Caracas discusses Leon Trotsky on the anniversary of his assassination

The ideas of Leon Trotsky have already been referred to on a
number of occasions by president Chávez, who has said he is a
follower of the permanent revolution, and commented favourably on the Transitional
Programme.

Now, on August 20th, the Venezuelan authorities have
organised a public meeting to commemorate 67 years since the assassination of
Trotsky in Mexico. This is certainly an historic event. It is the first time in
67 years that this date has been commemorated officially by a government
institution anywhere in the world.

Esteban Volkov

Amongst those invited to take part in the event are Esteban
Volkov, Trotsky’s grandson, who has dedicated most of his efforts to the
rehabilitation of the figure of the Russian revolutionary from the pile of
slanders and lies of the Stalinists; Celia Hart, the Cuban communist who has
played a key role in reintroducing the debate on Trotsky on the island and
reclaimed his ideas; and Ricardo Napurí, a Peruvian army officer who became a
revolutionary, collaborated with Che Guevara and is also a Trotskyist.

While in Caracas to participate in the event today, they were
also interviewed on the main Venezuelan state TV channel by the well-known
journalist Ernesto Villegas in one of the programmes with the highest audience
ratings, "En Confianza". This was probably the most public debate on Trotsky
that has taken place in the Venezuelan revolution.

In the programme, Villegas introduced Estaban Volkov as the
"grandson of Leon Trotsky, the great figure of the world revolution". Esteban
replied: "I am also the last surviving witness to the two attempts on Trotsky’s
life, the first one, and then the second when Ramón Mercader destroyed one of
the most brilliant Marxist minds that has existed", and added that he was only
14 at the time.

Villegas explained that: "they are here to participate, in
the framework of the debate about socialism of the 21st century, in the
discussion about the role of Leon Trotsky, there are many Trotskyists amongst
the Venezuelan revolutionaries"

When asked about who Leon Trotsky was, Esteban Volkov
explained that: "Trotsky was one of the greatest revolutionary Marxists in
history, one of the key figures, together with Lenin in the organisation and
carrying out of the Russian Revolution, and then he became a defender of that
revolution when the regime became bureaucratised and moved in a direction completely
opposite to Marxist ideas, something that led finally to the destruction of the
Soviet Union and the restoration of capitalism. Trotsky, in the last period of
his life, defended that revolution. He paid with his life and fell in the
trenches of that struggle. In Mexico, on August 20th it will be the 67th
anniversary of when he fell victim to an agent of Stalin. But Trotsky is still
alive."

Permanent Revolution

The discussion then moved on to the question of permanent
revolution and Volkov was emphatic: "Yes, the revolution must reach its
conclusion, it cannot be stopped at intermediate stages. We are not in the
business of making the French Revolution, which was something that Stalin
defended, and the working class paid with blood for this. In China he defended
the revolution of Chiang-Kai Shek, which was a nationalist movement, and he
instructed the working class to support Chiang-Kai Shek and then Chiang-Kai
Shek massacred and assassinated the working class at that time, in the 1920s."

Celia Hart, who was wearing a red T-Shirt with the face of
Che Guevara, also insisted that what was happening in Venezuela could only be
understood if one understood Trotsky’s permanent revolution.

"You introduced me as a comrade from abroad, but in
Venezuela, thanks to the permanent revolution, a Cuban revolutionary is a
comrade from within. What you are discussing here now is part of the Cuban
revolution, I have no borders that separate me from the Venezuelan revolution.
Socialism of the 21st century and the relationship between the Cuban and
Venezuelan revolutions have a lot to do with the permanent revolution. Leon
Trotsky is brought back to life, he is alive in Che Guevera, and I am very
pleased to be alive and be able to see what is happening now, the permanent
revolution. Next year is also the 70th anniversary of the transitional
programme, which comrade president Chávez has already mentioned. We are
witnessing unprecedented events, the fact that a Ministry is organising a
commemoration of Trotsky, this is the first time in world history."

Asked about the differences between the Cuban and Venezuelan
constitutions, Celia stressed the need for the planning of the economy:

"I am a physicist and I think that the processes should be
seen in their dynamics. The revolution in Venezuela is moving towards a
socialist revolution. I agree with the economist in the previous programme who
said that there is a struggle between private and socialised property and that
we need to move towards planning of the economy, as a Marxist and as a
Guevarist as well, I fully agree. In fact when Che Guevara was Minister of
Industry this was one of his battles, even against many Stalinists, to make
planning and centralisation central features."

This is very relevant to the discussions that are taking
place now in the revolutionary movement in Venezuela, where some are arguing
that we can have some sort of "mixed economy", where an expanded state sector
co-exists with private capitalists dominating key sectors of the economy. In
order to have democratic planning of the economy, the key economic levers (the
land, the banks and the main industries) must be expropriated and put under
democratic workers’ control.

Celia Hart

When asked about the current state of the Cuban revolution
Celia said that the fate of the Cuban revolution was closely linked to the
Venezuelan revolution: "The revolution in Cuba is permanent thanks to Caracas,
and the Cuban revolution is passing through the streets of Caracas. So, what
you do here, do it right, because the Venezuelan revolution in a sense is the
continuation of my revolution."

Ricardo Napurí explained that he became a revolutionary in
1948, when as a Peruvian air force officer he refused to bomb an APRA left wing
uprising and had to go to exile in Argentina. Napurí was one of those who
convinced Che Guevara to read Trotsky when he met him in Havana in 1959 and
gave him a copy of The Permanent Revolution. He insisted that the Venezuelan revolution
could not be seen in isolation but as part of a worldwide process:

"One of the questions that needs to be discussed in
Venezuela, regarding socialism of the 21st Century is the following: is this a
purely Venezuelan invention, or do we need to see it in relation to the Latin
American context, its history, and the process of the world revolution? In this
respect, Trotsky is alive because he raised the idea, also in his criticism of
Stalinism, of the transition towards socialism. When we are talking about
permanent revolution, we are talking about the dynamics of a revolutionary
process. In Venezuela it is not enough to discuss the building of tools to
transform today’s reality but also we need to discuss where we are going, and
this is related to the Latin American and world context. If we were to think
just about Venezuela, this would be worse than trying to build socialism in one
country. President Chávez is travelling around Latin America, opens links,
looks for the support of the peoples because he knows that without the dynamics
of the Latin American revolution, Venezuela would become isolated."

And he also emphasised that the revolution cannot stop half
way:

"The message from Trotsky of the permanent revolution is
that a revolution that stops half way loses it dynamism and becomes stale. If
we are talking about a socialist revolution we must raise the issue: in today’s
world, with the barbarism of the capitalist system, with imperialism, what kind
of socialism can we build? And for that Trotsky is useful, not just as an
historical figure, his thoughts are alive, they are relevant for today"

Trotsky and the Cuban revolution

Celia Hart admitted that Trotsky had been a polemical figure
in the Cuban revolution: "Yes, that is true, and unfortunately for a period of
time Trotsky was silenced, but he was always present in the Cuban revolution."
In fact, the Stalinists of the PSP (the Cuban Communist Party) had supported
the Batista government (which at one point included two "Communist" ministers)
and only joined the revolutionary war against the dictatorship in the last few
months. After the coming to power of the July 26 Movement they were opposed to
the nationalisation of the economy.

When asked about jailing of Trotskyists in Cuba she
explained that: "One of the comrades who was supposed to be here today,
Ydalberto Ferrera, unfortunately was jailed in Cuba during the revolution, this
was the effect of the Stalinists razors. Today he is a supporter of permanent
revolution and of Chávez and Fidel. I myself became a Trotsky through Che Guevara,
who never called himself a Trotskyist, but who pushed me in the direction of
discovering Leon Trotsky. These two figures are my prophets. And I think that
this discussion will also open in Cuba and during the congress of the PSUV, the
discussion on Leon Trotsky, who belongs to us."

She explained how Stalinism was like a virus: "In our
revolution in Cuba, which is a socialist revolution, Stalinism is like a virus,
contracted by the revolution and we must constantly be on guard and vaccinate
ourselves against it. We must ensure that this virus does not spread and take
over the whole revolution as happened in the Soviet Union. We are no longer
under the influence of Moscow, the relationship between Caracas and Havana is
very different, it is a relationship between two revolutions, and others that
will come, Ecuador, Bolivia."

In her view, internationalism also means that the PSUV had
to spread beyond the borders of Venezuela: "If we want to follow the path of
Simon Bolivar we must create a revolutionary party of the Gran Colombia", and
in relation to the PSUV she added that: "Revolutionaries and Marxists must be
able to join this train or the train of history will leave them behind" in what
was an implied criticism of the position of the Venezuelan Communist Party and
some sectarian elements in the trade union movement around Orlando Chirino who
have stayed outside the new United Socialist Party. And she is quite right,
since while 5.7 million people have already registered to join, staying outside
of this party, which is where the struggle between reform and revolution will
take place in the next few months, is highly sectarian.

Asked about Fidel’s health and the series of articles that
he is writing under the title "reflections" (reflexiones), she appealed
for Chavez’s "Alo Presidente" to be broadcast in Cuba: "Fidel’s health is
improving, he is writing now his ‘reflections’ articles. It would be good in
Cuba if the whole of Alo Presidente could be broadcast because we are used to
our leaders making 6 hour long speeches and maybe Chavez could help us with
that."

Stalin eliminated the Bolshevik Old Guard

Esteban Volkov was asked to give a message to the Venezuelan
people about Trotsky:

"Trotsky is an inspiration for any revolutionary movement
and is the most current and relevant expression of Marxism in our epoch in the
21st century. The persecution against Trotsky was not an isolated fact. It was
the elimination of all of Lenin’s comrades, all the Bolsheviks that made the
revolution, Stalin had to eliminate all of them in order to impose his
counter-revolution and totalitarian bureaucratic dictatorship. Trotsky is the
last one in a long chain of assassinations, of hundreds of thousands of
revolutionaries assassinated by Stalin so he could consolidate his regime, which
caused untold damage to the socialist cause."

Villegas added to this: "I was very impressed when I visited
Trotsky’s house in Coyoacán and I saw a picture of the members of the CC of the
RSDLP who made the revolution, and after a period of time, Stalin was the only
survivor."

Events like this interview, joining together Trotsky’s
grandson, a Cuban Trotskyist who is also rooted in the historical tradition of
the Cuban revolution, and a Peruvian military officer who became a Trotskyist,
added to the fact that they are all speaking today in a meeting officially
organised by the Venezuelan authorities, are an indication of the enormous
thirst for ideas that exist in the Venezuelan revolution.

The debate on Venezuelan television