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Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 8:20
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Subject: [Venezuela_Today] February 23
article on Venezuela from Marxist.com
http://www.marxist.com/Latinam/venezuela_JM_0203eng.html
The
defeat of the bosses lock out and the sabotage of the oil industry
deepens
the revolutionary process in Venezuela
by Jorge Martín
On
Thursday February 20 at midnight, the Venezuelan police arrested the
president of the bosses’ organisation Fedecamaras Carlos Fernandez,
accused
of five different charges: betrayal to the fatherland, rebellion,
instigation
to crime, association to commit crime, and devastation. Carlos
Fernandez,
together with the leader of the trade union confederation CTV
Carlos Ortega
(against whom there is also an arrest warrant) had been the
main public faces
of the bosses’ lock out and sabotage of the oil industry
in December and
January through which the Venezuelan ruling class tried to
overthrow the
Chávez government.
This action of the justice system
reflects clearly the pressure of the
revolutionary movement and the new
balance of forces after the complete
failure of the attempted coup. From
the beginning of this action on December
2, the forces of reaction went
from defeat to defeat. This was basically due
to the initiative of the
masses who fought back decisively at every stage.
Every one of the actions
of the reactionary forces had the effect of
increasing support for the
revolutionary process and raised the level of
consciousness and
organisation of the people generally and the workers in
particular.
The
most important factor was the extraordinary reaction of the oil workers
who fought back and overcame the sabotage conducted by managers,
directors,
and a large section of the technicians of PDVSA, the
state-owned oil company.
In refineries like Puerto la Cruz, El Palito, the
Yagua distribution centre,
and others, the oil workers went to work and in
an organised way
re-established the normal functioning of the oil industry
under workers’
control. It can be said without fear of exaggeration that
it was the oil
workers who saved the Chavez government, since bringing to
a halt the oil
industry was a key element in the strategy of the
oligarchy. This is a
marvellous example of the capacity of the working
class to struggle and to
organise production by itself. In a few days the
oil workers destroyed the
myth that the managerial layer of PDVSA are the
only ones who know how to
organise production. Furthermore this experience
of workers’ control took
place not in a small bankrupt company which the
workers were forced to
reopen, but in the main industry in the country,
and one of the 50 largest
companies in the world. This is of enormous
political significance and sets
an important precedent. It can be said
that the qualitative leap forward
which took place in the struggle against
the lock out is that the working
class for the first time participated in
the revolutionary process as a
class, while previously it had only
participated as a part of the population
in general.
We should add that
the oil workers had the support of the revolutionary
masses who all over
the country defended PDVSA buildings and refineries, and
of the National
Guard which in agreement with the workers and the people,
organised and
controlled the distribution of fuel during the 63 days of the
lock
out.
At the beginning of January, the so-called Democratic Coordination
(popularly
known as the anti-Democratic Conspiracy - CD) decided to up the
stakes by
declaring the non-resumption of school activities after the
Christmas break.
Once again this was a serious mistake, since their
actions only provoked the
reaction of masses and increased the level of
popular organisation. All over
the country, communities organised
themselves to ensure the opening of the
schools, and reactionary teachers
who refused to teach were replaced by
volunteers (unemployed teachers,
university students, etc). Likewise in the
universities there was a strong
movement of the students demanding resumption
of lectures, which finally
managed to force the reopening of most
universities. This has strengthened
and organised a left wing student’s
movement which was quite weak
before.
The peak of this process was the massive march in support of the
revolution
on January 23, which was called “the taking over of Caracas”.
The opposition
had created a climate of panic and fear amongst the middle
classes, spreading
the idea that the march was going to mean an invasion
of the “Chavista
hordes” coming down from the “cerros” (the hills which
surround Caracas
where most poor people live) to loot the middle class
neighborhoods. For
weeks the opposition leaders had been organising
“contingency plans” which
included a census of all firearms available,
accumulation of food and water,
the organisation of the armed defence of
streets, buildings and
neighbourhoods, the blocking of streets with gates,
barricades, etc. The aim
was clearly to create a climate of fear, using
the middle classes as the
shock troops of the oligarchy in order to
provoke a violent clash which would
justify a foreign intervention under
the mandate of the Organisation of
American States, and with the support
of a section of the armed forces in
order to overthrow
Chavez.
Counter-revolutionary provocations
One of the peaks of this
strategy was the clash in Los Próceres, just outside
Fuerte Tiuna (the
main army barracks in Caracas) in the first days of
January. The
opposition had called for a rally outside Fuerte Tiuna demanding
freedom
for an army officer under arrest for participating in an earlier coup
attempt. All the opposition media publicized the call for the rally
presenting it as the “final battle” which would finally overthrow Chavez.
This was a provocation prepared down to the last detail. The government
did
not do anything, and did not call for the masses to organize a serious
counter-demonstration. However, thousands of Bolivarians gathered to
defend
the revolutionary process and against the reactionary provocation.
After
hours of verbal clashes the reactionaries opened fire and killed two
Chavez
supporters. To add insult to injury the opposition-controlled
Metropolitan
Police attacked the place where the revolutionaries were
mourning their dead.
The clashes on that day also reflected the feeling of
powerlessness of the
masses which were witnessing how the
counter-revolution was carrying out its
plans without a serious fight back
on the part of the government or the
organisations which support it.
It
was in this framework that the massive mobilisation of January 23 took
place. Some 2 million people took part in that impressive show of strength
against reaction and to defend the government. That demonstration was the
last nail in the coffin of the attempted reactionary coup of
December-January. The anti-Democratic Coordination had no other option but
to
admit its defeat and publicly announced the “easing of the strike” and
later
on called it off altogether. That was a sorry spectacle in which all
the
contradictions within the DC exploded into the open. No-one wanted to
take
responsibility for having called the “indefinite civic strike”, and
“it
wasn’t me” once again became the slogan of the day.
In these
conditions, Chávez has adopted a strategy which is very different
from the
one he used after the April 11 coup of last year. On that occasion
he
tried to conciliate, negotiate, he asked for forgiveness and reinstated
the old directors of PDVSA. We already warned at that time that the
attempt
to appease reaction through negotiation would only have the effect
of
strengthening the resolve of the reactionary ruling class which would
inevitably use the opportunity to prepare for a new coup.
Even during
the attempted coup in December-January, the Chávez’s position was
extremely legalistic, faithfully following all legal proceedings while the
reaction used all sorts of illegal methods to paralyze the country and
sabotaged the action of the justice system from within. The fight back of
the
workers and the people took place despite the lack of any nation-wide
revolutionary leadership which could coordinate and organise their
efforts.
Despite the fact that there are tens and even hundreds of
thousands of rank
and file organizations all over the country, the
revolutionary movement
still lacks a nation-wide coordinating
body.
Revolutionary offensive
Starting with his speech at the massive
demonstration on January 23, Hugo
Chávez made it clear that this is the
time to go on the offensive and he has
called for a deepening of the
organisation of the people. The government has
implemented a series of
measures to fight against reaction, starting with the
suspension of
foreign exchange while control mechanisms are put in place (in
order to
fight against the flight of capital), price controls over basic
products
(to fight speculation), and a discussion in parliament for a new law
of
social responsibility of the media (which played a crucial role in the
organisation of every single coup conspiracy). Even in his “Hi President”
program on February 16 he said that the organisations created to defend
the
right to education should now became organisations of revolutionary
vigilance
over the price controls.
At the same time Chávez has been
broadcast a number of TV programs from the
different oil refineries in
which he recognizes and thanks oil workers for
their role in the defeat of
the attempted coup. Also, mass rallies have been
organized in different
states which have opposition governors in which Chavez
calls for these to
be recalled (a mechanism which is part of the new
constitution) before the
end of the year.
The arrest of coup conspirator Carlos Fernandez is part of
this offensive and
is obviously welcomed by the majority of the people.
The most widespread
comment is that this was long overdue. In fact the
popular organisations, the
demonstrations and graffiti on the walls in the
main cities had been
demanding “strong action” to be taken for a long
time. The leader of the
telephone workers, José Mora, declared that he was
happy that Carlos Ortega
had gone into hiding because this meant that now
the workers could go and
find him themselves and settle
accounts.
However, even this action shows the limits of government action
since a few
hours after being arrested, the judge in charge of the case
was replaced by
another one who immediately placed him merely under house
arrest and withdrew
some of the charges. This is a scandalous decision
since there is already the
precedent of the escape of Pedro Carmona, the
main figure in the April 11
coup, who was also sentenced to house arrest.
Meanwhile the Defenders of
Puente Llaguno who defended the democratic
government on April 11 rot in jail
waiting for a trial despite the fact
that one of them is dying of cancer. It
is clear that the judiciary is
still largely in the hands of reaction.
However it would be foolish to
think that the reactionaries are dead and
buried. It is true that they
were dealt a heavy blow with the defeat of their
attempt in
December-January, but the Venezuelan ruling class is far from
having been
defeated once and for all and continues to agitate in the media
waiting
for a new opportunity.
Economic crisis
The main challenge that faces the
revolutionary process right now is the
collapse of the economy as a result
of the oil sabotage and the conscious
disorganization of the productive
process on behalf of the capitalists,
particularly in the food sector. The
oligarchy is trying by all means to
create chaos and shortages in order to
undermine the social basis of support
for the revolutionary process. In
this respect the measures taken so far by
the government are completely
insufficient and limited.
First of all one must discuss the question of the
reorganization of PDVSA. So
far the government has appointed new directors
which, following the people’s
call for “cleaning out PDVSA,” has already
sacked 12,000 employees, the
overwhelming majority of them directors and
technicians of the upper echelons
of the company. However it is not enough
to replace one set of directors for
another which might be more or less
loyal to the revolutionary process. On
the contrary, the impressive
experience of workers’ control over production
during the sabotage must be
used to spread it to the running of PDVSA as a
whole. Oil workers have
saved PDVSA and they are the ones who should be
running it from now on. A
national congress of oil workers must be called in
order to unify all
workers and establish the mechanisms of workers’ control.
This is the only
way to guarantee that “PDVSA belongs to the people” and
that it is run for
the benefit of all. Workers’ control of industry should
also spread to all
state-owned companies where many of the directors also
declared themselves
to be “in rebellion”.
Another front is that of the private companies in
which the bosses are trying
to make the workers pay for the cost of the
bosses’ lock out. Workers must
resist in an organised way any attempt to
paralyse totally or partially their
factories, any attempts to cut wages,
to declare unpaid holidays, etc. In
several factories around the country
there have already been important
examples of such struggles. The
Convencaucho workers in Barquisimeto (Lara)
had to force the change of
their union leaders and occupy the factory to
force the employer to pay
their wages in full and keep the factory open. Also
in the car industry in
Carabobo the workers have so far defeated the attempts
of the employers to
make them pay the effects of the lock out. One of the
main discussions
amongst class struggle and democratic trade union activists
right now is
around the issue of factory occupations and their running under
workers’
control. The experience of factory occupations in Argentina has
undoubtedly had a serious impact.
At a recent meeting of 350 trade
union leaders from all over the country
called by the “Trade Union
Autonomy” current there was a discussion on this
issue on the basis of a
document which called for “the occupation of all
companies which are
abandoned, declared bankrupt, closed down or
semi-paralysed, creating
workers’ committees to force their statisation under
workers’ control of
production”. The “Workers´ Mole” trade union current in
Lara openly
demands that “faced with the capitalist crisis the government
must
reactivate industry, applying the principle of ‘company closed, company
opened under workers’ control’”. Even within the Ministry of Labour there
are discussions on workers’ control and how to legalise any factory
occupations which might take place.
Another important question is that
of control over the finance sector.
Together with the measures already
taken regarding foreign exchange, there
must be an offensive against the
private banking sector. The banks adopted a
clear line of support for the
opposition sabotage and therefore should be
deprived of the means of doing
it again. It is true that the government has
already withdrawn part of its
assets in private banks, but this is not
enough. The nationalisation of
the banks (which in the main use resources
which belong to the state)
would allow the government access to a large
amount of money which could
be used to alleviate the economic crisis through
a massive program of
public works, and which would guarantee the payment of
wages to public
employees and the normal functioning of public services, like
health and
education which are currently under threat for lack of resources.
The
nationalisation of the banks would also allow the government to finance
the statisation of occupied factories.
A new trade union
confederation
As a part of the workers’ offensive there have been
discussions about the
setting up of a new trade union confederation to
replace the reactionary
leaders of the CTV. However this process has
received strong criticism from
trade union activists from the beginning
because of the methods which have
been used. The proposal has come from a
number of trade union leaders who are
close to the government, which have
raised the idea from above without any
real consultation of the rank and
file and without organising a campaign
within the existing unions. It
would seem that for them, the most important
thing is to set a date for
the founding of the new trade union centre (March
15) and to decide who is
going to be on the leadership.
These are clearly wrong methods. In order to
move towards a real re-founding
of the trade union movement in Venezuela,
a serious campaign of explanation,
discussion and struggle must be
organised in order to win over the
overwhelming majority of workers who
still belong to unions which are
affiliated to the CTV, and organise all
those who are still
un-organised. The practical experience of the last few
months and weeks
clearly shows that the CTV leaders (who appointed
themselves at the end of a
rigged election process) are completely
discredited in the eyes of their own
members. The political moment is
favourable. Such a campaign culminating in a
national-wide workers’
constituent assembly to set up a new trade union
confederation based on
the principles of class struggle, democratic and mili
tant trade unionism,
would have a massive impact.
One of the main weaknesses of the revolution
is still the lack of a
nation-wide coordination of all revolutionary
committees and organisations
which have been set up in the last few years.
All Bolivarian circles (of
which there are now 300,000), democratic
unions, urban land committees,
student organisations, committees to defend
education rights, etc. should
establish coordination bodies at the
neighbourhood, local, state, and
national level, through the democratic
election of delegates with the right
of recall at any time. This would
enormously strengthen the movement and
would give it a democratic
leadership, which would help generalize
experiences and advance in its
political conclusions.
Socialism the only way forward
Finally, it is
also time to make a balance sheet of the political
perspectives of the
revolution. Hugo Chávez’s project, which opened the doors
for this process
of mass mobilisation and popular organisation, was one based
on the
development of the country’s productive forces, defending national
sovereignty and applying a number of measures in favour of the oppressed
masses. But this project never raised the question of going further than
the
limits of the capitalist system. On occasion Chávez has spoken of a
“humane
capitalism”. From the very beginning we warned that in the epoch
of
imperialist domination there can be no independent national capitalist
development in any country. The epoch of bourgeois revolution was more
than
200 years ago. The last four years of the revolutionary process in
Venezuela
have shown quite clearly that the decisive sections of the
Venezuelan
bourgeoisie are completely linked to imperialism and are unable
to play any
progressive role at all.
The bourgeoisie will give the
government no respite. The only way to reach
agreements with the employers
is on the basis of making the workers pay for
the crisis, and this would
provoke a decisive fight back from a labour
movement which now feels
confident. On the contrary, the defeat of the
bosses’ lock out has shown
the central role of the working class in any
capitalist country. There is
no other way to defend and deepen the revolution
other than attacking the
basis of the capitalist system itself; that is, by
placing the means of
production, distribution and exchange in the hands of
the workers and the
people to be run in the interests of the majority of the
population. Only
on the basis of a socialist system of democratic planning of
the economy
would it be possible to develop the country’s productive forces
and use
the enormous wealth of the country to improve the living conditions
of the
overwhelming majority of the people, and not to fill the Miami bank
accounts of an idle minority.
A socialist revolution in Venezuela would
be a powerful beacon of light which
would orientate the struggle of the
workers and peasants in the whole of
Latin America, setting the basis for
the fulfillment of Simon Bolivar’s dream
of a united America, a Socialist
Federation of Latin America.
Workers’ control of production in PDVSA and
the nationalised companies!
Every factory closed is a factory opened under
workers’ control!
Nationalisation of the banks!
Expropriation of
coup-organising bosses!
Forward to socialism!
Caracas, February
26, 2003.
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