[Marxism] Steve Ellner on Venezuela

[Walter Lippmann]

This column also appeared in In These Times and is a nuanced look
at Venezuela today. I haven't been there yet, though Mike Lebowitz
keeps telling me I should come on down. And I will get there one 
of these days. He shows well how one can be both supportive and
point out the problems and contradictions at the same time. It's
my impression that there's a great deal of discussion going on 
in Venezuela. I'd like to know more about the public transport
system because, with the price of gasoline being cheaper than the
price of bottled water, it seems there's little motivation for 
individuals to get out of their automobiles.

In part, it seems to me, this is because to to there being a multi
-party political system in place, in part because of the country
having a heritage of more democratic debate than other countries
in the region, and so on. And it's health just on general principle
to have lots of public discussion and debate on social and political
options in any country. One could only dream that there would be as
much political discussion in the United States today as there is in
Venezuela. 


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
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STEVE ELLNER wrote:
At the same time, oil-induced prosperity has exacerbated automobile
traffic and its attendant problems. The first half of this year saw
car sales increase by 52 percent over the same period last year; 65
percent of the purchases were imported vehicles. While Chávez has
railed against SUVs, he has not placed a special tax on them or on
cars in general. Indeed, the government has encouraged poor
Venezuelans to purchase cars by exempting non-luxury from the value
added tax.

But if Venezuela is to learn from the errors that are being committed
on this untrodden path, discussion within the movement is essential.
The private media is alive and well and continues to criticize the
government, sometimes aggressively, notwithstanding the non-renewal
of the TV channel "Radio Caracas." Opposition criticism is no
substitute, however, for constructive criticism from those who
support the "revolutionary" project.

But during the eight-and-a-half years in power, the pro-Chávez
parties have failed to establish internal mechanisms of discussion.
Chávez's recent creation of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
(PSUV), which he claims will be the most "democratic party in
Venezuelan history," is designed to overcome this shortcoming by
holding internal elections and calling an ideological congress. With
such considerable resources at its disposal, the government cannot
expect to avoid mistakes, which in any case are inevitable in this
trial-and-error road to change. Rather its main challenge is to
figure out a way to encourage constructive debate in order to parlay
frustrating experiences into new, effective programs.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=45&ItemID=13674


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WALTER LIPPMANN
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
writer - photographer - activist
http://www.walterlippmann.com
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