Why he crushed the oligarchs: the importance
of Hugo Chávez
By Tariq Ali
Aug. 16 -- The turn-out in Venezuela last Sunday was huge. 94.9
percent of the electorate voted in the recall referendum. Venezuela,
under its new Constitution, permitted the right of the citizens to recall
a President before s/he had completed their term of office. No Western
democracy enshrines this right in a written or unwritten constitution.
Chavez’ victory will have repercussions beyond the borders of Venezuela.
It is a triumph of the poor against the rich and it is a lesson that
Lula in Brazil and Kirchner in Argentina should study closely. It was
Fidel Castro, not Carter, whose advice to go ahead with the referendum
was crucial. Chavez put his trust in the people by empowering them and
they responded generously. The opposition will only discredit itself
further by challenging the results.
The Venezuelan oligarchs and their parties, who had opposed this Constitution
in a referendum (having earlier failed to topple Chavez via a US-backed
coup and an oil-strike led by a corrupt union bureaucracy), now utilized
it to try and get rid of the man who had enhanced Venezuelan democracy.
They failed. However loud their cries (and those of their media apologists
at home and abroad) of anguish, in reality the whole country knows what
happened. Chavez defeated his opponents democratically and for the fourth
time in a row. Democracy in Venezuela, under the banner of the Bolivarian
revolutionaries, has broken through the corrupt two-party system favored
by the oligarchy and its friends in the West. And this has happened
despite the total hostility of the privately owned media: the two daily
newspapers, Universal and Nacional, as well as Gustavo Cisneros’
TV channels and CNN, made no attempt to mask their crude support for
the opposition.
Some foreign correspondents in Caracas have convinced themselves that
Chavez is an oppressive caudillo and they are desperate to translate
their own fantasies into reality. They provide no evidence of political
prisoners, let alone Guantanamo-style detentions or the removal of TV
executives and newspaper editors (which happened without too much of
a fuss in Blair’s Britain).
A few weeks ago in Caracas I had a lengthy discussion with Chavez ranging
from Iraq to the most detailed minutiae of Venezuelan history and politics
and the Bolivarian program. It became clear to me that what Chavez is
attempting is nothing more or less than the creation of a radical, social-democracy
in Venezuela that seeks to empower the lowest strata of society. In
these times of deregulation, privatization and the Anglo-Saxon model
of wealth subsuming politics, Chavez’ aims are regarded as revolutionary,
even though the measures proposed are no different to those of the post-war
Attlee government in Britain. Some of the oil-wealth is being spent
to educate and heal the poor.
Just under a million children from the shanty-towns and the poorest
villages now obtain a free education; 1.2 million illiterate adults
have been taught to read and write; secondary education has been made
available to 250,000 children whose social status excluded them from
this privilege during the ancien regime; three new university campuses
were functioning by 2003 and six more are due to be completed by 2006.
As far as healthcare is concerned, the 10,000 Cuban doctors, who were
sent to help the country, have transformed the situation in the poor
districts, where 11,000 neighborhood clinics have been established and
the health budget has tripled. Add to this the financial support provided
to small businesses, the new homes being built for the poor, an Agrarian
Reform Law that was enacted and pushed through despite the resistance,
legal and violent, by the landlords. By the end of last year 5,590,678
acres had been distributed to 116,899 families. The reasons for Chavez’
popularity becomes obvious. No previous regime had even noticed the
plight of the poor.
And one can’t help but notice that it is not simply a division
between the wealthy and the poor, but also one of skin-color. The Chavistas
tend to be dark-skinned, reflecting their slave and native ancestry.
The opposition is light-skinned and some of its more disgusting supporters
denounce Chavez as a “black monkey.” A puppet show to this
effect with a monkey playing Chavez was even organized at the US Embassy
in Caracas. But Colin Powell was not amused and the ambassador was compelled
to issue an apology.
The bizarre argument was advanced in a hostile editorial in The Economist
this week that all this was done to win votes is extraordinary. The
opposite is the case. The coverage of Venezuela in The Economist and
Financial Times has consisted of pro-oligarchy apologetics. Rarely have
reporters in the field responded so uncritically to the needs of their
proprietors.
The Bolivarians wanted power so that real reforms could be implemented.
All the oligarchs have to offer is more of the past and the removal
of Chavez.
It is ridiculous to suggest that Venezuela is on the brink of a totalitarian
tragedy. It is the opposition that has attempted to take the country
in that direction. The Bolivarians have been incredibly restrained.
When I asked Chavez to explain his own philosophy, he replied:
“I don’t believe in the dogmatic postulates of Marxist revolution.
I don’t accept that we are living in a period of proletarian revolutions.
All that must be revised. Reality is telling us that every day. Are
we aiming in Venezuela today for the abolition of private property or
a classless society? I don’t think so. But if I’m told that
because of that reality you can’t do anything to help the poor,
the people who have made this country rich through their labor -- and
never forget that some of it was slave labor -- then I say ‘We
part company.’ I will never accept that there can be no redistribution
of wealth in society. Our upper classes don’t even like paying
taxes. That’s one reason they hate me. We said ‘You must pay
your taxes’. I believe it’s better to die in battle, rather
than hold aloft a very revolutionary and very pure banner, and do nothing
... That position often strikes me as very convenient, a good excuse
... Try and make your revolution, go into combat, advance a little,
even if it’s only a millimeter, in the right direction, instead
of dreaming about utopias.”
And that’s why he won.
Source: Counterpunch
Taking on the Elephant in the Big Apple
By Skyler Simmons
Aug. 14 (AGR)— Amidst the terror warnings, talks of canceling
elections, “October Surprises,” and the ever-escalating war
in Iraq, there is a ray of hope: the Republican National Convention
(RNC). Well, not so much the RNC as the incredible resistance that is
currently being organized against it. The sheer magnitude of disgust
at Bush’s neo-conservative agenda in the US, not to mention the
world, may very well create a protest of historical proportions.
There will undoubtedly be thousands upon thousands in the streets protesting
W’s war on terror, the poor, and the environment. Many protest
organizers and media outlets are putting the expected number of protesters
close to one million. To add to that, only 1 in 5 New Yorkers are Republican
and a recent poll found that 83 percent of New Yorkers are opposed to
the RNC even being held in their city. Even High Times has dedicated
26 pages of its most recent issue to protesting the RNC and encouraging
people to take direct action at the convention. It looks like the Republicans
might not be having so much fun after all.
How will protesters use huge numbers, sympathetic locals, and overwhelming
opposition to the Republican agenda to get the message across? It’s
quite simple. Steal the show.
There are countless opportunities for taking direct action in NYC to
show a unified front of resistance to all that Bush stands for. We must
refuse to enter the “free speech zones” that bear a much closer
resemblance to Guantanamo Bay then a place to express our dissent. We
must refuse to be sent off to isolated parts of the city where our protests
will be forgotten. It is up to you and me to make sure not a second
goes by that the Republicans, the nation, and the world aren’t
aware of the resistance in the streets of New York. Whether it’s
blocking intersections, laying siege to Madison Square Gardens, staging
a sit-in at a war profiteer’s office, or disrupting a Republican
cocktail party, all such actions will be necessary to let these politicians
know they can no longer commit atrocities in our name.
There are many plans for direct action already in the works. On Aug.
29, the day of the massive anti-war march planned by United for Peace
and Justice (UFPJ), there are calls for unpermitted feeder marches to
the main march as well as break away marches from it. In light of the
city denying UFPJ a permit for Central Park, UFPJ has hinted that the
march will go to Central Park regardless of a permit, while other groups
are openly calling for activists to reclaim the park. The fun doesn’t
stop there. Later that day there has been a call for “Chaos on
Broadway,” at which activists will converge from all directions
on the theaters where Republicans are hoping to have a pleasant evening
of entertainment.
On Aug. 31, now being billed as A31, there has been a call for decentralized
direct action, including a critical mass bike ride, and actions targeting
war profiteers, RNC corporate sponsors, and Republican events. These
actions will build up to a mass convergence at the police barricades
blocking our access to Madison Square Gardens at which A31 organizers
are calling for acts of civil disobedience.
There are countless more marches and actions planned throughout the
week that need our bodies and energy to make this a week that the Republicans
(and politicians of every other stripe for that matter) will never forget.
In order to make the protests and messages relevant, we must express
our dissent on our own terms and not give into the fear of terror warnings
and inflated security budgets. This is far too important of an event
to hold anything back due to fear.
It is essential that the Republicans in NYC not experience a moment
of peace, because their policies have denied peace to the lives of millions
around the world. And it is equally important that the protest not be
taken as an endorsement of Kerry and his increasingly aggressive foreign
policy stance. In fact, let it be a warning to the Democrats of what
the opposition has in store for them if Kerry is elected and they continue
to support murderous policies at home and abroad.
As we take the streets of New York, keep in mind what we are fighting
for. Remember Abu Ghraib, the hooded Iraqi with electrodes attached
to his body, and the prisoners beaten to death by US soldiers. And think
to yourself, what has been done to stop this? Think about the fact that
Bush says it’s OK to have more arsenic in our drinking water. And
ask yourself, what it will take to stop this assault on our environment.
Think of the terror that US foreign policy has brought to countless
families across the world, in the form of bombs, structural adjustment
policies, and “regime change.” And think to yourself, what
will you do to put and end to this madness?
Let’s bring the spirit of Argentina, Quebec City, Seattle, Bolivia,
and countless other popular uprisings to NYC to make this the largest,
most festive, and most effective resistance the world has ever seen.
See you in the streets!
Olympic-sized horror in Greece
By Dave Zirin
Aug. 14— You know it’s Olympic season in the US because
Playboy has unleashed its ‘Women of the Summer Games’ issue,
where world class female athletes are seen performing pole vaults, long
jumps, and backstrokes, completely in the air brushed buff.
Swimmer and photo subject Holly Cope accompanied her display with this
inspiring message to young girls across America:
“I vote Republican, I worship Martha Stewart and I don’t mind
being naked.”
Lovely.
We are also getting bombarded with stories about how Athens is “a
city transformed” by the Olympic Midas touch. As International
Olympic Committee Chairman Jacques Rogge put it, “At Athens the
legacy will be a new airport, new metro, new suburban train -- this
is a legacy the Greeks will be proud of.”
But don’t let the gold, silver, or soft-core sexism fool you: these
Greek Olympics arrive bathed from head to toe in blood and dust.
You won’t hear about it in NBC’s gauzy coverage, but estimates
range that as many as 150 construction workers died in work place accidents
building Olympic facilities. The new center-right government of Costas
Karamanlis, terrified of international embarrassment for not having
a modernized infrastructure, turned the screws to finish facilities
by any means necessary.
In the last week of round-the-clock preparation alone, 13 laborers were
killed at the service of making Athens, in the words of one Olympic
official, “habitable for a global audience.”
As Andreas Zazopoulos, head of the Greek Construction Workers Union,
said, “We have paid for the Olympic games in blood.”
Their deaths aren’t the only cause of local anger. The Karamanlis
government has scuttled Greek law forbidding foreign personnel from
carrying weapons in the country by allowing hundreds - perhaps
thousands -- of US, British and Israeli Special Forces soldiers to be
armed to the teeth throughout Athens.
City authorities are also, according to Democracy Now, “rounding
up homeless people, drug addicts, and the mentally ill, requiring that
psychiatric hospitals lock them up. Also affected by Athens’ Olympic
clean-up are refugees and asylum seekers, some of whom are being targeted
for detention and deportation in the days leading up to the games.”
But none of this is going unchallenged. There is a growing movement
of those sickened by Olympic fever. On Tuesday, 500 people, amid an
atmosphere of tremendous repression, rallied last Tuesday on behalf
of the dead, and olive wreaths were placed on 13 crosses planted in
the earth outside Greece’s parliament.
Inmates of Korydallos Prison and five other prisons have protested against
the government’s security decision to stop authorizing parole during
the games.
There is also a Greek based organization with the name Revolutionary
Struggle that has been setting bombs in uninhabited buildings. They
released the following statement after blowing up an empty police station:
“With regard to the Olympic games we say that Greece’s transformation
into a fortress, NATO’s involvement, the presence and activities
of foreign intelligence units show clearly that [the Olympics] are not
a festival, like Games organizers say, but it’s a war.”
They are absolutely right. We know it is a war because there are casualties.
150 hard working people are dead.
They died so world dignitaries and CEOs could bask in the light of athletic
achievement, not unlike the Greek and Roman Emperors of old. The only
difference between Bill Gates and Caligula is that Caligula threw better
parties.
Just like the dissidents slaughtered before Hitler’s 1936 Olympics
in Berlin, or the protesting students massacred before the 1968 games
in Mexico City, or those who died in Daryl Gates’ police custody
in the lead up to the 1984 Los Angeles games, they have joined the ranks
of the Olympic martyrs.
May their blood forever stain every flag that’s unfurled.
Source: Counterpunch
