The Counter-Revolutionary Offensive in Venezuela

http://www.marxist.com/counterrevolutionary-offensive-venezuela010607.htm

This is an analysis by the Venezuelan Revolutionary Marxist Current, a bit different perspective and a lot more information on what is going on then you will find on CNN or (shudder) Fox news!

The current counter-revolutionary offensive in Venezuela – what it
means and how to defeat it

By Yonie Moreno and William Sanabria of the CMR in Venezuela Friday,
01 June 2007

This is a slightly edited version of the article which appeared on
the website of the Venezuelan Revolutionary Marxist Current (CMR) by
Yonie Moreno and William Sanabria, to which we have added some
additional material for the benefit of an international readership.

The non-renewal of the broadcasting licence to private TV station
RCTV in Venezuela has been used by the Venezuelan oligarchy and
imperialism to unleash the coup-plotting campaign they were unable to
launch at the time of the December 3rd elections.

Despite all the hue and cry over "freedom of expression" the real aim
of the oligarchy in Venezuela is to create a situation of chaos,
violence and confusion, and if they can, get someone killed in one of
the demonstrations. This would allow them to create a favourable
international climate and launch an open offensive against the
Venezuelan revolution with a combination of the following methods:
military coup, assassination of Chávez, imperialist intervention.

The Venezuelan capitalists and their international allies are growing
increasingly worried about the advance of the Bolivarian revolution
and its international repercussions. The recent nationalisations of
CANTV and EDC (even though they were carried out with compensation),
the threats to nationalise steel maker SIDOR and the banking sector
(see Alan Woods' Venezuelan nationalisations - What do they mean for
socialists?), the proposals of Chávez to create "socialist
companies", and the setting up of the new United Socialist Party of
Venezuela (PSUV), are clear signs (despite this or that
contradiction) of the willingness of the Venezuelan people and of
president Chávez to push forward in a leftward direction.

The counter-revolution is combining all forms of struggle (economic
sabotage, national and international media campaigns,
destabilisation), but with the mobilisations around the case of RCTV
they have decided to go one step further and to "test the water" of
the mobilisation on the streets.

Their modus operandi is clear: at nigh time the setting up of burning
barricades and organising of riots, mainly in the middle and upper
middle class neighbourhoods of Caracas. During the day they organise
so-called "peaceful demonstrations", mainly of students from private
and elite state universities. Organised counter-revolutionary
elements (paramilitaries, CIA agents, paid agents of imperialism) are
active in these demonstrations throwing stones, Molotov cocktails and
there have been several instances of shootings from these
counter-revolutionary gangsters (see for instance the video of the
demonstration outside the National Telecoms Office on Sunday night).
These riots, far from being spontaneous actions, are well
coordinated, encouraged, protected and organised by the opposition
using the levers of power they still control (in opposition
controlled councils in the East of Caracas mainly).

Alhough the counter-revolutionaries are trying to use the students, a
section not demoralised by the previous defeats of the opposition,
their numbers are not very impressive (10,000 at the largest
demonstration so far). What the media are not showing is that the
chavista demonstrations supporting the government decision on RCTV
have actually been larger, including amongst the students. Did anyone
see reports in the international media of the 30,000-strong
demonstration of Bolivarian students? (See video here and a report in
Spanish with pictures here).

The situation that is developing shows clearly that the arguments of
the reformists ("if we touch the means of production the imperialists
will have an excuse to attack us") are completely false. Imperialists
do not need excuses. If they do not have any, they invent them. The
measure taken of not renewing the licence to RCTV is perfectly legal,
and does not even affect other private coup-plotting TV stations
(such as Globovisión and Venevision). Despite this, they have
launched an unprecedented campaign around the so-called "defence of
the freedom of expression".

One thing that must be said clearly is that the balance of forces is
still extremely favourable to the revolution, as shown in the massive
election victory in the presidential elections of December 3rd, the
largest victory since the beginning of the revolutionary movement.
The masses expressed their clear will to move towards socialism and
put an end to capitalism once and for all. That this mood is still
present is confirmed by the process of registration to the new United
Socialist Party which has broken all expectations with more than 4.5
million people registered (and there is still a week left). If this
force were mobilised in an organised way with a clear aim, it would
be more than enough to brush aside the counter-revolutionary gangs
currently occupying the streets in the East of Caracas and the TV
screens internationally.

President Chávez has called for a mass demonstration on Saturday,
June 2nd at which 2 million people are expected to turn out, and he
has warned that "if they come with another 11th we will respond with
another 13th, and this time I will be leading it", in reference to
the coup on April 11, 2002 and the revolutionary response which
defeated it on April 13 (you can see a video of Chávez's speech
here). This is a move in the right direction, but it must be
accompanied by a plan of struggle that will mobilise and prepare the
revolutionary forces. It is not enough for the revolutionary movement
to have the support of the majority of the population, this support
has to be organised and mobilised in a bold manner. The initiative
cannot be left in the hands of the counter-revolution.

Already before May 27 (the day the RCTV's licence expired) rank and
file revolutionary organisations had organised a number of actions.
Amongst them was the rally outside Globovisión and the occupation of
the headquarters of the business federation Fedecamaras. These
actions were organised as part of the "Oligarcas Temblad" plan
(Tremble Oligarchs) by the Ezequiel Zamora National Peasant Front
(FNCEZ), the Simon Bolivar Coordination Committee, the Alexis Vive
Collective, and others. The slogan of the FNCEZ when occupying the
building of Fedecamaras was "if they take away our food, we will take
over their factories" (see a report of the action in Spanish with
pictures here and an interview in Spanish with FNCEZ leader Simon
Uzcategui here).

In an extremely worrying development that shows the seriousness of
the situation in Venezuela, two leading members of the Simon Bolivar
Coordination were gunned down last night as they were going back to
their home. Carolina Azueje and Carlos Tovar had participated in the
actions against Globovisión and Fedecamaras and had been shown
repeatedly by Globovisión which singled them out in its reports of
the action.

Some leaders of the UNT, particularly from the left wing
class-struggle wing CCURA, have declared that, faced with any attempt
to sabotage the economy they will organise the workers to occupy the
factories. In Aragua (which saw a show of strength by the working
class last week with the regional strike in support of the Sanitarios
Maracay workers), the UNT has organised a detailed plan, listing the
companies to be taken over in case of an attempt at a bosses' lock
out. At SIDOR, the Argentinean owned steel maker in Bolivar, the
workers have made statements along the same lines and have warned
that they will raise the Venezuelan flag (i.e. take over the
installations) if production is stopped. Already in the last few days
some workplaces of the food and beverages monopoly POLAR have stopped
work and "encouraged" workers to attend opposition marches.

The Revolutionary Marxist Current (CMR) is calling for a plan of
action so that the UNT, the FNCEZ, the Revolutionary Front of
Occupied Factories (FRETECO) and other revolutionary organisations
put themselves at the forefront of the struggle against
counter-revolution (read the full proposal in Spanish). The proposal
is for the calling of mass meetings in workplaces and factories to
pass resolutions in support of the government's decision on RCTV and
to organise concrete actions. In all places where this is possible,
workers should occupy the factories and run them under workers'
control as a preventative measure. In all other places elements of
workers' control and vigilance must be established to prevent
economic sabotage.

This plan of factory occupations should start in the agro-business
sector, which has already been hit hard by economic sabotage (see:
Venezuela: Price regulation, food scarcity, speculation and
socialism). The FNCEZ has already expressed its willingness to carry
out such actions and has asked FRETECO for help and advice. An
example of this kind of sabotage of food supplies was the case last
year of 5,000 hectares of sugar cane that was not harvested because
of the refusal of sugar companies to buy the produce, despite the
fact that there are problems of scarcity of sugar in the markets.
This year the figure could go up to 15,000 hectares.

As part of this plan of action, workers should set up Workers'
Committees in every factory and workplace and these should be linked
up to the Communal Councils that already exist to organise a
coordinated fightback against counter-revolution, but also to serve
as the embryo of the new state apparatus that the revolution needs in
order to start the building of socialism. The struggle against
counter-revolution must turn into a decisive blow against the
capitalist state apparatus and move forward towards the
nationalisation under democratic workers' control of the main levers
of the economy (banks, large scale industry and the land).

The CMR is also proposing the immediate calling of assemblies of PSUV
members in workplaces and neighbourhoods, to get them organised in
Socialist Platoons to participate in an organised way in this plan of
struggle. This would be the best way of steeling the cadres of the
new party and of selecting the most capable leaders for it.

One of the first steps that need to be taken is to identify and
single out the counter-revolutionary elements, paramilitary thugs and
CIA agents that are operating under the cover of the opposition
demos. Some of them have already been exposed publicly. We must
demand that the Bolivarian government arrests them and expels them
from the country. This would go a long way towards exposing the real
character of these protests and undermining the international media
campaign of imperialism.

Another important issue is the question of the Army. The idea that
the Army is under control and is loyal to the revolution could prove
to be fatal. In all revolutions we have seen how the revolutionary
mood amongst the masses spreads into the ranks of the Army, amongst
the soldiers and lower-ranking officers, but the higher echelons of
the army officialdom usually side with the counter-revolution. While
the revolution is in ascent and going forward these reactionary
elements remain hidden and silent, waiting for the right time to act.
We should not forget that general Pinochet promised both publicly and
in private his loyalty to the Allende government right until the
night of the military coup that smashed the Chilean revolution in
1973.

While it is true that the defeats of the counter-revolution produced
a certain purging within the army, this was not complete and the
oligarchy still has many tools at their disposal (political,
economic, ideological) to win over these sections to their side. The
only way to guarantee the military defence of the revolution against
internal and external enemies is on the one hand to introduce full
ranging democratic rights within the army, including the right of
revolutionary soldiers and officers to discuss and organise
politically, to organise mass meetings, etc. so that they can also be
vigilant, and on the other hand by moving towards the arming of the
people. The extension of the army reserve, the creation of the
Territorial Guards, etc. are important steps in this direction, but
it is urgent to develop Workers' Reserve Platoons and Workers'
Territorial Guards, based on and accountable to the mass assemblies
of workers in the factories and their Workers' Councils.

Above all the main mistake would be one of complacency, of thinking
that because we are in a majority, we are right, we won the elections
and that everything is therefore alright. A revolution cannot remain
halfway. The only way in which the future of the revolution can be
ensured is through the expropriation of the means of production and
the replacement of the current state apparatus by a regime of
workers' democracy. If the revolution takes up these tasks it will
spread like an almighty tidal wave throughout Latin America becoming
a point of reference for workers all over the world. This is the task
that Venezuelan revolutionary youth, workers and peasants have in
front of them.

Last minute: 600 representatives of revolutionary organisations in
Venezuela led by the UNT-CCURA, FNCEZ and others (CMR and FRETECO
included), have established a national network of social
organisations to mobilise against the counter-revolutionary threat.
The plan includes factory occupations to fight sabotage amongst other
measures.