[www-features] Proposal: Venezuela Between Empire and Revolution

[Blackbeard]

all,

the following is a collaborative work between marcelo and i.  we probably
need more spanish language links, but i don't feel qualified to select
them.  we may want to wait to post this until the imc-venezuela site is up
on PR-imc or wherever, provided that does not take too long...

bb


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Header: VENEZUELA : DEMOCRACY

Title: Venezuela - Between Empire and Revolution

Image: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/icon/2004/08/296003.jpg

<p>On Sunday, August 15th, a national referendum is scheduled to take
place in Venezuela to decide whether democratically-elected president Hugo
Chávez should remain in office.  The outcome of this referendum, while
significant, is only a fragment of a much larger and longer tale of class
struggle in Venezuela, where 80% of the population lives in poverty and
the richest 20% control the majority of country's natural and
human-produced resources.

Chavez was first voted to office by an overwhelming majority after leading
<a href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/print.php?newsno=1187">a coup
attempt</a> against the corrupt leader Carlos Andres Cardenas, who among
other atrocities, brought the nation under the rule of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) 'austerity measures.'  The popular movements of
Venezuela view Chavez as a symbol of self-determination and hope, and the
opposition's attempt to oust him as an attempt by the capitalist classes
to reassert fascist rule over the country.  This confrontation will not be
decided solely by ballots, but by popular struggle in the streets and the
countryside.</p>

<p>Various popular revolutionary movements in Venezuela believe beyond doubt
that Chávez is <a
href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/08/296067.html">supported</a> by
the overwhelming majority of the Venezuelan population.  Should the
results of the referendum, official or otherwise, show a loss for Chávez,
millions of Venezuelans will consider them fraudulent and immediately take
to the
streets--not waiting until the scheduled elections a month later.  The
intention of the popular movements who are preparing for an imminent
uprising is not only to neutralize an opposition fraud, but to take the
"Bolivarian revolution" to what they consider the next logical step:
popular control of the means of production and communication through the
exercise of direct democracy in assemblies.</p>

<p>Independent media activists currently working in and around Caracas have
outlined three possible scenarios for a fraudulent outcome of the national
referendum:  (The question posed in the referendum is about overriding
Chávez´s government—The Bolivarians vote for the “No” while the Opposition
for the “Yes”)</p>

<p>1)  Apparent victory of the "yes" through official channels.<br>
2)  A technical tie between the "Yes" and "No," which would lead to
negotiations between competing beauracracies and, many believe, a halt to
revolutionary processes.<br>
3)  A unilateral announcement of victory of the "yes" by the opposition
controlled media <a
href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/08/296069.html">before official
results are given.</a>  Then, once the Electoral Council recognizes
Chávez´ victory, an aggressive media campaign will point to the “chavista
fraud” to try to take the middle class to the streets. They would
immediately deploy a plan of unprecedented <a
href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/08/296001.html">violence</a>
(suggested by the presence of Colombian paramilitary elements all over
Venezuela, in addition to the <a
href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/08/296002.html">recent theft of
explosives and weapons</a>) in order to create chaos and provoke massacres
that could justify a coup d`Ètat or multinational “peacekeeping” forces in
Venezuela.</p>

<p>There is a general consensus amongst the popular movements that no fraud
will be accepted, even if legitimized by the “revolutionary”
bureaucracies.  If a fraud takes place, revolutionaries will immediately
activate, autonomously, a radical offensive against the capitalist ruling
class and invite President Chávez to command this process of
insurgeny.</p>

<p>Contingency action plans are being prepared across all of Pachamerica
(all the countries of the Western hemisphere) as well as Europe, by
autonomous affinity groups and Bolivarian circles in dozens of cities. 
Revolutionary activists in Venezuela are urging international vigilance as
the referendum nears, and actions in front of embassies, petrol stations
and other appropriate targets in solidarity with the Bolivarian struggle
as the situation develops.</p>

<p>Monday, August 16th has been declared an day of intercontinental
solidarity with the Bolivarian revolution, and Global Day of Action, as
decided upon by the Peoples Global Assembly, on October 12th.</p>

<p>For More Information:<br>
<a href="www.venezuelaanalysis.org">Venezuela Analysis</a> [en]<br>
<a href="www.apporea.org">Apporea.org</a> [es]</p>
<a href="uk.indymedia.org">UK-IMC</a> [en]