Re: Report from Veneezuela in 'The Militant'

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Fred Feldman quoting a Militant article::

> This is an uneven development, still in its infancy. The almost weekly
> meetings and swirl of activity of the Bolivarian circles at the University
> of Carabobo, for example, contrast with a similar group of municipal workers
> in Caracas that has only met twice since it was founded in April. These
> circles had a prominent role in mobilizing hundreds of thousands for the
> June 29 pro-Chávez march in Caracas, the largest pro-government
> demonstration since the coup.
>  
This is a big improvement from a couple of years ago when the Militant 
was echoing the reactionary trade union leadership in Venezuela:

>>The regime of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has taken steps to 
bring the country's trade unions to heel by subordinating them more 
directly to the capitalist state. It is doing so under the demagogic 
banner of "democratizing" the labor movement and fighting corruption.

full: http://www.themilitant.com/2000/6448/644852.html<<

or characterizing him as a Bonpartist enemy of the working class:

>>This political impasse has produced a figure--Chávez--who presents 
himself as a strong and uncorrupted leader, someone outside the 
establishment, who will take decisive action to "get things done" in the 
interests of "the little man." Chávez has gained popular support for 
denouncing the two parties that alternated rule over Venezuela for the 
previous four decades. He takes a nationalist stand, evoking the figure 
of anticolonial hero Simón Bolívar, as a defender of the country's 
patrimony. His government's role is to protect the interests of 
Venezuela's capitalist class.

full: http://www.themilitant.com/2000/6448/644836.html<<

It would be most salutory if the Militant informed its readers how it 
effected a 180 degree reversal--or at least a 90 degree one. They still 
can't find a way to give critical support to Chavez, an exemplary 
nationalist figure. This--alas--is the main problem with 
Marxist-Leninist formations. They change their minds internally and then 
trot out a new line externally to the masses. This is what made people 
cynical about the CP which would make sharp reverals without a proper 
explanation. For all of the verbiage of the Trotskyist and 
post-Trotskyist movement about how they are superior to Stalinism, a lot 
of bad habits persist.

--

Louis Proyect
www.marxmail.org




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