Right now in South America, change is taking place. People are tired of the old politicians. They are tired of foreign interference in their lands. They want to try something new. And in one particular country, they've already begun. That country is Venezuela.
Tremendous changes are taking place in Venezuela. These changes have sparked criticism from the Right. But for the Left, Venezuela could represent the new model for progress in the Third World. Though currently Venezuela is an independent state capitalist nation, the steps being taken, and the president's open declaration that "Socialism is the way," are very promising developments.
Since Hugo Chavez was first elected president of Venezuela in 1998, numerous new rights have been won for the Venezuelan people. The right to recall referendum was won as part of a new constitution, a right which Chavez's rivals opposed yet, used last August to try to remove him from office. Also won under the new constitution was the recognition of women's work as mothers and homekeepers as actual occupations that deserve social security benefits.
Other telling developments include land reform and community organizing. Some 5.5 million acres of land have been distributed to 116,000 families in organized cooperatives. The creation of Self-Organized Rural Associations, or SARAOs, has helped with the development of communities. They receive materials and technical assistance from the government to build houses, gardens, schools, and so on. And in the cities there are urban agricultural projects. Abandoned plots of land are converted to urban organic gardens that grow food for the community. The unemployed of the nearby areas are given work in these gardens and trained as agricultural specialists.
Another development is the "oil-for-doctors" program, an agreement between Venezuela and Cuba. The way this program works is that Venezuela provides Cuba with much needed oil, and in return, Cuba provides Venezuela with much needed doctors. Currently there are some 12,000 Cuban doctors in Venezuela providing free medical treatment to Venezuela's poor, who make up 70% of the population.
The most ambitious project however, is workers' control of businesses. Venezuelan workers have been given the right to elect some of their managers, with most candidates coming from rank and file workers. That's in the state owned industries, which Venezuelan leaders say should always be co-managed. For privat industries, the government provides incentives like cheap credit and debt write downs to businesses that change to the worker management model.
It is these changes, these developments, that are so promising. Venezuela serves as a model for development, a model that others can follow that will help develop their nations and bring them to the point where a true Communist revolution is possible. It is all the more remarkable that Venezuela has accomplished all of this democratically, without violence, without censoring the media (which is largely against Chavez), and without political prisoners. Venezuela truly is inspiring, and hopefully many more nations will take up the model it has provided. In a region plagued by outside intervention, corruption, and injustice, the seed has been planted. Let the rains come!
[FONT=Georgia]Abajo y a la izquierda esta el coraz[/FONT][FONT=Georgia]ón.[/FONT]
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