More than 13,000 tonnes of food have been seized in the last two weeks
in Venezuela as part of the Food Sovereignty Plan launched in order to
fight speculation, hoarding and sabotage in the food distribution
chain. The main lesson is that food soverignty is not compatible with
capitalism.
On Friday, December 7th, Al Jazeera’s programme The Listening Post
analysed the world’s media biased coverage of the constitutional reform
referendum. Amongst those interviewed was Alan Woods, founder of Hands
Off Venezuela.
The
proposals for constitutional change have been defeated by 50.7% to 49.3%. The
opposition hardly increased its absolute vote, but there was a high level of
abstention. This is a warning. The masses are demanding decisive action not
words! It may be that this defeat will have the opposite effect. It can rouse
the masses to new levels of revolutionary struggle.
Although Dieterich does his best to cloud the issue, the facts speak
for themselves – Baduel has broken with the revolution, and now stands
on the side of the counterrevolution. To propose the unity of the two
forces – revolution and counterrevolution – is like hoping to unite
fire and water.
The Marxists have long argued that the only way forward for the
Venezuelan revolution is to strike blows against the
counterrevolutionary bourgeoisie, by expropriating the bankers,
landlords and capitalists, etc. However, there are other voices saying
rather different things. One of the most persistent of these voices is
that of Heinz Dieterich, who has been waging a noisy campaign in favour
of what he calls "Socialism of the XXI Century" – a strange kind of
socialism indeed in that it differs very little from capitalism.
Alan Woods was recently interviewed by the Humania del Sur magazine, published by the Universidad
de Los Andes, in Mérida, Venezuela. They asked him his opinions about the Bolivarian revolution
unfolding in Venezuela
today, touching on questions such as freedom of the media, the stage the
revolution is at, and the need to complete the revolution.
Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State last week launched another frontal attack against the Venezuelan Revolution by criticising Venezuelan government’s decision not to renew the broadcast license of RCTV, the television channel that was involved up to its neck in the Washington-backed coup of April 2002.
Hands off Venezuela recently interviewed CMR (Revolutionary
Marxist Current) activist Yonie Moreno about the current situation in
Venezuela. Yonie discusses a range of issues, from the question of the PSUV to
the question of workers' control and the struggle at Sanitarios Maracay.
The non-renewal of the broadcasting licence to private TV
station RCTV in Venezuela
has been used by the oligarchy and imperialism to unleash the coup-plotting
campaign they were unable to launch at the time of the December 3rd elections.
Despite all the hue and cry over "freedom of expression" the real aim of the
oligarchy in Venezuela
is to create a situation of chaos, violence and confusion.
Chavez has announced sweeping measures of nationalisation. This represents a big step forward for the Venezuelan revolution and would be a serious blow against capitalism and imperialism. Big enemies are lining up to stop this process, the most dangerous being inside the Bolivarian movement itself. It is now time to go all the way and put an end to capitalism in Venezuela and spread the revolution to the rest of Latin America.
In his weekly TV programme Aló Presidente, broadcast on Sunday April 22 from Urachiche in Yaracuy, president Chávez advised all Venezuelans to read and study the writings of Leon Trotsky, and commented favourably on The Transitional Programme, which was written by Trotsky for the founding congress of the Fourth International in 1938.
In January, Chavez said he defended the line of Leon Trotsky's theory of the Permanent Revolution. But how does this theory, developed in 1905, relate to what's happening in Latin America at the present time? Yesterday 40 people packed the NUJ Headquarters in London to find out. Alan Woods, author and editor of the In Defence of Marxism website was invited to speak at the Hands Off Venezuela meeting to explain the theory and it's relevance today.