1. Revolution and counter-revolution in Venezuela¶
Core Argument¶
1. Revolution and counter-revolution in Venezuela
The counter-revolution that briefly toppled Hugo Chávez in April 2002 was spearheaded by anti-Chávez strikes in the oil industry, organised by PDVSA management and right-wing CTV union bureaucrats. The coup followed events of April 11, when a right-wing demonstration of 50,000—not the 350,000 claimed by the bourgeoisie—was used as cover for a provocation: snipers killed mostly pro-Chávez demonstrators. The coup government was headed by wealthy businessman Pedro Carmona, who immediately rescinded Chávez’s laws defending national interests and raising living standards. The Bush administration backed the coup, seeking to secure Venezuelan oil outside the volatile Middle East and to undermine OPEC cohesion, which Chávez had enforced. The counter-revolutionaries dissolved the National Assembly, arrested elected officials, launched a witch-hunt against Chávez supporters, and cancelled 49 decrees.
However, the masses poured onto the streets, and splits opened in the armed forces. Carmona overreached by dissolving the Assembly, causing the civilian-military coalition backing him to collapse. The army split into three factions: centrist officers under Vasquez Velasco, ultra-conservatives linked to Opus Dei, and pro-Chávez officers under General Baduel. The coup collapsed within 36 hours. Chávez was reinstated, but his position remains precarious: 75 percent of the National Assembly opposed him, and the bourgeoisie, backed by Washington, will intensify sabotage. The situation resembles Cuba in 1960 or Chile after the tancazo. Chávez is not a Marxist and is inconsistent; only arming the working class and establishing action committees can prevent a more violent counter-revolution.
The army’s position is decisive. Reactionary officers have suffered a setback but are regrouping with US embassy support. Without firm action to disarm the counter-revolution, civil war between opposing military units could erupt. If the working class acts energetically, army rank-and-file can be won over, isolating reactionary generals. Hesitation will lead to terrible bloodshed and a brutal military dictatorship. The bosses’ resistance must be smashed. Immediate expropriation of imperialist and Venezuelan bourgeois property is necessary. An emergency decree must go to the National Assembly; if counter-revolutionaries block it, the Assembly should be dissolved and rule exercised through elected popular committees.
Workers must not trust assurances that democracy is safe. The power of the capitalists—local agents of US imperialism—must be overthrown. Workers should build and link action committees locally, regionally, and nationally. US imperialism is a colossus with feet of clay; the Venezuelan revolution has mass reserves in Latin America’s fighting workers, peasants, and unemployed. Only permanent revolution under working-class rule can solve Venezuela’s problems. The bourgeoisie cannot play a progressive role. A socialist planned economy under workers’ democratic control is needed, but the revolution cannot survive in isolation—it must spread. Internationalism is a matter of life and death.
Bolívar’s dream of Latin American unity was betrayed by the national bourgeoisie. The only way to defeat US imperialism is to unite Venezuela’s revolution with struggles across Latin America, leading to the Socialist United States of Latin America. The Argentine working class showed the way in December; Venezuela is now in the front line. Half a revolution is impossible. Land, banks, and industries must be taken from the bourgeoisie. A conscious Marxist tendency within the Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR) is needed to provide revolutionary perspective, programme, and strategy. Victory in Venezuela would set all Latin America ablaze.