[Marxism] Soc. Voice: Canada govt. still hostile to post-referendum Venezuela

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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              S O C I A L I S T   V O I C E
 Debate and dialogue on issues before the workers movement

Number 12, September 2, 2004         www.socialistvoice.com
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Editors' Note: Socialist Voice's coverage of the Venezuelan 
referendum is a double-header. The second article, to be 
mailed tomorrow, is titled "Venezuela, Najaf, and New York, 
by Fred Feldman.

Readers are encouraged to forward issues of 
Socialist Voice. Please contribute comments and 
criticisms, subscribe, or unsubscribe by writing: 
socialistvoice@xxxxxxxxxxxxx All issues of Socialist 
Voice are available at www.socialistvoice.com.


OTTAWA STILL HOSTILE TO POST-REFERENDUM VENEZUELA
By John Riddell

Venezuelans can relax now. The Canadian government has 
determined the outcome of their August 15 referendum on 
whether to recall their president, Hugo Chavez.

The day after the vote, Canada's Department of Foreign 
Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) stated merely that 
"Canada is pleased the referendum was orderly" (se soit 
déroulé dans le calme). It also expressed support for the 
observers sent by the Organization of American States 
(OAS). (Agence France Presse, August 16) 

Ottawa sent no congratulations to the Venezuelan government 
for the referendum's success and decisive 59% vote in 
support of Chavez, and it did not defer to the authority of 
Venezuela's electoral commission. Instead, it awaited the 
findings of the OAS observers.

Nine days later, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Jennie Chen 
told Socialist Voice that its initial statement the day 
after the vote  was "misrepresented" by the Globe and Mail 
and had prompted many expressions of concern. DFAIT wished 
to clarify its position, Chen said. Since international 
observers had found no evidence of fraud, "we urge all 
sectors of Venezuelan society to accept the results." (by 
e-mail, August 25) 

The Canadian government has, in effect, applied the Clarity 
Act to Venezuela. This federal law states that Ottawa will 
not recognize the result of a referendum by the Quebecois 
on independence unless the vote meets a set of vaguely 
formulated conditions, to be interpreted by Ottawa alone. 
The question must be judged to be "clear," the margin 
decisive, and so on. 

So too, in Venezuela, the will of the people counts for 
nothing, in Ottawa's view,  until submitted to adjudication 
by observer missions from the OAS and the Carter 
Commission--both hostile to the Bolivarian movement led by 
Chavez. Chen specified to Socialist Voice that Canada had 
contributed four observers to the OAS mission, chosen in 
consultation with Foreign Affairs, and had covered about 
10% of the mission's budget. 

Myopic Observers

The pro-Chavez majority and the mass mobilization that it 
represented were simply too overwhelming to be denied by 
the OAS observers. Even so, two Canadian members of the OAS 
mission, Ken Frankel and John Graham, expressed  grave 
misgivings in a feature article in the Globe and Mail 
August 24. Graham is former Canadian ambassador to 
Venezuela. Frankel is a Toronto-based lawyer whose 
credentials, his website tells us, include "expertise in 
joint venture and consortium projects in telecom and rail 
transportation, and outsourcing" in Latin America and 
elsewhere.

Despite the OAS mission's conclusions, Frankel and Graham 
still deny that the result "fairly represent[ed] the will 
of the people." They refer in vague terms to "Mr. Chavez's 
pre-election manoeuvres" and claim that voters were 
intimidated by soldiers who assured security at polling 
booths.  

Everything about the Chavez regime gets under their skin. 
They accuse Chavez of "bestowing high-profile benefits in 
the tradition of a Boston ward politician." The "benefits" 
in question go far beyond anything found in Boston, or 
Canada for that matter: for example, the provision of free 
dental and medical services in Venezuela's working-class 
communities, with the help of more than 10,000 volunteer 
health personnel from Cuba. 

In the twisted mind of Ottawa's observers, black becomes 
white and white black. 

--A Venezualan police raid on the home of a media baron 
brings the charge, "The media are harassed." 

--The government's efforts to create solidarity between 
army and population signify that Chavez has "politicized 
the military and militarized the population."

--And Chavez would never had won, we are told, except for 
U.S. policy in Iraq, "which has driven up oil prices." 

--The Chavez government, which has brought masses of 
working-class Venezuelans into the political process for 
the first time, threatens to impose "creeping 
authoritarianism" and to lead Venezuela down the Cuban 
path.

Gold-Medal Hypocrisy

The hypocrisy of these charges is mind-boggling. The very 
right to petition for a recall referendum was itself an 
achievement of Venezuela's new constitution, won by the 
Bolivarian movement headed by Chavez. No such nonsense in 
Canada, where the government rules between elections with 
dictatorial powers, recallable only by insurrection.

And the very Canadian government that lectures Venezuelans 
on democracy is itself deeply complicit in the violent 
overthrow this year of a democratically elected government 
in Haiti, now occupied by Canadian troops. (See Socialist 
Voice #11) 

The referendum result was so decisive, the mobilization of 
working people behind the government so massive, that the 
U.S. and Canadian governments have reined in for the moment 
their provocations against Venezuela. But Frankel and 
Graham reflect their true stance--one of ongoing hostility 
to the Bolivarian movement.

What is the reason for this hatred? After all, the Chavez 
government has left untouched all the pillars of rule by 
the capitalist class: their monopoly on productive wealth, 
control of the media, entrenched influence in the state 
apparatus, police, courts, etc. 

Why Chavez Offends

What lies behind imperialism's charges that Chavez  is 
authoritarian and anti-democratic? They have good cause for 
anger: Chavez has committed the crime of crimes against 
capitalist "democracy." He has refused to obey the dictates 
of the capitalist oligarchs, and instead has respected the 
views of those who elected him and acted on his promises. 

The ruling rich do not permit any capitalist government, 
even those elected on a socialist ticket, to grant 
significant concessions to the masses--all the more in the 
current era of "neoliberal" capitalist stagnation and 
heightened competition. The  Bolivarian government of 
Venezuela has violated this rule. It is taking far-reaching 
measures to bring health care to the masses; to enable 
working people to acquire literacy and education; to 
distribute idle state lands to needy peasants; to protect 
the offshore fishery from corporate greed and overfishing; 
to provide state credits to farmers and other independent 
producers; to restore normal relations with Cuba; and much 
more. 

For the capitalist rulers, the most menacing aspect of 
these reforms is their impact on working people: raising 
their hopes and drawing them into action to improve their 
lives.

Outraged, the oligarchs declared war on the elected 
government. Imperialism rallied behind them, providing 
millions of dollars in political subsidies, diplomatic 
support, and a torrent of international "observers." Last 
year, the oligarchs staged a military coup, which was 
quickly defeated. Then they launched a bosses' strike aimed 
at crippling the economy, which failed. The recall 
referendum was their third attempt to overthrow the 
government. 

Through all this turmoil, the Chavez government committed 
its second great crime against capitalist "democracy"--it 
called on the working masses to defend their elected 
government. And through two years that have approached 
conditions of civil war, the masses have gained in 
confidence and organization. 

'Accelerate the Transformation'

While there is no way to predict the future course of this 
government, Chavez has indicated a desire to forge ahead. 
In a televised address reported by Bloomberg August 27, he 
called on private business to join "to build the new 
economy, transforming the capitalist economic model into a 
social, humanist and equality economy.... The time has come 
to accelerate the transformation."

To do this, he proposed to confiscate unused land and to 
"eliminate large land holdings in Venezuela"--hardly a 
measure likely to win enthusiastic support from private 
business.

The mass movement led by Hugo Chavez today stands in 
contradiction to the capitalist state in whose bosom he 
governs. Over time, this contradiction will be resolved 
either by a restoration of capitalist normality or by a 
revolution that overturns capitalism, similar to that in 
Cuba 45 years ago. The referendum's outcome wins time for 
working people to prepare to face this fateful alternative.

Imperialism and the Venezuelan oligarchy have suffered a 
humiliating, historic defeat. The referendum victory 
represents a new Venezuelan declaration of independence 
from foreign rule. An oft-chanted slogan has taken on 
reality: "The people, united, can never be defeated." 
Working people in Venezuela and beyond its borders stand 
taller, more confident of their strength and more ambitious 
in their goals.

We in Canada have a crucial role to play in supporting the 
Venezuelan people and undoing the anti-Venezuelan maneuvers 
of the federal government. 


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