[Marxism] Venezuela Trains Students in Use of Rifles, Guerilla Tactics

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Via NY Transfer News Collective
All the News that Doesn't Fit

VHeadline.com
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=3D25845

Military trains students to use rifles; study guerilla
tactics in case of an external threat to Venezuelan
national sovereignty

by Carlos Herrera

The threat of intervention in Venezuela's sovereign
affairs ... either directly from the US beach head in
Latin America represented by Plan Colombia or
direct intervention using US troops, cruise missiles,
smart bombs etc., or the constant stream of distorted
statements from US State Department spokesmen
laying the ground to "prove" that Chavez is
consorting with terrorists are all elements of the
growing US hostility from the government of George
W. Bush towards the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela and its sovereign people.


The latter strategy has been implemented with the
connivance of corporate US media outlets such as
Fox News, CNN en espanol and the help of
deluded extreme right-wing journalists such as
Mary Anastasia O'Grady writing in the Wall Street
Journal, Michael Rowan in various Caracas-based
publications such as El Universal and The Daily
Journal, Phil Gunson operating out of Miami ... as
well as other paid hacks.


US attorney Eva Golinger stated that more than 50
articles ... all with the same negative tone ... had
been published in recent weeks in the US mass
media, when Venezuela NEVER receives this
amount of coverage.


Such coverage is limited to Chavez funding the
Colombian guerrillas, buying arms from Russia,
being friends with Fidel Castro, troops taking
over private property, more poverty than ever in
Venezuela and any other negative aspects these
hacks could dream up in their servile roles of
supporting the Bush doctrine of combating
terrorism, real or imagined, at any cost.


In the case of Venezuela, like Iraq and Afghanistan,
it's all about "black gold" or natural gas.


Suffice to say that no mention is made of respecting
the democratic will of the Venezuelan people after 9
elections or referendum victories in six years
supporting Chavez himself and his policies ... or the
fact that social policies implemented by the
Bolivarian Revolution via the Missions are specifically
aimed at restoring basic human dignity, human rights
and self-esteem to almost 20 million Venezuelans who
had never had access to anything.


Since these accomplishments cannot be measured in
dollars and cents, they do not exist for the
one-dimensional mentality of the US corporate mass
media and their Venezuelan off shoots. This is more
than sad. It is tragic.


On February 29, 2004, there was a massive march and
rally on the main freeway that passes through Caracas
near the botanical gardens, the theme of which was
"No to Yankee Imperialism." Chavez spoke for nigh on
2 hours to almost one million Bolivarians plus a
nationwide TV audience and it was at this point that
the national defense of Venezuela against US
intimidation and threats began to take shape. It was
then that the Bolivarian Revolution was declared
"anti-imperialist".


What measures are being taken?

Since one of the cornerstones of the social
transformation of Venezuela as exemplified in the
context of the democratic Bolivarian Revolution
is based on civic-military union and cooperation,
not only in order to strengthen ties but also actively
working together on projects to improve the lot of
the majority poor, Chavez invited the "pueblo" to
go to the local garrisons and barracks to receive
training in self-defense. This was the first important
step to gradually mobilize the mass of the population.


Last Sunday in the President's weekly radio and TV
program "Alo Presidente," Chavez called on the
"revolutionary squads" to prepare themselves and
organize the local populace. This is the first time he
has mentioned this strategy to my certain knowledge.


Previous to this ... about two years ago ... the
abandoned military reserve had been reactivated
consisting mainly of men and women who had
once served in the military and who had been
trained is the use of arms. The establishment of
the reservists started with 50,000 and by July
this year should be in the region of
190,000-200,000. These reservists are paid,
armed and encouraged to form cooperatives so
as to generate both wealth and work in the
function of the needs of the country.


Venezuela's armed forces consist of 120,000 men
and women in all four components -- Army, Navy,
Air Force and National Guard. These numbers are
due to be increased and fresh weapons purchased
from Brazil and Russia in preparation for the
defense of the homeland against any external threat
as outlined above. Even though the official line is
that the 100,000 AK 47 assault rifles from Russia
will be used to replace outdated bolt action
weapons, the latter will still exist in order to arm
the population in the case of an emergency.


In a news report on Venezuelan National Radio
(RNV) last night, it was revealed that the Bolivarian
University of Venezuela (UBV) will be located
in the barracks and garrisons of the armed forces.


To understand the significance of this strategic move,
it is necessary to grasp the ethos and purpose of the
UBV. This popular university was created in June
2003 so as to guarantee university places to the sons
and daughters of the poor who has been historically
excluded from the middle class dominated
educational elitist institutions such as the Central
University of Venezuela (UCV) and the Simon
Bolivar University (USB).


In fact, it meant the mass-ification of higher education
and as such had to be nationwide.


Thus, the plan was to "municipalize" classes all over
the country, usually in the evening when school
classrooms are vacant, so that students could receive
classes in their own towns, and not have to travel.
Effectively, this is the true democratization of
education with the poorest receiving monthly grants
of around US$100. The UBV will eventually have
400,000 students rivaling Beijing University as the
largest in the world.


Most of the students now studying in the UBV
entered through Mission Sucre, designed to allow
access of the underprivileged to university
education - thus most of these students will have
received the benefit of the Chavez social/educational
policies and should be committed to the process of
change which has allowed them to study and make
more of their lives, especially as some in their early
30s had waited ten years or more to secure a
university place.


By extension, this "municipalization" has been
extended to military installations, where classes will
still be held, where students can learn and study the
Bolivarian Constitution as well as how to sow and
plant in line with the policy of "endogenous
development" or self-sufficiency. Now, however,
being under the wing of the military trainers, they
can also learn how to use a rifle and study guerilla
tactics in the case of the materialization of an
external threat to Venezuelan national sovereignty.


The long term plan is to mobilize millions of citizens,
students, reservists and professional soldiers to be at
the ready in case their is a direct intervention either
via Colombia or from US troops trying to take oil
installations or wells.


Critics may whine that Chavez is "militarizing"
Venezuelan society -but what else do you expect the
government to do?

* Disarm, as was the case in Haiti, and allow Chavez to
be kidnapped as was President Aristide?

* Or be like Costa Rica, where there is only a police
force and no military?


The Bolivarian military doctrine clearly states that
the armed forces are the people in arms and vice-versa -
that is everyone. I can personally vouch for the fact that
many poor who live in the barrios (slum districts)
in the provinces, are already preparing themselves for
an invasion, even without the constant cajoling of
President Chavez.

Why?

Since they are conscious of what happened In
Guatemala in 1954, Brazil in 1964, Chile in 1973,
Grenada in 1986, Panama in 1989, Nicaragua and
El Salvador in the 1980's and more recently in
Haiti in February 2004, without mentioning the
human tragedy taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They understand the implications of the 1823
Monroe Doctrine.


No one really knows how many people are ready,
and I am not one to hazard a guess on this strategic
matter


The US State Department must realize that if their
boss continues with this destabilization policy with
a view to invasion or assassination of Chavez, then
the consequences could be disastrous on a long,
long term basis, as described in my article
published yesterday:
See http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=3D25822
"Let's hope and pray that US corporate greed does not
trigger a blood bath," either by invading or attempting
to assassinate Chavez.


International public opinion and diplomatic moves in the
OAS, UN could prevent a preemptive strike on Venezuela,
but rest assured, that the "pueblo" will always be on the
alert and prepared together with our armed forces. The
US could conceivably occupy Venezuela, but the word
"surrender" (rendicion) does not exist either in Cuban or
Bolivarian vocabulary, for that matter.


South American integration is a huge obstacle to US
hegemony in the region and has effectively stopped the
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) dead in its
tracks, and thus US corporate exploitation and greed at
the expense of disseminating more poverty in the region.


I propose reciprocal military defense alliances
between all signatory countries to the South American
Community of Nations (CSN). This could bediscussed
at the next meeting as early as April.


I am also certain that we can depend on the support
of international players such as China, Cuba, Russia
and Iran as the US continues to isolate itself on the
geopolitical stage, simply due to the war mongering
mentality of the hawks in the Bush administration
driven blindly forward by US transnational
corporations in their quest for Nazi-like world
domination, as Bob Chapman of the International
Forecaster has asserted in recent months.


The days, weeks and months ahead could be tense and
difficult but action has to be taken and the population
prepared. Bolivarians are peace loving but we also
demand respect for our right to self-determination and
to implement our own values and create a society based
on human dignity and equality.



Venezuela is not a threat to the US and we do not possess
WMD's -=AD neither did Iraq -=AD just dignity and free
will to shape our own destiny and that of our children and
grand children.


We will not shirk to defend ourselves and our country
since this is not just about Venezuela=85.but about all
the underprivileged and excluded in Central America,
the Caribbean basin and South America, in fact the poor
on all continents who represent around 4 billion human
beings at the last count.

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