Hugo Chavez Reveals He Has Cancer

[Rakhmetov]

OMG!!! He has to beat this shit big time! Fuck Fuck Fuck

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/07/01-1

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/30/2294037/hugo-chavez-admits-cancerous-tumor.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aBVqufuI4

[Kenco Smooth]

It's a shame and I do hope he recovers but I don't see what the panic is about concerning Chavez himself. He wasn't going to be around forever in any case so really any worry should be directed at whether or not the advances in Venezuela will continue to stand if he's no longer president (be that now or in 10 years time).

And again, just in case someone manages to miss it, I do not consider it a good thing Chavez has cancer. But if the Bolivarian revolution is to live up to it's name then it will need to outlast it's charismatic leader. Our concern should lie primarily with the infrastructure of the nation in the absence of Chavez. Not in hope that he'll be around forever.

[Rakhmetov]

It's a shame and I do hope he recovers but I don't see what the panic is about concerning Chavez himself. He wasn't going to be around forever in any case so really any worry should be directed at whether or not the advances in Venezuela will continue to stand if he's no longer president (be that now or in 10 years time).

And again, just in case someone manages to miss it, I do not consider it a good thing Chavez has cancer. But if the Bolivarian revolution is to live up to it's name then it will need to outlast it's charismatic leader. Our concern should lie primarily with the infrastructure of the nation in the absence of Chavez. Not in hope that he'll be around forever.

Capitalism is falling apart and a man like Chavez who has inspired the masses time and time again to re-elect him and bring him back to power after the coup is indispensible.

[Kenco Smooth]

Capitalism is falling apart and a man like Chavez who has inspired the masses time and time again to re-elect him and bring him back to power after the coup is indispensible.

If we rely on charismatic leaders to hold up the edifice of social progress then our entire program is doomed.

[Queercommie Girl]

Must be due to all that stress he got from all his efforts in socialist activism. Politics is stressful.

[Queercommie Girl]

If we rely on charismatic leaders to hold up the edifice of social progress then our entire program is doomed.

Just shut up and bow down to the great statue of Chavez right now!

All praise goes to our great leader! All praise goes to Chavez!

Long Live Chavez! May he lead the glorious world communist movement for 10,000 years!

(just kidding)

Seriously though, I think Chavez is generally speaking a good socialist, but yes the movement must go on even if he is no longer present.

[Angry Young Man]

If we rely on charismatic leaders to hold up the edifice of social progress then our entire program is doomed.

I see your point, but this charismatic leader is quite important to the whole program.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

I see your point, but this charismatic leader is quite important to the whole program.

Yeah that's a bad thing. There's really no reason why Chavez should try to replicate Castro's marathon 4-and a half decades in power. One assassin's bullet or heart attack and the movement faces a serious crisis. The belief that Chavez is necessary for Socialism is false consciousness among the Working Class there-it is false consciousness as much as the belief that Capitalism is the only workable economic system is.

In a Buddhist way, the revolution doesn't really happen as long as the people are attached to the illusion that someone else is needed for the revolution to occur. Socialism is all about collective agency, not charismatic left-wing caudillos.

[Kenco Smooth]

I see your point, but this charismatic leader is quite important to the whole program.

And I see that point too, and I have few particular issues with chavez but if he hasn't built an infrastructure capable of outlasting him in the time he has been in office (don't get me wrong, this would be no mean feat) then I don't think the socialist movement will come to look back on his term as anything better than a short lived and short sighted success for reform.

I wish him a speedy recovery but he has to step down or die one day. Like I said, whether it's tomorrow or in ten years we will ultimately see how strong a base the improvements in Venezuela have with Chavez out of the picture. Given his condition this should be the primary concerns of socialists and especially those in Venezuela at the time being. Especially as these concerns can be addressed by these people in a way his illness can't.

[Angry Young Man]

Still, the twenties was, at least culturally, the golden age of the USSR, so you never know, Caracas might become a bohemian utopia where all the arts swell for five years until a paranoid bureacrat wangles power

[Kenco Smooth]

Still, the twenties was, at least culturally, the golden age of the USSR, so you never know, Caracas might become a bohemian utopia where all the arts swell for five years until a paranoid bureacrat wangles power

My knowledge of the details of the Venezuelan situation is admittedly far from being strong but I'd imagine risk of right wing coup to be much more likely in a vacuum left by Chavez.

[Rakhmetov]

If we rely on charismatic leaders to hold up the edifice of social progress then our entire program is doomed.


Who started the Venezuelan revolution??? Chavez!--- when he tried to overthrow cheap right-wing politicians in the '90s in military coup. He captured the people's imagination because they saw he wasn't another carbon-copy leader like the rest of their ilk.

[RedSquare]

I hope he overcomes it. He's a good man

[LewisQ]

None of us, as socialists, believe in indispensable Great Men leading the masses to freedom. But to say Chavez, as an individual, doesn't matter is a ridiculously short-sighted position. Like it or not, he is a symbol of the Bolivarian movement for the people of Venezuela, and the reason they've put up with a lot of the bullshit which has accumulated around it.

If he can't contest the next elections, the reactionaries will probably win and socialism (whatever you think of the Venezuelan model) will suffer yet another body-blow.

[KurtFF8]

If we rely on charismatic leaders to hold up the edifice of social progress then our entire program is doomed.

Agreed, but if we ignore the fact that charismatic leaders can help bring about socialist consciousness to many more folks than would otherwise have happened, we are doing ourselves an equal injustice. There needs to be a balance between appealing to charismatic speakers (who have helped promote the movement and its' goals) and the mass movement itself. It would seem history teaches us that both help advance the anti-capitalist workers' movement.

[thesadmafioso]

I hope that he is met with success in his efforts to combat this ailment, but at the same time it would be foolish to presume this the end of Venezuela as we know it. Tremendous strides have been made for the working class due in part to efforts which he spearheaded, and though they will likely continue to be made through already established structural channels, it is still saddening to hear of this news.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Agreed, but if we ignore the fact that charismatic leaders can help bring about socialist consciousness to many more folks than would otherwise have happened, we are doing ourselves an equal injustice. There needs to be a balance between appealing to charismatic speakers (who have helped promote the movement and its' goals) and the mass movement itself. It would seem history teaches us that both help advance the anti-capitalist workers' movement.

Very true, but Chavez has been around for 12 years now, it's time to go beyond bringing people to political consciousness, because there are many in the Chavista movement who want to go further than Chavez, Jaua and the other bureaucrats want to go.

[piet11111]

Hopefully Chavez will now realize he needs to make sure the working class takes power if he wants this project to outlast him.

[RED DAVE]

Hopefully Chavez will now realize he needs to make sure the working class takes power if he wants this project to outlast him.Don't hold your breath about Chavez realizing any such thing. He's a social democrat with a good line of rhetoric. However, he has not gone beyond the limitations of bourgeois liberalsim.

RED DAVE

[Rusty Shackleford]

if there is even a chance of there being an anti-bolivarian election victroy, i certainly hope the FAB and the Militias step in.

kick this revolution into the top gear.

[Sasha]

http://www.foksuk.nl/content/formfield_files/formcartoon_8003_11da2d3e3e1ec8c7dd7d2b8f42322fdd0 fdcfae8.gif
Fokke & Sukke are PR agents for Chavez;
- "believe us presidente"
- "standing next to Fidel everbody looks alive and healthy"



(bring on the neg-rep fella's :D)

[Tabarnack]

Already in Venezuela
This is the beginning of the return, Chavez says

Caracas, 04 Jul. AVN .-

Early morning this Monday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came back to the country to continue with his after-care treatment after a surgery he underwent in Havana, Cuba.
At his arrival, the Venezuelan President said: “I come back to (Simon) Bolivar"s epicenter and this is pure blaze, this is pure life, this is the return. See you in the return.”
President Chavez was welcomed at the Simon Bolivar airport, Vargas state, by Venezuelan Executive Vice-president Elias Jaua, his Cabinet of ministers and representatives of public powers.
By means of his Twitter account @chavezcandanga, the President said: “Here I am, at home and very happy!! good morning my Loved Venezuela! Good morning loved people! Thank God! This is the beginning of the return!”
this morning, in a phone call with the state-run television, President Chavez informed to have arrived in the Miraflores Presidential Palace and he added: “We are very happy for being at home again.”
“My best wishes to the Venezuelan people, from my heart. A million kisses and a million hugs.”
Concerning the after-care process, he said he will continue it “very encouraged and happy” under a strict diet.
“I am here trying to control my passions. I am so excited and happy,” he said, detailing that his rehabilitation process doing well.


Agencia Venezolana de Noticias

[KurtFF8]

Very true, but Chavez has been around for 12 years now, it's time to go beyond bringing people to political consciousness, because there are many in the Chavista movement who want to go further than Chavez, Jaua and the other bureaucrats want to go.

Well of course, but Chavez hasn't just been building consciousness since he's been in power, there are significant projects that his government has spearheaded (in terms of health, literacy, other economic development, etc.).

I also feel like a lot of the opposition to Chavez on this board isn't backed up but anything but an abstract "well the workers should just do it!" But that line seems to never be developed past the abstract, nor does it take into question the fact that the workers movement in Venezuela has an important relationship with the PSUV still.

[piet11111]

The problem i have is not with Chavez but that the PSUV has a lot of people in controlling positions that deliberately sabotage the efforts of Chavez and little is done to get rid of those people.

A lot of local efforts are snuffed out by pro-capitalist politicians that hold a PSUV seat.

This is why power needs to be directed outside the party before we get a repeat of the soviet failure.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Damn. :(