Venezuela

[Idealism]

Whats going on there? i know the name Chavez, and that it is meant to be socialist, but not much else.

[teenagebricks]

Chávez is currently pushing reforms to get Venezuela closer to socialism, some industry sectors have been nationalised, others are in the process, he's also pulled a huge portion of the population out of poverty, I think that's his main concern actually. Venezuela, like much of Latin America, is awfully poor. Chávez is a socialist, no doubt about that, but I wouldn't go as far to call it a socialist state or anything like that, life in Venezuela is far from perfect, and who controls the workplaces in Venezuela? The bosses of course, so no, not really a socialist country at all, overall it's very reformist, not that I have a problem with that. I don't think the big man is to blame though, he's up against some pretty stiff competition which is why things aren't moving as quickly as we want them to in Venezuela. Personally I'm a big fan of Hugo Chávez but I can kind of see why others might not like him.

[Idealism]

Chávez is currently pushing reforms to get Venezuela closer to socialism, some industry sectors have been nationalised, others are in the process, he's also pulled a huge portion of the population out of poverty, I think that's his main concern actually. Venezuela, like much of Latin America, is awfully poor. Chávez is a socialist, no doubt about that, but I wouldn't go as far to call it a socialist state or anything like that, life in Venezuela is far from perfect, and who controls the workplaces in Venezuela? The bosses of course, so no, not really a socialist country at all, overall it's very reformist, not that I have a problem with that. I don't think the big man is to blame though, he's up against some pretty stiff competition which is why things aren't moving as quickly as we want them to in Venezuela. Personally I'm a big fan of Hugo Chávez but I can kind of see why others might not like him.

So the criticism from the left, is mainly about his reformism?

[ComradeR]

So the criticism from the left, is mainly about his reformism?
Pretty much yeah. Some see him as using Socialist rhetoric in order to get workers to support him. While others see him as a Socialist who is trying to build socialism using slow peaceful democratic means. As for me the jury is still out on him.

[autotrophic]

There's a pretty good documentary called The War On Democracy which has a part on Venezuela and how Chavez is viewed by the population there. It seems as if the poorer part of the population supports him (for good reason) while the more western parts dislike him due to the media.

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-3739500579629840148&q=war%20on%20democracy&ei=mmYxSPehDKHoqgP52ZipCQ&hl=en

It also features other parts of Latin America, which I think you might be interested in

[fabilius]

I think the war on democracy is a good documentary.

But I don´t know anything really about latin america, wish I did. Am trying to learn spanish so that I can get more local sources but it takes time.

[STJ]

I support Chavez i have no problem with him at all.

[h0m0revolutionary]

Chavez isn't merely reformist, he has his boot firmly at the throat of any organic workers movements in Venezuela.

See here for what the libertarian group El Libertario have to say on Chavez:
http://libcom.org/library/venezuela-behind-smokescreen

Also their latest realease i'll copy below, sorry it is so long :). Worth a read though.

After taking part in a demonstartion for lack of job security in 2006, 14 workers of contractor “Transportes Camila de Sidor” could be sentenced to 5 to 10 years in jail.

In 05 September 2006 a group of workers and union leaders staged a protest against the carrier Camila, a contractor to SIDOR (Siderúrgic of the Orinoco), the principal steel core business located in Puerto Ordaz, Bolivar state, in Venezuela. The workers were protesting the failure to pay wages, and maintain health and safety, as well as the lack of tools to accomplish their work. The protest was endorsed by Readers of the “Sindicato Único de Trabajadores Siderúrgicos y Similares (Sutiss)”, stopping the equipment whose breakdowns and lack of maintenance represented a threat to the integrity of the workers, following the safety procedures in the labor standards. The employers turned to the regional authorities, getting the Public Ministry to issue an arrest warrant against three syndical leaders and a
group of workers by the National Guard, which resulted in a protest by workers of the steel mill.

In this way were arrested Leonel Grisette, a member of the Commission who
represents 50% workers and 50% of employers on Sutiss; Juan Valor, Secretary of Press and Propaganda, and Jhoel Hernández, secretary of Culture and Sports of that union. The charges against them were qualified misappropriation and restricting the freedom to work. A trial started for acts defined as crimes after the reform of the Venezuelan Penal Code (Articles 358 to 363) in 2005, and the promulgation of the Organic Law of National Security (Article 56) in 2002: both approved during the Bolivarian government and harmful to the right to strike.

The three union leaders, along with 11 workers, 14 of Sidor, have been
subjected since 2006 to court procedures , while the trial will end on Wednesday April 29 2009, with the possibility of a sentence of between 5 and 10 years in prison. Remember that SIDOR was nationalized by President Hugo Chávez in April 2008, following the revocation of the contract with the Argentina transnational Techint. However, a year later, estate control has not meant an improvement in the quality of life of the workers. Speaking to “El Libertario”, Leonel Grisette said "It is not true that outsourcing has been eliminated and working conditions of the flexible workers are such that they cause accidents in 4 to 1 ratio with respect to the other workers. Collective bargaining is frozen, and despite the absence of technical safety workers as required by law, we are forced to work under irregular conditions". Moreover, nationalization has neutralized the current board of SUTISS, which has abandoned the 14 workers on trial, so they had to pay out of their own pockets the fees for their counsel, which add up to 100 million bolivars (over $ 44,000).

Human rights and labor organizations have been denouncing the criminalization of protest in Venezuela, as well as the enactement of laws to restrict the legal right to strike, such as the requirements to present themselves in court and the threat of application of the Code Criminal Law and Security of the Nation. For anarchists the legal architecture of repression is part of the government offensive to end the belligerent autonomy of social organizations, with the excuse of fighting coups d'etat and under the rhetorical mask of Bolivarian Socialism, whose consequences are suffered by the people. Although the syndical organizations split and biased within the inter-bourgeois confrontation that has occurred in the country in recent years- do not keep statistics on cases similar to the 14 Sidor, workers in the states of Carabobo, Aragua, Miranda and Tachira have been subject to presenting themselves in the courts. In this sense statements by the peasant movement Jirajara, located in the state of Yaracuy have counted 103 cases of peasants who after participating in protests and land occupations, have been referred to the courts. For the union activists of the 14 of SIDOR, these procedures are designed to decapitate the militant labor movement, so the possible penalty of 5 or 10 years imprisonment is a warning to other activists and advocates for labor and social rights.

Historically the libertarians have argued that the people will not feel better
if the stick who beats them bears the name of stick of the people. We alert the base organizations and collectives of Venezuela and of the world about the potential sentence against the 14 Sidor. As anarchists members of El
Libertario we stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan workers struggling for
their rights, we support militant, honest and autonomous unions and will
continue to denounce the contradictions of an authoritarian government at the service of the interests of globalized capitalism in the struggle for a self-managed and revolutionary grass-roots alternative preferable to the
false polarization which exists in our country.

El Libertario
www.nodo50.org/ellibertario (http://www.nodo50.org/ellibertario)
Caracas, April 27 2009.

[STJ]

Very good read.:)

[el_chavista]

h0m0revolutionary brings a chit-chat By Lorenzo Vidal-Folch Duch - November 2007 Origininally from the Dissident Warwick blog.
I doubt Lorenzo Vidal is a real anarchist. All his blah blah is a repetition of the "escuálidos" arguments.
The "anarchists" he spoke about in Venezuela actually are "voluntarists" which committed some terrorist dids. (It is the use of the word anarchism for disorder).
If you want to read real Marxist arguments against reformists around Chávez you need some Trotskyte publications like those from de IMT or the TF4ªI (they actually are doing politics in Venezuela). Come on h0m0revolutionary, are you serious about that text being anarchistic?

[Delirium]

Whats going on there? i know the name Chavez, and that it is meant to be socialist, but not much else.

It seems that a main goal of the Chavez government is to develop an economic model that can evolve outside and above western capitalism. An example of this is the regional trade groups that have been developing and the nationalization of some key industries of the Venezuelan economy. In times past most Latin American countries have of course been ruled by elites than funnel the resources and wealth to the united states while enriching themselves at the expense of the environment, the working class, and the long term wellbeing of their country.

Its yet to be determined if Chavez is a "real socialist" or not, since there have been moves to both strengthen the power of the state while at the same time empowering workers and communities through direct democracy. It is difficult situation. Without the powers of the state, Venezuela would not hope to be able to resist US imperialism. Though by relying on government action, Venezuela risks the common trap of revolutions; bureaucracy and stagnation.

I am supportive of much of what Chavez has done, he has raised living standards significantly, taken control of the economy from western elites, and resisted multiple attempts to depose him. Though at the same time i would be skeptical of him until he is no longer in power and the workers/communities are running the country.

[RedScare]

In addition to all that's been said, there's also the establishment of community councils, which seem to be dominating local, small-scale development. I read the article in NACLA: Report on the Americas, which is unfortunately not available online.