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One misstatement of fact by Professor Liebowitz: I did not visit Venezuela "as a tourist". The word implies I was just there for my own personal pleasure. I stayed with the family of a young man who was an active Chavez supporter. I spent my time visiting working class and political events and meeting and talking with workers. If that sounds like "tourism" to Professor Liebowitz, so be it. As for the issue of Venezuela in general: We have seen over and over again how the masses of workers and peasants in one country after another in the formerly colonial world find themselves betrayed. Look at Zimbabwe or South Africa for example. And yet, at the time of the struggles, any suggestion that maybe the leadership was something less than perfect was met with complete derision by their left supporters here. Or consider this: We have examples like Papa Doc Duvalier and Batista who came into office as left reformers. We know how that turned out. Some will bitterly dispute it, but I think Ortega is another example. Yes, comrades can say "well, that's just because of the role of US imperialism." Okay, lets even accept that for the moment. But it's like saying that somebody died after jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge just because of the role of gravity. The fact of US (and world) imperialism has to be taken into account. What is the plan to deal with it? Evidently those leaders didn't have a successful one! How many times do we have to go through this without learning some lessons? John Reimann -- *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black Jacobins" by C. L. R. James Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
