reduce the threat of reaction,
as recent events have illustrated. The crisis in the Middle East, and
especially Iraq, is increasing the need for US imperialism to have a ‘safe
pair of hands’ running things in Caracas.

Faced with this new attempt by reaction to overthrow
his regime, and increasing pressure by the masses, Chávez seems to have
moved in a more radical left direction. He has been driven by the threat
of counter revolution – which this time would probably not only imprison
him if it were able to strike another blow and secure a victory.

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets on 17 May in
opposition to the Colombian intervention. Chávez called for the arming of
the people and the establishment of a "people’s militia".

On 14 May, Chávez called for ‘expropriation of any building, property or installation
where there is proof that these paramilitary groups have been training’.
He also criticised the fact that "…after the Cold War many on the left
stopped talking about capitalism, replacing it with the neo-liberalism.

Both terms refer to the same assassin, perverse and stinky empire."
Unfortunately, Chávez still has not raised the need for socialism as an
alternative to capitalism, and he has looked to the UN as providing a
‘solution’ to the conflict in the Middle East. Without warning of the new
‘socialist’ Spanish government’s support for capitalism Chávez also simply
welcomed Zapatero’s recent election in Spain.

On 17 May, following the announcement that the
National Defence Council is now sitting in permanent session, Chávez
declared that in the next few weeks: "I will start to give out directives
and lines, I appeal for the support of the local councils, the social
movements, the popular currents. Adult men and women, who are not in the
reserve, but who are ready, in a different way, to become soldiers without
having to go through the barracks, to receive military training and
organise militarily for the defence of the country".

This general appeal must be turned into a reality by
the working class and mass movement. The Venezuela revolution does not
need friends who simply applaud radical steps and speeches.

International Workers’ Solidarity

What it needs is genuine international workers’
solidarity and a revolutionary socialist programme that draws on the
collective international experience of the working class. A revolutionary
socialist programme and exchange of the international experiences of the
working class will strengthen the Venezuelan masses in the struggle to
defeat capitalism and imperialism.

Chávez’s call for the arming of the people must now be
made concrete by the independent action of the working class and rank and
file of the army. In Chile, before the 1973 bloody coup that overthrew the
left wing government of Allende, the working class demanded arms to defend
the revolution. 500,000 marched before the Presidential Palace demanding
arms. Some workers even had some light arms and defence squads were formed
in some factories. The leaders responded that arms would be distributed
‘when the time was right’.

Tragically, however, even this was not enough. When
the coup came there were no arms. The workers went to the factories as the
Allende government asked that they "turn them into fortresses of the
revolution" rather then go onto the offensive and confront the counter
revolution by marching to the Presidential Palace. Defenceless, the
workers were slaughtered by the pro-coup sections of the army.

This tradgic defeat is in contrast to events during
the revolution in Spain in July 1936 in Barcelona where the working class
went onto the offensive, took arms from the barracks, sieze control of the
city and defeated the counter revolution at that stage. The revolution was
eventually lost during the civil war because of the wrong polices of the
leadership of the workers’ movement.

Workers’ militia

The working class of Venezuela, and the rank and file
of the army, need to take the concrete steps necessary to establish an
armed workers’ militia.

Soldiers need to elect rank and file committees and to
begin the task of distributing arms to workers’ defence squads, which need
to be formed. These soldiers’ committees should also establish a system of
electing officers and removing those who sympathize with the right wing
pro-coup forces.

Some pro-coup officers have already been removed but
this must now be extended, and each officer subject to election and the
right of recall by elected committees of rank and file soldiers.

Every factory, work place, and shanty town needs to
organise a defence squad. These must be linked up and organised by the
Bolivarian Committees. The Bolivarian Committees must be expanded to
included elected delegates from all workplaces, community organisations,
UNT and others.

Elected delegates must be subject to recall by
workplace assemblies. The Bolivarian Committees need to link up on a
district, citywide, regional and national level, and to establish a
revolutionary government of workers and poor peasants.

The establishment of a workers’ militia, under the
democratic control of the working class, would represent a tremendous step
forward. However, on its own even this step will not ensure that reaction
is defeated and that the working class is victorious.

The lessons of the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39, are
vital. The Spanish working class was armed and fought heroically. However,
due to the wrong policies of the Socialist and Communist leaders,
capitalism was not overthrown and a workers’ government was not
established. As a result Franco’s fascist forces emerged victorious.

The established of a workers’ militia in Venezuela
must also be linked to the establishment of a government of workers’ and
peasants’ with a revolutionary socialist programme. The major companies,
banks, and financial institutions, both national and multi-national, must
be nationalised under democratic workers’ control and management. An
emergency economic plan needs to be drawn up.

Democratic workers’ management

An element of workers’ control has been established in
some workplaces and in the crucial state owned PVDSA oil company. Workers
in each work place need to take over the day-to-day running of each
factory and workplace. This needs to be linked to a system of democratic
workers’ management over the whole economy.

The boards of nationalised
companies need to be made up of elected representatives of the workers in
the industry, the workers’ government’ and the UNT (Bolivarian trade union
federation). All such delegates should be subject to immediate recall and
should receive no more than the average wage of a skilled worker. All
government officials should be subject to the same scrutiny and democratic
control by the working class.

The workers’ organisations are being strengthened. The
UNT claims 2 million members that are grouped into 500 unions. These
include the two largest oil workers’ unions, Fedepetrol and Sinutrapetrol,
the public sector union Fentrasep, and private sector unions at Firestone,
Pirelli, Ford, Polar, and Bigott. The old corrupt bosses’ union
federation, the CTV, has lost more and more support. However, only 20% of
the workforce is unionised. The UNT has launched a campaign to organise
80% of the work force.

The occupation of some workplaces and the mass
mobilisations all point towards a more militant shift to the left by the
masses, who are demanding that the revolution goes further. Significantly,
on the May Day demonstration this year, some unions, such as the Graphic
Arts Union, carried banners proclaiming: "Let’s defend our homeland. No to
US invasion. Venezuela towards socialism."

The turn to the left by Chávez and the mass movement
may also push his regime to strike more direct blows against capitalism
and imperialism, including nationalisations of some industry.

If this does happen, and the idea of socialism emerges
more strongly within the revolution, the struggle in Venezuela will
undoubtedly have more far reaching international repercussions than it has
had so far.

To ensure victory capitalism must be overthrown
through the implementation of a revolutionary socialist programme. This
must also include an appeal to the working class of Latin America and the
US for solidarity and support, and for solidarity struggle against any
attempt by imperialism to defeat such a revolution.

Such an appeal in the context of the massive
anti-imperialist consciousness which has developed as a consequence of the
Iraq war would receive massive support internationally – including amongst
the workers and youth of the USA.

An appeal for international solidarity would need to
be linked to the idea of establishing a democratic socialist federation of
Latin America and the US.

Only such a programme can defeat imperialism and the
ruling class in Venezuela.