President Chávez on national TV twice quotes Alan Woods' book on Bolshevism

Bolshevism – the road
to revolution
explains the history of the Bolshevik party that brought the Russian working
class to power in 1917. This book, written by Alan Woods, leader of the
International Marxist Tendency and a British Marxist theoretician, is above all
a manual on the building of the revolutionary party today, which takes its
starting point from the experience of Bolshevism. With that aim in mind, it
examines the lessons of the class struggle of that period and passes them on to
the new generation of revolutionaries. A confirmation of the value of this work
is that it has become a political point of reference for revolutionaries
throughout the world.

Alan Woods and Chávez

The fact that president
Chávez is reading this book at this decisive moment of the revolution shows that
the president is searching for ideas with which to advance the revolution
towards socialism and the ideas of the IMT. Chávez used the book to stress
various aspects while speaking to the PSUV leaders.

In two events celebrated
in the context of the internal PSUV elections for the candidates of Mayors and
Governors, President Chávez – in front of an audience composed mainly of PSUV
leaders – said that he was reading a book by a good friend of his, Alan Woods
and held up a copy of Bolshevism – the road to revolution. He read part
of the book during the event that was broadcast on live TV. Trying to stress
the importance of the revolutionary party, Chávez used two paragraphs from the
book of Alan Woods. The first one was a quote from Trotsky at the beginning of
the book and it served to underline the character of the leadership that the
PSUV should have:

"In
the year 1917, Russia
was passing through the greatest social crisis. One can say with certainty,
however, on the basis of all the lessons of history, that had there been no
Bolshevik Party the immeasurable revolutionary energy of the masses would have
been fruitlessly spent in sporadic explosions, and the great upheavals would
have ended in the severest counter-revolutionary dictatorship. The class struggle
is the prime mover of history. It needs a correct program, a firm party, a
trustworthy and courageous leadership-not heroes of the drawing room and
of parliamentary phrases, but revolutionists, ready to go to the very end. This
is the major lesson of the October revolution."

Approaching the PSUV
leaders he repeated the phrase that says; "It needs a correct program, a
firm party, a trustworthy and courageous leadership–not heroes of the
drawing room and of parliamentary phrases, but revolutionists, ready to go to
the very end.". He said that
the PSUV leaders should adapt themselves to this phrase of Trotsky.

Next
day, Saturday, May 31, in the last meeting before the June 1^st elections, which
was also broadcast on national TV, he quoted Alan Woods’ book again, reading a
part of the introduction:

"The presence of a revolutionary
party and leadership is no less decisive for the outcome of the class struggle
as is the quality of the army and its general staff in the wars between
nations. The revolutionary party cannot be improvised on the spur of the
moment, any more than a general staff can be improvised on the outbreak of
war."

He
stressed that he thought that the comparison with the general staff of an army
was very adequate.

This
is a product of the increasing influence of the ideas of the International
Marxist Tendency within the Bolivarian movement. On previous occasions
President Chávez has also mentioned Alan Woods in relation to the book Reason in Revolt.

The
recommendation of the book on the part of Chávez comes just two weeks before a
speaking tour by Alan Woods with public meetings in Venezuela, organized by the
Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria. The British Marxist theoretician is coming
to Venezuela
in order to present the publication of his new book Reformism or
revolution – Marxism and Socialism of the 21^st century. This
book is a reply to Heinz Dietrich whose proposals for the Venezuelan revolution
are along the line of reconciliation with the oligarchy and the spreading of
confusion and a justification of the reformists’ conception of Socialism of the
21^st century. The book will be published in Venezuela by
the Imprenta de Mérida in collaboration with the Fundacion Federico Engels.

The full programme of Alan Woods’
speaking tour will be published soon on the website of the CMR.