Call for an international demonstration in Caracas
The situation in Venezuela gets tenser and tenser day by day. The reactionary opposition organised in the “Democratic Co-ordination” tries to step up the economic sabotage. In their strike against the oil industry they can count on the support of the trans-national corporations like Exxon. Those refuse to transport Venezuelan oil violating treaties in force. With their strike medium and big business is also trying to create food shortage. Simultaneously a destabilisation strategy of “low intensity intervention” is applied. With proposals for “mediation” and “crisis resolution” the opposition should be provided with international legitimacy weakening the elected government of Hugo Chavez and the constitutional order. Facing this danger growing parts of the poor popular masses are taking counter action. In the course of social and political polarisation Chavez has been so far on the side of his lower class supporters. The army has occupied food warehoused distributing urgent necessities to the population. The US ambassador therefore worried for the “right to property”.
The Anti-imperialist Camp calls for a solidarity campaign with the Bolivarian process in Venezuela climaxing in an international demonstration in Caracas in March as proposed by Evo Morales, leader of the Bolivian Movement to Socialism (MAS).
We call upon all organisations, parties and individuals to support this appeal and the demonstration:
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The grand majority of the Venezuelans only know appalling misery although their country is one of the most important producers of the “black gold”. There would be enough resources to free the population from chronic underdevelopment, to overcome malnutrition and illiteracy and to guarantee to all citizens food, housing, education and health care.
But the revenue flowing from those natural resources end up in the pockets of a privileged oligarchy or of trans-national corporations (both transferring them abroad) despite the fact that the oil industry has been nationalised in the 70ies.
Political power rested traditionally in the hands of an restricted elite organised in an US style bi-partite system subservient to foreign interests. This oligarchy can be called parasitic as it surrendered the national resources to imperialism benefiting of the poverty of the people.
This picture has radically changed since Hugo Chavez has come to power by several landslide electoral victories. He has initiated reforms setting an end to the neo-liberal politics which has caused the Argentinean disaster and the subordination to the imperialist powers. Unused land of big landholders has been distributed to poor peasants, a scheme of financing rural development has been started, a system of cooperatives is being built, the construction of social housing is stepped up, new investments in education and health care are being done. The racism of the white minority is being fought in order to secure equal rights for the black and indigenous majority. Finally the national oil company PDVSA should be re-conquered whose profits are mostly transferred abroad or go into the pockets of the administrative mafia linked to the corrupt trade union bureaucracy. For the time being only a small portion is re-invested in the country.
Facing these social and political changes the Venezuelan oligarchy is attempting its “uprising”. Based on the their economic and financial power and the support by the White House they are building a reactionary front composed of the capitalist mafia, entrepreneurial and professional associations, parts of the middle classes, the traditional right wing and centre left parties, the mass media and the trade unions (who for decades did not care about the neo-liberal attacks). Last April they tried to seize power by a coup d´etat following the example of Pinochet, which despite the open support of the US and Spain could be defeated. (The imperialists cannot forgive Chavez´ friendship with Cuba and the Palestinian resistance, his support for Iraq and all those countries under threat by the US and NATO.) The defeat of the putschists was due to the extraordinary mobilisation of the poor popular masses who by their force called to action the patriotic and anti-imperialist parts of the armed forces which remained true to Chavez.
Although the government did not take any coercive measures against the perpetrators of the aborted coup and called for dialogue and reconciliation, the reactionary front used the governmental tolerance to prepare a new offensive. Since December 2 the country is being semi-paralysed by a general strike similar to the one that had been organised against Allende. Their aim is to force Chavez to call for early election which is not only violating constitutional norms but also contradicting the will of the majority who want to continue the Bolivarian social reforms.
We care about the events in Venezuela and we feel with all anti-imperialist and left activists of the country.
We fully support the Bolivarian popular movement and its government led by Hugo Chavez.
We hope that the people and the government will be able to continue their resistance against the reactionary onslaught and will not back down in the defence of national sovereignty and will pursue the social reforms.
We fight for an immediate halt to the direct and indirect support granted to the reactionary opposition by the US, Spain and other Western governments.
We demand that the UN votes a resolution condemning the North American interferences and defending national sovereignty in accordance with its Charta.
As counterrevolution can only be defeated with strong international support we follow the call of Evo Morales, the leader of the popular movement of Bolivia, to converge in an international demonstration in March in Caracas in solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
