Chris has once again sought to attack an Venezuelan left activist on the spurious ground that they do not take the sanctions serious enough. (His previous target was Edgardo Lander https://links.org.au/venezuela-us-blockade-and-election-response-edgardo-lander)
His sole proof for this regarding Atenea Jimenez is a butchered quote from an extensive interview. Here is what Atenea actually said: > > " We defend the free self-determination of our peoples. We are, of course, > against foreign military intervention and any type of foreign intervention > in our domestic affairs. There is no justifiable reason for the sanctions > [imposed on Venezuela]. But it also has to be said that the Manichaen view > that says the country was destroyed by the sanctions is not entirely > correct. When you analyse the situation, there was evidently a process of > economic decline prior to the sanctions. There is more than enough > evidence to prove this. Only after this did the sanctions impact society." > > Despite Atenea's clear opposition to the sanctions and acknowledgement that they contributed to destroying the economy (though are not the only factor), Chris feels he is in a position to cast judgment on here saying "a critic who fails to take the blockade seriously can not provide a real left-wing alternative." Of course this is blatantly wrong. For example, Chris can find a wealth of proposals for tackling the sanctions - from concrete actions taken by communes to build up food sovereignty all the way to proposed legislation to deal with the food crisis created by the sanctions - on the website of the National Network of Communal Activists http://rednacionaldecomuneros.blogspot.com/ ( http://rednacionaldecomuneros.blogspot.com/ ) of which Atenea is a co-founder. Alternatively, Chris can read Green Left where among other activists, I spoke with Atenea about their proposal submitted to the government for a nationwide communal enterprise for food production and distribution. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/venezuelas-crisis-view-communes If he did, he would find out that all these alternatives have been rejected by the Maduro government - precisely because they were left-wing. They were based on premises such as communes and campesinos distributing their produce via a system controlled by the people, rather than private intermediaries, to ensure cheap food reached those who needed it. Maduro instead opted for crushing the communes, jailing activists who denounced corruption, and promoting private intermediaries - the same intermediaries Chris consistently defends as necessary. What is more, left activists like Atenea and Edgardo have understood that overcoming the sanctions requires more than an economic strategy of corrupt dealings with capitalists and handing over the country's resources and labour to foreign transnationals. It requires a political strategy of reaching out to left and working class forces in the United States to build a movement there against the sanctions. Hence they have both been involved in various initiatives to promote this cause (here is one example https://nacla.org/news/2021/02/15/venezuela-united-states-intervention-biden ) In contrast, Maduro has sought to prove to Biden and now Trump that he is the best person for managing capitalism and US imperialist interests in Venezuela. His strategy has been to seek a cozy relationship with US imperialism rather than reach out to the US working class. Meanwhile at home Maduro proclaims that the sanctions have been defeated ( https://avn.info.ve/presidente-maduro-venezuela-es-ejemplo-en-la-derrota-de-sanciones-y-bloqueo/ ) and cites as proof the recent economic growth that is largely down to Chevron re-entering the Venezuelan economy. Of course, none of this economic growth has benefitted working people, with the minimum wage have remained where it was for several years. So, if anyone treats the sanctions as unimportant and offers no left-wing alternative for overcoming them it is the Maduro government - the same government Chris claims stands for the “construction of socialism” https://links.org.au/venezuela-opposing-blockade-our-main-task I leave the final word to Atenea, which I completely endorse: > > We [the Venezuelan left] are fighting against the discourse and practices > of a right-wing that pretends to be left when it comes to the Maduro > government. We are also combating the neoliberal discourse and practices > of the right-wing opposition. But, on top of this, we are against that > section of the international left that attacks us simply because we are > building an alternative. Those sectors, movements and parties of the > international left that, in one way or another, continue to support Maduro > and attack left movements and parties in Venezuela have caused a great > deal of damage. Maduro too has caused tremendous damage to the left > internationally, passing himself off as “left” while keeping 2000 > political prisoners in jail and a society persecuted in their own homes. > I understand it is complicated and that often people cannot comprehend the > current concrete reality of Venezuela from outside. But, as a bare > minimum, there should be a serious attempt to comprehend, analyse and > inform oneself of this reality, and to open up international spaces for > the [Venezuelan] democratic left. We need to share experiences and create > spaces where we can build together. That is the only way that, in the face > of rising illiberal, libertarian and neo-fascist forces, among others, we > can strengthen this two-way relationship in which those of us who are > building left spaces in Venezuela can help the left in other parts of the > world, and vice versa. > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#35425): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/35425 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/111334332/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
