On Wednesday, (October 1st,
2008) around one hundred people gathered in Bolívar Hall in
London to attend the launching of the English language edition of
Alan Woods’ latest book, Reformism or Revolution – A Reply to
Heinz Dieterich. The event was organised by Hands Off Venezuela
and Wellred,
the Marxist Publishing House. Comrade Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist
Appeal, chaired the meeting and introduced the two speakers,
Samuel Moncada, Venezuelan Ambassador and Alan Woods himself.
Moncada: Alan’s book an important contribution
to the debate on socialism
 |
| Rob Sewell introducing the two speakers |
The opening remarks of Samuel Moncada
drew the audience’s attention to the role of the Venezuelan
Revolution in reopening a worldwide debate on the alternative to
capitalism, on socialism. The fall of what the Ambassador called "the
Stalinist model" in the Eastern bloc was welcomed by the world
bourgeoisie and its ideologues as "the end of history", but the
subsequent failure of the capitalist system in delivering the
promised new era of peace and prosperity has revived the search for a
socialist alternative. This is particularly clear now, with the
ongoing world crisis of capitalism.
The ambassador pointed out the irony of
the fact that "Chávez was called a Communist for having
nationalised a bank a few months ago, but now George W. Bush is
prepared to nationalise much more than one bank!" This provoked
laughter among the audience. He then went on to explain that the
difference with these nationalisations is that they are accepted
because "they are carried out in the interests of the wealthy,
while the nationalisations in Venezuela have a social content." The
ambassador then added that, after decades, the US Navy’s Fourth
Fleet is back in the Caribbean Sea "because the imperialists
consider the Venezuela Revolution as a threat to the system they
defend."
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| Samuel Moncada Venezuela’s ambassador to the UK |
He raised an important point when he
said that, "Everybody knows about the massacre in Tiananmen square
in 1989, but in the very same year another horrifying slaughter took
place in Caracas – a bloodbath the mass media did not bother
informing you about. Hundreds of people were massacred, up to 3000 of
them, by the Venezuelan Fourth Republic during the repression of the
Caracazo, the mass movement that attempted to stop the
neo-liberal package of ‘reforms’ dictated by the International
Monetary Fund."
Ambassador Moncada said that the
Caracazo was the first signal that announced a new wave of
struggles against neo-liberalism in Latin America, adding that, "the
Bolivarian Republic is now a platform for open debate on the future
of the revolution, not only in Venezuela but on a world scale." He
explained that, "Alan Woods’ point of view in Venezuela is highly
respected also because he has always consistently supported the
revolutionary process and defended its conquests, not just in words
but in deeds as well. His book has to be welcomed as an important
contribution by all those who want to work together for social
progress and against inequality and exploitation."
Marx
is back!
Alan Woods then delivered his speech.
He was introduced as the leader of the International Marxist Tendency
and a founding member of the international Hands Off Venezuela
campaign. Alan told the audience that when he was in Margarita Island
with President Chávez, the latter stated in one of his
speeches that "Marx is back". The words "Marx is back" are
appearing more and more in mainstream newspapers and TV programmes.
Alan explained that, "This crisis is something the Marxists
predicted years ago. During the boom, many used to laugh at those
arguments, but now the bankruptcy of capitalism is being exposed on a
daily basis, and who’s laughing now?"
 |
| Alan Woods |
He stressed the point that, "1.2
billion people are hungry, 8 million die of starvation every year,
and yet this is absolutely unnecessary. For the first time in
history, there are enough productive forces on the planet to feed
every single human being and give them a dignified existence and a
high standard of life. The only reason why this does not happen is
because of the domination of the so-called ‘free market economy’,
with its well known consequences: exploitation, inequality, economic
anarchy. How can there be nothing wrong in all this? No wonder
Marxism is back in fashion again." Alan then appealed to the
audience exclaiming: "Comrades, this is our time! What a wonderful
time to be alive – the time when capitalism is revealing its
terminal decay!"
Heinz
Dieterich the reformist
Alan’s book is in
the form of a reply to Heinz Dieterich, a reformist academic
in Mexico who claims to be the "inventor" of "Socialism of the
21st Century", something which he claims to be "new".
But there is nothing new at all in his writings. Dieterich in reality
presents a completely reformist and anti-Marxist outlook. Reformism
or Revolution, in polemicising against Heinz Dieterich, is a
restatement of the basic ideas of Marxism.
Alan objected to the claim that
Dieterich’s ideas are new. He proves in his book that Dieterich
simply recycles primitive ideas of the Utopian Socialists, prejudices
from the prehistory of the movement that were answered long ago by
Marx and Engels. Alan pointed out that in essence Dieterich’s
thinking can be reduced to two essential points: 1) "21st-Century
Socialism" is to be achieved very slowly, gradualist, without any
turbulent revolutionary act and 2) it is to be attained without
expropriating the capitalists and landlords.
Alan said that if we really want to
defend the Venezuelan Revolution, what we need is precisely the
opposite approach. No ruling class has ever peacefully surrendered
its privileges. Class struggle "is not a game of cricket", said
Alan. Rules, laws, democratic principles and gentlemen’s agreements
are worth nothing when the rulers feel that their privileges and
authority are in danger. Heinz Dieterich somehow believes that
socialism can be introduced while preserving a role for private
capitalists. All that is needed is that they be "convinced" to
give up their profits. In the real world, the only realistic position
is the expropriation of the land and means of production of the
super-rich 2% whose property is the key to the planning of the whole
national economy.
A
revolutionary mood
A lively debate ensued with 15 people
speaking, there not being time for more, which revealed that there is
an ever-increasing interest in Marxist ideas. As capitalism worldwide
enters into a deep crisis, the ideas of genuine socialism are alive
and well.
Several interventions stressed the need
to arm the people. On the question of what can people do here in
Europe to help the Venezuelan revolution, the Ambassador said that
the best thing young people can do to help the revolution is to fight
for socialism here. Alan added that the threats to Venezuela, Bolivia
and Ecuador do not come only from the United States but also from
British and other European imperialists, therefore there is a lot to
do here too, and this is why the Hands Off Venezuela campaign has
been set up.
One HOV comrade raised the question of
Bolivia, asking what was Alan’s opinion about the attempt of Evo
Morales to open up a dialogue or negotiation with the Fascist
opposition. Alan replied that negotiation with the right wing is a
dangerous illusion, and what is needed in Bolivia as in Venezuela is
the expropriation of the big capitalists and landlords and the
organisation of the masses to crush the counter-revolution.
In answering a question about Simon
Bolívar, Alan explained that he was a revolutionary of his
times, but that was before the time of the working class, of
scientific socialism. But he did have a wonderful idea, the
concrete idea of unifying the whole of South America, and he devoted
his life to this aim. 200 years of Latin American history have proved
that his idea needs to be amended on one point: we struggle for the
unity of the whole of Latin America but in the form of a Socialist
Federation of Latin America and the Caribbean.
At the end of the discussion many of
those attending came down to the bookstalls and bought copies of the
book, with Alan signing many personally. Around forty copies of
Reformism or Revolution were sold – a very good start for
the distribution of this important work in Britain!
Alan Woods’ speech .
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