[Marxism] Essential reading on Ecuador - Toward a ‘citizen's revolution’: President Correa's 21st-Century socialism

[Fred Fuentes]

 Toward a 'citizen's revolution': President Correa's 21st-Century
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*By Hernando Calvo Ospina*                                         Read
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On Sept. 30, elections were held in Ecuador to elect the people who will
draft a new Constitution. The Alianza País organization, led by President
Rafael Correa Delgado, won more than 70 percent of the votes; the runner-up
received barely 7 percent. It was an overwhelming triumph, something never
before seen in the history of Ecuador.

With 80 of the 130 representatives, Alianza País will have an absolute
majority in the Constituent Assembly. With that advantage, the chief of
state will be able to "refound the republic" and initiate a model of
development that will break away from neoliberalism.

Economist Alberto Acosta, former Minister of Energy and future president of
the Assembly, says that Alianza País began to toddle in August 2005 "without
being enlightened." The party "fed from the struggles and efforts of many
social and political sectors. It was not the exclusive creation of Correa,
who had just resigned from the Ministry of the Economy."

In the November 2006 elections, Correa was elected president. In January
2007, the economist and lecturer took office. "We went from being
specialists in protests to introduce proposals. With the presidency came the
duty to build," Acosta says.

And the foundations for that construction will be "21st-Century socialism."
It is a type of socialism that, according to Acosta, "it is not the
socialism that had rooted its responses in manuals. We don't start from
dogmatic visions. If we write a manual, it will be for the purpose of
changing its pages every time we need to. It will be corrected constantly,
because we do not believe in a definitive truth. Our task will be a
permanent construction of democracy. That's how 21st-Century socialism must
be constructed."

In his simple office in Carondelet Palace, the colonial building that is the
seat of government, President Correa explains what 21st-Century socialism
is, "when applied to the particularities of Ecuador."

"We favor a citizen's revolution, with a radical, profound and swift change
in the political, social and economic structures," he says. "This country's
political institutionality has run out of steam. A Congress that, according
to polls, has a 3-percent credibility rating, is not representative. The
groups that still call themselves 'political parties' are only feudal,
caudillist organizations without the slightest ideology.

"This country cannot continue to live within the economic standards of the
past 20 years, caused by the policies imposed by Washington, which have been
disastrous for Ecuador and Latin America. Among other effects, in our
country those policies have translated into more than 2 million émigrés in
recent years," the president says. And he goes on.

"I couldn't care less how the government of the United States, the Europeans
or any other country view our changes. I care even less what the
transnational corporations think. What's important to me are the Ecuadorean
people, the rulers and owners of this country. I hope that no nation, no
matter how powerful, will try to dictate what policies we must follow.

"Nor shall we accept that the Colombian government continue to fumigate
forests along our border, because that is noxious for our citizens, plants,
animals and water. And don't try to draw us into the fratricidal internal
conflict afflicting that sister nation. We refuse to get involved in that
problem, but if we can in any way help to solve it, we'll be ready.

"We have said clearly that the Plan Colombia, a strategy devised by Bogotá
and Washington, is militaristic and violent; that it has been incapable of
ending the war. We are the recipients of the negative effects of that plan,
beginning with the large number of Colombians who are obliged to seek refuge
in our territory.

"I continue. To advance that citizen's revolution, we need a 21st-Century
socialism. Many people told us to call it 'humanism.' We said no, because we
are not impressed by that word. It is through socialism that we shall seek
justice, equity, a productive economy that generates jobs.

"Our project is called that because it coincides with the scientific
socialism of Marx and Engels. For example, here, the people must rule, not
the market. The market must be a good servant, not the master. The human
being can no longer be treated as just another tool for production, for the
purpose of accumulating capital.

"The market economy has emphasized the creation of merchandise and its
value. It cares not for the needs of the human being, or the price to be
paid for the environment, etc.

"The importance of collective action is another point of coincidence with
classic socialism. We must overcome the fallacy of individualism as an
engine of society, where, by an act of magic, [the capitalists] turned
selfishness into a slogan of social virtue and competition as a way of life.

"That's how they forced us to compete, even among the nations of the
so-called Third World. That's absurd. It forced us to cheapen our export
products, but to do so we had to lower the working conditions, accept labor
flexibilization, reduce wages, etc. So, who came up the winner? The
so-called First World: foreign capital.

"We differ from classical socialism. For example, today it is very difficult
to talk about the nationalization of all the means of production. But we do
have to democratize them. Yet, it is necessary to nationalize the means of
production that are strategic to the nation's economy and therefore must not
fall into private hands.

"One of the worst mistakes of classical socialism is that it was not very
different from the concept of development espoused by capitalism. It offered
us a faster, more equitable road, but that road reached the same concept of
industrial development and increased production. Look at the competition
between the Soviet Union and the United States, as to who produced more.

"However, it gave us a different alternative for sustainable development
that considered other dimensions, such as articulation with nature. That's
one of the challenges of 21st-Century socialism: to submit a different
proposal for development.

"Another difference will surely shock several traditional socialists. We
must talk about principles, not about models. In this, classic socialism was
overbearing and arrogant. It always sent us to look at such-and-such a page
in our search for truths and solutions. It gave us a catechism. And that's a
grave error.

"We must adapt to the situations of each country, without pre-established
models. I say this as an academician. I believe that any attempt to
pigeon-hole within simplistic laws processes as complex as the advancement
of society is bound to fail.

"We have the great advantage and obligation to build as we advance," Correa
concludes. "We cannot allow a resurgence of indisputable definitions or
dogmas. We must not lose the essence of our strength -- creativity."

*Hernando Calvo Ospina, a special correspondent for the monthly Le Monde
Diplomatique, conducted this and other interviews. Based on them, the
magazine this month will publish a wide-ranging report on the political
situation in Ecuador. It will be available in the various international
editions of Le Monde Diplomatique:*

*http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/int/*