[Marxism] Aijaz Ahmad on Bolivian developments

[John Enyang <x03002f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

an extract:

 As noted above, the future is still open and Morales is likely to keep
moving in contrary directions until settling down to hard practical
choices. Five things need to be said in this uncertain conjuncture.

First, Morales should be given the benefit of the doubt. Propaganda
against him as a fire-eating apprentice of Fidel and Chavez is so great,
the economic situation in Bolivia is so dire, its dependence on the
outside world (including "friends" like Lula's Brazil) is so real, the
transition so difficult, that he does need to be cautious. As Fidel once
said: "Radical in action, moderate in words."

Second, when Chavez first made his appearance on the Venezuelan scene, he
was basically just a do-good, Robin Hood-type character. Only over time,
step by step, learning from failures and half measures, acting on his own
authenticity and ambition to serve his people, did he become a
revolutionary; and only in the last few months has he begun to speak of
"socialism of the 21st century," lacing his free-wheeling speeches with
quotations from Marx, Lenin, Mao, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, and Che
Guevara. In words at least, Morales is already ahead of where Chavez began
even though he is clearly in awe of where Chavez now stands.

Third, Morales is not an upstart but a known figure in his country's and
continent's politics. Fidel would have never treated Morales, before the
elections and after, unless he perceived that Morales was a potential
Chavez, heading not an army (like Chavez) but an immense mass movement,
larger than any that Allende ever had. The two of them, Fidel and Chavez,
have decided to engage with him constructively, offering aid and advice,
so that Bolivia gains the breathing space and the material strength to
withstand the pressures for cooptation. Meanwhile, Morales has travelled
to Cuba on an airplane sent to him by Castro and is currently touring half
a dozen countries on an airplane lent to him by Chavez because he has
access to no official aircraft until he assumes the presidency officially.
The symbolism of Morales arriving in Iran (or France for that matter) on a
Venezuelan aircraft registered in the U.S. shall not be lost on anyone.

Fourth, there is no such thing as a revolution without mastering the armed
forces. The Bolivian armed forces belong to the Americans and U.S. troops
have carried out an exercise on the Paraguayan side of the Bolivian border
since Morales won the election. The carrot of the World Bank aid comes
with the stick of U.S.-trained armed forces. The great advantage of Chavez
is that he is a military man and enjoys the loyalty of the majority of his
officers, and even then a U.S.-engineered coup came extremely close to
overthrowing him. A story was doing the rounds in Caracas this past
summer, to the effect that as the coup unfolded and Chavez felt cornered
he called Fidel for advice and Fidel said: "Do anything but do not do an
Allende on us." That is an advice pregnant with meaning, and at least one
of the meanings is that when you are overwhelmed by the armed might of the
enemy, revolutionary suicide is not what you should opt for; just live to
fight another day. At least some of the critics of Morales would rather
have him commit revolutionary suicide immediately than to live and engage
in a long-term battle of great courage and subtlety that would be
necessary if a 500-year-old balance of power is to be reversed. What Fidel
seems to be counselling Morales is something for which Lenin had a phrase:
"revolutionary patience". If Morales still betrays the revolution, so be
it.

Fifth, and finally, a point of general analytic import. Since 1989, this
author has argued in a number of writings that the collapse of socialism
in the Soviet Union and the allied countries represents a real historic
defeat and is bound to have global repercussions for the very kind of
revolutions that now take place. Moreover, this defeat has come in a time
when the very class structure in great many Third World countries has been
transformed beyond recognition. Revolutionary forces in this situation
shall not disappear but they will certainly engage in a prolonged period
of experimentation, wherever they are strong enough to engage with
experiments in new revolutionary forms. Only after a prolonged period of
such experimentation shall we really know what form revolutions of the
21st century shall really take, and this experimentation shall involve
critical assessment of the revolutions of the 20th century as much as the
great socialist revolutions of the 20th century arose only after
critically assessing the revolutions of the 19th century. Condemning
Morales for not acting in a Bolshevik manner, before he has proved himself
worthy of condemnation, is somewhat besides the point; he never claimed to
be a Bolshevik or even a Marxist. Fidel, that revolutionary of classical
Leninist mould, is right: teach by example and by deed, help along with
the experimentation, strengthen the forces of the Left, and keep the
international imperialist Right as much at bay as possible. It is only
from within the world as it now exists that revolutions of the future
shall come.

Full:
<flonnet.com/fl2301/stories/20060127005212000.htm>


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