Venezuela

Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela

The general crisis of capitalism and the re-accommodation of the political forces in Venezuela

The crisis is advancing

The General Crisis of capitalism is continuing, confirming every day our theses that… “the old imperialist countries like the United States, England and Germany, among others, are beginning a new cycle of imperialist wars of subjugation, specifically against Iraq and Afghanistan, with the objective of seizing the existing resources there… thus preventing the possible control of these areas by the emerging imperialist powers (Russia and China). In this way they are creating the conditions for the beginning of the new stage of the general crisis of capitalism, (the third stage) that will necessarily entail new wars and revolutions.” Thesis of the PCMLV approved at its Second Congress. Proletarian Advance, political journal, official organ of the CC, June 2010. In addition we state there that “… the struggles of the working class and peoples in the European Union, especially in Greece, Spain and France, are gaining strength after years of retreat. In the same way the contradictions are deepening in Asia, Africa and South America which foretell times of conflict and the deepening of the class struggle, gradually and ceaselessly…”

We can see how these positions of our Second Congress continue to be confirmed by reality and that, surely, there will be very deep levels of confrontation in the immediate future. These must lead our parties to strengthen their abilities to organize the revolution and to orient the masses towards the seizure of power and the building of socialism.

When we study Lenin’s positions during the first stage of the general crisis of capitalism and the criticism that he made of the Second International for their social chauvinist positions, for their conciliation with the bourgeoisie, we confirm the validity of such positions, with clear reference to guide our actions in a world where the old “socialist” countries are now the spearhead of imperialist action, contributing to the confusion about their positions as renegades from Marxism and their pretensions to be great imperialist powers.

The events in the Middle East and North Africa have once again demonstrated the crude form by which the imperialist powers are resorting to ever more violent and shameless methods to take control of the wealth, as their economic interests prevail over any international formalism. Similarly the popular rebellions in Tunisia and other countries have placed on the agenda the possibility that our parties can participate in a leading manner in the struggles for democracy, for popular demands and for socialism. This demands a greater cooperation among the parties and more active material collaboration to sustain the struggle.

Latin America in search of an alternative

The struggles of the peoples in search of alternatives to confront capitalist exploitation and to begin the building of a new society are continuing in Latin America; from all sides voices are raised to fight and mobilize the masses, sometimes behind nationalist authoritarian leaders, behind populist demagogues, behind genuine popular rank-and-file leaders or revolutionary parties. Organizations of various kinds are being built, some ephemeral like their leaders, other solid ones by their ideological and class base. Some are born to win, others only to try to deceive.

In the midst of this process of changes in the economic and social structure of the region, the struggles are sharpening and proposals are emerging from various social classes. The proletariat is fighting in adverse conditions of anti-communism and prejudices cultivated for years, but it is consolidating in consciousness and numbers; the bourgeoisie is discredited and the petty bourgeoisie is opening the way with a varnished discourse of anti-imperialism and anti-capitalism to hide its reformist character. It is in reality an alternative to strengthen and maintain the system of capitalist exploitation. The most reactionary bourgeoisie in Chile, Mexico and Colombia have managed to open the way in an atmosphere of economic and military cooperation with the reformist governments to try to neutralize the insurgency and the real revolutionary struggle of the peoples, who are accused of being terrorists and treated with scorn by the bourgeoisie and its accomplices in the government administration.

All the governments are trying to explain that thanks to their anti-crisis measures, the effects of the crisis in the region still do not appear so drastic. But independent of the form of government, the real explanation for this phenomenon has many factors such as: The level of consumption of the raw materials that are exported has not fallen, the prices have even risen considerably, since they are used as commodities for financial speculation; the consumption by the so-called BRIC countries has increased; large capital, especially Russian and Chinese, has invested, by means of loans (export of capital), which serves to stimulate these economies. Other elements to be taken into account, linked to the previous ones, are the surplus of existing capital in the emerging imperialist powers, their interest in exporting capital and in controlling areas with great reserves of energy sources and raw materials; their goal of establishing themselves and struggle with the United States, which is today economically weakened, in order to consolidate their positions in the region. These are expressions of the new redivision of the world.

Venezuela is being shaken up before the elections of October 7

Venezuela is going through a process of re-accommodation of political forces with regard to the presidential elections of October 7: On the one hand the most reactionary right is putting its forces in order on the basis of a single candidate, under the directives of U.S. imperialism; on the other hand the left, with the candidacy of Chavez, is struggling between the hegemonic attempts of the PSUV or the formation of a leadership of the various popular tendencies, which is expressed in a platform called the Great Patriotic Pole, and in other popular initiatives.

Chavez’s relapse has raised big questions, especially about the possibility of continuing with the dynamics assumed until now and his style of leadership. This places on the agenda the possibility of a break-up, which could lead, either towards a move to the right or to the deepening of the left, with the emergence of the popular movements in search of a path towards socialism. This forces us to evaluate the future scenarios, strengthening our objective understanding of reality, the role of personalities, parties and the masses in history.

Venezuela is a country with a dependent capitalist economy, with a social and political dynamics dominated at the moment by petty bourgeoisie conceptions, with some nationalist, democratic and anti-imperialist elements. These have allowed the masses to take up revolutionary and patriotic positions, raising their level of political consciousness and training, in an atmosphere of freedom that we Marxist- Leninists must take advantage of in favour of the action of the proletariat, its consolidation, its mobilization in defence of its gains, to organize the socialist revolution.

It is undeniable that idealist conceptions have also been strengthened, taken to the extreme by the possible loss of the leader. The ideological contradictions have become more evident, particularly the weaknesses of the petty bourgeois character of the Bolivarian process itself that are expressed at the present moment by the exacerbation of religious fanaticism, the vindication of Nietzsche, the cult of Christ and Bolivar.

It is important to evaluate the great power that the retired and active military holds in the government administration, especially those linked to the uprising in 1992. They have taken advantage of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of that day to put forward a campaign to make them seem like saviours of the fatherland, ignoring the historical struggles of the revolutionaries and the most elementary premises of historical materialism. This makes one think that really, as happened in bourgeois and bourgeois democratic revolutions but if they do not advance to the socialist revolution, the former rulers are replaced by others, who will be in charge of “maintaining the stability of the system” and the continuity of those processes that, with the so-called 21st century socialism, will maintain the bases of capitalist exploitation.

The opposition has come out of the primary elections with 3,040,449 votes, which represents an important figure that shows the tendency of its sustained electoral increase. Capriles Radonski, the conspicuous representative of the right, has little possibility of winning, unless he manages to combine those hard-core votes with the vacillations of the pro-Chavez forces or the manifest weakness of his opponent. U.S. imperialism is counting on the exhaustion, trying to use Chavez’s illness to its advantage and is preparing the best moment to attack; it is trying to create an atmosphere of confusion, to encourage the struggles over leadership, creating the best conditions for any option.

The popular movement is divided organizationally, although it is united around the support of the president and the social policies of his presence and his ideas. Although governmental policy has been centred around the distribution of the national budget through the so-called Missions and Great Missions, which are at fundamentally social welfare programs, there are some measures that represent real advances, such as the Law on Land, which gives room to strike at the landowners, the Law of Responsibility in Radio and TV, the laws against gender violence, protection of children and now the draft Labour Law, which proposes the reduction of the work day, the absolute prohibition of dismissals, workers control, workers councils, and the important concept of a law that does not involve mediation, but openly protects the worker. These demands are supported by the revolutionary forces since they represent important advances in democratization and provide tools of struggle to denounce and confront the exploiters.

The tactics of the Marxist-Leninists at the present moment are oriented to the accumulation of forces, to the strengthening of the popular and revolutionary movement, to achieving the greatest unity of these forces to defend the democratic gains, to consolidate the material bases and to pass over from the bourgeois democratic revolution to the socialist revolution, with a revolutionary and class leadership, based on democratic centralism and the fundamental role of the worker- peasant alliance, overcoming the shackles of the petty bourgeois and bourgeois conceptions that restrain the revolutionary forces in their historical task to subdue the bourgeoisie, to be able to establish the socialist system, by means of the revolutionary democratic dictatorship of the workers and peasants.

It is important to unmask the positions of conciliation with imperialism and the agreements with the traditional bourgeoisie to seek a post-Chávez “transition”, since once the emerging bourgeoisie feels safe in its domination and manages to entrench itself, it will attack the exploited and oppressed to subdue them; thus the class-conscious proletariat must be alert and prepared to fight to overcome the narrow limits of bourgeois democracy, opening the way to the possibility of initiating the way towards the true socialist system, the definitive defeat of the bourgeoisie and its subjection to the decisions of the majority.

Socialism can only be built with the worker-peasant alliance in power and the people in arms.