The calling of constituent assembly and regional elections in Venezeula has been met with an escalation of demands for “regime change” on the part of the opposition. As Jorge Martin discusses, this is a critical moment for the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela.
On Monday 22nd May a sizeable group of Venezuelan opposition supporters attempted to disrupt a solidarity meeting in London, which had been called in order to answer the lies of the mainstream media. Jorge Martin, secretary of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign, asks: who are these oppositionists and what do they stand for?
The Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela is facing one of its most serious crisis since president Chavez was elected in 1998, with over forty days of almost continuous violent protests by the right-wing opposition. The aim is clear: the overthrow of the government by any means necessary. The revolutionary masses must fight back with socialist measures.
The Bolivarian Revolution is at one of its lowest points since President Chávez’s electoral victory in 1998. On top of the defeat in the December 2015 National Assembly elections, the aggravation of the economic situation is impacting the mass of the working people—who are the base and support of the revolution. It is time to draw a serious balance sheet.
Last week, criminal courts in Venezuela annulled the collection of the signatures needed to activate a recall referendum, ruling out the possibility of President Maduro being removed this year. The hypocrisy of the counter-revolutionaries about “violations of democratic freedoms” is clear. But if the Bolivarian revolution is not completed, this will pave the way for victory of the counter-revolution.
On Sunday 2nd October, Colombian voters rejected the agreement between the government and the FARC guerrillas “for the end of the conflict and the building of a stable and lasting peace.” Jorge Martín explains the process leading up to the referendum and what this will mean for the future of the class struggle in Colombia.
By 61 votes to 20, the rotten Brazilian Senate has approved the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and, consequently, her definitive removal from office. Under pressure from its capitalist masters, the new Temer government must now go on the offensive. These attacks will open up a new period of sharpened class struggle in Brazil.
The assault against the Bolivarian revolution has intensified in the recent days and weeks. Editorials and front pages in US and Spanish newspapers are screaming about hunger in Venezuela and demanding the removal of the “dictatorial regime”. Jorge Martin of the Hands Off Venezuela campaigns asks: what is really happening in Venezuela and how can these threats be faced?
The Brazilian Senate last week voted by a majority of 55 votes to 22 to impeach the President Dilma Rousseff. This marks the end of a long period of relative political stability in Brazil. The economy is in its worst recession since the 1930s. It is in this context that we can understand the recent dramatic shifts and turns in the political situation.
On Sunday 17th April, the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian President, was approved on Sunday by a united front of bourgeois parties in order to establish a new government to act in the interest of the capitalists. But the impeachment has unleashed the forces of class struggle in Brazil, and the new government will be unable to stabilise the situation.
Drunk with victory and seething with revenge, the reactionary opposition in Venezuela have started to announce plans to reverse the gains of the Bolivarian revolution. This has provoked ferment amongst the revolutionary rank and file, which at the same time is directing part of their anger at bureaucrats and reformists within its own ranks.
Late into the night in Venezuela on 6th December, the counter-revolutionary opposition MUD had won 99 seats to the Bolivarian PSUV’s 46, with another 22 remaining to be allocated. This is a serious setback; it is our duty to analyse the reasons and explain the likely consequences.