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href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/08/14/trump-versus-the-venezuelan-revolution/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/08/14/trump-versus-the-venezuelan-revolution/</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Trump Versus the Venezuelan Revolution</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">by <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/shamus-cooke/"
rel="nofollow">Shamus Cooke</a> - August 14, 2017<br>
</span></div>
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<p>Trump’s threats against Venezuela escalated recently
from the economic to the military: after announcing
sanctions he threatened that all military options were
“on the table.” Trump’s actions were perfectly timed to
lend support to the U.S.-backed opposition in Venezuela,
whose ongoing violent rebellion aims to topple the
government of democratically elected President Nicolas
Maduro.</p>
<p>The apex of violence was focused on stopping the recent
elections to the National Constituent Assembly (ANC),
convened by President Maduro to rewrite Venezuela’s
constitution with the goal of resolving the current
social-economic crisis.</p>
<p>The ANC was tasked to become the most powerful
governmental body while in session. Part of Maduro’s
motivation in convening the ANC was to break the
political deadlock that started when the U.S.-backed
opposition gained control of the Venezuelan parliament,
the National Assembly.</p>
<p>The wealthy opposition promised to prevent the ANC
elections from taking place, while Trump promised
economic sanctions if the ANC election wasn’t cancelled.
The other usual suspects of Latin American
counter-revolution also condemned the ANC elections:
Spain, the Vatican, and the Organization of American
States (OAS) were among other governmental and western
NGOs that denounced the ANC, since they recognized that
the U.S.-backed opposition would be deflated if the ANC
were successful.</p>
<p>The western media that condemned the ANC elections has
consistently failed to condemn the ongoing street
violence by the U.S.-backed opposition, who used attacks
on voting centers, roadblocks, economic sabotage and
“general strikes” to prevent the election from taking
place.</p>
<p>But the elections happened, and the unexpectedly high
turnout rattled the nerves of the opposition, who didn’t
expect the traditional base of Chavismo — the working
and poor — would come out by the millions to support a
broad diversity of candidates within the Chavismo Left.</p>
<p><strong>The Chavismo Base Revived, For Now</strong></p>
<p>The international media covering the election took zero
notice of the enthusiasm from Venezuela’s poorest
neighborhoods. A U.S. labor delegation that travelled to
Venezuela to witness the elections was impressed by the
broad participation and long lines at various voting
centers in poor neighborhoods. SEIU 1199 Executive Vice
President Estela Vasquez made notice of the <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Trade-Unionist-Unmask-Mass-Media-Lies-on-Venezuela-Assembly-20170806-0014.html"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Trade-Unionist-Unmask-Mass-Media-Lies-on-Venezuela-Assembly-20170806-0014.html&source=gmail&ust=1502734390659000&usg=AFQjCNFkizzFQQodVAc25RCh0QcXFgOIBg">lack
of western media attention</a>:</p>
<p>“One thing that I did think was significant is that I
didn’t see any international media. No reporters from
the New York Times, no cameras from CNN, no cameras from
Fox Television, or any other international media…
covering the poor working class neighborhoods that are
the backbone of this revolutionary process in this
country,”</p>
<p>The enthusiasm for the election that Vasquez noticed
was echoed by a prominent left critic of Maduro, <a
href="https://tendanceclaire.org/breve.php?id=24782"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://tendanceclaire.org/breve.php?id%3D24782&source=gmail&ust=1502734390659000&usg=AFQjCNGfrxBdTOcUyWnNOah5O3oLMYCrtA">Stalin
Perez Borges, who said</a>:</p>
<p>“July 30 [the election] was also a tsunami within the
ranks of Chavismo that propelled even those who are
unhappy with the government to participate and send a
message to the domestic and international right that we
have not yet surrendered to imperialism nor are we
willing to kneel before the neoliberal plans that the
politicians and economists of the [opposition] have
prepared for us…the [election] result has led to a
recuperation of confidence as a social force, and
provided a glimpse of the possibility for Chavismo to
once again be able to call itself the majority.”</p>
<p>Because the opposition boycotted the elections, the ANC
consists overwhelmingly of representatives of the left,
where there lives a diversity of revolutionary political
opinion. A third of the ANC was specifically reserved
for representatives of trade unions, communal councils,
indigenous groups, farmers, students, and pensioners,
all sectors that have been radicalized by their
experience under Chavez and by the violent actions of
the opposition.</p>
<p>The class basis of the Constituent Assembly — the poor
and working class — provides hope that this governmental
body can provide real revolutionary initiative to
resolve key issues that have been demoralizing the
Chavismo ranks while empowering the wealthy opposition.</p>
<p>The ANC will not fix every problem and it will likely
not usher in a socialist economy, but radical measures
can precipitate a revolutionary dynamic that carries
with it a logic of its own. The left in Venezuela is
more dynamic than the Stalinist images accorded to it by
the western media and U.S. Left.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the very convening of the ANC means that
Maduro has moved to the left; and it was this leftward
shift that provoked enthusiasm from the Chavismo rank
and file. Convening the ANC surprised everyone and
carried enormous political risks, especially in the
middle of an opposition uprising backed by U.S.
imperialism: if the masses did not participate in the
elections the government would be exposed as lacking a
broad social base, and such a weakness would have been
instantly exploited by the Trump-supported opposition.
But Maduro proved that he has a bit of Chavez in him
yet, having correctly predicted that the masses would
consider the ANC as a revolutionary tool to be used
against the oligarchy.</p>
<p>Much of the international left has either not
recognized Maduro’s shift to the left or not realized
its significance. Their error is rooted in a
misunderstanding of the Venezuelan revolution, which has
always been a contradictory movement rooted in the
poorest neighborhoods of Venezuela, yet reflected
through a bureaucratic prism at the top; a process that
under Chavez retained, at times, a call and responsive
dynamic that propelled the base to take action, which,
in turn resulted in more pressure on the leadership to
move left. Such a fluctuating, complicated phenomenon is
difficult to pigeonhole, and requires a more nuanced
analysis than the intellectually lazy “pox on both
houses” approach that has long-infected the U.S. left.</p>
<p>It’s true that there are powerful sections of Maduro’s
bureaucracy who plan to use the ANC simply to
out-maneuver the wealthy opposition and maintain their
power and, if possible, to strike a deal with the
opposition should the opportunity arise. Such a betrayal
would, in effect, mark the end of Chavismo and prepare
the ground for total victory of the opposition.</p>
<p>But the victory of the bureaucrats in the ANC isn’t a
foregone conclusion, as some cynics on the left would
have you believe. Maduro doesn’t command Chavez’s
authority; he lacks the charisma and he’s been lacking
in revolutionary initiative. The divisions within
Chavismo’s upper layers opens up further opportunities
for the impatient ranks that can push the project
forward against the will of even the more conservative
sections of leadership.</p>
<p>The job of the international left is to highlight the
possibilities, amplify the program of the revolutionary
wing and to educate people internationally about what’s
at stake in order to reduce the interventionist options
of Trump’s imperialism.</p>
<p>The majority of left analysis regarding the Venezuelan
crisis fails at these basic tasks, focusing wasted
energy on Maduro’s shortcomings while proposing nothing
of substance to win the fight in progress. The ranks of
Chavismo need concrete solutions not endless
denunciations.</p>
<p>The central question is not whether one is pro-Maduro
or pro-opposition, the question is “how do the
revolutionary forces resolve the current crisis” and
“what strategy should revolutionaries deploy?” Most of
the left has nothing to say about these basic questions,
while refusing to even discuss the relevance of the
Constituent Assembly.</p>
<p>The working class in Venezuela recognizes that their
fate depends on the outcome of the current struggle;
they are in a fight for their lives and hope to use the
Constituent Assembly as a weapon. The slogan “No
Volveran” remains a revolutionary demand of Chavismo
that declares the oligarchy will never return to power.
But unless bold action is taken to drive the revolution
forward the victory of the opposition is inevitable, and
such a nightmare is currently trying to kick in the
front door.</p>
<p><strong>False Solutions From the Left</strong></p>
<p>The current intensified class fight cannot be wished
away, it’s based on the material conditions embedded in
the economy: the unfulfilled needs of the working poor
versus the opposition’s demand to retake the state
apparatus and privatize public resources. The two sides
cannot “make peace” with another round of elections or
negotiations, yet this is exactly what many
pro-revolution analysts are promoting as “solutions” to
the crisis.</p>
<p>One such mistake can be found in the analysis of Carlos
Carcione from Marea Socialista, a grouping who until
recently was in coalition with the other socialist
parties inside of the ruling United Socialist Party of
Venezuela (PSUV).</p>
<p>The analysis put forward by Carcione contains some
important critiques of Maduro’s government, but a key
error is his “solution” to the crisis, which was put
forward at the end of <a
href="https://socialistworker.org/2017/08/09/how-should-the-left-respond-in-venezuela"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://socialistworker.org/2017/08/09/how-should-the-left-respond-in-venezuela&source=gmail&ust=1502734390660000&usg=AFQjCNENk4YVILUxDgqggd2wseOwkxObWw">a
recent interview:</a></p>
<p>“…the only democratic road, which cannot be captured by
either of the two elites [Maduro’s government and the
opposition] that are instigating violence, is the
struggle to renew the Constitution of 1999.”</p>
<p>The demand to “renew the Constitution” is a talking
point taken directly from the wealthy opposition. To
renew the Constitution means to disband the Constituent
Assembly and carry on with the electoral process on its
normal timeline, as if a life or death crisis wasn’t
engulfing the nation that requires revolutionary action
now. It’s as if Carcione believes that erasing the ANC
would be a “pause button” to the conflict.</p>
<p>Such a “demand” will find zero resonance in the
Chavismo rank and file; they’ve voted more in recent
decades than any other population in the world, and
their voting for the Constituent Assembly was itself a
showcase of democracy that Carcione oddly fails to
recognize as important or legitimate.</p>
<p>The demand to “renew the Constitution” also fails to
acknowledge that the opposition is skillfully using the
elections to the National Assembly to retake power and
undermine the government, by exacerbating the crisis and
talking openly of overthrowing Maduro.</p>
<p>Elections to the National Assembly have become the path
to power for the oligarchy, while a more directly
democratic path has emerged with the Constituent
Assembly elections, an infinitely more representative
body than the National Assembly with actual capabilities
of taking revolutionary action.</p>
<p>Ultimately one’s attitude towards the situation in
Venezuela shouldn’t be decided by legal or so called
democratic norms, but by which actions promote the
interests of the working class and poor and push the
revolution forward.</p>
<p>A similar non-solution to the crisis was <a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/07/28/there-is-still-time-to-prevent-civil-war-in-venezuela/"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/07/28/there-is-still-time-to-prevent-civil-war-in-venezuela/&source=gmail&ust=1502734390660000&usg=AFQjCNGoKHgKqgAMLokHzBz85kLQyodv1A">put
forth by Eva Gollinger</a>, a longtime promoter of
Chavismo who has been an increasingly vocal critic of
Maduro. Gollinger’s critique of Maduro is often spot on,
but her solution falls into the fantasy realm, where
both sides realize they’re guilty of excess and thus
agree to dampen the rhetoric for the good of the
country:</p>
<p>“Voices of moderation need to emerge without fear of
being branded traitors or opportunists, as has been
happening to anyone publicly criticizing the government
or opposition. The opposition leadership and its
international backers must immediately condemn all
violence….The opposition must accept the legitimacy of
President Maduro and his administration and allow him to
fulfill his presidential term, which ends in 2019. In
return, the parliament should be allowed to assume its
full mandate without further obstacles. Fair elections
overseen by an independent electoral council should be
held within the timeframe stipulated by law instead of
being manipulated by political parties or foreign
pressure.”</p>
<p>Gollinger certainly has good intentions, but her
“solutions” are daydreams that ignore the material
interests radicalizing both sides: the ranks of Chavismo
need radical solutions to the crisis and the U.S. backed
opposition will continue to take radical, right-wing
action to regain state power. There hasn’t been a
“reasonable middle ground” between these two extremes in
decades, if ever, in Venezuela.</p>
<p>Revolutions are notoriously absent of moderation.
Chavez himself was accused of being an extremist every
time he took action against the oligarchy, which earned
him the love and respect of the broader population in
Venezuela and inspired revolutionary movements across
the hemisphere.</p>
<p>Maduro’s moderation is precisely what has demoralized
his base and empowered the U.S.-backed opposition. The
working class of Venezuela does not have moderate
demands, they require revolutionary action against their
class enemies before the wealthy regains the state power
to use against them. Moderate actions cannot attack the
drastic inequality that pervades Venezuela to this day.</p>
<p>The left “demand” to renew the Constitution is a return
to a dead end: one of the limitations of Chavismo was
the over reliance on a representative democracy, as
opposed to direct democracy. The energy of the
revolution was funneled into constant electioneering,
and the representative system wasn’t representative
enough, allowing politicians to be unaccountable to the
movement that opened the door to careerism, while the
slower moving legislative system allowed the
demoralization to creep in.</p>
<p>The Constituent Assembly is a legitimate tool of
revolution that can be used or wasted. Wishing for the
return of the conditions that precipitated the crisis is
an odd “solution.” The opposition chose to boycott the
ANC elections because they hoped for a U.S.-backed coup.
Let their miscalculation be their undoing.</p>
<p><strong>What actions should the Constituent Assembly
take?</strong></p>
<p>Instead of warning incessantly of authoritarianism the
left should be advocating revolutionary solutions: ones
that stem the power of both the oligarchy and Chavismo
upper-bureaucrats, a “revolution within the revolution.”
Divisions among Chavismo’s leadership make such a
scenario possible, and it’s desperately needed.</p>
<p>Agitational demands from the Chavismo base in a time of
flux can move mountains. Economic solutions that
incorporate more socialist policies at the expense of
the oligarchy-controlled private sector are also crucial
to advancing the revolution, since the capitalists have
used their ownership over important economic sectors —
like food production — to sabotage the economy.</p>
<p>Some of the below demands have been discussed in
different sectors of the Chavismo left, and may find
expression in the Constituent Assembly if left groups
organize effectively. Ultimately demands that empower
the working class at the expense of the oligarchy have
the potential to inspire the broader population to
action, keeping the revolutionary flame lit:</p>
<p><strong>1. Remove the economic power of the oligarchy </strong>by
nationalizing the sectors of the economy that have been
used in economic sabotage, especially food production,
the banking sector and international trade.</p>
<p><strong>2. Strategically default on the foreign debt
repayments </strong>that are bankrupting the nation,
so that the money can be used for basic necessities and
rebuilding the economy. The high interest debt
repayments are shifting billions of dollars from the
Venezuelan state into the pockets of rich foreign
investors.</p>
<p><strong>3. Fully fund and expand the key victories of
Chavismo: education, health care, pensions, and
housing</strong> while increasing the power of
localities to administer these programs. Ensure that
wages are rising above inflation for all wage workers.
Pay for these initiatives by drastically raising taxes
on capital gains, property, inheritance, and other
oligarchy-targeted measures.</p>
<p><strong>4. Jail the oligarchs who promote street
violence and participate in economic sabotage</strong>.
A longstanding demand among the Chavismo ranks is to
take a firmer hand with an opposition who’s grown
accustomed to no consequences for violent behavior.</p>
<p><strong>5. Attack corruption</strong> of black market
dollar profiteering by nationalizing foreign trade.</p>
<p><strong>6. No reconciliation with the oligarchy </strong>and
their patron, U.S. imperialism. Any “deal” cut by the
opposition will be intended to stall the revolutionary
process and require economic concessions that come at
the expense of the Chavismo base. The opposition has
proven that they will never accept a government they
don’t directly control. With each new uprising they test
the resolve of the government and its popular support,
and when this support dissipates a successful coup —
either militarily or legislative — is inevitable.</p>
<p><strong>7. Use the National Constituent Assembly as a
weapon of the revolution </strong>by taking the above
actions while expanding direct democracy, enshrining
increased constitutional power of communal councils,
labor unions and other social-political bodies of the
Chavismo rank and file to directly exercise state power.</p>
<p>If the ANC doesn’t take bold actions soon, the new
constitution won’t survive the national referendum vote.
And if the Chavismo rank and file don’t see a pathway to
a better, more stable life with the ANC they will
abstain, and the U.S.-backed opposition will have an
unobstructed path to power.</p>
<p>Another reason the ANC needs to take radical action
immediately is the upcoming gubernatorial elections that
the opposition plans to participate in. These elections
can be easily won by the left if the ANC takes swift
action that inspires people to the polls.</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p>Time is<strong> </strong>short. The ANC gave itself two
years to fulfill its mission, but the enthusiasm
generated by the election will fade quickly if
revolutionary action isn’t forthcoming, or if the masses
conclude that the new legislative body is content on
maintaining the current balance of power instead of
smashing it. Maduro’s bureaucratic/administrative
maneuvers have outlived their usefulness, and projecting
this strategy onto the ANC will transfer the disease of
demoralization onto an otherwise healthy body.</p>
<p>The several co-occurring crises in Venezuela require a
shift of power to the masses at the expense of the
capitalists: any action that the ANC takes that promotes
this while encouraging the self-activity of the working
class will help refresh the cycle of bottom-up activity
that flourished under Chavez but has waned under Maduro.</p>
<p>The street violence of the U.S.-backed opposition that
has killed over 100 people and included two coup
attempts will not subside on its own, especially when
Trump has prioritized Venezuela for regime change.
Successive U.S. presidents have understood the special
“threat” to imperialism that Venezuela has posed, even
if much of the left doesn’t. Defeating Trump requires
that Venezuelans move towards socialism, while requiring
that socialists in the U.S. actively support this
movement.</p>
<p>If the new constitution is a lifeless document it will
fail the referendum vote and catapult the opposition
into power. However, if the path to the constitution is
full of revolutionary action the people will respond
enthusiastically, and the broader hemisphere will be
re-infected by the revolutionary energy that originally
birthed the “pink tide.”</p>
<p>But the pink tide politics that eschewed western
imperialism and neoliberalism has reached its
ideological limits, demanding deep socialist inroads
against the capitalists who’ve frustrated the project. A
“red tide” can rejuvenate the revolutionary forces
across the hemisphere and easily drown out the recent
victories of various counter-revolutions. Venezuela
remains the focal point of hemispheric revolution, to be
won or lost, supported or ignored.</p>
</div>
<p class="author_description"> <em>
<strong>Shamus Cooke</strong> is a social service
worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action
(<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.workerscompass.org">www.workerscompass.org</a>). He can be reached at
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:shamuscooke@gmail.com">shamuscooke@gmail.com</a> </em> </p>
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