[Marxism] RE: Venezuela's Left comes together

[David Walters <dwalters@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, seeing as I clearly no as little as Joaquín Bustelo on the  
subject of the Venezuelan Left, then my comments are worth about as  
much as his, I suppose...

Leaving aside for a second HOW people in Venezuela who consider  
themselves socialists and Marxists should organize, with whom,  
dissolve into, or whatever (there are tons of choices don't ya' know  
*within* the camp that openly describes themselves as "Chavista")...I  
wanted to address at least the part of 'delusion' that comrade  
Joaquín alludes too.

I don't know a lot about this new party. I know bits and pieces. I  
know, for example, that in part, the inspiration for this party comes  
from the new PSOL(sp?) party of expelled left wingers from Brazil's  
PT (a fraction I do NOT support, BTW). I know the supporters of the  
USFI in Venezuela plays an important role and I know that this new  
party, far from being a small sect, includes the top leadership of  
one of the most single important institutions of the Venezuelan  
Revolution: the UNT. This includes the "Classista" grouping that  
makes up a majority of the pro-Revolutionary leadership in the UNT  
(yes, the UNT includes some of the CTV unions that saw which way the  
wind was blowing and bolted the CTV without necessarily jettisoning  
the CTV outlook).

Joaquín considers this new part simply another Trotskyoid attempt at  
a sectarian adventure. I would expect this from Joaquín. However,  
people should not take Joaquín's rhetorical attack on this party as  
anything more than the mirror image of the sectarian Trotskyism he  
likes to attack so much. For example, Joaquín writes the following:

  "Calling on "the Venezuelan working class to take state power" is  
just an
  algebraic and abstract way --a shamefaced way-- of saying "Down with
  Chavez!"

My, my, Joaquín, aren't we defensive. You don't really have a clue do  
you? Again, I'm writing this from second hand reports (which,  
probably, is better than Joaquín's 3rd hand report, but who cares?)  
but why do you draw such a conclusion? Is that because you believe  
that the working class has taken state power? Carried through "The  
Revolution" and eliminated the capitalist state? Or this still a  
task, no matter how far off, still on the agenda? Chavez certainly  
thinks  that the revolution is not yet completed, that socialism has  
yet to be built. How do you know that this group isn't just raising  
the call for a faster evolution toward workers power in the same way,  
for example, that the marxist.com folks of Alan Woods is doing, which  
is completely inside the Chavista movement (and has the confidence of  
Chavez) but represents a current within it?

There are *many* groups that call themselves "Chavista" in Venezuela.  
Perhaps Michael Liebowitz can run down the list and give some  
background on them. Some, like Chavez's 5th Republic Movement have  
some of the same corruption problems that were endemic to AD before  
the revolution. There is no unified Chavista organization and it  
could be, and I don' know, that this new group does in fact see  
itself as part of this wider movement. Certainly that many of the top  
UNTers are IN this new party, all of who are pro-revolutionary (which  
is WHY they built the UNT in the first place) should clearly indicate  
which side of the barricades they are on.

Trotskyism, while never organizationally strong in Venezuela, clearly  
has had a long influence, especially among oil workers and other  
parts of the working class there, and this ideology permeates the  
UNT, at least at the leadership level. There was a small section of  
the Chavista fraction inside the old Constituent Assembly who were  
openly Trotskyist, elected as part of the oil workers section of the  
Chavista slate, for example. So it doesn't surprise me that such  
currents, with positions all over the map with regards to Chavez have  
specific issues that require them to organize, at least somewhat,  
independently of the "official" Chavista movement.

There are issues inside the UNT and among the ranks that reflect  
what's going on inside the Chavista movement on the outside of the  
UNT. There are definite wings of the UNT and the Revolution that are  
debating, obviously much to Joaquín annoyance, HOW the Revolution  
should proceed, on the role of the UNT, etc. Obviously, and  
thankfully, there is no great political homogeneity that Joaquín  
would like to project onto the Revolution. There are dozens and even  
hundreds of different organizations debating many issues, including  
"socialism".

The UNT itself reflects the divisions among Venezuelan workers. There  
is the Bolivarian Workers Front, probably the most "pro- 
Chavista"section  of the UNT. There is the Classista current and  
currents from the older CTV I mentioned above. Within the BWF there  
are varying viewpoints on HOW the UNT and WHO the UNT should  
represent,  and how *independent* of Chavez the UNT ought to be and  
here the debate is deep and furious. I think this is a GOOD THING. I  
think in a small way, this new party, again something I know little  
of except the pedigree of some of the leadership, is probably just a  
reflection of the wonderful heterogeneity of the Venezuelan Revolution.

David Walters
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