[Marxism] Venezuela on December 2: for an overwhelming yes vote

[Adam Richmond <adambrichmond@xxxxxxxxx>]

Venezuela on December 2: for an overwhelming yes vote            
By Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria (CMR) Revolutionary
Marxist Current    

Friday, 30 November 2007

Statement of the Revolutionary Marxist Current (CMR) of
Venezuela on the December 2 referendum

On December 2 Venezuelans are once again called to the
polling stations to democratically decide on a new step
forward in the revolution, through the ratification of the
69 articles that will reform the 1999 constitution. Against
this reform we find international imperialism, our own
bourgeoisie, the Catholic Church, that is, all the forces
that have been holding back the development of our country
and that for decades have benefited from the sacrifices and
misery of the workers, peasants and poor, that is, the
overwhelming majority of Venezuelans. On the side of the
"Yes" is President Chávez and the great majority of
workers, communities, peasants and youth who for decades -
but especially since Chávez came to power - have been
struggling to overthrow capitalism, to expel imperialism
from the fatherland of Bolivar once and for all and to
create a new socialist society in Venezuela as a first step
towards a socialist revolution in the whole of Latin
America.

The CMR is in favour of an avalanche of YES votes

The Revolutionary Marxist Current (CMR), as part of the
Bolivarian movement and the PSUV, is issuing a call for an
avalanche of votes in favour of the reform on December 2.
This reform contains numerous progressive elements and is
one of the most advanced in the world. The reduction of the
working day to six hours, the right to vote from 16 years
of age, the new forms of socialist property, the
development of the popular power through workers',
community and students' councils, etc., are some of the
reasons why the workers and oppressed of Venezuela must
massively vote YES. It is necessary to show our class
enemies, capitalists, landlords, bankers and imperialists,
our strength and give them another bloody nose as we did on
December 3, 2006, when Chávez was re-elected in a
historical victory. We have to hit them hard and
demonstrate that despite all their manoeuvres they are not
going to break the will of the revolutionary people.

At the same time, faced with all the destabilising
manoeuvres of the opposition and imperialism, we appeal to
everyone to remain vigilant and to trust only the forces of
the workers and the organised people. We are not going to
tolerate the counter-revolutionary attempts to change or
manipulate the will of the majority. And we do not doubt
that the majority's decision will be in favour of a YES.

We call on the left organisations of the world to defend
the Bolivarian revolution from imperialist attacks and
international reaction. Imperialists and the bourgeoisie
have understood that this reform is a decisive step towards
socialism in Venezuela and for that reason they have
mobilised all their forces, within and outside Venezuela.
For that reason, the Revolutionary Marxist Current of
Venezuela calls on all left organisations on an
international level, workers' parties and unions to
redouble their efforts in favour of the Venezuelan
revolution against the propaganda campaign that imperialism
is coordinating on an international level with the only aim
of generating the necessary conditions to secure the
inactivity of international public opinion in defence of
the revolution against destabilisation and an eventual
coup.

It is necessary that the working class, all the
organisations of the left, the "Hands off Venezuela"
campaign and other solidarity campaigns on an international
level be especially vigilant during the December 2
elections and on the days immediately afterwards to
mobilise in defence of the Venezuelan revolution. Any act
of solidarity will have an enormous impact within and
outside Venezuela.

The revolution polarises to left and right

The increased conflict between the social classes also
manifests itself within the revolutionary movement. Room
for doubtful and hesitant individuals is becoming narrower
and narrower. There are only to roads: either with the
revolution or with the counter-revolution; either with
socialism or with capitalism. The fact that ex-General
Baduel and his political mentor, that fraud of a socialist
theoretician Dieterich (describing the constitutional
reform as a lesser evil), have jumped ship and gone over to
the other side is proof that there is no possible middle
ground. They were not the first ones and neither will they
be the last ones to go over to the counter-revolution. The
bureaucrats and the reformists, the fifth column which is
the main threat to the revolution, have been sabotaging the
electoral campaign. Many of them think like Baduel, but
they do not dare to say it openly in order not to lose
their positions in town councils, governorships and
ministries. After the victory of the YES on December 2,
their sabotage will continue to increase. The people and
the workers must be aware of this latent
counter-revolutionary danger and remove it.

Marxists can only defend the YES in the referendum

The Revolutionary Marxist Current rejects the positions of
self-proclaimed "Marxist" groups or "socialist
revolutionaries" that are demanding either a negative vote
or abstention in this referendum. Unfortunately, with their
attitude these small sectarian groups are helping to
discredit the ideas of Marxism within the revolutionary
movement, playing into the hands of the reformist
bureaucracy that is trying to blur the socialist content of
the revolution and the tasks to be carried out. As they did
in previous revolutions they are dragging the names of
Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky through the mud.

These self-proclaimed Marxist groups (although they are
really at the antipodes of Marxism), having honest
militants amongst their rank and file, are committing the
gravest of mistakes; mixing up revolution and
counter-revolution. Faced with those who defend a NO vote
or abstention and claim to be Marxist, only one question
can be asked: would the victory of the No vote in the
referendum be a step forwards or backwards for the
revolutionary movement? Who would benefit if the NO wins in
the referendum? Obviously, the question answers itself for
every person whose senses are not blinded by sheer
sectarianism and whose abilities to reason function with
some degree of normality, as is the case of the immense
majority of the Venezuelan people. A victory for the NO
vote would increase the social base of reaction and give
strength to the reformist bureaucracy that is saying that
Chávez is going too far and thus argue the need for
moderation. With a NO vote the capitalists, imperialism and
the bureaucrats win.

These "Marxists or revolutionary socialists", even if that
is not their aim, are objectively playing a
counter-revolutionary role. Marx in his superb work "The
18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" pointed out that men,
groups and parties must be judged and measured not for what
they say, or even for what they think, but for what they do
and for the interests they defend with their actions. This
can be perfectly applied to these groups of self-proclaimed
Marxists.

The Venezuelan working class must put itself at the
forefront of the revolution to expropriate the capitalists
and build a revolutionary state on the basis of workers',
community and students' councils.

After December 2, the workers and the people must go on to
the offensive to put into practice from below the articles
of the reform. We cannot wait for the State bureaucracy to
carry them out! Otherwise, they will be just ink on a piece
of paper. The victory of the YES on December 2 is the first
step on this road. It is up to the workers and the people
to advance from below in the building of socialism,
organising ourselves at rank and file level to put it into
practice.

Faced with the economic sabotage against the revolution it
is necessary to expropriate the capitalists. A first step
would be the expropriation of the agricultural monopolies
by the government of President Chávez and these should be
put under the democratic control and management of workers'
and communal councils, as the constitution states. At the
same time it is necessary to extend the workers' councils
to the whole of industry, public and private, as a first
step towards the nationalisation of the capitalist
monopolies of the country, a necessary pre-requisite in
order to carry out a rational and democratic planning of
the Venezuelan economy against the current anarchy
generated by the capitalists and the State bureaucracy. The
new constitutional reform offers the legal instruments to
carry out this task but the revolutionary action of the
masses from below is necessary to implement it.

In particular, it is necessary that on the trade union
front, all divisions must finish within the UNT; the
workers' movement must unite in a national campaign to take
over and occupy the factories to allow for the
nationalisation of all the productive apparatus in the
hands of the capitalist monopolies, and thus proceed to
carry out a total change in the social relations of
production; from capitalism to socialism. This is the most
important pending task of the Bolivarian revolution and a
pre-requisite for the socialist transformation. We are
convinced that faced with a call from the union movement,
from the UNT, the comrades of FRETECO (the revolutionary
front of occupied and co-managed factories), as well as
other collectives, such as the FNCEZ (Ezequiel Zamora
National Peasants Front), and movements, would receive this
proposal with enthusiasm.

At the same time it is necessary to implement at rank and
file level the people's power through the development of
workers', community and students' councils. It is also
necessary that they should be coordinated through a
national co-ordination establishing a first national
congress of workers', community and students' councils to
build a base that will replace the bourgeois state
apparatus inherited from the IV Republic. The councils must
be organised with elected and recallable spokespersons, on
a local, regional and state level. The constitutional
reform lays down the legal basis to carry this out. All
that is needed is the revolutionary initiative from the
rank and file and, especially, from the workers, who must
be the vanguard (as Chávez himself repeated some days
ago); that is, the workers must take the initiative in
their workplaces to build a new revolutionary State.

Join the Revolutionary Marxist Current to fight for
socialism, against capitalists and reformists

To struggle against the bureaucratic and reformist fifth
column within the revolutionary movement, the PSUV, the
unions and the community councils, it is necessary for us
revolutionaries to organise. Not only are the capitalists
and imperialists organised. The bureaucracy is also
organised; and the revolutionaries must also organise
themselves around a revolutionary Marxist current that
would offer us the political training and clarity that the
revolutionary movement, the working class and the youth
require.

>From the CMR we fraternally call on all individuals and
groups who agree to carry out the struggle on these lines
to open up a debate aiming at our unification. Recently, we
fused our forces with the Trotskyist group for the
Re-foundation of the IV International in Venezuela, linked
to the Marxist Left in the Brazilian PT, to unite our
efforts in the struggle for socialism in Venezuela and
internationally. We are convinced that many other groups
will join us in the near future.

The victory on December 2 will mark the final struggle for
the triumph of the Socialist revolution in Venezuela

The victory on December 2 will be a new step forward for
the revolution â?? a new, decisive stage, which should mean
a change in the social relations of production and the end
of the bourgeois state apparatus. This new stage presents
itself to the workers and the people with the most
favourable balance of forces possible for victory. All over
Latin America workers and poor are rising against
capitalism and imperialism. Internationally, capitalism is
a sinking boat, only able to offer more hunger, misery, war
and a hopeless future for humanity; in fact, not only to
the human race, but to all living creatures on the planet.

The struggle of the Venezuelan people is the guiding light
for all the oppressed of the world; that is the reason for
the hatred embedded in the hearts of the oppressors,
slave-owners and imperialists of all nations, from G.W.
Bush to the King of Spain. On our side is the love and
solidarity of millions of workers and poor all over the
world. Along with them we will build in Venezuela and on
the whole planet a socialist society, free from oppression
and misery.

Fatherland, socialism or death. We shall triumph!!

Caracas, November 28, 2007

Note:

Alan Woods's article, Venezuela: where does Heinz Dieterich
stand in the Constitutional referendum? has been published
in several Spanish language websites, showing the keen
interest for a Marxist analysis of the situation in
Venezuela in the build up to Sunday's referendum.

In Aporrea:

http://www.aporrea.org/ideologia/a45629.html

In Kaosenlared:

http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia.php?id_noticia=46139

In Rebelión:

http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=59717

In Insurgente:

http://www.insurgente.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11802


      
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