Re: Why Chavez defeated the oligarchs

[Ralph Johansen <michele@xxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 6:11 PM
Subject: Why Chavez defeated the oligarchs


August 16, 2004

Why He Crushed the Oligarchs
The Importance of Hugo Chávez
By TARIQ ALI

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When I asked Chavez to explain his own philosophy, he replied:

'I don't believe in the dogmatic postulates of Marxist revolution. I
don't accept that we are living in a period of proletarian revolutions.
All that must be revised. Reality is telling us that every day. Are we
aiming in Venezuela today for the abolition of private property or a
classless society? I don't think so. But if I'm told that because of
that reality you can't do anything to help the poor, the people who have
made this country rich through their labour and never forget that some
of it was slave labour, then I say 'We part company'. I will never
accept that there can be no redistribution of wealth in society. Our
upper classes don't even like paying taxes. That's one reason they hate
me. We said 'You must pay your taxes'. I believe it's better to die in
battle, rather than hold aloft a very revolutionary and very pure
banner, and do nothing ... That position often strikes me as very
convenient, a good excuse ... Try and make your revolution, go into
combat, advance a little, even if it's only a millimetre, in the right
direction, instead of dreaming about utopias.'

And that's why he won.


Is this not a reformist message, flat out? Can he do it? Here, by way of
retort, are two pieces by Alan Woods on why he believes that Chavez can't do
it in the manner expressed in this quote:

Hands Off Venezuela Campaign
http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org

The recall referendum in Venezuela

A crushing blow to the counterrevolution

By Alan Woods
In Defence of Marxism- http://www.marxist.com

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What now?

As we predicted in our last article (As August 15 approaches: Why Marxists
are fighting for a "No" next Sunday), the imperialists understand that the
time is not ripe for a new coup, which would lead to civil war - a civil war
that they would certainly lose. Therefore, they have decided to adopt a
different tactic. Having failed to take their objective by assault, they
will resort to siege warfare. The struggle has not ended - merely passed
onto a different plane. The counterrevolutionaries and their imperialist
allies will wait until the correlation of class forces is more favourable.
They will move again. But for now they must beat a tactical retreat and lick
their wounds.

Does this mean that everything is solved and that the opposition has been
decisively defeated? No, it means no such thing. What the referendum
campaign has shown is that Venezuelan society is extremely polarized between
right and left. This polarization will not disappear after the referendum,
but steadily increase. In that sense, the referendum has solved nothing. The
counterrevolutionaries will regroup their forces and prepare for a new
offensive once the conditions are more favourable.

On the international plane they will not cease their noisy campaign against
the Venezuelan revolution, or drop their claims that that Chávez has
authoritarian tendencies. With the aid of organizations like Súmate, they
will publish fake exit polls that directly contradict the official results
to show that the result was based on fraud. They will continue to sabotage
and obstruct the progress of the revolution, attempting to cause economic
and social chaos. They will never be satisfied until Chávez has been
overthrown and the gains of the Bolivarian revolution completely liquidated.

The latest victory of the Chávez government places the bourgeois opposition
in a difficult position. This is the fourth time that a free election in
Venezuela has given a decisive majority to Chávez. The Venezuelan
bourgeoisie is getting increasingly desperate. The class war is intensifying
all the time. The workers and peasants, encouraged by the result of the
referendum, will demand more reforms and a deepening of the revolutionary
process. The bourgeoisie and the imperialists will demand a halt and a
reversal. The government will find itself ground between two millstones.

The massive voter participation on Sunday is a clear reflection of the
extreme political polarization of Venezuelan society to the right and left.
The immediate question was the permanence of President Hugo Chávez in
office, but far deeper questions are involved, and these questions remain to
be solved. It was necessary to win the referendum, but the referendum result
will not solve these fundamental problems. It will only pose them in an even
sharper way.

Those leaders of the Bolivarian movement who argued that, by holding the
referendum, the enemies of the revolution would be silenced, have been shown
to be wrong. The internal and external enemies of the Venezuelan revolution
cannot be reconciled by elections, referendums and negotiations. They will
only be satisfied when the revolution is defeated. Not to recognise this is
the height of irresponsibility.

On previous occasions when the masses defeated the counterrevolution there
was a golden opportunity to carry through the revolution to the end and
finish the power of the oligarchy once and for all. But on each occasion the
opportunity was thrown away. The leaders allowed themselves to be seduced by
the siren voices that argued for "moderation" and "negotiation". The
inevitable result was a new offensive of the counterrevolution.

It is time to learn the lessons! One cannot make half a revolution. As long
as the oligarchy continues to maintain its hold on important sections of the
economy, it will continue to act as a Trojan Horse of US imperialism,
sabotaging and undermining the Bolivarian revolution. It is time to ask
ourselves the key question: can we allow the interests of a handful of rich
parasites to decide the destinies of millions of people? Or will we put an
end to this situation once and for all, expropriating the property of the
counterrevolutionaries and taking the road of socialist democracy?

The 15 August will enter the annals of revolutionary history as a great
victory for the working people - on one condition: that we do not waste it,
that we do not hand the initiative back to our enemies, but strike blows
against them that will destroy the basis of their power. That is the only
way we can build upon our victory, and turn it into a decisive revolutionary
transformation of society


And the second by Alan Woods is Theses on revolution and counterrevolution
in Venezuela
Part One: http://www.marxist.com/Latinam/theses__revolution_venezuela.html
and
Part Two: http://www.marxist.com/Latinam/theses_revolution_venezuela2.html