[PEN-L:33469] Steve Ellner on Venezuelan Elites on Strike

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

December 20, 2002
MIDDLE-CLASS REVOLT
Venezuelan elites go on strike.
By Steve Ellner

Caracas, Venezuela -- At first glance, the general strike in 
Venezuela stands Marx on his head. On December 2, the powerful 
Confederation of Workers (CTV) and the business organization 
Fedecámaras stopped work, calling for either the ouster of 
"revolutionary" President Hugo Chávez or immediate new presidential 
elections.

By December 6, merchant marine captains had also stopped work, 
choking Venezuela's oil exports, the lifeline of the economy, by 
anchoring 13 oil tankers at sea (they were joined by two dozen more 
in the following days). The Association of Pilots closed down Aserca, 
one of Venezuela's two major airlines. And while Fedepetrol, the oil 
workers union, opposed the strike, the managerial ranks at the state 
oil company, attempted to paralyze operations. As Venezuelan oil 
production plunged by 70 percent, international prices surpassed $28 
a barrel, OPEC's proposed maximum price.

As the conflict entered its second week, the general strike ceased to 
be the key issue. A small number of strategically located employees 
had transformed the conflict into a fight for control of the economy, 
particularly oil and gas production. Congressman Rafael Simón 
Jiménez, an independent, puts it this way: "This strike is no longer 
'democratic,' in the sense that it no longer matters whether a 
majority of workers support it."...

On December 7, at a rally estimated by pro-government sources to be 
in the hundreds of thousands, Chávez called on his followers to 
maintain an ongoing presence on the streets. "The hour has arrived to 
wage the great battle for oil," he said. "Oil belongs to the entire 
nation, not just an elite."

Chávez then decreed an emergency reorganization of the industry, 
firing four top executives who had engineered the stoppage and 
arresting several of the striking oil tanker captains.

Venezuelans's reaction to the strike has been largely determined by 
class-much as Marx would have predicted. While downtown and poorer 
neighborhoods have quickly returned to normality, affluent areas of 
major cities avidly support the strike, banging pots and pans every 
day after 8 p.m.

On December 10, the opposition called for the conflict's 
transformation into an "active strike," meaning street mobilizations. 
Shortly thereafter, the entrances of oil refineries were the unlikely 
scenes of middle-class protesters obstructing the arrival of workers, 
in some cases calling them "strikebreakers." The slogans of 
anti-government protesters have been directed exclusively at Chávez, 
calling him an "assassin" and even "Satan," with frequent references 
to his friendship with Fidel Castro. On the other hand, Chávista 
leaders characterized the strike as a "lockout."

...In an editorial it subsequently apologized for, the nation's 
premier newspaper, El Nacional, called Chávez's supporters "lumpen," 
adding that they were prodded to take to the streets by a bottle of 
rum.

Although Chávez's enemies seem overwhelming, he is in a stronger 
position than in April. As a result of that coup, Chávez identified 
and isolated his adversaries within the armed forces and consolidated 
his military support.

Another change favoring Chávez is Washington's new posture. President 
Bush justified the April coup, and newspaper reports at the time 
documented the U.S. bankrolling of opposition groups. The recent exit 
of Otto Reich as provisional assistant secretary of state, whom Vice 
President José Vicente Rangel on different occasions has called a 
"liar," a "clown" and a "provocateur," may help improve relations. 
The Venezuelan opposition now openly criticizes U.S. ambassador 
Charles Shapiro for maintaining a distance from the impasse.

A comment made by Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer on December 13 
supporting immediate elections in Venezuela was retracted days later, 
thus committing Washington even more to strict neutrality. As 
Washington prepares for armed conflict in Iraq, its interest in 
stable oil prices and production overshadows all other concerns....

<http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/27/04/news2.shtml>
--
Yoshie

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