[Marxism] A note on the Venezuelan election

[Walter Lippmann]

Stuart Muncton's comments set a good framework for discussion of
the Venezuelan election, to which Nestor's comments added further
helpful cautionary advice.

The Bolivarian side lost bigtime. Recall that before the results,
Chavez called on the opposition to accept the results, whatever they
were. From what I have seen, the opposition did not do that, so they
must not have been completely certain of how it would all play out.

As President Kennedy said of the Bay of Pigs invasion, victory has
many fathers, but defeat is an orphan. As time goes by, the diverse
forces will analyze what happened by their own lights. Here are my
some of my initial first, and far from comprehensive, impressions.
I offer the only as food for thought, not any definitive analysis.

The capitalist media is already gloating over the defeat which the
Bolivarian project suffered in this election. The perfectionistic
ultra-leftists in Venezuela and elsewhere will likewise again attack
Chavez, considering him to not be revolutionary enough to meet their
oh-so-demanding criteria. It will be interesting to see now if there
are any interviews in the Wall Street Journal and the MIAMI HERALD
with people like "Stalin Gonzalez". I don't imagine we'll hear much
from the young "Stalin" for awhile now. He's served his purpose for
the moment. 

Chavez and the forces allied with him had all of the advantages of
incumbency, from control of the government apparatus and of the
presidency of the republic. He selected this terrain for struggle
and so has important, though not total, responsibility for what
took place.

He and his allies overestimated what could be accomplished using the
electoral process, and they underestimated the ways in which the
opposition could reach into the deepest fears of large numbers of
people, not all of which are irrationally-based, to mobilize and
defeat Chavez in this way. As I watched parts of his speech at the
final rally on Friday, I thought that Chavez tended to personalize
the issue far too much. If you vote yes, he said, you're for Chavez,
holding a baby up in his arms.

If you vote no, you're against Chavez, or you're for George W. Bush.
This was not the best way to pose this question, but that's how the
question was posed by the elected president of Venezuela. 

One thing which now remains to be seen is what the opposition will do
with their victory. Will they now try to drive Chavez from office
through another recall or through mass protests and other kinds of
de-stabilization measures? We'll see soon enough. They can hardly
claim there was no democracy in Venezuela, after they won this vote.

Looking back now, it's clear that the Bolivarian project, or what's
been called "socialism of the 21st century" was not very precisely
defined. What, exactly, was its content? 

A question I've had all along is what kind of political apparatus
Chavez had supporting him? What kind of organization or party does
he have? The answers to this have been less than fully clear and in
the aftermath of this election, it's essential to speak plainly and
listen attentively as the mean of yesterday's election is considered,
framed and debated.

Well, we'll see soon enough how it's all going to play out. This is
a good time for objective assessments and reflections. I'm looking
forward to seeing how Fidel Castro now evaluates what took place.

Fidel  publicly warned, before the voting, of hard times to follow,
even in the event of victory. It's worth looking again his views:
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2007/ing/f291107i.html 


Walter Lippmann
Havana, Cuba

====================================================================
Reflections by the Commander in Chief

A PEOPLE UNDER FIRE

Venezuela, whose people are heirs to Bolivar’s ideas which transcend
his era, is today facing a world tyranny a thousand times more
powerful than that of Spain’s colonial strength added to that of the
recently born United States which, through Monroe, proclaimed their
right to the natural wealth of the continent and to the sweat of its
people.

Martí denounced the brutal system and called it a monster, in whose
entrails he had lived. His internationalist spirit shone as never
before when, in a letter left unfinished due to his death in combat,
he publicly revealed the objective of his restless struggle: “
I am
now every day risking my life for my country, and for my duty –since
I understand it and have the courage to do it– to timely prevent,
with the independence of Cuba, that the United States expand over the
Antilles and that they fall, with this additional force, over our
lands in America
”

It was not in vain that he stated in plain verse: “With the poor of
this earth, my fate I wish to cast”. Later, he proclaimed
categorically: “Humanity is homeland”. The Apostle of our
independence wrote one day: “Let Venezuela call on me to serve her: I
am her son”.

The most sophisticated media developed by technology, employed to
kill human beings and to subjugate or exterminate peoples; the
massive sowing of conditioned reflexes of the mind; consumerism and
all available resources; these are being used today against the
Venezuelans, with the intent of ripping the ideas of Bolivar and
Martí to shreds.

The empire has created conditions conducive to violence and
internecine conflicts. On Chavez’s recent visit last November 21, I
seriously discussed with him the risks of assassination as he is
constantly out in the open in convertible vehicles. I said this
because of my experience as a combatant trained in the use of an
automatic weapon and a telescopic sight. Likewise, after the triumph,
I became the target of assassination plots directly or indirectly
ordered by almost every United States administration since 1959.

The irresponsible government of the empire does not stop for a minute
to think that the assassination of Venezuela’s leader or a civil war
in that country would blow up the globalized world economy, due to
its huge reserves of hydrocarbons. Such circumstances are without
precedent in the history of mankind.

Cuba developed close ties with the Bolivarian government of Venezuela
during the hardest days resulting from the demise of the USSR and the
tightening of the United States economic blockade. The exchange of
goods and services grew from practically zero level to more than 7
billion dollars annually, with great economic and social benefits for
both our peoples. Today that is where we receive the fundamental
supplies of fuel needed for our country's consumption, something that
would be very difficult to obtain from other sources due to the
shortage of light crude oil, the insufficient refining capacity, the
United States’ power and the wars its has unleashed to seize the
world oil and gas reserves.

Add to the high energy prices, the prices of foods destined by
imperial policy to be transformed into fuel for the gas-guzzling cars
of the United States and other industrial nations.

A victory of the Yes vote on December 2 would not be enough. The
weeks and months following that date may very well prove to be
extremely tough for many countries, Cuba for one; although before
that the empire’s adventures could lead the planet into an atomic
war, as their own leaders have confessed.

Our compatriots can rest assured that I have had time to think and to
meditate at length on these problems.


Fidel Castro Ruz
November 29, 2007
8:12 p.m.