Re: [Marxism] Ineresting Al-Jareeza video on Venezuela

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

dave.walters@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Video shows poor "Chavistas" criticizing the proposed Reforms. Still, an 
> interesting video from 
> Al-Jareeza, which has generally be sypmathetic to Venezuela and Chavez.
> 
> http://news.google.com/news?tab=wn&hl=en&ned=us&q=venezuela&btnG=Search+News
> 
> First link to should be at the top.

I have a strong suspicion that poor Venezuelans are susceptible to the 
reactionary messages being churned out by the Catholic Church. On 
balance, I think that organized religion plays a reactionary role and 
reminds us why Diderot was prompted to say, ""Men will never be free 
until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12302

The Venezuelan Church: A Bastion of Conservatism

Despite the conservative nature of the Church, relations between the 
clergy and the Chavez government got off to a reasonably good start. 
After he was first elected in 1998, Chavez proclaimed his devotion to 
the Church and Catholic social doctrine.  Venezuelan bishops in turn 
supported the social programs that Chavez had outlined during his 
presidential campaign.  Bishops welcomed Chavez’s calls to end 
corruption, to foster a more equitable distribution of wealth, 
transparent voting, and an end to the ruling class’ special privileges.

Thing went awry, however, in July, 1999 when Chavez personally met with 
Monsignor Baltazar Porras at the headquarters of the Episcopal 
Conference.  Porras, the Archbishop of the Andean city of Merida and 
chairman of the Episcopal Conference, met with Chavez for two hours.

Emerging from the meeting, Porras declared that the Venezuelan 
government had opted to cut its traditional subsidies to the Church by 
up to 80%.  The new rules, Porras said, would oblige clerical 
authorities to adjust to “the new realities of the country, and to 
figure out how to search for self financing.”  Porras became a vocal 
critic of the regime; in Caracas he received the backing of the Papal 
Nuncio, Monsignor André Dupuy.

Another point of friction was Chavez’s calls for a new Constitution. 
Church leaders feared that Chavez’s secret agenda in calling for the new 
constitution was the imposition of a Cuban-style communist regime. 
Porras declared that Chavez was fomenting "fear and hate" and dividing 
Venezuelans in his campaign to draft a constitution.

(clip)

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