16/02/2018
Socialist Fight - LCFI Britain
Louis de Saint-Just, French Revolutionary, January 1793:
“Those who make revolution half way only dig their own graves”.
Following the ouster of Zuma in South Africa on 15th February and of Mugabe in Zimbabwe on 21st November imperialist-sponsored coups Venezuela seems to be next in line for the treatment. Anyone who thinks that the shoe-in of Ramaphosa, the Butcher of Marikana, will mean the end of their long nightmare is a politically naive idiot. Ramaphosa is about to begin imposing an even worse nightmare now, which was the purpose of ousting Zuma, and the same applied to Mugabe. What bastards this pair were, the Washington Post and the New York Times and the British Times and Telegraph told us, this fire we have prepared for you is much better than that frying pan.
Back in 1999-2000 Chávez appointed new figures, including army colleagues, to government posts. Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 founder Jesús Urdaneta took over the Bolivarian Intelligence Agency and he appointed Hernán Grüber Ódreman, who had been one of his coup leaders in 1992, governor of the Federal District of Caracas. He also appointed conservative, centrist and centre-right figures to government positions as well. He appointed businessman Roberto Mandini president of the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela. His critics referred to these government officials as the “Boliburguesía” or “Bolivarian bourgeoisie” and highlighted that it “included few people with experience in public administration”.
“The Chávez government’s initial policies were moderate, capitalist and centre-left. Chávez initially believed that capitalism was still a valid economic model for Venezuela, but only Rhenish capitalism, not the US-supported neoliberalism of prior Venezuelan governments. He followed the economic guidelines of the International Monetary Fund and continued to encourage foreign investment in Venezuela”. (Wikipedia)
Venezuela’s main source of cash is dwindling fast, its oil output in January fell to its lowest level in nearly 30 years. The decline is another sign of Venezuela’s economic and political crisis and undoubtedly this is the work of imperialism and its agents within the country.
Following the defeat of the ‘colour revolution’ in mid-2017, “the most combative since a wave of unrest in 2014” with hundreds of thousands of middle-class Venezuelans protesting daily in the rich suburbs of Caracas. But they failed to shift the poor in the barrios and they were also politically outmanoeuvred by Maduro’s calling of the Constituent Assembly elections.
But imperialism is organising both internally and in neighbouring countries for a Chile-1973-style coup, hoping to sponsor a military putsch. In January a Helicopter bomber, Oscar Perez and his gang were plotting further mayhem when police gunned him down, hijacked a police helicopter to drop grenades on the Supreme Court and Interior Ministry buildings in the capital Caracas. Police found assault rifles, a sniper rifle, ammunition, mobile phones and passports. Maduro accused Colombia assisting the gang.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson toured Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Jamaica at the start of February and raised the prospect of oil sanctions against Venezuela. Reports are that Washington finally gave the instruction to the opposition not to sign an agreement in the Dominican Republic lest the opposition agree to measures to assist in the talks with Maduro.
Lucha de Clases (IMT, Venezuela) reported 12 February 2018 that:
“On Thursday 8 February, Colombia and Brazil announced they were sending troops to their borders with Venezuela, citing the excuse of the “migratory and humanitarian crisis”. Brazil announced it would double the number of forces patrolling the border between the two countries, while Colombia said it was sending 3,000 security personnel to the border, including over 2,000 soldiers. The day after the announcement, the Commander of the Southern Command of the US Army, Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, arrived in Colombia “to discuss security cooperation and examine Colombia’s security and peace-building efforts firsthand.” We all know what this language means. When the head of the Southern Command talks about peace efforts, we can be sure that they are preparing aggression.”
The Lima Group, made up of the right-wing governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru met on 13 February, Vanezuala was ‘dis-invited’. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted on 9 February that “The world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator”.
Venezuela is the third largest economy in South America, here is concentrated the largest known oil and gas reserves on the continent and here the class struggle is more acute today. Venezuela has elected a Constituent Assembly which is much more representative of the Venezuelan people than the coup-making Congress. However, we have no constitutionalist illusions; this does not mean the power of the Constituent Assembly constitutes workers’ power. Supported by imperialism, the coup plotters are getting stronger all the time. Workers cannot be satisfied with the limits of the bourgeois “Chavista revolution”; the emancipation of the workers will be achieved the workers themselves.
In addition, the workers must take the initiative, and organize direct action to confiscate the warehouses and the weapons of the coup plotters. At the same time, the vanguard of the workers must organize themselves in a single block, a military united front politically independent of the Chavist PSUV and without placing any political trust in Maduro. The emancipation of the workers will be the work of the workers themselves. This is the why the social revolution in Venezuela must advance.
“Those who make revolution half way only dig their own graves”.
Following the ouster of Zuma in South Africa on 15th February and of Mugabe in Zimbabwe on 21st November imperialist-sponsored coups Venezuela seems to be next in line for the treatment. Anyone who thinks that the shoe-in of Ramaphosa, the Butcher of Marikana, will mean the end of their long nightmare is a politically naive idiot. Ramaphosa is about to begin imposing an even worse nightmare now, which was the purpose of ousting Zuma, and the same applied to Mugabe. What bastards this pair were, the Washington Post and the New York Times and the British Times and Telegraph told us, this fire we have prepared for you is much better than that frying pan.
Back in 1999-2000 Chávez appointed new figures, including army colleagues, to government posts. Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 founder Jesús Urdaneta took over the Bolivarian Intelligence Agency and he appointed Hernán Grüber Ódreman, who had been one of his coup leaders in 1992, governor of the Federal District of Caracas. He also appointed conservative, centrist and centre-right figures to government positions as well. He appointed businessman Roberto Mandini president of the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela. His critics referred to these government officials as the “Boliburguesía” or “Bolivarian bourgeoisie” and highlighted that it “included few people with experience in public administration”.
“The Chávez government’s initial policies were moderate, capitalist and centre-left. Chávez initially believed that capitalism was still a valid economic model for Venezuela, but only Rhenish capitalism, not the US-supported neoliberalism of prior Venezuelan governments. He followed the economic guidelines of the International Monetary Fund and continued to encourage foreign investment in Venezuela”. (Wikipedia)
Venezuela’s main source of cash is dwindling fast, its oil output in January fell to its lowest level in nearly 30 years. The decline is another sign of Venezuela’s economic and political crisis and undoubtedly this is the work of imperialism and its agents within the country.
Following the defeat of the ‘colour revolution’ in mid-2017, “the most combative since a wave of unrest in 2014” with hundreds of thousands of middle-class Venezuelans protesting daily in the rich suburbs of Caracas. But they failed to shift the poor in the barrios and they were also politically outmanoeuvred by Maduro’s calling of the Constituent Assembly elections.
But imperialism is organising both internally and in neighbouring countries for a Chile-1973-style coup, hoping to sponsor a military putsch. In January a Helicopter bomber, Oscar Perez and his gang were plotting further mayhem when police gunned him down, hijacked a police helicopter to drop grenades on the Supreme Court and Interior Ministry buildings in the capital Caracas. Police found assault rifles, a sniper rifle, ammunition, mobile phones and passports. Maduro accused Colombia assisting the gang.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson toured Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Jamaica at the start of February and raised the prospect of oil sanctions against Venezuela. Reports are that Washington finally gave the instruction to the opposition not to sign an agreement in the Dominican Republic lest the opposition agree to measures to assist in the talks with Maduro.
Lucha de Clases (IMT, Venezuela) reported 12 February 2018 that:
“On Thursday 8 February, Colombia and Brazil announced they were sending troops to their borders with Venezuela, citing the excuse of the “migratory and humanitarian crisis”. Brazil announced it would double the number of forces patrolling the border between the two countries, while Colombia said it was sending 3,000 security personnel to the border, including over 2,000 soldiers. The day after the announcement, the Commander of the Southern Command of the US Army, Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, arrived in Colombia “to discuss security cooperation and examine Colombia’s security and peace-building efforts firsthand.” We all know what this language means. When the head of the Southern Command talks about peace efforts, we can be sure that they are preparing aggression.”
The Lima Group, made up of the right-wing governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru met on 13 February, Vanezuala was ‘dis-invited’. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted on 9 February that “The world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator”.
Venezuela is the third largest economy in South America, here is concentrated the largest known oil and gas reserves on the continent and here the class struggle is more acute today. Venezuela has elected a Constituent Assembly which is much more representative of the Venezuelan people than the coup-making Congress. However, we have no constitutionalist illusions; this does not mean the power of the Constituent Assembly constitutes workers’ power. Supported by imperialism, the coup plotters are getting stronger all the time. Workers cannot be satisfied with the limits of the bourgeois “Chavista revolution”; the emancipation of the workers will be achieved the workers themselves.
In addition, the workers must take the initiative, and organize direct action to confiscate the warehouses and the weapons of the coup plotters. At the same time, the vanguard of the workers must organize themselves in a single block, a military united front politically independent of the Chavist PSUV and without placing any political trust in Maduro. The emancipation of the workers will be the work of the workers themselves. This is the why the social revolution in Venezuela must advance.
