12. The Nationalisation of Venepal: What does it signify?¶
Core Argument¶
The nationalisation of Venepal under decree 3438 represents a significant blow against the Venezuelan oligarchy and US imperialism, welcomed by Marxists in the same spirit that Trotsky greeted Mexico’s oil nationalisation in 1938. Yet this measure does not, in itself, alter the class nature of the Venezuelan Revolution. It signals, rather, that the working class is intervening with increasing determination, pressing for a decisive break with capitalism. The revolution began as a national democratic revolution within the framework of capitalism, yet it has aroused implacable opposition from the oligarchy and Washington. Marxists defend the Bolivarian Revolution while maintaining independent class demands, encapsulated in the slogan “march separately and strike together”.
The dialectical method teaches that every process reaches a critical point where quantity transforms into quality — this is the essence of revolution. In Venezuela, the revolution has begun but is not yet completed or irreversible. Despite years of mass mobilisation, a decisive change in property relations and the state has not occurred. Hugo Chávez himself compared the process to Sisyphus: the boulder can still roll back. Qualitative change will only be reached when landlords and capitalists are expropriated. The nationalisation of Venepal is an important step, but further decisive steps are necessary.
The only force that has saved the Revolution is the masses, particularly the working class, as demonstrated during the 2002 coup, the bosses’ lockout, and the August referendum. The counterrevolution remains active; Washington uses Colombia and the OAS to attack Venezuela. Chávez has shown revolutionary instinct, but his movement includes advisers inclined toward compromise and “realism”. At the signing ceremony, Chávez stated they are creating a new model that implies changing the productive apparatus, with the working class united, learning, and participating. He declared that capitalism is slavery and liberation requires changing productive relations — which means socialist revolution.
The revolution must break through capitalism’s limitations or be forced into retreat and defeat. Nationalisation must extend to banking, telecoms, food distribution, and other monopoly and imperialist-controlled sectors. Workers must occupy factories, demand nationalisation, and drive out counterrevolutionary bosses. The central problem is that key economic levers remain in private hands. What is necessary is to nationalise the land, banks, and remaining private big industry, enabling economic planning for the majority. Either the revolution eliminates the oligarchy and spreads across Latin America, or the oligarchy and US imperialism eliminate the revolution. No third way is possible.