4. Venezuela between revolution and counter-revolution¶
Core Argument¶
This chapter analyses the sharpening class struggle in Venezuela in December 2002, arguing that the Bolivarian process has reached a decisive turning point where reformist half-measures must give way to socialist revolution. The core narrative thrust is that the counter-revolution, having failed to topple Chávez through street demonstrations, has shifted its focus to economic sabotage—particularly targeting the state oil monopoly PDVSA, where production has fallen 40%. The text presents this as a deliberate strategy to create chaos, shortages, and panic, thereby preparing the ground for a military coup.
The chapter draws heavily on the historical experience of Salvador Allende’s Chile, warning that Chávez risks the same fate if he trusts “democratic” generals and refuses to arm the masses. It cites the example of the French print workers in 1968, who forced the bourgeois press to publish workers’ viewpoints, as a model for what Venezuelan workers could achieve by occupying media outlets. The text also invokes the Roman maxim si pacem vis, para bellum to argue that only by preparing for war can peace be secured.
Key claims include the assertion that the Altamira Square shooting was a provocation designed to discredit the revolution and create a “Party of Order” among army officers. The chapter polemicises sharply against “foquism” and individual terrorism, arguing such adventurist tactics are easily infiltrated by state security services. It also attacks the Venezuelan media as instruments of capitalist manipulation, dismissing liberal notions of press freedom as an “empty phrase” under capitalism.
The text argues that Chávez’s personal honesty is not in question, but that his indecision and lack of a clear perspective are dangerous. The real problem, it insists, is that the economy remains in the hands of a tiny oligarchy. The solution proposed is the expropriation of the commanding heights of the economy, the formation of a workers’ militia, and the establishment of a revolutionary Marxist party to provide leadership. The chapter concludes that the masses are already learning through struggle, as evidenced by resolutions from local committees demanding decisive action, and that the presence of a Marxist vanguard would shorten the time needed to find the correct path.