Bolivarian Revolution”

Special ’ Issue International Leninist Trotskyist Fraction March 2019 Collective for the Refoundation of the Fourth International Price US$2 e-mail: [email protected]● www.flti.ci.org Latin America THE SCAM OF THE “BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION”

SIDOR Strike 2013: “Diosdado we don’t believe neither in Socialists with Hummer nor in Communists with Rolex. We believe in the workers’ revolution” Socialist revolution or caricature of a revolution TABLE OF CONTENTS

After having expropriated the Latin American revolution and having sold out Cuba to imperialism, the Boli-bourgeoisie departs from history in a sea of blood, hunger and sellout………...... …………3

THE RISE AND DECLINE OF CHAVEZISM*

Presentation…...... ……5 Part I: The decline of Chavezism...... ….7 Part II: Chavez and the imposture of the Bolivarian Revolution – The expropriation of the anti- imperialist struggle of the masses…...... 13 Part III: Permanent revolution vs staged revolution Discussions with the pro-Bolivarian left……...... …28 The fight against Capriles-Maduro-Obama pact…...... …38 The utopia of the democratization of the regime of the Bolivarian constitution……...... … 48

CUBA

On the passing away of Fidel Castro The leader of the capitalist restoration in Cuba has died……...... …………… 51 The milestones of the capitalist restoration in Cuba……...... ……..59 A bourgeois constitution for a capitalist Cuba...... …… 64

* “The rise and decline of Chavezism”, socialist booklet published as e-book by Rudolph Klement Socialist Publishing House, 2014

Ebook available on: www.editorialsocialistarudolphklement.net

Socialist Publishing House International Workers' Organizer 3

2018, May Day Workers’ Assembly to fight against imperialism and the capitalists

The Bolivarian revolution, a caricature of a revolution After having expropriated the Latin American revolution and having sold out Cuba to imperialism, the Boli-bourgeoisie, departs from history in a sea of blood, hunger and sellout

Statement of Liga Comunista de Trabajadores (Workers’ Communist League) of Venezuela

“Those Bolivarians together with the Castroites put us Latin American workers out of sync with the heavy battalions of the workers of the imperialist metropolises, the greatest allies of the Latin American revolution. So the former two handed Cuba out to imperialists, restoring capitalism.”

“Today Maduro has surrendered to imperialism, as a continuation of Chavez, who with famine and bullets imposes the sacking of Venezuela’s oil and natural resources, condemning the oppressed to barbarism.”

come from Venezuela to pay countries. As in Ecuador, people to usurp them, supported by Cas- tribute to the martyrs of Chicago knocked down the IMF government, troism, by the WSF, which came to Iof yesterday and today; to those fought against the plans of the oil continue the work of Stalinism -that who fought against the capitalist transnationals, overthrew the lackey had surrendered the USSR and given barbarism imposed on us by impe- governments like that of Lucio Guti- the workers states over, and so was rialism and the bourgeoisie. Against errez. Like the masses of Bolivian discredited. that barbarism that today we must workers who knocked down the gov- They offered us “socialism” and continue fighting, and about which ernment of Goni-Mesa; like the Ar- “anti-imperialism,” usurped our today I come to bring a reflection. gentine workers who made 2001 rev- struggles and led us to a series of That barbarism is embodied to- olution; like the Venezuelan workers detours. They prevented the work- day in the Bolivarians and the new who made the Caracazo. ing masses from taking power, that agents of imperialism. We have to It is on this set of processes, that is, they prevented the workers from draw several lessons today. in each of our countries, a set of leading the peasants and the unem- As we know, there was a set of bourgeois and opportunist agents of ployed to destroying the bourgeois Latin American revolutions in our the bourgeoisie mounted over them states and making our own class rule and starting the road to socialism, thus giving concrete realization to the anti-imperialist tasks of expropriating the transnationals without compensation and expelling all the military bases, above all. The Bolivarians desynchronized each one of our revolutionary processes, dislocated them, divided them, after they mounted on these revolutions. For example, they came with Castro and Chavez here in Ar- gentina to say that it was necessary Obama and Raul Castro to support the Kirchners; to first 4 International Workers' Organizer work and produce and that they (the Kirchners) would then distribute the profits. Taking advantage of this process, later, they disengaged us from the struggle of the US workers who were fighting against the war in Iraq, who imposed mobilizations for the rights of immigrant workers in the United States and, responding to the world capitalist crash and the attacks of the imperialist bourgeoisie, pro- Empty shelves in Venezuela moted the movement “Ocuppy Wall Street” against 1% of parasites. finance the social security system survive, to prepare something to eat, Those Bolivarians along with Cas- and mobilizes the middle classes, with a salary that is not enough for troism, desynchronized us from the precisely taking advantage of the anything. There is no longer trans- heavy battalions of the workers of the fact that the workers have their or- portation, services have collapsed ... imperialist metropolises, the greatest ganizations kidnapped by the San- Children no longer go to school, first allies of the Latin American revolu- dinismo, and through the Church because they are not fed and they tion. Moreover, Castro and Chavez in mobilizes the peasants, something faint in class, (and to go) they have particular, sent to vote for Obama – a similar to what happens in Venezue- to get on construction trucks. Last black masked Bush-, to dress impe- la. This prevents the workers move- week a child fell from one of these rialism in a “democratic” disguise. ment from leading the poor peasants trucks and died and this is censored And once he was elected with all that against the attack of the bourgeoisie by the press. betrayal, they made agreements with and imperialism as a whole. It is terrible what happens; dis- imperialism. For what? To give Cuba That is the reality today; the re- eases that were believed to have been over by restoring capitalism, to take ality is that a Maduro surrenders to eradicated such as diphtheria and the Yankee flag to flutter over Hava- imperialism due to his fear of the measles have reappeared; they die of na again; to agree on the coup d’etat masses. He fears the revolutionary asthma, because they cannot control in Honduras with the fascist Lobo; masses and the workers more than hypertension, because there are no as- to make the workers in Bolivia sub- he fears imperialism, since after all pirin for children. It is a war of hunger mit to a pact with the fascists of the the latter is his master. And he has and looting that imperialism imposes Media Luna; to make the workers surrendered just as Lula has done in through its already direct agents. and peasants in Ecuador tolerate the Brazil. That same Lula that today This shows that the bourgeoisie is transnationals and their looting of the they are defending in the acts of the not even ready to feed its slaves. This oil from the east of the Amazon; to left, so that the masses and workers rotten system is no longer capable, sell out the peasant resistance in Co- do not take to the streets and attack even to feed those who it exploits. lombia, a treason that the FARC has imperialism and the bourgeoisie. And this is one of the biggest crimes carried out, added to the pacts. Maduro has given himself up to carried out by those who try to de- This is how they turned the rev- imperialism, as a continuation of ceive the workers, telling them that olutions astray. They have betrayed Chavez, who with famine and bul- this system can give us more, that we us and imposed so far the imperialist lets imposes the plundering of Ven- must fight for more democracy in or- looting and the payment for of exter- ezuela’s oil and natural resources, der to obtain better conditions, as if nal debts by the people, one of the condemning the oppressed to bar- this system could give better living cruelest mechanisms of looting and barism; that makes Macri look like conditions. It’s all a lie! plundering. The payment for of the he was a baby. Today in Venezuela, If the workers do not conquer external debt means, for example, people make long queues, hundreds power, destroy the bourgeois state, that the government of Daniel Or- of people in front of bakeries to get a tend to make their armed forces tega and Sandinismo imposes plans few loaves of bread that they can eat and impose their own domain -the against the workers, kidnaps the during the day, provoking shoves, road to socialism... It’s imperialist workers movement through its San- insults, and despair. The fascist “col- barbarism what comes. We cannot dinista union center and prevents it lectives” watch the bakeries and are allow ourselves to be imposed on from leading the movement against in charge of disciplining. There is by their barbarism! We have to fight imperialism. The opposition bour- not enough for everyone and one for the road to socialism! We have to geoisie, for its part, refuses to put falls into despair. You end up going defeat the bourgeoisie! Let’s go to even a part of the surplus value to to cassava vendors in the street to socialism, comrades!• International Workers' Organizer 5

2013-2014

THE SCAM OF THE “BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION” THE RISE AND DECLINE OF CHAVEZISM

PRESENTATION

This work brings together a series of articles and letters of 1925-27. Like all possessing classes, the native bour- published between 2013 and 2014 in “The International geoisies fear the working class more than imperialism, Worker Organizer” and on the website www.flti-ci. before which they end up surrendering and agreeing org, publications of the Leninist Trotskyist International sooner or later. Fraction, that account for the bankruptcy of the Bolivarian Chavezism ascended almost 20 years ago as a bour- Revolution in Venezuela. geois nationalist phenomenon of expropriation of the work- The situation that exists there has aroused great at- ers’ and peasants’ revolution in Latin America, with a poli- tention in wide swathes of the working class. What 15 cy of deception, of class collaboration, promoted together years ago Castro and the world left perfidiously presented with Castro and Stalinism from the World Social Forum. as “21st century socialism” today is a nightmare for the Chavez played the role of indirect agent of imperialism, de- exploited masses. It is the end of a tragedy: the decline fending private property against the revolution, while using of Chavezism, Venezuela surrendered to imperialism, the the masses, which he controlled in a determined manner, IMF and the big Wall Street banks, while the workers pile to dispute imperialism over a greater slice of the oil rent up in the trash looking for some food among the waste for this service. But as soon as he managed to defeat the and the oligarchy tries to return to power with the MUD. masses, Chavezism fulfilled its historical role and inevitably This is the outcome contemplated by Marxism for ev- became a direct instrument of Yankee imperialism. ery bourgeois nationalist experiment in the colonial and That is the true character of the last years of the Chavez semi-colonial world since the Left Opposition of the Third and Maduro government: after strangulating the anti-im- International drew the lessons of the Chinese Revolution perialist struggle started in the Caracazo, the Bolivarian native bourgeoisie agreed with Obama and the oligarchy –whom they never touched a property-, it submitted to Wall Street and via the IMF handed Venezuela to it on a plat- ter. What we see today is the end of a tragedy announced. The government of Maduro, supported by the generals of the Armed Forces and supported by imperialism and the MUD, ended up applying the hunger program of the “right” in blood and fire against the working class. We could say that, in this sense, the last Chavez and Maduro himself are not the Peron of 1946-1955, who took limited mea- Martyr of ‘Caracazo’, 1989 sures against imperialism, but the 6 International Workers' Organizer

Peron of the ‘70s, who organized the Triple A against the Argentine working class. But this agreement with Obama and the oligarchy was not “national”, but the expression of the Obama- Castro pact on a continental level. The Castro and the Cuban Communist Party restored capitalism in Cuba in partnership with imperialism. Castro and Chavez subjected the US working class to the “democratic” imperialist Obama against the “fascist” Bush. The “Peace Accords” of Havana between Santos and the FARC today mean the massacre of workers’ and Chavez with Ivan Marquez, leader of FARC peasants’ resistance in Colombia. The Bolivarians were no more than a Part III brings together two letters and a polemic detour in the imperialist subjugation of Latin America. against the pro-Bolivarian left that raises, in one way or This ABC of Marxist theory on the role of the native another, the strategy of revolution by stages of Stalinism: bourgeoisies was concealed by the LIT, the American and first, all in defense of democracy, and then, the struggle English SWPs, the UIT, the PTS, etc. Today they speak of for the socialist revolution. The letters date back to April the “political independence” of the proletariat while during 2013 and are addressed to El Topo Obrero, in the midst these years they offered critical political support to Chavez of the political crisis following Chavez’s death, when the in one way or another. They never called to face Chavezism world left denounced a “fascist coup” by the “right” and because they said that the masses supported it and they imperialism, demonstrating how most of the leftist cur- did not have to be separated from them. From the UNT rents in Venezuela refused to raise the fall of Maduro. The they called to collect “10 million votes to Chavez.” They controversy that we include is against the strategy of de- supported him politically against “imperialist aggression”. mocratization of the regime of the Bolivarian Constitution They permanently subjected the workers to the decisions that raises the whole of the Venezuelan left. of the Chavist Ministry of Labor. When the MUD arose And as a closing, Part IV contains a declaration of July they refused to face Maduro because there was a sup- 2016, which gives an account of the barbarity lived by the posed “fascist coup” in progress and “there was no need exploited, and of the politics of bloody repression against to play the game to the right”, as it can be seen in the the working class by Chavezism and the generals of the letters to the current El Topo Obrero included in this job. Armed Forces when the working class starred in the May- And while these currents - absolutely submitted to the June hunger uprisings, which arrived in Caracas and de- Castroist policy – made the working class kneel before manded the fall of Maduro. the Chavist bourgeoisie, they lamented that it does not “Ascent and decline of Chavezism” addresses all these “consistently confront the right”. As the theory of the issues with the method of Marxism, in documents pre- Permanent Revolution proposes, only the working class pared in the heat of events, without false objectivism, re- with the socialist revolution could prevent Venezuela from flecting the living intervention of the revolutionary social- ending up in the grip of Wall Street and that the oligarchy ists in the events, against the programs of collaboration and reaction rise again, as they did since 2012. The more of classes of the Venezuelan and the world left. Therefore, they subjected the working class to Chavezism, the more this work also faces in the theoretical field the revisionism the oligarchy raised its head. Revealing the internal me- in Marxism carried out by the renegades of Trotskyism, chanics of this historical process is the object of “Ascent which, as we demonstrate in this work, adopted the the- and decline of Chavezism”. ories of Stalinism to justify their submission to the native Part I begins with “The Decline of Chavezism” with an bourgeoisies. article from March 2014, when the second wave of pro- Against them, the full confirmation of the character- tests led by the MUD against Maduro had begun. izations and predictions raised in these articles demon- Part II is a historical summary of the Bolivarian strate the theoretical superiority of Marxism as a scientific Revolution published in March 2013, after the death of method, not only to orient itself in revolutionary politics Chavez, which shows why it was a scam for the exploited, but also to understand the great social phenomena of a political expropriation of the Caracazo’s struggle to con- modern capitalism.• trol and strangle it, and how he won. International Workers' Organizer 7

PART I The decline of Chavezism

March 2014 At the beginning of 2014, the “Bolivarian Republic” was crossed by a new political crisis and a brutal economic bankruptcy. Venezuela was once again strangled by the IMF and the imperialist bankers. IMF orders: crash is here and the rulers have decided the ones to pay are the masses. Maduro is supported by the Army forces in order to attack the workers and people, while the right wing stands up to end his work.

For many weeks, the demonstra- as a lemon, which need to be fully all, Maduro is “inconsistent” to “fight tion of the middle working class in squeezed against the masses. against the right wing”. Everyone is the big cities, which were repressed In November-December of 2013 looking to put the working class as by the police forces and the gov- a wave of worker fighting started a force of pressure so Maduro con- ernment gangs, with more than 10 in response to devaluation, infla- tains the right wing. For that reason, deaths, hundreds wounded and ar- tion, high cost of living. Hundreds this left affirmed Maduro “capitu- rested, shook Venezuela, where a and hundreds of agreements are lates” to the right. This is to poison political crisis was open. frozen in the Labor Ministry, which the consciousness of the world work- Chavezism, Castroism and the means to freeze for 4 years the ing class and tie the hands of the entire left of the WSF denounced an wages in a country where inflation Venezuelan proletariat so it does not “attempt of a fascist coup” against goes between 25 to 30% per year. fight for its demands. Paralyzing the Maduro’s government and “the rev- This wave of strikes ended with proletariat forces, preventing it from olution”, led by a sector of MUD the most brutal repression, with breaking out with their current de- led by Leopoldo Lopez and Corina workers arrested, dismissals, and mands and fighting against Maduro’s Machado. factories evicted, today under the attack and “Bolivarian” is to create This International campaign supervision of the army. the conditions so today the “right” against the “fascist coup” is a big wing stands up and even it prepares cheat to the exploited to hide that Reformism and renegades of new attempted coups in the future. the one who is giving a huge attack Trotskyism said that there was They are enemies to call and or- to the working class and the work- a “coup of the right wing against ganize a GENERAL STRIKE against er masses in Venezuela and apply- Maduro”. For some of them, there the government attack and million- ing the IMF plan today is Maduro’s are conditions for it and for others aires generals under the command government which imperialism uses there are still no conditions. But for of Cabello. “General Strike?” they will ask. “But this is kind to support López,” they will tell us. What does this mean? In order not to “support López,” the workers must passively accept being killed by hunger, repression and lose their conquests... but that’s the plan of Lopez and IMF, applied by Maduro today. It is, from the left, to demand from the masses and from the working class that it is they who pay for the crisis, without quarrel and if not, there will be repression, physical attacks and Anti-strike Law, just as Chavezism does in its decline and bankruptcy. A handcuffed, repressed, dispersed working class, unable to face the brutal attack that the “Bolivarians” discharge on be- Maduro, Cabello and Castro 8 International Workers' Organizer half of the IMF, is the shortest way It is posed if Maduro support- masses the same conditions of to strengthen the “right” and for it to ed by Capriles does it, if he calls misery and suffering that when stand up. early elections because Capriles Caracazo happened in 1989. The We must be clear. Maduro sup- may end up losing prestige for crash is here; Venezuela has hit ported by Capriles and Obama, af- supporting Maduro in his attack, underwater rocks of the global ter national and local elections in if an agreement and all together crisis. Maduro’s government must 2013, is the one leading the attack impose the attack and Maduro redouble its offensive against the on workers and people. If we do not finishes showing his real face in masses by removing the fuel sub- stop it on time, it means to create the front of the masses, if Lopez sup- sidy to ensure the payment of the conditions to take the Venezuelan ported in the middle class passes debt to IMF and the super-profits of proletariat to the worst of defeats. the attack since Maduro lost all the transnational companies. That’s As at the time of the regime his social base, etc.. their role under the orders of Agreement of Punto Fijo in the late They are variants of Wall Street Obama which uses him as a lem- ‘80s, today it is discussed when and and imperialism. It’s a speed race on that is squeezing all the juice. who will apply the “oil hike price” to see who defeats and smash the against the masses, to get 15,500 Venezuelan proletariat on behalf For that reason, Maduro support- million dollars for the debt and inter- of IMF. ed by Capriles, launched in 2013 est required by IMF to take its usu- and early 2014 a brutal attack on ry. Reformism and the chatter of the “Socialism of the 21st century” the working class and also against “Bolivarian revolution” seek to numb means 105 billion dollars of foreign the ruined middle classes. With the masses and tie their hands and debt to IMF and the imperialist vul- the proletariat under the thumb of then execute them with a historic tax tures. In 2014 Maduro must pay Chavezism, thank to the treachery hike. 15,500 million dollars. For that rea- of their leadership, and the middle son, they imposed 20% of chronic classes, ruined and desperate by unemployment, 60% inflation, de- devaluation, inflation and shortages, As a “squeezed lemon”, valuation to sack the workers’ wag- took to the streets calling for “secu- es and make triple the super profits rity”, “freedom”, “new dollars”, look- Obama and Capriles supported of importers, rate hikes, and wage ing for a reactionary way out to their the government of Maduro and freezes, shortages of food and ba- bankruptcy. sic supplies for the masses, collapse the millionaire boli-bourgeoisie of 30% of the oil productivity, facto- attacking the working class ries militarization, repression and With economic crash, the and the poor prison for workers and poor peasants who fight. The exploited should Maduro-Capriles Agreement make queues for hours trying to get is in crisis The farce of the “Bolivarian rev- toilet paper or soap, while the bo- olution” was to expropriate the real li-bourgeoisie, transformed into an worker’s and peasant’s revolution “importing country”, make fabulous Leopoldo Lopez and the old across the continent that broke out business with dollar associated with st Venezuelan oligarchy lead at the beginning of 21 century and large food chains and cereal com- once the Bolivarian succeeded, they panies. They are the “inflation”! With the demonstration of the ruined changed Venezuela into a real “ba- the government control, they get dol- middle class and pose as new nana republic” to IMF. The recent lar at 6.6 bs. and sell goods at 75 to meeting of CELAC in Havana, gov- 80 bs. political alternative to impose ernments of ALBA, MERCOSUR This is the boli-bourgeoisie which the attack on the masses and NAFTA, led by UN and IMF, took 270 billion dollars to Wall Street was to strengthen Latin American and Miami, while PDVSA is broken. governments to intensify the attack The Bolivarian bourgeoisie cele- against the masses on account of In the Bolivarian Venezuela, as brated the pro-imperialist resolutions the transnational companies, Wall in any colonial country, the most of the summit of CELAC in Habana Street and the imperialist powers. important fraction of the bour- where everyone applauded the cap- geoisie is imperialism. Banks, italist restoration in Cuba, which So the entire Venezuelan situ- industries, imports... are under its configures the toughest counterrev- ation is reduced to a single point: control. The officer caste of the olutionary coup to the proletariat and IMF wants to get money. The Bolivarian National Armed Forces, the masses of the continent. While current discussion in the regime main body of the bourgeois state, is this happened, a huge political cri- of the Bolivarian Constitution the board of managing directors of sis was opened in Venezuela. Since is what agent of finance capital imperialism in exchange for a share February 12, dozens of demonstra- guarantees to impose the attack of the business. tions in the main cities - student ral- until the end so IMF gets every The imperialist plunder on lies only at the beginning, and with dollar of a broken Venezuela. Venezuela has imposed on the the days bigger and bigger ones - are International Workers' Organizer 9 shaking the country, facing the police and armed gangs government, with dead, wounded and arrested.

In this situation Leopoldo Lopez led the demonstrations. This is the expression that the Maduro-Capriles agreement was in crisis and no longer restrains the middle class and in turn imperialism prepares new political alternatives, since it thinks Maduro has “little juice” and it fears that he may not be able to impose Demonstration of cement workers the attack taking away the fuel subsidy. If the bourgeoisie does not close quickly these “divisions at the more right-wing puppet opposition. of the oil industry to the transnation- top”, it may end up opening the door All these agents of Obama and IMF al companies to invest. Its only per- to an eruption of the working class have supported the attack on the spective is to attack the people with as the Caracazo. working class and have left it bound new increases of the price of oil, as and greatly divided. the ruling class did in Caracazo. The The political crisis is in full devel- The more and more Chavezism “Bolivarian revolution” proved to be opment. Maduro asked Capriles to attacks the working class and a rodeo, expropriating the worker fulfill the agreement, to be respon- masses, the more and more it los- and peasant revolution in Venezuela sible for the situation and remove es weight in the streets and the and Latin America, to finish tying the middle classes from the streets. more the old Venezuelan oligarchy with double chains the nation to IMF From day one Capriles showed his stands up. The cycle of Chavist and Wall Street. willingness to keep the agreement bourgeoisie, who dribbles part of In order to fight for wages and but he cannot control the demon- business with imperialism came decent work, against the shortages, strations. to an end. Chavezism cannot call the high cost of living and against Now Maduro shows the “white the working class to the streets to IMF: the Venezuelan working flag” and called for a dialogue of confront the “right” wing. The left class, breaking with the boli-bour- “Peace” with the “right” wing that who demands this to Maduro only geoisie and getting into the fight they call “coupist” while he offers deceives the workers and people. for their demands, is the only one more repression and misery to the Maduro gave the working class an who can save the nation, leading working class. No wonder Maduro Anti-Strike Law, repression in ev- all the oppressed classes. proposes a hug with “Lopez” to try ery fight, militarization and a wage to close the political crisis with a freeze. We must tell the truth to Before the catastrophe imposed new agreement that may contain the workers. Stop lying! Maduro by subjecting the nation to imperial- this new opposition force, if Chavez calling the working class to fight ism which comes for everything and hugged Uribe in Unasur, based on against Lopez and the old oligar- makes play all their agents to get its the slaughter of Colombian resis- chy would mean his suicide and goals, the working class must re- tance. He also hugged Obama who the entire ruling class. Their plan is spond. called to vote for him and hugged to apply a new “high oil prices” to get Only their demand for an in- the worms of Miami and Castro for the funds to pay the debt to imperi- crease of wages, according to the the capitalist restoration in Cuba. alism. Their plan is to super-exploit, cost of living, and for ending up with even more, the Venezuelan working the famine and shortages, question But, so far, the “opposition” to class so it pays for the crisis. the whole plan of IMF and capital- Lopez does not accept the pro- The proof of this is the Right got ist gangs who get richer at expense posal and demands that Maduro the streets leading the despair of of people’s hunger. Therefore, the finishes attacking the masses. the ruined middle classes. The oli- emergence of the working class In this way he shows that he is a garchy knows that if Maduro fails, for their immediate demands con- new political force who controls being supported by the Bolivarian tains an open struggle against im- the ruined middle classes. The armed forces, they, with the reac- perialism and its domination over fact, despite the reformism wants tionary middle classes against the Venezuela. Thus, the working class to hide it, is that there is no con- labor movement, are the ones who must break with PSUV and Chavez’s tradiction between the existence of can carry out Maduro’s attack up to bourgeoisie. And in this way the fal- the right of “Lopez” and the regime the end. lacy and deception of Capriles and of the Bolivarian Constitution. It is In Venezuela a crash broke out. It Lopez must be unmasked, disputing Maduro’s attack on the workers’ is on the brink of default. It can only the leadership of the ruined middle movement and the masses that get loans for falling into debts. It can classes. has allowed the strengthening of a only sell out more and more sectors The question nowadays in the 10 International Workers' Organizer political crisis is which class and what class alliance gives a solution to Venezuela, which is completely submitted to imperialism. That is, if the solution is given by an alliance of the Bolivarian bourgeoisie and its Armed Forces smashing definitely the labor movement and the rest of the exploited, guaranteeing an electoral transition to a new government in 2015. There might be other reactionary alliances, supported by the ruined middle classes under the imperialist leadership. Or if the working class, as the leader of the impoverished middle class and the exploited, gives a way out expropriating imperialism and the native bourgeoisie Capriles and Maduro and demolishing the bourgeois state with the proletarian revolution. working class. All the armed forc- The Maduro-Capriles Agreement, The task at the moment is to es, the true power of the Bolivarian re-found the UNT without bureau- regime, have already decided that a two-party regime of the crats to break with the bourgeoi- Maduro is the one to attack the Bolivarian Constitution that sie and impose the GENERAL masses up to the end. Demobilize STRIKE! The working class is the the working class today is also to forced a brutal attack on the only one who can give a favor- create the conditions for sectors of people in 2013 and beginning of able outcome for the ruined middle the armed forces to dare again to 2014 classes and the poor peasants. The give a military coup, in case Maduro proletariat must break with their fails. The fear of being defeated as demands for jobs, bread, against in 2002 will dissipate when the work- inflation and devaluation, for the ing class and the masses are not in- freedom of prisoners and in the Contrary to all the deception of volved in this political crisis. the WSF, which exposed that the fight to defeat Maduro’s attack, Other currents of the left who smash the reaction of Lopez, great enemy of the exploited were claim that the “working class must Capriles and MUD, the economic and break with IMF and Wall Street, intervene independently”. How?, we expropriating the boli-bourgeoi- social crisis showed that during 2013 ask... Would they make a new party? there was a huge deal in the whole sie, the oligarchy of Capriles and Would they go to election as FIT in Lopez and imperialist bankers. bourgeoisie, guaranteed by the Argentina and would they promise to Bolivarian National Armed Forces: solve such a catastrophe with laws? the working class and the exploit- A big tension between the class- ... The crisis is here; the crash is es is in the streets of Venezuela. A ed must pay the ruin of the nation here. If the proletariat does not burst caused by imperialist plunder. The political crisis has been opened; in independently with their struggle none of the classes and sections of basis of this was the agreement demands with the method of the of Chavez-Capriles who under the classes can live together in peace. General Strike, no one can dispute Under the blows of the crash, the command of Obama, whom both the streets to Lopez and divide the called to vote, refloated a kind of political crisis has hit the streets and ruined middle classes. For it, the that is where it will be solved. two-party system -based on the working class must defeat the attack Bolivarian Constitution- with a The left currents of the world are of Maduro who is the one leading the divided. Some of them, from the strong “opposition” to the mass- war of IMF and Wall Street against es. Chavez’s death had occurred WSF proclaim absolute loyalty to the working class and the oppressed Maduro and that the working class at a time when important sectors nation. of the proletariat began to break up must starve, eat every two days and Ultimately, the emergence of lose all their conquests in order to with him, and the bourgeoisie used Lopez and the attack of Maduro are his death to close the political cri- support the “Bolivarian” government two ends of the same rope to stran- which harshly attacks every day. sis. In this way, the Maduro-Capriles gle the proletariat and prevent it from agreement was able to continue the The announcement of the exis- leading the middle classes with a tence of a coup in Venezuela today plan of attack and it did. new Caracazo to defeat the attack Capriles, far from organizing as in 2002 is to announce a storm which is already here and will deep- so that they could impose the “rain” a “coup”, as the whole world left en with the imposition of oil and high affirms, pledged allegiance to the of Maduro stealing the wages, cost price of oil. of living and its brutal attack on the Bolivarian Constitution and was International Workers' Organizer 11 a key supporter of Maduro ad- submitted the proletariat to the deci- intimidate the working class for it to ministration, because the latter sions of the Chavist Labour Ministry accept the adjustment that is ongo- controls the national unions, and and the ones who weren’t immedi- ing and for the bourgeois fractions is the only one who could make ately disciplined were harshly re- to discipline to attack all together the the exploited pay the bankrupt- pressed by Maduro and the FANB, masses movements and be able to cy of the nation. For imperialism, with the complete agreement of the deliver what the IMF needs to carry Maduro was a “lemon” with a lot bourgeois opposition of Capriles, from the pillaging of Venezuela. of juice to squeeze. Lopez and Machado. As we stated before, it is clear This is what was clear in 2013. In the Civetchi Factory, 8 com- that there is no remnant of the In the middle of a terrible crash that rades were condemned to five years bourgeois nationalism features sank the nation, the government of of prison because they wanted to or- that the Chavezism had in his times the “Socialism of 21st Century” made ganize their trade union. The strike to expropriate the revolution, where the exploited ones live a true hell. of Mitsubishi ended up with the mili- it used the working class demonstra- Inflation reached almost 60%, while tarization of the factory. Ten of the oil tions to haggle with the imperialism the wages have been frozen for 4 workers’ leaders had the anti-strike a part of the businesses. Maduro is years. There was a deepening of the law applied onto them for demand- already a direct agent of the trans- shortages of food, toilet paper, rice, ing the signature of the collective national companies with the ones bread, etc. and of the speculation agreement and the wage updates. he must sign new and lucrative oil of the big commercial bourgeoisie. Today they are accused of terrorism agreements to end delivering com- In Venezuela the exploited and the and conspiracy. pletely the nation. middle classes spend at least 3 or The bourgeois charlatans that The Chavist government 4 hours per day going over super- today tear their heart out speak- couldn’t mobilize the proletariat to markets and warehouses for food. ing of “democracy”, as Lopez –who solve the crisis because it would The Bolivar (Venezuelan currency) supported the 2002 coup d’état and irrupt with the General Strike for is worth less and less. The actual Chavez guaranteed his impunity- the bread and wage against the unemployment is increasing. In fac- and Machado, hid and supported imperialism and the bankers. It tories there are blackmail and sus- this attack against the working class. would even endanger decisively pension of workers by the bosses, They want democracy to take the the business of the boli-bourgeoi- as in happening in the assembly line power and have the oil yield! For the sie itself and even more of the factories, where about 100 thousand exploited, an armored regime! MUD and FANB. workers’ jobs are threatened. The reformist leaderships of the The government of Maduro has working class stopped an indepen- become a government of “popular dent and centralized fight and allowed front under party forms”, with the October-November 2013: despite the regime to strengthen and unleash UNT completely nationalized as the economical crisis over the mass- an appendix of the PSUV but with- the treasons of the leadership, es. Today the division and dispersion out any support of the workers Venezuela’s working of the workers ranks take prevalence, masses. submitted to one or another bour- Lopez knows that Maduro can- class fought back geois fraction. That is the way the not mobilize the masses and that bourgeoisie could unleash a true he can only rely on the military. economical and social catastro- And that is why López strength- phe over the exploited classes. ens himself in the streets and The wave of workers’ struggles in With the proletariat under the calls not to abandon them. And October-November last year, whose Bolivarian boot, the most ruined from there he even disputes a highest peak was the heroic strike strips of the workers living by gifts section of the working class that of SIDOR, was the chance for the and charities from the state, and has already broken and hates the proletariat to definitely break with with a bonapartist armor of the re- government of inflation, the high Chavezism and arise as an indepen- gime dedicating a millionaire bud- cost of life and hunger. dent class, with a program for the get to the Bolivarian repressive The decadence of Venezuela crisis to be paid by the imperialism forces, Maduro have I mind to grab and the situation of barbarism that and the Venezuelan bourgeoisie, the last “box” to pay the IMF: the has been imposed on the proletari- the ones that really provoked it. This subsidy to the oil, that would mean at and the people are the price that was the path to break the middle a new round of attacks, with more the nation must pay to maintain the classes, earn their most oppressed devaluation and unbearable inflation fabulous profits of the transnationals stripes and weld the workers and and a doubled looting. and the IMF, of the millionaire Boli- popular alliance. In the commemoration of the bourgeoisie, their generals and the Against this, the regime moved Chavez death anniversary, the oligarchy of Capriles and López. all its pieces. The bureaucracy of government is deploying before 400,000 bourgeois parasites, minori- the national trade unions –with the the masses all the might of the ty partners of the great imperialist collaboration of all the renegades of Venezuelan Armed Forces that are capital, plunge into misery 28 million Trotskyism as Chirino in the UNT- not to attack the imperialism but to workers, peasants, small merchants 12 International Workers' Organizer and students! Today, Wall Street, Obama and mous tremors, whose epicenter is Whoever wants to know the IMF, having brought the revolu- imperialism, making the world pay where the oil rent and the Federal tion out of the scene, have launched for the new blows of its crisis. Reserve of all these years of their counter-offensive and are mak- Maduro’s plan is to reach the 2015 “boom” are, look in the accounts ing their imperialist competitors pay elections having unloaded all the at- of Wall Street, of the shareholders the world crisis, and fundamentally tack on the masses. If Maduro finally of Citibank, of HSBC, the Royal to the oppressed nations and peo- “has no more juice” left and the pact Bank of Scotland, of Cargill, ples of the world. The IMF’s offensive with Capriles could not resolve the from the Mitsubishi, Toyota, in Venezuela to collect its US $ 105 political crisis, it cannot be ruled out Ford, Chevrolet! Let them see the billion is the expression of this world that the “Bolivarian” Armed Forces, Bolivarian officers and the leaders situation. That is why Venezuela has which are full of massacres of the of “Socialism of the 21st century” no way out: either it becomes a com- Caracazo, coup plotters of 2002, as Rafael Ramírez, the president plete colony of the IMF thanks to the assassins of the working class, take of PdVSA and super-minister of farce of the “Bolivarian revolution”, out a “pronouncement” and impose Maduro, one of the richest men in or the proletariat leads the exploited a transitional government of Cabello Venezuela! They are the real cul- to defeat imperialism with the social- (President of the National Assembly prits of the ruin of the nation! ist revolution. and principal man of the officers of A new round of the global eco- the Armed Forces) “until new elec- nomic crisis is in progress. The ten- tions”. Nor can we rule out that the Where is Venezuela going? dency to the fall of the production in officers, on behalf of imperialism, China and the search of the imperi- ends up taking Lopez out of jail if alist powers of new sources of cheap necessary and putting him in charge The situation in Venezuela is and slave labor, pushes to new proof the nation. The Armed Forces are marked by the imperialist world cri- cesses of relocation of the transna- “Bolivarian” as long as this scam sis that erupted in 2008. Wall Street tionals. Yankee imperialism made the serves them to keep their business. parasites devoured $ 90 billion that world pay for its crisis and through We insist, all these variants are at human labor had not produced, and the IMF it has given credits in worth- the service of Obama, the IMF and made the world pay that crisis so that less bonds of its superbanks and of Wall Street. it pays their parasitism and bad busi- the super bubbles that they build for The more Maduro advances in ness. In the face of the revolutionary the world market. Now they want to his plan of pro-imperialist attack, response of the exploited of the world, collect what they lend, as it happens the more the social crisis deep- with its vanguard in North Africa and in all of Eastern Europe. There we ens and the proletariat remains the Middle East -which reverberated are the Ukraine, convulsed with an subject to the collaboration of throughout Europe and in the USA external debt of more than US $ 70 classes with the government, the itself with the “Occupy Wall Street” billion with the IMF, which, like that of stronger the preparation of new movement, imperialism regrouped Venezuela, must pay this year. reactionary variants of financial all the reformist leaderships of the If the US as the great usurer of capital, which tomorrow they can world proletariat to prevent the syn- the world and debtor at the same be used by imperialism to give real chronization of the proletarian revo- time, -together with Germany-, coups, if it considers it necessary. lution and to surround the working does not let the minor imperial- It is the policy of popular front and class country by country in order to ist powers rest, such as Spain, class collaboration that prepares the sustain a rotten system. The consum- Greece, Portugal, Italy, etc., which way for the counterrevolution and mation of this task was expressed at were in crisis because of the crash new Bonapartist blows. the WSF meeting in Tunisia in 2013, of 2008, will be a thousand times It is necessary to refound the which was attended by all to pay trib- more implacable with semicolo- UNT without collaborating union bu- ute to Chavez, support Obama and nial countries to charge usury. The reaucrats to break with the Bolivarian support the genocide of Al Assad on political convulsions of Venezuela bourgeoisie. The old oligarchy of behalf of imperialism in Syria. and Ukraine today express enor- Lopez and Capriles stands up because Maduro, under the orders of the IMF, has subjected and brutally attacked the working class. To restore the workers’ and popular alliance, the working class must go out to fight for its demands, which are those of the entire exploited people and the oppressed nation.

Liga Comunista de Trabajadores (Workers’ Communist League) 2011: Occupy Wall Street of Venezuela International Workers' Organizer 13

PART II CHAVEZ AND THE IMPOSTURE OF THE BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION The expropriation of the anti-imperialist struggle of the masses

March 20th, 2013

Again on the question of Marxism and the native bourgeoisies

The passing away of Chavez and, as we see now, shield the cap- in the beginning of the revolutionary has been followed and lamented by italist system in bankruptcy against processes in Latin America in the the entire bourgeois and imperialist the hatred of the masses and the late ‘90s. press at an international level. The revolutionary processes. UNASUR, CELAC, the region- reason is the death of one of their Chavez was one of the most out- al common markets (as Mercosur, key men who came to contain the standing leaderships of the WSF. In ALBA, etc.) are economic and po- huge revolutionary processes in short, his last favor was the support litical institutions that centralize the Latin America that confronted im- to Obama for the last US elections. actions of imperialism and the native perialism in the first 10 years of the Together with Castro, he announced bourgeoisie of the Latin American 21st century. publicly that Obama was his candi- subcontinent. Bush’s FTA of yester- Early in 2000 up to 2005, the date in USA. In that way he called the day, has appeared today under other revolutionary processes in Ecuador, left wing of the US proletariat to vote names and tragically for the mass- Bolivia, Argentina, Venezuela (in Obama, in a moment that this prole- es, the native bourgeoisies have the latter it started in the ‘90s) put tariat was already breaking with him. guaranteed it, with them as junior into question the imperialist domi- The fact was that wide sections partners in the sacking and giving in nation in the region. The exploited of the immigrant workers and the to imperialism of the oppressed na- aimed to fight for the throwing down Latin and Black proletarians were tions of Latin America. of the bourgeois governments and reluctant to do so. Both Chavez It is necessary to tear up the veil regimes. and Castro -as we will see later- covering such a big deception and It was the World Social Forum have been the best electors of lies to the masses. In Venezuela (WSF) constituted late in the ‘90s Obamas’. more than 2,000 starving working in São Paulo (Brazil), which cen- This was one of their most out- class people were massacred in the tralized the forces of the remains of standing “anti-imperialist deeds” and state repression to “El Caracazo”, a Stalinism, Social Democracy and which exposed them; a true swin- mass uprising against the IMF. Up the Castroites, first in Latin America, dle to the anti-imperialist fight of the to now, the Venezuelan govern- then in Europe and the US, and now Latin American masses. ments, Chavez’s ones included, expanding all over the world. The le- Chavez has contributed, togeth- have not done but paying, keep- gitimacy given to it by the renegades er with all the governments expro- ing and even increasing the ex- of Trotskyism played a decisive role priating revolutions, to reconstitute ternal debt undertaken with the for this centrality to be settled of the institutions of domination of im- imperialist Banks and the MNCs. the reformist and treacherous lead- perialism in the Americas, as a leg- Those are the facts. No words can erships of the world proletariat to acy of the past, as the OAS or the dissimulate that the bourgeois pseu- support the bourgeoisie, control and Inter American Treaty of Reciprocal do nationalism has empty hands for deviate the revolutionary processes, Defense (TIAR) which had blown up the masses, while it has expropriated 14 International Workers' Organizer the proletarian revolution. not gifts from the government but together with Capriles’ “opposition” The revisionist currents have minimal gains achieved by the bourgeoisie is preparing elections again thrown tons of poison over masses as a byproduct of big and for 30 days ahead. the world working class, depicting harsh revolutionary combats; these Venezuelan exploiters, with Chavez as a “father” of the exploit- gains, however, do not solve the a sure class instinct fear those ed, one that died sponsoring their hunger or the misery of millions of who cry for the passing away of anti-imperialist struggle; the truth is exploited. Even to get those alms, Chavez… the workers and ordinary that he was a cadre of the bourgeoi- the Venezuelan working class had people whom they manipulate. sie and imperialism at a world lev- to render thousands of its dead on They know that the present calm el, and they have had a significant the streets in order to defeat the dif- and despair are a false illusion. loss with the passing away of their ferent governments and regimes of The capitalist class and imperial- agent. the bourgeoisie in that semi-colony ism distinguish with full clarity and This bourgeois regime that gives bled white by imperialism, namely are afraid of (amidst the feelings for lip service to nationalism keeps al- Venezuela. Chavez’s decease and the political ready a debt of 26 billion dollars with Precisely because the working crisis it created for the exploiters) the the MNCs and the native bourgeois class could not seize the power, the workers and oppressed people that it says it has “expropriated”, as it has masses see their misery increasing performed the heroic uprisings, as compensated them with payments with the first signals of the world cri- El Caracazo, and defeated in street of twice or thrice their real value. sis and the deepening of the imperi- combats the military coup de état in Chavez leaves a heavy mortgage on alist pilfering. 2002, putting in jeopardy the unity of Venezuelan oil and aluminum that Chavez was seen off in a deep the Army. he put as collaterals for 40 billion pain by most of the Venezuelan peo- Those “at the Top” close ranks. dollars in debt with the MNCs and ple… and that is the paradox, be- They prompt their institutions. They China. cause just at the same time the fees know that the economic crisis, the How is it that “Chavez was an- and fares’ increases, the devaluation robbing by the bankers and impe- ti-imperialist”? Thanks to him the of the currency, the loss of the value rialism, the pilfering of the “Boli- bankers in Wall Street have fat- of the wages and the shortages and bourgeoisie” and all the capitalists tened their super profits with the price increases are worsening day in Venezuela, poses to them the Venezuelan oil rent, shared with the after day. necessity of attacking the mass- “Bolibourgeoisie”. Numbers don’t Chavezism, with and without es, in the way of the infamous re- lie. The imperialist Banks earned Chavez are preparing to repeat what gime of Punto Fijo in the ‘90s. in Venezuela, in 2010 a 60% more they have done already: launching The deceived masses cry for the than they had earned in 2009. In over the people such hard and im- death of Chavez, and the ruling 2011 their profits were increased in a placable attacks, under the orders of classes, pompously guised as 70% with respect to the year before, the IMF, as those applied by Andres “Chavists” and “Bolivarians” and in 2012 the increase amounted Perez and Caldera in the ‘90s. seek to refurbish their institutions a 98% more. Layers of the working class and to be able to attack those masses There are the profits of imperial- the popular sectors were already violently. ism and its junior partners, the Boli- completing their experience with the This truth must be told to the bourgeoisie, which are robbing and government; the latter began to be Venezuelan, Latin American and profiteering the oil rent belonging to exposed as far from being a “friend” World working classes. It is urgent to the nation, and doing common busi- of the workers and the ordinary peo- prepare and organize to counter the nesses in Miami. Obama is the chief ple: it had frozen through its Ministry looming attack of the capitalists and of their business… that’s why it was of Labor the collective bargains for 3 the government of the “Bolivarian necessary for them to have the peo- or 4 years, sent thugs to attack vio- Revolution”, which is a true impos- ple in US voting him. lently the striking or protesting work- ture, a caricature of revolution. Those numbers emerge in the ers, or either directly the Bolivarian same moment that the fees and police repressed them savagely, as fares’ increases appear, togeth- was the case with the metalworkers The spoils of Stalinism, the er with a devaluation of the Bolivar at SIDOR. (Venezuelan currency) of 40% in a This experience with the gov- Castroites and the renegades to single stroke, an unbearable short- ernment of Chavez that the work- Trotskyism dress Chavez up with age of basic staples, which have ing class had begun to live through turned besides too expensive, and has had a provisory interruption by legitimacy and authority to pose millions of unemployed sinking in Chavez’s decease. as anti-imperialist and deceive the misery, living on the dole that is less The Chavist bourgeoisie clutched masses than a charity, not covering the mini- to an endless funeral for Chavez, mum necessities of a family. naming his second as president in A theoretical, programmatic and The gains of the masses… the charge, closed ranks with the Armed organizing struggle is now more than “Miracle” plans, the plans for teach- Forces –which were given the cus- ever necessary against opportunism ing to read and write, etc., were tody of the memorial services- and International Workers' Organizer 15 and revisionism. They poison the conscience of the workers, presenting them their enemies as friends. They support the den of bandits of the WSF. They tell the exploited that the murderers and slaveholders of the Chinese Communist Party –who went to Venezuela to cry for Chavez decease alongside Maduro- are the workers’ allies, though actually they are the enslavers of the Chinese workers for the sake of the MNCs. Chavezism is a bourgeois nationalist phenomenon, every day Fascist Al Assad with Chavez less and less nationalist, and empty-handed, which in order to haggle with imperialism over its share in enemy of the bourgeoisie is the proof influence was arranged among the businesses, as a junior partner, letariat, not imperialism. the imperialist powers in the after- is obliged to threaten with the “pro- This “nationalist” phenomenon math of the 2WW, all the national letarian menace”. However, to uti- we saw in the past with Peron in bourgeoisies ended by disciplining lize the proletariat, it must control it Argentina, Nasser in Egypt, etc., themselves to their new or old mas- with an iron hand, by statizing all the during and in the aftermath of WWII. ter, this time to the US. workers’ organizations. The native bourgeoisies take ad- And when these bourgeoisies Thus act the bourgeois national- vantage of the momentous crises of had the least intent of a lukewarm ist governments in the semi-colonial imperialism in its domination of the resistance, out with them! Thus countries. The bourgeoisie has al- planet, or they act as hijackers of the was the coup against Peron in ready understood, since the worker socialist revolution in their countries Argentina in 1955. He fled quickly in revolution of 1848 in France that it in order to better negotiate their slice a patrol boat along the River Plate to can never have the proletariat as an of super profits snatched away from Paraguay. Peron left the massed un- independently mobilizing ally. The the working class. armed protesting in the May Square bourgeoisie understood that yester- We also saw this process with so that they were massacred by the day when fighting against autocracy, Qaddafi and the Al Assads in Middle Armed Forces that performed the and knows that it is still so, in its hag- East, who ended being the most im- coup de etat. gling over with imperialism. portant agents of imperialism in Libya He knew that had he armed the and Syria. Similarly, Chavezism is masses, they would not only ad- This is so because in the op- walking quickly the same way in vance over the imperialist propri- pressed nations the two funda- Venezuela, after getting rid of the ety, but also over the native bour- mental classes of the society that proletarian revolution in that country, geois -nationalist or not- one. That’s clash and act in the productive but also in Latin America, where the why others, as Allende in Chile, process are the working class and revolutionary processes in Ecuador, choose to shoot themselves rather imperialism, the latter controlling Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, were de- to arm the masses when the coup the core of finances and the viated and strangles by the treach- comes… There the coup was head- branches of industry. The national bourgeoisies are basically weak erous leaderships of the proletariat. ed by Pinochet, who was Allende’s as a sector of the ruling classes. Small surprise if those who yester- Defense Minister, put there as a “na- The native bourgeoisie fears the pro- day cried endlessly for the death of tionalist and patriotic general” by the letariat and its independent actions, Qaddafi are today among who cry own Allende, the Chilean Communist because if the proletariat advances the passing away of Chavez. Party and Fidel Castro that praised toward the socialist revolution it will If Chavez were a socialist, so publicly the merits of the “peaceful attack not only the interests of impe- other bourgeois nationalist phenom- way to socialism”. rialism but also those of the own na- ena as Peron, Cardenas (Mexico) or If we compare the charlatan- tive bourgeoisie, which is associated Nasser were almost revolutionary ism and demagoguery of Chavez and interconnected in thousands of socialists. It would be a true delirium. with the nationalist government of businesses to the international im- They expropriated (as every bour- Allende, who went as far as to na- perialism. geois “expropriation” they compen- tionalize copper, Chavez and his The bourgeois nationalist phe- sated the “expropriated” members leftist parrots would be the bourgeois nomena don’t last for long. They are of their same class) oil, the Suez nationalist government more to the ephemeral. Either the proletarian Channel, the railways, etc. It was right, empty-handed and belated in revolution succeeds, or the native simply the case of native bourgeoi- the entire History of Latin America. bourgeoisie together with imperial- sies that were disputing their share Saying that Chavez is a “good ism will end strangling the proletari- of the businesses. Though, as soon bourgeois”, “he who gave conces- at. The reason is that the true mortal as the re distribution of the spheres sions to the masses gratuitous- 16 International Workers' Organizer ly” amounts to saying that Peron from the televised “Alo Presidente”. say the truth to the masses, even if it gave in mid-‘40s the single and Neither were Nasser’s created by is hard and cruel. united CGT (Central Union) to the his oratory nor Peron’s by Evita and We Trotskyists sit up with the life- Argentinean workers as well as the the lumpen base of the Peronist less bodies of our dead: the massa- “Aguinaldo” (a 13th salary in the movement. cred ones in El Caracazo, the work- year), the paid holidays, sick-leaves Chavez was Chavez because ers and poor peasants repressed and birth-leaves, the collective bar- the Castroites, Stalinism and the and murdered by the counterrevo- gains for the unions, etc.! And who- renegades to Trotskyism present- lutionary forces of Chavezism. We ever said that would be acting as ed him and imposed him to the do regret that Chavez is not alive, as a miserable agent of the bourgeoi- masses as their great friend and the Venezuelan and world working sie, because each one of those ally. This is the truth. class were already beginning to live gains were conquered by the The renegades to Trotskyism through their experience with that Argentinean working class with “resurrected Lazarus”, that is, bourgeois leader who had started to their indefatigable struggles in 15 Stalinism, the same that gave in the attack the working class and was to years during the ‘340s when they worker states in 1989 and together deepen that attack, surely equal or conquered the unions by indus- with the Castroites –highest exam- even worse than that his followers try. Peron had to concede those ple of Stalinism today- put Chavez in are preparing, even worse than the gains if he wanted (as he did) pre- his post. In the same way they legit- plans that Carlos Andres Perez and vent the advance of the struggle imized the Kirchners in Argentina, or Rafael Caldera applied in the ‘90s for the socialist revolution. Morales’ government in Bolivia (with under the guidance of the IMF. And if Peron in the past and his friend the vice-president Linera Wide sectors of the working class Chavez today have been obliged to representative of French oil corpora- were starting to fight for their most el- concede the least gains to the mass- tion Total) to care for the imperialist emental demands and were already es it was always as a product of interests all across Latin America. clashing openly with the Chavist these masses heroic combats. The The courage of all these “anti-im- government and the Bolivarian re- bourgeois nationalist govern- perialist democrats” and this cow- gime. This process is still open. It ments have always conceded the ardly left showed in 2009 in the coup is decisive to raise with clarity from gains on the condition that they at Honduras that threw down the the view of Marxism and the inter- appear as a free gift granted by belated Bolivarian intent of “brave” ests of the working class a position the bourgeoisie. And this they could wealthy rancher Zelaya who ended in facing this conjuncture of the situa- not do without the help of the embel- Costa Rica in underwear at 4 a.m. It tion in Venezuela, in order to re-arm lishment of the bosses as good peo- also showed when Chavez embraced with the strategy of the (true) social- ple and friends of the workers and murderous former Colombian presi- ist revolution the proletariat in the people inoculated as a poison within dent Uribe while the spilt blood of the Americas for the major combats that a candy for the conscience of the fighters of the Colombian resistance are in course and those in the works. masses by the treacherous leader- was still warm over the Ecuadorian We revolutionary socialists have ships of the proletariat. soil. “Business is business”, Chavez, always been in the trenches of the We affirm that those thousand Lula, Nestor Kirchner, etc., said then. class war that is opposite to that of hundreds of exploited, today The oil barrel at 120 dollars each al- Chavez’s and his lackeys. We fought crying in despair for the pass- lowed everybody to have his share in alongside the heroic Libyan militias ing away of Chavez, a bourgeois the feast. against Qaddafi, and today we fight leader, were not carried to that Thus, all of them ended making in Syria against the assassin Bashar situation either for Chavez’s cha- a “great FTA” of Latin America, this al Assad, both of whom ended, af- risma or because he was a friend time with new masks, i.e., OAS and ter a short period of anti-imperialist of the people. They were carried FTAs with new guises, namely the verbosity, the greatest agents of im- to that situation and submitted UNASUR, the CELAC, with Cuba perialism in the Maghreb and Middle to a policy of class collaboration within ALBA, with the restoration of East. with the bourgeoisie by the coun- capitalism open in the island now of- That’s why our condolences go terrevolutionary reformist worker fered as gift and subjects’ offering to to the martyrs and heroes of the organizations and leaderships, as Don Obama, with the permit to enter Libyan revolution, with the massa- for instance the Castros and their and get away freely for goods and cred masses in Syria. agents (who dressed Chavez persons in Cuba, so that the “gus- We are with the workers and ex- in red, using the prestige of the anos” in Miami can come to recoup ploited in Iran, who at every attempt Cuban Revolution), the spoils of the their lost businesses together with to fight for their bread, against the Communist Parties everywhere and the Castro Bross in Havana. shortages and expensiveness of the renegades to Trotskyism, which We Trotskyists share the feeling living and the unemployment im- legitimized Chavez from the WSF and the suffering of the exploited, posed by the ayatollahs, servants of and directly in the same Venezuelan but we say: it is not ours. We nei- German imperialism, have only re- Government. ther sit up with the relatives of the ceived the most ferocious repression The strength of Chavezism did defunct nor accompany the leaders from the counterrevolutionary shock not come down from the sky or of the bourgeoisie, dead or alive. We guards of Ahmadinejad (a Chavez’s International Workers' Organizer 17 friend) and the Iranian state, coun- the “Bolivarian” governments, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) of terrevolutionary guards that are also Piñera and Humala of the FTA; we England, of the New Anti-capitalist attacking the heroic resistance in confront that parody, the so called Parties (NPA) in France and across Iraq. How is it that Ahmadinejad is “Bolivarian Revolution”, because we Europe and those of the entire Latin confronting imperialism? A pure par- fight and go on combating for the American Left, we affirm that there ody! With their counterrevolutionary victory of the international socialist is a common thread that runs across forces and parties in Iraq, Both the revolution… We are opposite to all all of them. Everyone speaks of Ayatollahs and Ahmadinejad have of them above mentioned, who to- an alleged “dual character” of in that country a true shock group gether with the Castro Bross have Chavezism. This is a clear policy against the masses, which has al- taken an oath: “Nevermore a new of support to “the progressive bour- lowed the US to retire its troops or- Cuba in the Americas!!!”; we combat geois”, which is a legacy and con- derly. That’s why Obama supported for expelling that treacherous Cuban tinuation of Stalinism and its pseu- Chavez. new bourgeoisie emerged from the do-theory of the existence of “pro- The Ayatollahs, together with bureaucracy that has given in the gressive camps”. The communist their friends and associates of the island, we are against the capital- Parties, for the sake of the “peaceful Hezbollah in Lebanon, today from ist restoration in Cuba, and for the co-existence of the USSR with impe- the government of that country man- success of the socialist revolution rialism”, supported the “democratic” age all the telecom, construction, in Latin America and USA; because bourgeois camp against the “fas- etc., businesses together with the there, in the hands of the today su- cist” one; the “nationalist” bourgeois imperialist powers. We do not ap- per exploited US working class, the against “imperialism”. Thus they liq- plaud the murderous Ayatollahs or victory will be consolidated of all the uidated every class struggle against the Iranian government. We combat exploited in the Americas. the exploiters and ended submitting against and claim to be continuers the proletariat to the bourgeoisie and of the heroic Iranian revolution that imperialism at a world level. in the ‘80s imposed the shoras, i.e., The miserable role of the The renegades to Trotskyism the worker and rank and file sol- repeat today, as parrots, this old dier councils, which actually threw renegades to Trotskyism: formula that carried the world prole- down Reza Palhevi Sha, leaving hanging from the coattails of tariat to huge defeats, even catastro- their thousand dead in their combat, phes. For the former, Chavezism is and were afterwards massacred, by the bourgeoisie while raising on one hand “progressive”, “revolu- Rullollah Khomeini and his counter- the banners of Stalinism –the tionary and socialist” to the extent revolutionary hordes. pseudo-theory of two-stage that it “took the masses out of pov- That’s why we, revolutionary so- erty” and “adopted anti-imperialist cialists do not applaud or support revolution and the support to the measures”. And on the other hand, Morales, that worker-and-peas- “progressive” bourgeoisie they affirm that Chavez did not go up ant-beating, repressor and murderer, to the end in his fight for socialism, in Bolivia. Much less that servant of a question that is still pending; they imperialism and the MNCs, Cristina The Venezuelan question has think that the Chavezism, supported Kirchner in Argentina that today has been up to today –and continues by the masses, or pushed ahead by in jail or prosecuted more than 6500 being- a true litmus test separating them, is capable of achieving it. worker and popular fighters, includ- reformists from revolutionaries, that These people supported the bour- ing some that today cry the passing is, the WSF supported by all the geoisies grouped in the UNASUR, away of Chavez. spoils of Stalinism, legitimized by the ALBA, the MERCOSUR; accom- We Trotskyists declare open- the renegades to Trotskyism on one panied their meeting with a parallel ly to be enemies –and are in the hand, from the militants of the Fourth “summit of the peoples”; and now opposite barricade- of Obama, International on the other. all of them ended supporting these Whereas the declarations of the regional markets directed by the orders of the imperialist powers in the planet, which use them for carrying on juicy businesses with the Latin American bourgeoisies, while attacking violently the masses. These are Menshevik positions, not only of supporting the “progressive bourgeois camps”; they are also continuity to Stalinism and its pseudo-theories as the two-stage revolution. For this pseudo-theory the native bourgeoisie can be an allied to the proletariat in the anti-im- Summit of UNASUR perialist struggle in a first stage, and 18 International Workers' Organizer the fight for socialism will come in a and which wrote the libretto that the Stalinism, where the Castro brothers second stage. In the first stage the entire global reformist left repeats to- put all the political clout of the Cuban democratic-revolutionary tasks of day. The Renegades to Trotskyism, revolution to ensure that Venezuela the agrarian reform and the rupture become in followers of Stalinism, as would not be a new Cuba. Thus they with imperialism would be resolved. left wing of the World Social Forum, already did yesterday in Nicaragua, For the renegades to Trotskyism, are also mourning the death of Bolivia, Argentina, etc. That was Chavez would have been – and his Chavez. the role of the Bolivarian revolution, movement continues being today- In the attitude toward Chavezism, aborting the road to socialist revolu- a fundamental ally in this political there is a divide between the the- tion throughout the Americas. struggle against imperialism. Their ory-program of the Permanent Celia Hart spoke of “Castro and program and policies were a reso- Revolution and the pseudo-theo- Chavez”, “Cuba and Venezuela”, as lute support to Chavez in his “social- ry of the revolution by stages. The “twin stars”, repeating, to falsify it, a ist” and “anti-imperialist” “first stage”. latter includes a political front with metaphor of Trotsky’s in relation to All of them called the masses to vote Chavez, where the working class fascism and Stalinism in the 1930s. and support him time and again. and its left wing must “press on left, Castro and Chavez were not Socialist The renegades to Trotskyism to then surpass him”, supporting his twin stars, but, in plain language, are a new batch of Mensheviks and progressive measures and criticizing it was the Castroites becoming in a continuity of Stalinism, both theoret- the negative ones. “Bolibourgeoisie”. But for this he had ically and programmatically. In Latin We affirm that, as Trotsky to ensure the strangulation of the pro- America, The Communist Parties said, anyone who gives the slight- letarian revolution in Latin America. during decades buried revolutions est political support to a bour- Hu Jintao gave them the program: (as in the entire semi-colonial world) geois government, albeit the “market socialism”, i.e., the submis- looking for “patriotic military” and smallest nail on the little finger of sion of the working class to the mar- “progressive bourgeois” in order to his hand, reneges combating by ket, as the Castro brothers do today assemble a common anti-imperialist its revolutionary overthrow. The when restoring capitalism in Cuba. struggle and accomplish with them Marxist apothegm in the fight against There is already an open economic both a “democratic revolution” in a imperialism in a semi-colonial coun- crisis in Venezuela. There, inflation, first stage, by defeating imperialism. try is: we hit together, as in a mili- recession, devaluation, the “IMF- This is a true fallacy, already paid with tary attack of imperialism we make recommended packet” against the huge defeats by the world proletariat. unit of military action (e.g. Malvinas Venezuelan workers, which today is In this debate the origin is con- or Iraq) either with God or with the applied as yesterday was by Rafael centrated of revolutionary Marxism devil, but never give the slightest po- Caldera or Carlos Andrés Perez in in the imperialist epoch; starting litical support or wake up the slight- the Fourth Republic –those plagues with the Chinese revolution, it gen- est of illusions in the “goodness” of are the order of the day. There are eralized the Theory-program of bourgeois nationalist government; 500,000 workers laid off by the Permanent Revolution to the whole because this means to be responsi- Castro brothers in Cuba, the open- planet; it poses that only the prole- ble for the whole of this Government, ing of foreign trade and the return of tariat allied with the poor peasants, which is coming not to lead the vic- Miami “gusanos” to do big business and seizing the power, can resolve tory of the anti-imperialist struggle, with the Cuban “Bolivarian bour- the democratic revolutionary tasks in but to make her have an abortion. geoisie”. That is the ALBA and the the semi-colonial and colonial coun- We affirm that only the working UNASUR celebrated by all the lefts. tries (i.e., break with imperialism and class, allied to poor farmers, lead- Alan Woods gave Chavez the carry on the agrarian reform), and ing the exploited of the oppressed Transitional Program to cover him for that it will have to combine those nation, can entirely solve the dem- well red. The LIT yesterday said tasks with the socialist ones. ocratic-revolutionary tasks of the op- we had to demand and pressure In the Chinese Revolution of pressed countries. Chavez for him to go to socialism, 1927, Stalinism took Chiang Kai- The guiding principle before although the former now says that shek (Chinese Chavez) even to the Chavezism from the motley crew of stage of putting pressure on Chavez congresses of the 3rd International, the renegades to Marxism is to lead is already finished. So do the and the Stalinism itself was part of the working class to a policy of class English SWP or the NPA today. The the Kuomintang (the Chinese bour- collaboration; to close for the work- PTS of Argentina receives awards in geois nationalist party). The tragedy ers and poor the road to socialist rev- Havana for its documentaries about is that the Communist workers of olution. Moreover, the Castro broth- the struggle of the working class in the Chinese CP turned in 1927 into ers, under the orders of imperialism, the ‘ 70s. It has red painted the dirty a million corpses used as fuel in the used Chavezism and its “Bolivarian clothes to the Castro brothers. engines of the railways, under the revolution” to submit the proletariat Their policies are venom against order of the “progressive bourgeois” to the bourgeoisie, with its slogan “it the consciousness of the work- Chiang Kai-shek. is no longer possible a Cuba in Latin ers. You would have to tell all the Stalinism of the ‘27 in China, America, as already socialism is not Renegades to Trotskyism and openly breaking with Marxism and even possible in Cuba”. That was Marxism why they don’t go to see Bolshevism, was the predecessor the battle cry of the Castroites and a bourgeois and press him so that International Workers' Organizer 19 he opens the wallet and gives them sacred more than his money. They are kidding!... You 2000 workers and do not press the bourgeoisie, you peasants when have to expropriate it. But, to get they staged El the slightest of the demands of the Caracazo in 1989, working class, it means harsh, vio- in one of the larg- lent and heroic class fighting! est historical massacres carried on by the exploiters The real anti-imperialist fighters against the exploited in a mass in Venezuela are the exploited struggle. who set an insurrection in El The Caracazo was one of the Caracazo against the IMF more phenom- Chavez and Alan Woods and who in ‘96/’97 recovered enal anti-im- the trade unions and worker perialist struggles of the Latin with his coup in 1992 when the rev- organizations for fighting American working class. This was olutionary tide had already passed, an extraordinary feat against the the masses had already been mas- Considering that Chavez was who choking of the peoples imposed by sacred, and a temporary reflux of the led the anti-imperialist struggle of the imperialism with external debt and exploited was accentuated. Venezuelan masses, that he was the the IMF to the oppressed nations of They want the oppressed to for- direct expression of these struggles Latin America. This is what the lack- get their enemies and oppressors though he did not carry them to the eys of the bourgeoisie do not want and pass them as allies. That is end, and that for him to do that you anybody to say or publish. That›s the the Bolivarian movement: a hand- needed the pressure of the Socialists truth. ful of murderers of the people, led and the masses, is a betrayal to the The Caracazo was which to the power to deceive the masses proletariat. It amounts to beautify the death-wounded the Fourth Republic supported on the shoulder of all re- Venezuelan national bourgeoisie that and its plan of attack to the mass- formist currents and bureaucracies fears the masses and their combat es. It was a true semi insurrection of the worker organizations in the much more than it hates imperialism, of the masses that collided violently Americas. of which it is a partner and which ends in tough bouts of barricades in the El Caracazo was a phenomenal always negotiating and reaching an streets against the military assassins semi-insurrection of masses. For agreement with imperialism against under the orders of the IMF. trade unionism and economicism, the masses. Today, when we see in Libya and the fact that it was not a fight organ- It is to disguise the murderers of Syria how the army disintegrated and ized by the labor organizations, i.e. the workers. It is telling the proletar- thousands of rank-and-file soldiers unions, deprives El Caracazo of the iat that there are “good” bourgeois went over to the side of the people character of historical and revolu- who came to make concessions to with their weapons in hand, if we tionary action of the exploited. This humble people that cannot get them compare that to the Caracazo yes- position ignores, as trade union- for themselves. It is to paint the world terday and see the action of Chavez ist vision, which is the beginning upside down. It is poisoning the con- in the same, we can see how all the of any revolutionary process: an sciousness of the masses. Again, “pro-worker” and populist demagogu- independent mass action, which this is to be a vile traitor. ery of the “socialism of the 21st cen- confronts politically the bourgeois This position has nothing to do tury” unmasks itself. In El Caracazo, regime and the Government. It with life, with Chavezism, or funda- Chavez and all killers of that breed breaks every control of the bour- mentally with Marxism. Chavezism of officers were among those who geois state and all its institutions and bourgeois nationalism mean the killed workers. His Bolivarian gen- and combats it openly, and the expropriation of the struggle of the erals and colonels have all blood- exploited start to distinguish their proletariat and the exploited in the stained hands from killing workers enemies. oppressed nations of the Americas and exploited. None of the caste of Its participants fertilize their ideas against imperialism; it is the negation officers moved their weapons to fight and their insurrectional action inso- of the perspective of their triumph. alongside the insurrected people. far as they see an exit, desperate Let’s talk about clearly. Those who In the Caracazo, the class trenches for moments, for the pains of their confronted imperialism; defeated were clear. The deception mount- existence. There is their elemental the Fourth Republic and the Punto ed by Chavezism years later and all consciousness that even surpasses Fijo Pact; demolished the regime its work so far consists of dissolving the limits of their organizations that to its foundations weren’t Chavez these boundaries of class and burying must be overcome and often ignored or that murderous officer’s caste of the exploited that fought it under the in order for them to be able to enter the Venezuelan army, which mas- slab of the cemeteries. Chavez came combat. 20 International Workers' Organizer

As Lenin and Marx said, revo- This is what the political struggle national conditions, its result would lution is a great mass action which of the masses means, something that be slow and gave time to the bour- involves masses that have nev- the economicist-sindicalist will never geoisie to sort out, without a revo- er gone to the streets in protest. understand. In the political fight the lutionary crisis in the heights, which “Poor Devils”, which were always phase of social peace is left behind. then Chavezism, as abortion of that abandoned to their fate by workers In the middle of the crack and the process, could capitalize on. aristocracies and bureaucracies, crisis the exploited no longer believe The Caracazo was the larg- are now going into combat. Even that by pressing on the bosses they est anti imperialist mass action of the concierges fight, according to can get something. It should be nec- the Venezuelan working class and Trotsky. And there lies the strength essary to hit the Government and the Chavezism was its denial. Its allies of this mass political struggle. That regime for not dying of hunger. It is a weren’t the generals that expropriat- means the proletariat is not alone. high step if compared to economic ed that fight but the processes that Large sections of the masses come and Trade Unionist fighting, but less later and already entered the 21st to the revolutionary torrent. Millions than an insurrection organised with century continued its work as the of exploited accompany it in com- clear goals to snatch the power from revolutionary anti imperialist upris- bat, including sectors of the ruined the enemy. That is the strength and ings of Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, middle classes are incorporated the weakness of any mass semi-in- etc. This is the truth, and the task of into the flood of fight. The trade un- surreccion or spontaneous riot, and revolutionary Marxism is to run the ionist does not understand that this not its massiveness that breaks the veil of the trap and the lie that the is expression of the strength of the isolation of the working class, which proletarian treacherous leaderships working class; they are dragged into ultimately fails to centralize it and scattered about the exploited so that combat disenchanted masses that in advance in a Soviet strategy, be- they no longer trust their own forc- their life have followed all bourgeois cause the proletariat does not have es and are subject to manipulation institutions and have never before a revolutionary direction at its head and deception, to the empty handed entered the fight. They enter in com- capable of establishing the Alliance populism of the exploiting classes. bat millions of exploited that are not of workers and peasant or working The Venezuelan Caracazo opened taken into account by trade unions class-and-popular Alliance. the historical period of rupture of so- and workers organizations led by The Caracazo was a semi-insur- cial peace and opened a phase of civil the bureaucracy, which do not group reccion which had not a revolution- war that is still latent in the conditions over 5 or 10% of the working class. ary party at its head and hence its of Venezuela, Latin American condi- In Venezuela, this has a huge main limitation, since its immediate tions and worldwide. It’s because this meaning. There, in a monoproduc- result, which left mortally wounded time, since 2008 capitalism is which tor oil country, in the ‘ 90s the bar- the Punto Fijo Deal regime, failed to has received “its ‘ 89”, which leaves rel of oil was worth barely $8. The advance to put up bodies of double Chavez’s empty handed populism outbreak of a mass political struggle power, i.e., Soviet, comprising all the more and more exposed. was imminent, as widespread fam- masses that joined the revolutionary Trotsky said: “The truth is that ine had spread within the population. combat, nor could it end splitting the the civil war is a particular stage of 82% of the population lived - and army horizontally and transform its the class struggle, when it -breaking still does today - below the poverty uprising in into a victorious insurrec- the framework of legality- reaches line. 70% of the labour force is in tion. This facilitated the subsequent the plane of a public confrontation to a chronic unemployment. Millions expropriation by the bourgeoisie of some extent physical, of the forces of starving and semi-illiterate work- this phenomenal and historic battle in opposition. Conceived in this way ers and peasants crowd in the hills of masses which was the first and civil war covers the spontaneous of Caracas and all the big cities. A most decisive historic bout of Latin insurrections determined by local primitive informal economy had left, American masses against the chok- causes, bloody interventions of the as does today, millions of unem- ing of the nation and the looting of counter-revolutionary hordes, the ployed workers to their fate. In the imperialism with the biggest scam revolutionary general strikes, the in- Caracazo it was the Trade Union of the twentieth century that were surrection for the seizure of power Confederation (CTV) which played the foreign debts of the countries of and the period of liquidation to the throughout a counter-revolutionary Latin America. counter-revolutionary uprising at- role leaving the employed work- The Caracazo took place at the tempts”. Just what Chavezism came ing class separate from the unem- time when the world proletariat was to interrupt was that sequence; but ployed. During the Caracazo, a rev- receding and the black night of capi- that sequence is the victory of the olutionary action, the CTV blew up talist restoration in the former worker proletarian revolution. For this rea- through the air. States came. From there its “uncon- son, the Bolivarian revolution is El Caracazo, hunger, and the scious”, “fleeting” character... forgot- nothing more than the abortion of sudden tax increases got together, ten, but that despite this and despite that revolution. wielding them, the labor ranks. It everything it deprived of legitimacy El Caracazo had its paradox; it was the whip of capital that pushed the regime of the surrender and the opened a revolutionary situation in all sectors to a spontaneous revolu- misery of the Punto Fijo Pact and Venezuela that ended up giving the tionary breakthrough. sealed its death. Although by inter- power to Chavez who came to abort International Workers' Organizer 21 the emergence of the Soviet power, and the horizontal breakdown of the army. In the success of that abortion, all treacherous leaderships of the world proletariat, regrouped and centralized all at the WSF put a stake their very existence. Trotsky defined the February revolution as follows, with this paradox. He said: “the bourgeoisie seized power behind the backs of the people. It didn’t have any support in the working classes. But with the Caracazo, 1989 power it got something as a second hand support: the Mensheviks and Socialist revolutiona es. Elevated The Venezuelan working class everybody sent condolences on the to the top by the masses, they gave was the vanguard, in the ‘90s, of death of Chavez and surrounded the a vote of confidence to the -bour the Latin American proletariat with a Government of Maduro to prevent geoisie. If we were to examine this phenomenal mass political struggle, a political crisis in the heights from operation from the point of view of the abovementioned Caracazo, and unfolding; terrorized at the thought formal democracy, we would find the proletarian boom in 1996/1998 of an intervention of the masses, ourselves facing something like ended demolishing the regime of the the bourgeois shielded themselves elections of second degree, in which Punto Fijo Pact and its parties. Thus, with the Bolivarian armed forces the Mensheviks and SR play the the terrified bourgeoisie went to look and Capriles’ bourgeois opposition, technical role of intermediate link, for this “nationalist” and “progres- which is also Bolivarian, wearing the i.e., electors of the Kadets.” sive” Colonel to deceive the mass- same little booklet of the Constitution These are the Stalinists and the es, divert the revolutionary upsurge to stabilize the situation and pre- Castroites supported and legitimat- and shut off the way to the advance- vent every crisis in the regime. ed by the renegades to Trotskyism: ment of the socialist revolution in Those who have entrenched holding intermediate electors of Chavez, Venezuela, that had been opening in Chavez feel terror and panic to the the Kirchners, Lula, Morales and... a decade of fighting. masses, who broke the contentions OBAMA. and beat them hard blows, not only Some years after the repressed in the Caracazo. They fear the cur- Caracazo, it came a wave of work- rent wave of working-class struggle er struggles against the packet From the emergence of Chavezism, against the attack of devaluation, in- of Caldera in 1997. Caldera plan expropriating the revolution, to flation and an unbearable shortage is defeated with marches in the of the living staples. They fear that a streets, work stoppages, strikes Chavez’s surrender to the military proletarian offensive as of the ‘96/’98 and hard struggles. From 1996 to coup of 2002 boom resurfaces which raises the 1998 the working-class reassem- prospect of the general strike and bled its forces. The ebbing after the reunifies the ranks of the working Every revolutionary situation de- massacre of El Caracazo is left be- class, reopening the road to socialist velops “when those of above can- hind. Latin American working class revolution. not and those at the bottom don’t begins to fight offensive struggles. The ruling classes, even today, want”. But, in the words of Lenin, The Ecuadorian Revolution begins. have fresh in their memories the de- a revolution begins when an inde- A wave of strikes and struggles feat that the masses attained against pendent mass action opens the shakes Argentina. It is the awaken- the attempted coup, as we will see way to the revolutionary struggle for ing of the masses of Latin America. later, in 2002, in which Chavez sur- power. That road had been opened The Venezuelan proletariat retrieves rendered cowardly before the bish- early in the ‹90s in Venezuela and it its committees of factories and un- opric and the caste of officers of the was the treacherous leaderships of ions, and starts a proletarian boom army, while the masses came down the masses at Latin American and with extremely harsh fights against from the hills, surrounded the bar- international level that put on their the bureaucracy and the bosses. racks and forced the same officers shoulders Chavezism so it was able Though, the old organisations formerly Chavezist and then “putch- to abort the process. recovered and the new ones con- ist” to put him again in power. The Venezuelan bourgeoisie quered then, are state-ized in 1998, The armed forces, as a fun- trembles today thinking of a new since all the left currents that mount- damental institution of the Caracazo, that would be offensive, ed on that struggle ended up sup- Venezuela bourgeois state, and not defensive, due to the international porting Chavez and handed him the their caste of officers played a conditions i.e., the brutal crisis of the control of the large fighting organiza- key role becoming in occupation world capitalist system. Therefore, tions that had been conquered. forces under the command of the 22 International Workers' Organizer

IMF to massacre the Venezuelan After the Caracazo and the sav- wave of struggles of 1996 /’97. people in the ‘90s. They played a age repression it came an ebbing, We describe this because you decisive role in the coup attempt with the masses accumulating their cannot falsify and deny historical of 2002 to redistribute the oil in- hatred and sitting up with their dead. facts. This shows as we have al- come with a better share for im- The army had been responsible for ready said that the Venezuelan ex- perialism. Today they close ranks the massacre. It was the focus of the ploited masses were the vanguard of around Maduro, Capriles and the hatred of the masses. Therefore, by our continent in the fight against the Bolivarian Constitution, to pre- attacking the army and placing it as looting of external debt and the IMF vent a political crisis from open- the greatest enemy of the exploited, against the oppressed nations of Latin ing gaps through which the mass not just the Punto Fijo regime was America. Long live the Venezuelan movement could enter again. put in question but also the whole working class and exploited! They There is one issue that unifies all Venezuelan State and its murderous are the truly anti-imperialist forc- currents ranging from pro Chavez caste of officers. es! They were then followed by their supporters to the rrrrrrrrredest el- A sector of the caste of officers, brothers and sisters from Ecuador, ements of the self claimed Marxist of the most rancid bourgeoisie, per- Bolivia and Argentina, who started movement. They are enemies of ceived this issue. Not only the re- revolutionary processes. having a policy to break the caste gime had been death-wounded, but Inventing a legend of a “Chavezist of the Pro-imperialist bourgeois also targeted the heart of the bour- anti-imperialism” which would have army officers and organize its ple- geois state. And that was the larg- been the promoter and creator of this beian base and the children of the est nightmare of the bourgeoisie. fight in Venezuela and Latin America, exploited in it together with the work- Therefore, on 4 February 1992, a it is not only falsifying history but con- ers and the people. sector of the caste of officers head- tinuing submitting the working class All sheath of the “Bolivarian rev- ed by Chavez, stepped forward and to their executioners, to the impos- olution” is for sweetening the fero- tried to take a preventive coup, be- tors, who expropriated every anti-im- cious dictatorship of capital. The fore a new onslaught of the masses perialist and revolutionary struggle. bands of armed men define what was in the streets. This attempt was The exploited had 2,000 dead in really the Punto Fijo Deal regime known as “the madrugonazo” (“the the streets. Not even one casualty and the Bolivarian Republic have hit at dawn”). was suffered by the exploiters and in common: the military party, the This crisis at the Tops encour- the Chavezist bourgeoisie. officers’ caste that so much yester- aged a wave of protests, culminating The renegades to Trotskyism, the day as today has been watching to in May 1996, when the Congress de- same as Stalinism, will enter History ensure the interests of the whole of cided also striking out Andres Perez. as the greatest counterfeiters of the the bourgeoisie and imperialism in The regime and the Government revolutionary struggle of the masses. Venezuela, beyond the specific dif- were in crisis. Old former presi- They are already a school of coun- ferences, the form of the regime and dent Rafael Caldera takes charge terfeiters a propos Chavezism as the nature of the Government with of the presidency as the last of Stalinism was around the Russian which the bourgeoisie dominates. the Governments of the regime and international revolution. This continuity of the armed forc- of the Punto Fijo Deal, support- In 1998 Chavez takes the pres- es in the heart of the Venezuelan ed by the Stalinists. Caldera idency. The bourgeoisie needs regime, and the full state-ization was already campaigning about him. It was starting the revolution- of the trade unions, guarantees a Chavez and “the putschists” be- ary tide that defeated the pro-im- Bonapartist regime with elements ing the real friends of the people. perialist Government of Bucaram of a “sui generis” character insofar So the regime of the Punto Fijo Pact in Ecuador. The “twin” of Chavez, as it haggles with imperialism some was melting down, and they began the notorious “Colonel Gutiérrez ex- points of the share in the oil income, to create mechanisms for the caste propriated large working-class and but, as was already stated, by rigidly of officers to safeguard the State, peasant marches to Quito with an- controlling the masses. since it had massacred more than ti-imperialist demagoguery; he was 2,000 exploited in 1989. exposed after taking the presidency The Government of Caldera had after he completed a year, with the On the genesis and emergence a problem. The oil barrel was be- workers and peasants expelling the tween 30 and 40 dollars in the mid-’ entire Parliament and even chasing of Chavezism 90s. The government could just ap- the Maoist representatives that supply another packet, as Carlos Andrés ported him. What we are talking about is the Pérez. And it did so in 1996 with the Chavez arrives to power in genesis of Chavezism, as expro- increase in the domestic price of Venezuela due to the panic that the piator of the revolution. The Carlos gasoline, the liberation of fees and bourgeoisie had about the mass- Andrés Pérez Government had im- fares of public services, a general es opening a revolutionary process plemented a packet of measures increase in prices... in short, a clas- as in Ecuador. Imperialism and the ordered by the IMF, after signing sic IMF package, which the working Venezuelan bourgeoisie learned with the same a letter of intent on class defeated again on the streets, from their setbacks. They immedi- February 28, 1989. as we have already said, with its ately called a constituent to appear International Workers' Organizer 23 to be them who defeated the Fourth Republic and the regime of the Punto Fijo Pact. We insist, to save the armed forces from the hatred of the masses they set up their “Bolivarian Republic”. They changed the form so that it kept the essence of the Venezuelan semi-colonial capitalist regime and its band of armed men remained intact. It is necessary to tell the truth. This constituent tried to re-establish the prestige of all institutions of the Venezuelan bourgeois state, chang- ing some of them and their relation- ships in the Bolivarian Constitution, but saving the murderous caste of of- The army repressing the exploited during Caracazo, 1989 ficers that repressed the Venezuelan people. a gracious concession of the mur- cialist revolution in Venezuela and Marxists ought not to confound derous Generals of the Venezuelan Latin America and mainly with the the content of revolution with the army or the anti-worker bourgeoisie US working class taking the power. content of reaction and counter-rev- in that country. They gave some- olution. The Bolivarian revolution thing not to lose everything. Filling was the bailing-out of the murder- Venezuela with working-class blood ous armed forces and semi-colonial The gestation of the Pro- only to get empty shelves in the su- bourgeois state, cornered by the rev- permarkets, skyrocketing fees and imperialist coup of 2002: olutionary struggle of the masses. fares and levels of unprecedented Over this detour, over that expro- with the increase in the price misery that today appear with clar- priation, the “Boliburguesía” arose of oil imperialism wants to ity after so much quackery from the , which sought to rely on the momen- Chavezist and reformist. That’s the end the bargaining of the tum of the masses to negotiate their truth. share of oil income to imperialism Venezuelan native bourgeoisie... No concession was free, no as junior partners, but on the condi- alms given to the masses that today Chavez surrendered, while the tion of controlling them fiercely. They the bourgeoisie tries to pass as re- sought to bargain their businesses revolutionary masses and the forms was free. If not, why did not without attacking the interests of the bossed give them in 1989, 1992, working class defeated the coup imperialism, as with oil at $ 100 per 1996 in Venezuela? They only deliv- barrel they could have repaid the en- ered IMF packages, beatings, and The “anti-imperialism” of Chavez tire foreign debt, something that the death. was in short a barrel of oil to $100 IMF could not get in the ‘90s. And now, once the global crisis in- that allowed him to repay the entire We insist, it is necessary to tell the itiated and penetrating in Venezuela, debt to the IMF, to save the interests masses the truth. What was the re- they, with the Boli-bourgeosie at of imperialism in the region with his sult of this abortion of the revolution? their head front, apply the same “Summit of the americas”, the ALBA, The masses filled Venezuela with starvation plans and paquetazos the UNASUR, the MERCOSUR of blood and fighting for a decade. They that Caldera and Carlos Andrés the transnationals, and continue could have taken power, solve their Pérez would applaud and which now supplying a significant portion of the unheard sufferings and miseries, Capriles sanctify (who is given the oil needed by the USA, of which is a and ended up receiving alms from luxury of talk about “Red paqueta- great commercial and financial part- “miracle” plans, defective “missions” zos”) and Obama... that receives in ner to Venezuela. of literacy... and this was achieved time and form - as it has always done Chavezism was part of a wave not as charity from Chavez, but as a - Venezuelan oil that is processed in of expropriations of proletarian rev- by-product of the revolutionary strug- refineries in the United States in the olutions in Latin America, where gle of the masses. Venezuela was Gulf of Mexico coast. This route, and Stalinism, Castroism, resurrected by not a new Cuba; peaceful coexist- that phenomenal business of US im- the renegades of Trotskyism, put on ence with imperialism propagandized perialism in Venezuela, along with their shoulders the Bolivarian bour- by the Castroites was respected and the maintenance of the armed forces geoisie from Argentina, Venezuela, upheld by all leaderships of the Latin of the bourgeois state is what unites Bolivia, Brazil to manipulate the American and world proletariat. We such a powerful chain in History from masses and divert the revolution- insist, not even the alms delivered to Caldera to Chavez... A chain that will ary processes. But in 2002 there the masses, which keep the vast ma- only be cut by the triumph of the so- was a crisis in Venezuela, a coup jority of them in extreme poverty was d’etat, as the barrel of oil went to 24 International Workers' Organizer

120-140 dollars, thanks to “bandit” in place. Either you are with the alms, they ended up enslaving Latin Bush, who was feedong his fleet Caracazo, with the struggles of American working-class and arming with Venezuelan oil to invade Iraq 1996-’98, with the anti-coup revolu- regional markets for imperialism, the and Afghanistan. The Bolivarian tionary uprising in 2002 to pave the transnational corporations, mining bourgeoisie was already conducting way for the workers and the Socialist companies, oil companies and their much of that business. Other frac- Revolution, settling accounts with businesses, in a shameless way tions of the bourgeoisie and imperi- the murderers of the Venezuelan that would make blush Bush and alism were to shrink its share in the people; or you are tied to the apron the agents of the FTAs of the 2005 distribution of oil income. And they strings of the murderous gener- / 2006 (such as Mexico, Chile and would not allow it. als coated as “anti-imperialist” and Peru). That is why everyone is now It is one thing to bring Chavez “Bolivarian”, and supporting the juicy in the UNASUR, the CELAC, etc. to stop the revolution with oil at $40 businesses of the imperialist bank- a barrel, and another thing is do- ers with the bolibourgeoisie. Chavez had to pay for his freeing that with the barrel to $140 and That treacherous “Bolivarian” left dom, cheerfully and disciplined. The Chavez staying with most part of the will in time pay accounts to the mass- embrace with Uribe, after which the booty. The coup was a “Chronicle es, when the struggle of the working latter massacred in Ecuadorian terri- of a death foretold”, and it came in class stops the package which today tory the top leadership of the FARC, 2002. Maduro applies and Chavez would calling to do business together was What did the “brave Commander” have applied perhaps with greater a currency of payment. Being the Chavez do back then? He surren- anti-worker boldness, i.e., devalua- largest ally, at ALBA, to advance dered to the bishops and generals, tion, inflation, shortages, increase in to the capitalist restoration in Cuba without a single shot. As Marx said gasoline, and more attacks and re- with the Castro brothers, he has re- of Bolívar: the general of the flight... pression over the working class, as ceived and continues still to receive Again the masses came down those launched by Rafael Caldera the biggest applause from his impe- from the hills. They surrounded the and Carlos Andrés Pérez, who ruled rialist partners. barracks. It began to break horizon- by repressing and killing workers tally the army base. Rank and file and poor peasants. soldiers began to go over to the pop- With the argument of “whoev- The working class in Venezuela ular side. The ghost of the Caracazo er attacks the State enterprises is ran through Venezuela. Conditions a traitor to the Bolivarian revolu- needs to conquer a revolutionary to avenge the 2000 workers mas- tion” they will attack the workers program and an internationalist sacred in el Caracazo of 1989 were when they strike or protest. They there. There was at the order of the are the same bourgeoisie and their Trotskyist party which is day to destroy this murderous, of- generals who massacred in the the vanguard in the combat ficer’s caste, agent of imperialism... Caracazo. With the world economic for refounding the Fourth Chavez gave in to the army and the crisis now all of them will be Carlos church and the masses wanted to Andrés Perez and Caldera, because International in the Americas release him from prison. The bour- Chavez, Maduro and Capriles are all geoisie that was at first celebrating, agents of Obama covered under the Chavez has been a great leader turned within 24 hours to be terror- cloak of the Bolivarian Constitution. of the bourgeoisie. He has received ized by the revolutionary action of But the 2002 coup was not a the condolences of US imperialism. the exploited. «national», Venezuelan coup. It was It was a great elector of Obama next The same putschist generals a counter-revolutionary response to Castro. When immigrant and col- and bosses were terrified that the of imperialism to stop, at one point, our workers did not want any more masses comply with the mandate the upwards advance of the revolu- to vote again for Obama, they were of the Caracazo and not a stone re- tionary wave of the masses of the transformed into the big Obama vot- mained of that murderous bourgeois Americas, which had been shaking ers. Chavez and Fidel Castro turned army and that from the huge politi- Argentina from its foundations, ad- en masse to disappointed colour and cal fight arose the soviets of work- vancing in Bolivia and threatened to immigrant workers so they went to ers, the “miserable” of the city and overcome the limits of Chavezism vote Obama. On Capitol Hill, Chavez the countryside and the soldiers. So in Venezuela and throughout Latin will also have his mausoleum. they went to the bishop palace for America. Bankers in Wall Street, the big Chavez and put him back in power. The defeat of the coup meant imperialist bourgeoisie and their That is the tragedy threatening the that the Bolivarian bourgeoisie was Bolivarian partners of Miami need to Venezuelan masses: “Marxists” pre- called to deal with the masses, along be repaid Venezuelan foreign debt tending to pass as “anti-imperialist” the with other expropriators, rogue sid- and demand their share of oil in- General of the withdrawal. For them ings of imperialism, as the Kirchners come. For this they require devalua- the masses are nothing, although in Argentina, Correa in Ecuador, etc. tion and carry most of the dollars for these masses were the true protago- After paying lip service to anti-impe- themselves. For the people it will be nists of the Venezuela revolted. rialism through many “anti-imperial- just more inflation, currency without The Trotskyists will put things ist” flips and small concessions of backing, increases in the public ser- International Workers' Organizer 25 vices, etc. Capitalism is not a charity society, and less so when imperialism is in bankruptcy. The margins of action for the native bourgeoisie of all Latin America are shrinking. The US working class is obliged to pay for the crisis of Wall Street and the direct agents of imperialism of the native bourgeoisie are also decide to have the proletariat of their countries pay for it. If those imperialist powers that have emerged victorious from the world economic crash opened in 2008, such as Germany or the U.S., pushed to impose a Treaty of sub- Chavez with Armed Forces mission and allegiance to lesser imperialist powers such as Greece, Italy, Spain, etc... what will they the hands of the only theory and payment of the foreign debt! not require from their colonies and program that can lead to victory: Immediate disavowal of the 105 semi-colonies? those of the Fourth International billion dollars of the fraudulent Already reformism increasingly re-founded. Venezuelan foreign debt, con- less may pass the alms as victories The anti-imperialist democrat- tracted by the lackeys of imperi- and conquests, because the global ic-revolucionary tasks are still pend- alism of the regime of the Punto crisis is already here. The package ing and unresolved in Venezuela. The Fijo Deal, which has been both of Maduro and Capriles that has break with imperialism must be paid promptly and augmented by been launched and much more that consummated. Only the working the sacking of imperialism, per- they are preparing against the ex- class, leading the exploited mass- formed this time together with the ploited of Venezuela, and which is es, can conquer it. Bolibourgeoisie! being launched against the world In spite of the a huge oil income, For a plan of public works for working class, will show govern- the exploited are hungry because the construction of millions of ments of Rafael Caldera and Carlos most of the oil rent is taken by impe- homes, to end with the black mar- Andrés Pérez as the true twin stars rialism and the native bourgeoisie. ket and the handing out of alms to of Chavez and all the pro imperialist There will be no national independ- the exploited that have the black left which supports his followers. ence in Venezuela UNLESS THERE gold beneath their feet! For public Sooner than later the siege of the IS EXPROPRIATION OF THE BANKS health services and education, free treacherous leaderships and their WITHOUT COMPENSATION AND and of quality for everyone! scams to the proletariat, will be bro- NACIONALIZED UNDER WORKERS Enough of wage freezes, high ken by the masses. The “December CONTROL! FOR A SINGLE STATE cost of living and inflation! For the 20” in Argentina and their cry “that BANK WHICH, TOGETHER WITH liquidation of the chain of intermedi- everybody goes away and never re- THE NATIONALIZATION OF ation in the marketing of foodstuffs turns!” will come again. Again the FOREIGN TRADE, WILL MAKE and consumer goods! Supply and cry of “gringos, get out of here!” in THE NATION GET RID OF THE price control committees! Bolivia, the “out with the IMF!” of the PARASITIC CAPITALISTS WITH Denunciation of all PDVSA oil Caracazo, the “expropriation of the THEIR COMMISSIONS, THEIR contracts with the imperialist oil copper and transnationals” of Chile. REAPING OF SUPER-PROFITS companies! Full nationalization of The One Million Men anti-war March IN IMPORTS, THE THEFT OF Venezuelan oil under workers control! will return in the U.S. and hundreds of DOLLARS FROM OIL INCOME If the exploited do not honor communes as in Oaxaca will rise up AND ITS CIRCUIT TO THE UNITED the fraudulent external debt and in the bloodied Mexico. STATES FEDERAL RESERVE AND put the banks under worker con- Military bases in Honduras and THE BUSINESS IN MIAMI. trol they will be able to resolve the Colombia will have the same fate There are plenty of funds for drama of unemployment and job as the military bases of murder- a strong plan of investments in insecurity. ous Kaddafi and Bashar al Assad, nationalized companies. But to Solving the chronic unemploy- partners and friends of Chavez do so, we must start for not payment, which now stands at 21% / and the Bolivarian. ing a single bolivar (Venezuelan 22% of the labour force, is one of But at that time only the currency) of these expropria- the big pending tasks alongside the Trotskyists will have the possibil- tions (totaling $ 26 billion dollars) to breaking with imperialism. Neither ity of talking to and looking at the those who exploited for decades the the Punto Fijo Pact nor the Bolivarian proletariat in the eye. The banners Venezuelan working class. Republic could resolve them, and of Caracazo have come to rest in Not another bolivar for the no bourgeois regime will. Only a 26 International Workers' Organizer

Government of the working class, the cost of living and mobile during America, Central America and the expropriating the bourgeoisie and their military service! Delegates of Caribbean has its key ally to over- imperialism, on the basis of the soldiers along with trade unions, la- come the class enemy: the US demolition of this semi-colonial bor organizations and supply and working class, which yesterday rose bourgeois state, may terminate price-control committees, and organi- against the war and for the rights of with the scourge of unemploy- zations of unemployed! immigrants. The same working class ment of the Venezuelan masses. All the organizations that speak that yesterday in Wisconsin called Enough of alms! Decent jobs for on behalf of the working class and to “fight as in Egypt”, and indicated everybody! A shift more in all facto- their struggle must just now break the world and Latin American work- ries! For a Plan of public works un- with the bourgeoisie. The unique and ing class what are the conditions for der the control of the workers! effective breakthrough to conquer victory: expropriating that 1% of Wall It must be put in standing commit- the independence of the Venezuelan Street parasites who condemn the tees of unemployed, organized from working class is putting on its feet world to misery and barbarism. the trade unions, factory committees the true power of the exploited, the Let’s expropriate the 600 para- and all the labor organizations! only one that can carry up to the sites who handle 240 cartels and The Venezuelan working class end the conquest that Venezuela MNCs that control the whole of the will not be able even to dream of openly break with imperialism. world economy! defending its present conquests This only can be achieved with Against the Bolivarian revolution and get new if it does not take as a revolutionary Government of the - a caricature of revolution-, we fight- one of its key demands the reso- working class and its allies the op- ers of the Fourth International fight lution of the chronic crisis of mil- pressed masses of the countryside for the Socialist United States of lions of unemployed, often used by and the city, supported by organ- North, Central and South America. the bourgeoisie against the workers, izations of direct democracy and The Venezuelan and Latin or maintained with handouts that are the armament of the masses. For a American Trotskyists have a respon- already not even enough to survive, Republic that is neither that of the sibility in History: setting accounts as the “Miracles” plans. Punto Fijo Deal or Bolivarian! For a with this school of falsifiers who want Let’s get together all the work- worker, Socialist, Venezuela without to make the workers of that country er ranks! generals, capitalists and imperialist believe that they are subjects of the For a National Congress of bankers! bourgeoisie, incapable of liberating employed and unemployed work- For the Socialist United States from oppression by themselves. It ers from all over Venezuela, with of Central and South America! is necessary to tell them the truth: delegates of the unemployed The continental policy of the the great actors of the anti-imperial- committees, one each 100% of “Bolivarian bourgeoisie” has been, in ist struggle are the exploited fighting all the labor movement, to raise various forms, such as the UNASUR against all the capitalists in Venezuela a list of claims, of decent jobs for and regional blocs: keeping alive and Reformist leaderships want to pic- all, wage increases to conquer a well the imperialist plundering of the ture even the worker gains as gifts minimum wage, for a sliding scale oppressed nations of South America, of the capitalists, as if they were of wages according to the family Central America and the Caribbean. not a by-product of the heroism of shopping basket defined by the No to the ALBA plan of the trans- the masses and their phenomenal labor organizations! national corporations and the capi- struggles. To move forward in a new offen- talist restoration in Cuba! No to the That is the left of Obama and Wall sive by their conquests, the working ALBA plan of the Pact of Chavezism Street, where the Bolibourgeoisie class should coordinate those who with the murderous fascist regime of has deposited the reserves of oil in- struggle. It should be standing com- the US military bases in Colombia! come (in JP Morgan and Citibank). mittees and strike and claim pickets. Down with the MERCOSUR of We must put an end to the left of Let’s break with any subor- the transnationals and the NAFTA of Obama and their slander and lies dination to the Ministry of Labor the Andean countries and Mexico, against the masses. and raise a single list of demands which enslave our Nations to Today more than ever the battle comprising all the exploited! imperialism! cry is “the liberation of the work- For self-defence commit- A single Latin American ers will be the work of the own tees against the gangs of hitmen, Revolution will be that lead, de- workers!” El Caracazo lives, the so- scabs and strike-breakers paid by feating the bourgeois States, the cialist revolution in the Americas will the capitalists, and the repressive Socialist Revolution, which will be succeed when the masses have at national guard of the Government of Latin American and global, or it won’t their head the fighters of the Fourth the Bolibourgeoisie! be nothing! International. This is our historical Down with the breed of officers obligation: helping the masses to assassin of their own people and The Bolivarians have their pro- get rid of the treacherous leader- organizer of coups de etat! For gram: the unity with Obama, against ships that at each step disorganize committees of soldiers! Full organi- the US workers and the oppressed the masses’ struggle and submit the zation rights for rank and file soldiers! peoples of the world. The program masses to their enemies. For a minimum wage, according to of the socialist revolution in Latin The Venezuelan, Latin American International Workers' Organizer 27 and US working class, have debts to collect against Chavezism: 250,000 massacred in Colombia, 60,000 in Mexico, Cuba handed out to imperialism. The working class of the Latin American countries, looted one thousand and one times in order to get functioning that country of the maquilas and the MNCs, have a lot of debts to be repaid. With Obama, Chavez and the Castros’ friend, thousands of immigrants have been expelled from the USA. Their children have been born there, in USA. While the par- ents are expelled, the children have been sent to orphanages by their thousand dozens. Thus is the Argentina, 2001: “Everybody out, nobody left!” way Obama and imperialism treat the workers and the immigrants. That’s why our battle cry must be such as El Caracazo. the Venezuelan Trotskyism. That that of the Bolivian working class in We also have a support in the will not be attained on the base its revolution of 2003/2005: “Gringos combat of the Cuban working class, of the Stalinist and Menshevik go home! Let’s smash the MNCs! which has not been yet defeated and theory-program, but on the base Let’s treat them as they treat us! maintains up to now its anti-imperial- of the theory-program of the Let’s expropriate their banks and en- ist conscience. In spite to the pros- Permanent revolution and the terprises! So we will see if they go on tration imposed on it by the Castro Transitional Program for the so- attacking our children!” brothers, the class enemies will need cialist revolution. The US working class, living on still a lot of counterrevolutionary ac- Alan Woods, that sinister liquida- food subsidies of 3 dollars a day, with tivity to take the Cuban working tor of Trotskyism, handed as a gift millions of immigrants overexploited, class out of the scenes for a period. the Transitional Program to Chavez does not deserve the government Nothing is closed yet. All these con- so to dress the latter as socialist. of that “blackened Bush” –Obama. tradictions will find a denouement in The Transitional Program must be The latter treats the working class the combats of the proletariat of the recouped, because it it of the work- as Bush did to the Iraqi, Afghani, Americas and internationally. ing class, of the exploited against etc. working classes and all the op- The experience of the Venezuelan the exploiters. pressed peoples under the yoke of masses with the hijackers of their the murderous US imperialists. anti-imperialist struggle is ongoing. The working class does not have Justice will come in the hands The workers in Bolivia, who are al- the leadership it deserves. The strug- of the socialist revolution, and not ready confronting the government of gles of the exploited need a Leninist, thanks to that caricature of revolution Morales, and the left wing of the US pro-insurrection, combating party in that is the Bolivarian revolution and working class, that suffer the gov- Venezuela. For that it is ineludible to its generals, experts in fleeing, as ernment of Obama –he who heads set up an internationalist re-grouping Marx said about Simon Bolivar, and the counterrevolutionary offensives of the healthy forces of the interna- we should say about the Bolivarian of the finance capital in the planet- tional Trotskyist movement and the generals of today. are showing that the conditions are revolutionary worker organizations. As an expression of the breaking starting to mature for setting in place For a committee for the foundation to the left of the working class of the the Fourth International and the pro- anew of the Fourth International! Americas with the contention dikes gram of Trotskyism in order to get a Internationalist Trotskyism imposed on it by the WSF and the re- way to the masses. must stand up in Venezuela and formist left, thousands of workers do A wave of revolutionary fighting show the conditions for victory to not accept already and won’t in the in the Americas shook the world be- the heroic working class in that near future the expropriation of their tween 1996/2005 in the same fashion country! struggle in the hands of the treacher- that have recently done the masses ous leaderships and the native bour- in North Africa and Middle East. International Leninist geoisies. From Alaska to Tierra del Trotskyist Fraction Fuego, the exploited have their class The fight for founding anew brothers and sisters in Venezuela with the Fourth International for these Liga Comunista de Trabajadores one of the most advanced anti-impe- huge tasks that we have ahead, is rialist consciences in the Americas, a decisive question. That is essen- (Workers’ Communist League) conquered in anti-imperialist combats tial for advancing to found anew of Venezuela 28 International Workers' Organizer

PART III PERMANENT REVOLUTION VS. STAGED REVOLUTION Discussions with the pro-Bolivarian left

April 17th, 2013

Venezuela after Chavez’s death

“DEMOCRACY” VS. “FASCISM”?

OR WORKERS AND SOCIALIST REVOLUTION VS. HIGHER IMPERIALIST PLUNDER?

Comrades of El Topo Obrero

We are preparing a statement on Venezuela and the latest developments. Your position seems principled, but we believe that there is a characterization error about the fascist coup that you see in Capriles’ action, and of course this has programmatic consequences. To our knowledge, Chavez and Capriles you do not take into account the following considerations: perialism, payment of external debt, etc. Venezuela, as Trotsky said For the bourgeoisie and impe- about Spain, has hit the under- rialism, the death of Chavez water rocks of the global eco- 2 has been a very hard blow, as 1 we have already stated in our state- nomic crisis. All kinds of margin and The electoral result is noth- ments about it. This was the best all possibility of bourgeois national- ing more than the expression government to, with some legitima- ism flirting with the masses to nego- that Chavezism begins to be tiate their share of national income cy, attack the masses, as was al- 3 a squeezed lemon. It is a power- ready happening with devaluations, with imperialism is over. ful bourgeois faction in Venezuela, high cost of living, submission to im- which will defend its business, as International Workers' Organizer 29

Capriles would, against the masses. - is for that. in the streets, and Capriles, before Capriles is the bourgeois fraction Meanwhile, Maduro has taken the prairie burns down, get them out that has recognized the Bolivarian great care, beyond all bragging, that of the scene quickly, so that it is the Constitution, and its struggle to the masses do not intervene against middle class that protests only with achieve power is through it. This Capriles. They know they play with pots and cans. bourgeois fraction has found, un- fire. One more point in the opening The basis of the agreement they expectedly, in fact, with 50% of the of the gaps in inter-bourgeois clash- prepare, we think, is based on the votes. It fights for his position in es can mean a route for the entry of fact that Capriles will maintain a pol- business, after 14 years of not being the masses. icy of pressure and blackmail, but to able to manage them. get into the regime with backroom We are facing a huge political cri- agreements, or with the possibility sis at the heights, since every gov- of reaching the government in the The US position is that a legit- ernment that emerges will be a weak immediate future. There is some- imate government emerges. government to attack the masses. thing that unifies the two bourgeois For now, his policy is not to For that reason, the ideal elector- 5 factions, which is that they both fear push a Bonapartist coup like the one al result was the previous one: the that the masses struggle and take to in 2002, nor a fascist putsch. We one that gave a two-party regime of the streets. are facing a fight of two factions that the strong Bolivarian constitution of Maduro is the bourgeois nation- abide by the Bolivarian constitution, Capriles-Chavez, and with a strong alism that can no longer be. Capriles that fight hard for business, but that government to attack the masses, is the direct representative of the seek an agreement because they as was Chavez himself, who had imperialist banking, which does not know that if they appeal to the mass- won the elections with a margin of want to be left out of business in the es openly, they can break into the more than 9%. coming years, and has taken the political crisis at the height demol- banner of the Bolivarian revolution ishing all the institutions of power in to achieve it. We do not see impe- Venezuela. The masses want bread. rialism risking, by now, with a fascist Those above dispute business, and The current electoral re- attempted coup. sult is an expression of the for this the control of the state. It would be a suicidal policy, be- Chavezism crisis, but above all The socialist revolution is not 4 cause it would be about to provoke of the crisis of the revolutionary lead- a central factor in Venezuela for a big response from the masses, ership of the proletariat, since all the the bourgeoisie to play the last re- including a rupture of the Maduro left conceals that they were all lack- gime of this before the revolution, base with the Bolivarian bourgeoi- eys of Chavez, Castro, Stalinism, all which is fascism, and neither of sie, which would take to the streets, supported by the renegades of the the two fractions intends to car- we insist, despite and against the Trotskyism of the continent, and that ry, in this clash, serious conse- Chavist bourgeoisie. It would accel- they were stuck to a government that quences. The armed forces have erate the breakup of the masses with has launched a brutal attack on the already been defined by the as- Maduro. It would be the bourgeoisie working class and the people. On sumption of Maduro and by leaving using all its agents, when it needs their shoulders they support a frac- Capriles enormously strengthened them to attack the masses. It would tion of billionaires, such as the bo- so that, in the event that the govern- mean removing Capriles, the “dem- li-bourgeoisie, as agents of Obama ment burns or weakens, there will be ocratic opponent” of the Bolivarian as Capriles today, and who, like all a bourgeois replacement. Ultimately, constitution, and putting him as a bourgeois governments, continue to the true owner of the Bolivarian rev- fascist agent. That is an error of ap- centralize the bourgeoisie’s attack olution that is that murderous officer preciation. against the masses. caste of the Venezuelan army, who This is very important. In Bolivia, As we will see later, in Venezuela yesterday massacred the Caracazo, for example, there was a fascist upris- today we are not in the face of put Chavez in jail and when the ing by the Media Luna in 2006/2007, a Bonapartist coup as in 2002 masses defeated the coup attempt which had the big oil companies be- against Chavez, since today most in 2002, they called him again to hind and the Santa Cruz oligarchy, of the armed forces have opted power to share with them all the which was supported by methods for the assumption of Maduro. business of the Chavezite bourgeoisie. Moreover, Cabello, the head of civil war, supported by the middle Capriles is not organizing a fas- of the Venezuelan armed forces is classes, against the proletariat. The cist coup, because that would be one of the biggest millionaires in popular front had thrown buckets of suicidal for the entire bourgeoisie. It Venezuela. The caste of officers of water on the fire of the revolution would light the flame of revolution. the armed forces stands as an ar- and lulled the masses. Fascism rose He has sought and will seek, for now, bitrator in this dispute... within the at a time when Morales’ Constituent to take over the government, legiti- Bolivarian constitution. Assembly was functioning. The mized by the Bolivarian Constitution. agreement imposed by the OAS was We have already seen Maduro His pressure struggle in the streets that the constituent did not vote for opposing all action of the masses today - which he has quickly decided the expropriation of any land great- 30 International Workers' Organizer er than 5000 hectares (the oligarchy investment in the nationalized indus- their bankers of Venezuela and does not have any property higher try”. “Either Capriles, the bourgeois throughout Latin America! Out than 5000 hectares in Bolivia). The reaction, or me, with the little bird in the ALBA that gives Cuba to the OAS and the US imposed a pact the head talking to Chavez.” With im- “gusanos” of Miami! The attack on the constituent between the two perialism playing a very careful role is suffered by the masses. Workers bourgeois factions, which today co- only in propaganda for the counting pay the crisis with devaluation, infla- exist in peace, attacking the masses of votes, the officer caste has decid- tion and high cost of living. together and supporting the popular ed that they still have to get a lot of We must stop the attack of the front government of Morales, sup- juice from the lemon squeezed out capitalists and the Chavez gov- ported by the policy of class collabo- of chavismo, attacking the masses. ernment, today under the leader- ration of the leadership of the COB. When there is a struggle of bour- ship of Maduro, who for some time geois fields, for Marxists it is a very has been imposing a “red packet” serious mistake to be in one of them of hunger and misery against the in the political field. We mustn’t place masses! Capriles is preparing to do In Venezuela we see that what ourselves in a front with Chavezism it in a government of national uni- is at issue is to achieve some against Capriles, since the proletari- ty with Maduro, with a pact behind kind of agreement that guaran- 6 at must raise, as a flag, first anti-im- the scenes with him and the armed tees to imperialism that the Maduro perialist demands to unmask that the forces, or working as an alternative government will openly attack the two bourgeois factions are lackeys when the lemon juice squeezed out masses, imposing new devalua- of Obama and the transnationals. of chavezism runs out. tions, and giving imperialism the money that has to give them. But, to But, in any case, in Venezuela We must stop the attack of the do so, it must remain as legitimate we are not facing a struggle of bour- capitalists! We must end with in- as possible. Therefore, they asked geois fields in the military field. We flation, the high cost of living and him to count the votes. The fraction are not facing a Bonapartist coup, unemployment! To achieve this, of Maduro does not accept, and pro- which would lead us to defend dem- we must conquer the mobile scale poses another type of agreement: ocratic liberties against a weakest of wages and hours of work. We municipal elections, and as part Bonapartist regime. must expropriate imperialism, its of them, the recall referendum in 2 We are facing an inter-bourgeois bankers, the capitalist bourgeoi- years. dispute. We are facing two factions sie and bourgeois millionaire of Venezuela, which is the Chavist We are facing a negotiation that come from elections and do not bourgeoisie! All of them are allied of two bourgeois fractions on the recognize their triumphs within the to imperialism in their business. That ledge. The two, Bolivarian, and the Bolivarian constitution itself, and with is why we must impose workers’ two Obama agents. a government, such as the Chavist one, which has been promoting a control in all branches of industry brutal attack on the masses, while and expropriate bankers without Capriles, benefited by an excellent payment and ignore any illegiti- The working class is the one election, demands entering now in mate debt to imperialism. who pays and will pay for the business. 7 economic crisis and the busi- Of course, for imperialism the ness of all the bourgeois factions best government it would need The deception of “Socialism of and imperialism in Venezuela. The would be Capriles’, because of the the 21st century” reaches the Bolivarian regime is now a bas- social base he manipulates and con- end, and unmasks itself, with tardized reissue of the Punto Fijo trols. But one thing is to want and 8 the masses paying the crisis; rare Regime, and its governments will another thing is to be able to do “socialism” with which only the bour- be nothing more than repetitions of it. If he goes a millimeter beyond geoisie and imperialism have ben- Andres Perez and other lackeys of the relationship of forces the gi- efited; and Capriles, who was not imperialism. The working class will ant who rose in the Caracazo and born from a cabbage but from the thus pay for the betrayal of their in 2002 when they tried to give a unrestricted respect for private prop- leaders, who at international level military coup can awaken. erty by Chavezism. The “revolution supported Chavez and bourgeois The Marxists, then, have to fight in peace and democracy” only left nationalism. Today, he rises as a in the first place for the proletariat to fat pockets to the entire bourgeoi- direct agent of imperialism and at- take out all the anti-imperialist bab- sie -Chavist and non-chavista-, the tacks the masses, to which he says: ble and its chatter to the Chavist bankers and imperialism, and with “Capriles, the “fascist “, or support bourgeoisie, which comes from call- hunger, misery, unemployment and me, I will impose, with the socialism ing for Obama to vote in the US, high cost of living to the exploited. of the 21st century, a new devalua- from handing over the Colombian The verse of the “Bolivarian revolution of 80%, I will reduce all the ex- resistance and Cuba to imperialism. tion” and the criminal lie of “social- penses of the state in services, and ism by peaceful means” is finished. I will rigorously pay the external debt Out the OAS and Obama, the Because what will come, if the pro- to the Yankees, so forget about any UNASUR, the transnationals and letariat does not intervene, will be International Workers' Organizer 31 the bonapartisation of Maduro’s government and its armor against the masses, hugs - like the one of Chavez and Uribe yesterday - today between Capriles and Maduro after fireworks, or, if the working class does not react in time, in the future fascist or putschist attempts. The “verbal attacks” of Maduro to the bourgeoisie are lies to deceive the workers and the people, when in reality they are two bourgeois fac- Castro, Morales and Maduro tions that today are confronted by business and to achieve legitimacy to attack the masses. Bolivarian institutions to continue attack- ernment emerges, but its strength super-millionaires have nothing ing the masses, as we saw. In comes from the bayonets on which to envy, in their fortunes and ex- the first place, Maduro must end it will lean to attack the masses, al- ploitation of the working class, up disorganizing and demoraliz- ways having a strengthened Capriles the oligarchs of Capriles. ing the masses, if he decides to at their side, in case this plan fails. stay and does not decide to agree Meanwhile, the officer caste That is why the policy of the re- with Capriles today. It must, like a of the armed forces today holds formist left, which defends Maduro squeezed lemon, apply the worst Maduro provisionally, and insists that against Capriles, is totally cynical, of attacks against them. If you Capriles remain strong, very strong, as if Maduro did not come to apply do not decide to count the votes, but in opposition. This was negotiat- an attack against the masses equal more squeezed lemon should be. ed after five hours of scrutiny with a or superior to that of Capriles. late result. For that reason, the pressure of DOES ANYBODY BELIEVE Capriles is “in extremis”. Maduro This caste of bourgeois of- THAT THE AIRCRAFT OF THE must guarantee to hand out Cuba, ficers, reactionary to the core and ARMED FORCES THAT CAME OUT bound hand and foot to the Yankees coup-participant of 2002, the biggest TODAY ARE TO BOMB CAPRILES’ and the “gusanos” in Miami. It will beneficiary of the business of the BUNKER, OR TO BOMB EVERY have to export the “attack to the “boli-bourgeoisie” after the coup, is GOVERNMENT THAT WANTS TO Venezuelan” and sustain it, as a the one that will also bless, without IMPOSE A FAIR INCREASE AND faithful lackey of imperialism, in the any doubt, in a public pact or be- A DEVALUATION TO STEAL THE entire American continent, together hind the scenes -under the mantle SALARY IN VENEZUELA? COME with the Kirchners, the Lulas, the of the UNASUR?- the Bolivarian re- ON! THE AIRCRAFT OVERFLYING Dilmas, the Piñeras and the other gime between Maduro attacking the CARACAS IS TO IMPOSE THAT THE scourge of the native bourgeoisies. masses and Capriles preparing itself MASSES ARE AT THEIR HOMES. IT as an alternative of power. But this must be covered with the IS TO ENSURE THAT THE DESPAIR greatest possible legitimacy. If it is OF AGGRESSIVE FRACTIONS The entire imperialist press an- not with the masses in the streets, or OF BUSINESS DOES NOT IGNITE nounces this provisional agreement. with a vote count. Who will give that THE FIRE AND PASS OUT OF THE Capriles knows he cannot play with legitimacy and authority for Maduro BALANCE OF FORCES. AND IT IS A fire, which is not the time for a fas- to assume this Friday? The officer WARNING TO THE MASSES THAT cist attempt. Fascism, we insist, is caste and the armed forces, which THE GOVERNMENT OF MADURO the last resort of the bourgeoisie, af- have already dictated that Maduro WILL HAVE THE WHIP TO APPLY ter the popular front wasted all the won. Meanwhile, all bourgeois fac- THE WORST OF THE ATTACKS forces of the masses and their fight- tions make Capriles fully strengthen. AGAINST THEM. ing energies. That was the Bolivian That is a triumph of the entire bour- scenario, as we said. But even Maduro said: “I have the peo- geois regime as a whole, regard- then, we could see in Bolivia that ple (at their homes) and the armed less of whether the electoral result this fascist attempt was a pressure forces, therefore I proclaim myself”. shows who the boss in business in in extremis, since if it went one step “I have the cannons to shoot at the Venezuela is, and that leads to a po- further from the four provinces of the working class’ head if you try to rise litical crisis at the height. Media Luna, and tried to reach the against the attack that I’m about to Altiplano, it could meet with a revo- There is no vote count. The fulfill”. lutionary rebellion of the proletariat problem is resolved in the upcom- If the workers dare to take crushing it, which surely dislocated ing municipal elections, including a PDVSA, Sidor, with the anti-strike also the government of the popular recall referendum. This is posed by law they will have the “national, pop- front, the armed forces... and the Maduro, supported by the bourgeois ular and democratic” armed forces Bolivarian bourgeoisie. officers of the armed forces. with the tanks in the companies, at- Imperialism today has other A relatively weak electoral gov- tacking the workers. 32 International Workers' Organizer

Maduro says “I share out the If we take a look at the posi- are an idler”, “they come to speak business, because I’m going to tions of the entire left of the against the bourgeoisie, the rich- crush the masses if they rise”. That 9 World Social Forum today est man in Venezuela is Ramírez is the legitimacy that Maduro has to and its servants, the renegades of (president of PDVSA), the friend of proclaim himself today. And it’s not Trotskyism, they seem trapeze art- Chavez and Maduro, one of the big- precisely the difference of a vote. ists doing pirouettes in the air in a gest well-connected in this country. “ The bourgeoisie knows very well great circus. For years, they called Let’s talk clearly. The reformist that it is about what regime and gov- for 10 million votes for Chavez, leftists spent years embellish- ernment rules to attack the masses. as Chirino did with the UNT years ing the Chavez bourgeoisie and By now, and only by now, it is the ago. They were observers of all the held the largest millionaires in government of Maduro. Latin American left to those elec- Venezuela. Why is the hungry So, why is imperialism going to tions. They went to receive prizes working class of Venezuela that take the risk to a fascist attempted to Havana. They demanded, as the breaks with Chavismo today go- coup now, if the workers’ and the LIT did for years, that Chavez make ing to go with them? they are a masses revolution are not on the socialism, creating illusions in the worn, almost illegible photocopy of scene? If Maduro is going to apply masses that he could do it. Chavism. the same plan of attack against the After years, any sensible politi- That is the Venezuelan tragedy: masses that Capriles. Why are you cian could observe that Chavezism the subjection of the working class to going to launch a fascist attack or quickly changed sides, after stran- its executioners, to the expropriators a military coup? That’s science fic- gulating the revolutionary processes of its revolution, as Chavez did with tion, it’s pure image, it’s giving in to and, agreeing as a direct agent of the heroic combats of the masses bourgeois charlatans. The Bolivarian imperialism, began an attack on the of the Caracazo. Likewise, because bourgeoisie has hours and hours of masses on his behalf. of the treachery of the proletariat’s cheap palaver. The world is full of The reformist left tried to juggle. leadership, layers of workers, disillu- leftists who never get tired of buy- They did a triple somersault on the sioned with Chavezism, today went ing it and selling it as poison to the trapeze. They were balancing on to vote for Capriles, who consider masses. the tightrope... and they called to him as the only one who faces him. At that point, you have a serious pompously make a left front for the Then they will speak of the “low level confusion, which even no longer elections in Venezuela and obtained of consciousness of the masses”, of correspond with the facts. In every 3,000 votes with Chirino. their “crisis of subjectivity”. bourgeois reactionary action there Can these people explain not only are dead and not for that reason why they got 3,000 votes, but why it there is fascist attempted coup. was Capriles who won hundreds of Let’s tell the truth. Capriles We must openly fight the counter- thousands of workers votes, mak- increased its electoral revolutionary bourgeois reaction of ing the situation in Venezuela even support because the re- Capriles, but first of all, if we want to more reactionary? This is the lead- 10 formist left supported Chavezism in mobilize the masses, we must fight ership crisis. against the cowardice and cynicism Venezuela and internationally, openly Before Chavezism ends up be- of Maduro’s bourgeois faction, which becoming an anti-worker government ing a lemon squeezed out of impe- has not called the masses to do any for years. Strips of workers who broke rialism to punish the masses, all the type of action against the supposed up with him, went to vote for Capriles, renegades of Trotskyism are already “fascism” or “coup”, as characterized who appeared as the “Bolivarian” squeezed lemons, very squeezed. by Maduro. If the working class does who faced him. This is the question Why were the workers who broke not break with Maduro and over- that no Chavezist can answer. with Chavezism today going to join comes the limits of the “Bolivarian That “rich kid” of the Venezuelan those who gathered 10 million votes revolution”, it will never be able oligarchy, who is Capriles, today for Chavez and those who said that to crush Capriles. The fact is that could channel the vote of sectors of the peaceful way to socialism could Maduro has the workers locked up in the ruined middle classes, and even be made? their homes and the workers’ move- of the labor aristocracy and desper- ment under their discipline. How did Capriles attract these ate layers of the exploited masses, votes? Here the trapeze artist be- Both fractions are using the as we said, because the reformist comes a magician and hides in a masses to discuss their businesses. left was subordinated to Chavez. dark box. And the act continues, but But the limit is to sustain the regime This was no more than a worn and the masses pay for it. and conquer the strongest govern- liliputian photocopy of chavism, it ment possible to attack the working Capriles, in a cynical and dem- was ridiculous. That’s why they got class and the exploited. agogic way, said what the reform- 3,000 votes. Because Chirino and ist left is silent about, and so this those who speak of a “left front” in counterrevolutionary oligarch Venezuela are the ones who called could deceive the masses: “You to gather 10 million votes to Chavez. have never worked, Maduro, you They took all the workers’ strug- International Workers' Organizer 33 gles to put pressure on the Chavist Labor Ministry to pass judgment on the workers. Not a single award in favor of the workers was taken by the Chavezists in that Ministry of Labor of the capitalists. They kept, for years, talking about the “anti-imperialist character” of the Chavez government. They never faced Chavez’s surrender to imperialism with the Venezuelan external debt, and concealed that he shared the oil rent with the big The starving people looking for food in the supermarkets imperialist banks. They never told the ruined middle classes that the working class, today envies Obama for the FTA he must be expropriated and broken taking the banks and expropriating has conquered under the banner of with, we must ignore the ALBA, FTA them without payment, was the only UNASUR. and MERCOSUR. We have to ex- one who could give the cheap credit In this the CSR and the FLTI are propriate the bourgeoisie. This task and the tractor to the small peasant totally in agreement, and we will is not going to be done by Maduro, and bankrupt merchant. surely give this fight in common. who is already negotiating and has agreed with Capriles, when together Stalinists and renegades of This is the truth. The lackeys of they called to vote for Obama and to Trotskyism were silent that the real the World Social Forum accused the respect the property and the imperi- help given by Chavez was neither heroic revolutionary masses of Libya alist bankers in Venezuela, as estab- to Cuba nor to Argentina, as has and Syria of being “agents of NATO”. lished by the Bolivarian Constitution. Maduro, the scoundrel, who put all For this reason, they supported the the dollars of the external debt to Chavez government of men like As you rightly suggest, we have imperialism in hard cash, that even Rafael Ramírez in Venezuela (the to fight for true socialism, which is Andres Perez could not pay. president of PDVSA and the richest the one that expropriates the capitalists. We believe that against There are still opportunist currents man in that country). That is why they Capriles and Maduro we have to set that want to sell “Venezuelan social- were with Khadafy in Libya and with up a program for the working class ism” with millions of hungry people in Assad in Syria, that is, the greatest su- to break free, opening the way to set that country, with 27% inflation... per-millionaires of the Arab Maghreb and the Middle East, no less lackeys up revolutionary mass organizations If there was fresh money in of imperialism and Zionism than all to take power. cheap oil for Cuba it is for it to the Arab bourgeoisies. We, revolutionaries, must af- work; for the transnationals to firm that THE MAJORITY OF take the island; so that the luxu- After they demoralized the mass- VENEZUELA IS THE WORKING ry hotels of the transnationals do es and attacked them violently, do- CLASS, WITH ITS HUGE not lack light and the nickel coming the “dirty work”, as Maduro is do- INDUSTRIAL ARMY OF RESERVE panies can operate, where the ing in Venezuela today, imperialism OF UNEMPLOYED, WHICH MUST children of Castroism, become a will surely come to keep everything. BE PLACED TO PRODUCE WITH A new bourgeoisie, are associated That’s exactly what imperialism is NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS PLAN, with the French transnationals. about, to keep everything, using all its agents. EXPROPRATING THE BANKERS With Argentina there were com- AND NOT RECOGNIZING THE The native bourgeoisies? The mon business in the agroindustry, ILLEGITIMATE EXTERNAL DEBT. in shipyards, where the Bolivarian “progressive” generals? They have The real majority is not the repre- bourgeoisie of the Kirchners and the quickly allied with imperialism, be- sentative governments of this scam Chávezs made fabulous business. cause they are terrified of the mobilized masses, because they will that is the “Bolivarian revolution”. That obfuscates Capriles, the It is not the Bolivarian bourgeoi- “rich child”, because they want those attack the property not only of imperialism but also of theirs. sie, neither Maduro’s nor Capriles’, business. That’s why they fight. managers of the board of directors The reformist leaders want to commanded by Obama. The real make the world proletariat believe majority are the workers and the that the second Latin American in- In Venezuela, besides people who are the ones who pro- dependence was conquered with fighting for the expulsion of duce wealth and suffer from hunger Chavism. What there is in Venezuela imperialism, undoubtedly in this country. We must regroup the and Latin America are governments 11 all Marxist policies must openly call majority of Venezuela, put them on of the native bourgeoisies, so lack- for the crisis to be paid by the cap- their feet, conquer a BIG NATIONAL ey of imperialism, that “Mister Bush” italists, for the fact that imperialism CONGRESS OF EMPLOYED AND 34 International Workers' Organizer

UNEMPLOYED WORKERS, WITH without we snatch them from our Maduro denounces GRASSROOT DELEGATES, OF struggle. Capriles (a total lackey PEOPLE, OF POOR PEASANTS, We must occupy all the facto- 12 of imperialism, we affirm) OF SUPPORT COMMITTEES. ries, oil companies and banks of who wants to make a “new Libya THAT IS THE MAJORITY OF Venezuela! That is the way to im- and Syria” against him... Maduro VENEZUELA. pose workers control. wants to be like Khadafy and Assad, big shareholders of the imperialist Capriles threatens with reac- Workers have already fallen for transnationals, as they were and tionary actions on the streets, and the disputes of these bourgeois fac- they are, of the Hewlett Packard, the Maduro calls for a government that tions. We cannot put blood in the British Petroleum, the Olivetti and will attack the masses. Sectors of service of the bourgeois factions the Italian ENI. That is the prize that Chavezism threaten with “workers that dispute business. Let’s fight for the Bolivarians have and will have control”, if the bourgeois action con- self-defense committees and work- for attacking the masses. tinues to advance. Maduro threatens ers’ militia! The “Bolivarian” armed to “radicalize” his position against the forces sooner or later will agree Capriles, like the sheikhs of Saudi bourgeoisie. Why does not he do it? with Obama and Capriles to attack Arabia, has nothing to envy in his They know that if they mobilize the the people. All capitalists attack the fortune and in his society with impe- masses, they will also revolt in the workers and the people with their rialism to the Khadafy of yesterday companies of Maduro, Capriles and plans of hunger and misery. and assassins of Assad like today. the entire Bolivarian bourgeoisie. All Yesterday Chavez was embrac- In this attack against the masses, of them will attack the masses if they ing the fascist Uribe to hand over to no doubt, the Maduro government revolt, as yesterday in the Caracazo. the Colombian resistance, and will have the support of Capriles, The caste of counterrevolution- Obama to hand over the socialist Obama and the Bolivarian armed ary officers of the Venezuelan armed Cuba to imperialism and the worms forces. forces are those that were killed yes- of Miami. Today they will not hesitate The task of setting up a revolu- terday in the Caracazo, and that will to embrace all together to drown the tionary party in Venezuela and of repress the people when the latter people in blood, to impose the ad- freeing the revolutionary masses revolts, with laws and decrees ema- justment plans, inflation, unemploy- from imperialism is a task of the nating from the Bolivarian parliament. ment, which all the bourgeois frac- entire international socialist revolu- We have to face the reaction and tions allied to imperialism against tionary movement. All the treacher- Capriles! We have to expropriate the working class must apply. ous world left has put Chavezism on the bourgeoisie, imperialism and The soldiers and the reservists their shoulders to strangle the social- bankers! We must stop the attack of must elect delegates and put their ist revolution in the American con- devaluation and scarcity of the life arms and rifles at the service of the tinent. It is an international task to of Maduro and the bourgeois fac- majority of Venezuela, those who defeat the treacherous leaderships tions that are in power, supported do not get to eat ten days a month, that sustain Obama, which lead the by the bayonets of the armed forc- those who can no longer travel by masses to defeats and the dead end es, against the working class! We public transport, those who are con- of the “peaceful way to socialism” must stop new counterrevolutionary sumed by the high cost of living in like today in Venezuela, in Greece attacks against the people! a country where the oil rent would with Syriza, and yesterday in Chile The working class cannot remain reach and exceed to buy cheap food with a blood bath, and that promise tied to any bourgeois fraction, be- and guarantee health and education. “democratic revolutions in peace,” as proclaimed in the Arab Maghreb and cause they are all its executioners. WE MUST BE OBTAINED 10 the Middle East, while today what is They fight for their business, not for MILLION VOTES OF WORKERS, coming is the counterrevolution that our salary, or for our work. They fight OCCUPIED AND UNEMPLOYED, massacres, in one of the greatest to see who commands the attack to FROM PRICE CONTROL genocides in history, the masses in snatch our conquests. Quickly they COMMITTEES AND FACTORY Syria, with very hard counterrevolu- will agree, and all together will face COMMITTEES, FROM SECTORS tionary attacks in Egypt and Tunisia, our struggles. OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES the expropriation of the revolution in Enough is enough! Let the crisis RUINED FROM THE FIELD AND Libya and the French imperialist in- be paid by the capitalists ... all the THE CITY, REPRESENTED vasion in Mali. capitalists! We must expropriate im- BY DELEGATES OF ALL THE perialism and the bourgeoisie ... the MASSES IN FIGHT. THESE ARE The fourth internationalists must entire bourgeoisie! THE MAJORITY. IT IS THE ONLY unmask that cynical role played by POWER THAT DESERVES TO the Bolivarians who try to appear STAND IN VENEZUELA. as anti-imperialists. They pretend We must conquer decent work for to be brave in front of imperialism, THE LIBERATION OF THE all, with a salary that covers the fami- with their finger up, saying “May WORKERS WILL BE THE TASK OF ly basket! Neither the bourgeoisie of Venezuela be respected”, when they THE WORKERS THEMSELVES. Capriles nor Maduro will be willing to only talk about respecting their busi- give us the slightest of concessions ness, because they know how to re- International Workers' Organizer 35 spect imperialism, its business and its interests very well. And they are cared for and respected, taking care of their banks and respecting the external debt, that is, robbing the oppressed nation. They respect imperialism so much, that they gave Cuba to the worms of Miami, and they support the government of Uribe-Santos, employees of the 5 largest imperialist bases of the American continent in Colombia. The words are over. Decisive clashes between classes approach. A counterrevolutionary offensive of imperialism has begun at the international level, to divert and crush the proletarian revolution and make the masses take its entire crisis. These Uribe and Chavez hug resist. Here and there treacherous leaderships siege their battles, betray their struggles. agree, after the oath as president of and to be disarmed before the coup Maduro, to divide the business and and the brutal attack that Maduro Imperialism seeks to stabilize continue handing over Venezuela prepares, sustained by Capriles and a Bolivarian bourgeois govern- to imperialism, through the bankers the murderous officer caste of the ment, which applies the plan of and all the bourgeois factions asso- Venezuelan army. imperialism in the region, stabiliz- ciated with him. ing Central America, handing over We do not march with the planes Cuba and guaranteeing UNASUR The power of the majority of that fly over Caracas, nor with the hel- as the new NAFTA and attacking Venezuela must be upheld: the op- icopter gunships of the Venezuelan the Venezuelan masses. This is a pressed, the unemployed, the starv- armed forces. They do not come to task that Chavezism has already ing. We must demand that the UNT attack Capriles. They come to de- assumed as its own. Meanwhile, and the trade unions break with fend it, like the whole Venezuelan a strengthened Capriles awaits the bourgeoisie and the Chavez la- bourgeoisie, against the irruption of his opportunity to manage these bor ministries. We must coordinate the working class against hunger businesses. those who fight. We have to arm the and misery as in the Caracazo. workers and the people. So we will Capriles’ is the best government face the attack of Maduro today and to implement the plans of imperial- the counterrevolutionary attempts of ism, due to the reactionary forces Capriles and the armed forces. The bourgeoisie, in its he controls. That would be ideal for clash for business that has Unquestionably, if the masses the Yankees, as long as Maduro opened a huge political is the one who defeats and crush- enter the battle for wages, work, 13 crisis, has been located on a ledge. dignity and against hunger, Capriles es the masses. That is the truth Chavez is no longer there. There is and Maduro will be in the same class of Venezuela today. That is why no legitimate government. There is barricade firing against the masses. the reactionary officer caste of the no government with legitimacy to After all, they are two soldiers of “Bolivarian” army has said “first distribute business. The conscience Obama, one of infantry and another Maduro, then Capriles”. and anti-imperialist sentiment of the of artillery, but of the same army. That is why we, the revolution- Venezuelan masses is intact. Their ary socialists, say: Dissolution of hunger and their misery that push the officer caste! Council of soldiers! The revolutionary socialists them to fight are already here. Out with imperialism and the OAS, would not hesitate a minute, before A process of rupture with UNASUR and the counterrevolu- any fascist, Bonapartist or attempt- Chavezism has begun. We cannot tionary pact of the Chavists with the ed coup, which would not come only leave it in the hands of the oligarchic fascist government of Santos, rep- to get Maduro out but to crush the and reactionary Capriles, who brings resentative of the Yankee bases in masses in a counterrevolutionary only demagogy and palaver to dis- Latin America! way, to lead the fight for the military pute the power and business of the Neither Maduro, who takes pow- defeat of that counterrevolutionary Chavist bourgeoisie. Much less can er, nor Capriles, who will support coup. But, nothing more distant for the working class remain subject to him to attack the masses! All will the masses than to arm themselves Maduro, who is the one who comes today against a nonexistent coup, 36 International Workers' Organizer

to apply all the attacks of imperialism the 21st century”. Capriles emerges bring order to the disorder of the today. from the bowels of that regime and famine and the bourgeois plunder Calling up the power organiza- that same bourgeoisie, coward and and imperialism in Venezuela. tions of the working class and the despicable with imperialism, but We insist, in each factory and exploited, to take into their hands brave to repress the masses. establishment, the power of the ex- the struggle for socialism, which is to The Bolivarian bourgeoisie dis- ploited must be upheld. A company expropriate the bourgeoisie, break putes its business at the edge of committee must be set up in each with imperialism and unite with the the cornice. The underwater rocks factory and establishment. A nation- Latin American and world working of the global economic crisis have al congress of the UNT, with one class, is a task that has been left in hit the hull of the Bolivarian vessel. base delegate per 100 workers from the hands of the only revolutionary The exploited classes of Venezuela, all over Venezuela. It is necessary class of society, which is the work- which are crammed in the lower to put in standing in each neighbor- ing class and its brothers from the staterooms of the ship, are already hood of the exploited a committee of impoverished people of the city and covered up to the head by hunger, unemployed to demand decent work the countryside, and of the entire inflation and the high cost of living. for all; supply boards and price con- American continent. Neither Maduro nor Capriles will trol in each neighborhood. A commit- The allies of the Venezuelan save the masses. They will make tee of soldiers in each barracks. working class are not in the “pro- them pay the whole crisis. The power of the exploited must gressive generals” murderers of the The World Social Forum was be upheld. They fight for business; Caracazo, nor in the “anti-imperi- held in Tunis, weeks ago. There, a our fight is for bread. The imperialist alist” bourgeoisie of Maduro. Their tribute was paid to Chavez. Those bankers must be expropriated with- allies are the workers and peasants who hold the assassin Assad mas- out payment. For that, we have to of the continent, who fight against sacred the masses of Syria, on be- break with the bourgeoisie. Neither the Bolivarian governments as they half of imperialism, came together. Maduro, nor Capriles. We must up- do against the governments of the Those who went to support the bour- hold and centralize the power of the NAFTA. geois government of Tunisia, so that exploited. Its allies are the working class the masses do not do justice with Yes, it is time for the hungry of the of the United States and the Cuban their pickets and organizations fight- Caracazo to put order in Venezuela. working class, which today sees losing against the fascist Salafist bands The Bolivarian revolution imposed ing its revolutionary conquests with that attack the workers’ organiza- the order of the exploiters to guaran- 500,000 dismissed on the island. tions at large. tee their profits and continue submit- His allies were neither Khadafy nor They came together in Tunisia ting the people with crumbs and alms. the assassin Assad, who massacred to support the murderous gener- The struggle for socialism is the the masses of North Africa and the als of the Egyptian army, who are struggle for a socialist Venezuela, Middle East on behalf of imperialism already massacring more workers without generals or capitalists. and supported the counterrevolu- and peasants in that country than tionary forces of Zionism, supported Mubarak massacred. There they by Maduro’s friends, the greatest came together to proclaim, after sav- assassins and security guards of ing the bourgeoisie and imperialism The Bolivarian constitu- transnational corporations in China, of a worldwide revolutionary rise of tion is a scam, which gives the Communist Party of Chinese masses, to tell the latter to distribute 15 freedom to Capriles and mandarins. the wealth, and to make the masses Obama, to bankers and plunderers believe that he will do it. of Venezuela, and capitalist parasites to amass fortunes by exploiting Do not give in to the siren songs. the working class, administering the Maduro does not come to “distrib- Imperialism knows what state and taxes of the people, while ute the wealth” of the super-rich it is about. Yesterday it guaranteeing all payers of the exter- Bolivarian bourgeoisie. It comes to saw Chavez surrender in nal debt to the Yankees. 14 take out the last juice of blood to the the military coup before the bishop The Bolivarian constitution has of Caracas, like a coward, while the Venezuelan working class. not given the working class the free- masses took to the streets against Let’s talk clearly. The way to dom or the right to have a decent the coup, restoring Chavez in power. defeat and crush Capriles is to re- wage, a decent job, or to educate This is how the Bolivarian bourgeoi- organize the ranks of the working and live with dignity. The exploit- sie paid the masses: with greater class, to break the discipline with ers will not surrender their proper- devotion to imperialism and greater Maduro and defend himself against ty, their wealth and the larceny of misery. his harsh attacks. the Venezuelan nation by “peaceful The coup leaders are on the It is time for the working class means” and winning elections. street, released and amnestied by to weigh decisively in national po- There is the result: the most reac- Chavez. The bourgeoisie enjoys litical life, and to do it again, as it tionary forces of Venezuela emerg- very good health in the “socialism of did yesterday in the Caracazo, to ing from the bowels of Chavezism, International Workers' Organizer 37 with that oligarch of Capriles, and the murderous officers of the Caracazo. The world reformist left must stop lying. The true Bolivarian homeland is the murderous officers, coup plotters and oligarchs like Capriles, associated with the new Chavist millionaire bourgeoisie. We have to break with them. Thus the working class will avoid new de- valuatory attacks to the salary and more misery, creating independent organizations of its power, to face all Syria bombed by Al Assad and Putin counterrevolutionary attempt of the bourgeoisie and the imperialism to impose its hunger plans. great struggle against the exploiters, the Bolivarian revolution has fall- all the exploited of the continent. en. Defending this government of We, the Trotskyists of the Fourth Maduro are the airplanes of the International, can talk. Because we Against UNASUR, MERCOSUR, armed forces of the massacre of the tirelessly raise the Marxist apothegm ALBA, we fight for the Socialist Caracazo and coup of 2002. What of the one who gives even the fin- United States of North, Central and military coup or fascist putsch are gernail of a little finger to a bourgeois South America. they talking about, when everyone’s government refuses to fight later for policy is “beware that the masses its overthrow. And he will cry be- break in”? The official caste has cause then a Bonapartist or fascist In this Venezuelan politi- emerged as the true arbiter of the coup will overthrow him. cal crisis there is already bourgeois fractions that are fighting The Latin American and world the verdict of the discus- for business in Venezuela. left has given it more than the finger- 16 sion on the issue of Chavezism The Bolivarian regime has shown nail. It has given its soul and body to that has been debated hard within its true Bonapartist face, taking Chavez and the WSF to strangle the the world working class. The politi- Chavez’s corpse to the barracks, socialist revolution in Venezuela and cal crisis of bourgeois rule today in saying that the armed forces are the internationally. Venezuela has been uncovered by guarantors of everyone’s business. Stalinism, the renegades of the situation of enormous volatility That is what the bourgeois state is Trotskyism and the forces grouped and weakness of the regime of dom- about: a band of armed men who under the banner of the World Social ination before the death of Chavez. defend the owners of the means of Forum have proclaimed that “a new It has already become clear that the production. Cuba that expropriates the bour- great guarantor of bourgeois and The Bolivarians have already geoisie is no longer possible in Latin imperialist stability in Venezuela imposed anti-strike laws. According America.” That of Chavez, Maduro... was given by his government. It to them, it is a terrorist who strikes with Capriles and the bankers. Here has been demonstrated that the a state company. They are going it has become clear that this is the best government that imperialism to be the armed forces of Cabello, “socialism of the 21st century”, a possessed to implement the attack, which did not touch Capriles or the new verse of “the peaceful way to which is already under way, against gorilla bourgeoisie, which will attack socialism” that in the ‘70s in Chile the Venezuelan working class, was without hesitation and militarize the ended with a bloodbath. that of Chavez, with 57% of the workers’ strikes. The Trotskyists and the Fourth votes, which emerged as a strong The Fourth International needs to International fought in the trenches and legitimate government for at- stand up. It will be the only possibility against Obama and the Bolivarian tacking the masses, while Capriles that a program of the working class, bourgeoisies that defend the prop- remained as a strong bourgeois op- for its liberation, will be in the battles erty of the capitalists, the regional position forward, as an alternative. of the world proletariat. markets of the transnationals and The two-party system has en- the plundering of all the oppressed tered into crisis and forced the The proletariat will conquer the peoples of the continent. armed forces to define the transition. best conditions then to face fascism, which will be nourished by the impe- With the Fourth International, It is Maduro who attacks the mass- rialist bourgeois forces that support which we must refound, we fight to es, and Capriles, with his enormous the Bolivarian constitution, which will set up a “sensitive nerve” from Alaska power and legitimacy, is preparing emerge in the near future, if today it to Tierra del Fuego, which when to take the post or to set up a gov- is able to put its power organisms on touched on any of its points, can vi- ernment of national unity when the its feet to face the attack of hunger, brate and react at the same time. That class struggle so requires. misery and surrender that will come is, a “sensitive nerve” that unites, in a The sweet wrap, the veil of from the government of Maduro, 38 International Workers' Organizer supported by the military and with program in political logic like the one Today, our debate is focused on the agreement of Capriles and his you are holding today. Yesterday we the fact that you see imperialism reactionary forces. criticized the definition that Chavez organizing a fascist coup against a had started an anti-imperialist strug- bourgeois nationalist government gle, when he came with the army like Maduro, which does not defend Comrades, if we had the char- generals to expropriate the anti-im- itself and refuses to arm the masses. acterization of you that we are fac- perialist struggle of the Caracazo. That is not the reality today. Perhaps ing a fascist coup, we would have a this contribution will serve as a tool of struggle or to criticize our position if we are wrong. As always, the debate among Marxists clarifies and educates the world proletariat. We have no question of prestige. If we are wrong and you convince us, we will say it.

Revolutionary greetings,

Carlos Munzer 1989, Caracazo: loot in Venezuela

April 24th, 2013

THE FIGHT AGAINST CAPRILES-MADURO-OBAMA PACT

Comrades of El Topo Obrero entrepreneurs, intimate partners of cides in modern history, in Syria, by Maduro and Chavez, are slaugh- the notorious killer Al-Assad and his tering tens of thousands of workers men. We have already read RG’s and peasants. More than 250,000 note sent as a first quick re- The latter is now aided by worker uprisings and revolts have sponse to the letter on April 17. Ahmadinejad from Iran and more been crushed to blood and fire by Your letter was quickly forwarded to than 30,000 paid mercenaries of the the Chinese “Chavezites,” friends of all the FLTI groups. From now on we Iranian Republican Guard, who have Castro and the MNCs in the Pacific. will be waiting for your document to become into the core of Al-Assad’s deepen the debate, beyond the posi- murderous army. tions taken by the FLTI that is devot- We need to place this reflection ed to the tasks of preparation of the and the events in Venezuela from he enezuelan question IV Congress of our current. T V this point of view, since we are dis- The Venezuelan question, as must be approached from cussing the so called “socialism of well as those of Syria and Cuba, as an internationalist vision of the 21st century”, “market social- well as the Greek events, are es- ism”... which is the capitalist restora- revolution and counterrevolution sential acid tests in the preparation tion in Cuba, the abortion of the road of the Congress. These are points to socialist revolution a.k.a. “peace- where the reaction and the world ful road to socialism” as trumpeted imperialist counter-revolution have the world left all across Greece with This controversy and brother- been concentrated for, support- Syriza as their herald. ly discussion, must not lead us to ed in the treacherous leaderships, To situate us in this debate from forget that the 2013 WSF has just dispersing the revolutionary pro- an international point of view for de- been accomplished, where more cesses initiated against the capital- fining the question of Chavezism and than 5,000 organizations around the ist crack from 2008. In China, the events in our country we must start world paid homage to Chavez, while friends of Maduro and Chavezism, understanding that we are facing supporting one of the cruelest geno- the Communist Party of Chinese anti-worker, bourgeois forces and International Workers' Organizer 39 treacherous leaderships determined not every counter-revolutionary that there must never be a new Cuba On the character of the current force is fascist. Fascism is a pre- in the Americas. These are part of cise definition in Marxism in relation an international process of concen- political crisis in Venezuela to a regime of bourgeois domination tration of counter-revolutionary forc- and the program of the in a particular process in the class es, which have regrouped to break struggle. revolutionaries up the revolutionary struggles of the The armed forces and the world proletariat. Chavezite military guard have re- We are facing the biggest ene- pressed at close range workers and mies of the Socialist Revolution. Not recently murdered a peasant leader. In fact, in Venezuela we are to mention that they are partisans of There’s also a focus of counter-rev- seeing one of the largest expropri- Obama… or does anyone believe olutionary forces against the working ations of the anti-imperialist strug- that Castro and Chavezism are for class. gle of the masses in the Americas. organizing wide layers of the black Chavezism and Castroism, with their The Popular Front, as we saw it and Chicano working class which “Bolivarian revolution” have export- in Spain, did not cease killing in the are breaking with Obama, in order ed the strangulation of the revolu- rear the best of the working class in to fight for the socialist revolution in tionary processes in our Americas. the Spanish revolution. the United States? Much less in the Meanwhile, they legitimate from The counter-revolutionary forc- United States! That’s why the Castro the WSF the most deadly coun- es of Capriles and some pro-fascist Bross and the Chavezes supported ter-revolutionary action of this cen- bands from his social base did not Obama there. tury which is the massacre in Syria. have the objective of staging a coup In the United States 45 millions of We believe that rescuing -as the d’état or promoting a fascist putsch… workers, most of them unemployed FLTI has done- the fact that the true at least for now. It wasn’t Capriles pol- and helpless live upon U$ S 3 per anti-imperialist fight was that of the icy or that of the upper middle class day given them by Obama’s charity. masses in the Caracazo in 1989 and in Venezuela. What was in question We could say that they are the struggles that followed it, while is whether or not they acknowledged Venezuelan Chavezite “Missions” in Chavezism is the abortion of this the almost-draw in the election, as a the United States. combat, is a huge contribution to any triumph of Maduro as the National Obama boasts that he saves the revolutionary workers current which Electoral Council had reported. poor from starving through those really fights for the seizure of power What is this question of method that alms… then why don’t he and the by the proletariat. the FLTI raised in its document? Wall Street bankers who earn for- We have carefully read RG’s It is to determine if there is a com- tunes from looting the oppressed quick note. It lays black-on-white mon definition with you about what peoples, live with 120 dollars per differences that really exist. It is in is fascism, i.e. the last bourgeois month in the United States as their our disposition to contribute to the Government prior to the proletarian friends Castro and Chavez propose debate. revolution. That is, the last alternative of the bourgeoisie, playing for to the American working class? This is why we want to make “all or nothing” to prevent the tri- At the WSF in Tunisia met weeks some clarifications on that note, at a umph of the workers revolution. It ago, all treacherous leaderships first glance: is essential to define then if this is were concentrated to disperse and In your note you consider that correct or not. encircle one after the other all the “in (the FLTI’s) letter-document on Secondly, for us, we anticipate, revolutionary processes which, like the national situation of Venezuela what there was in Venezuela at the in Southern and Northern Africa, in you (the FLTI, N. Ed) state that we end of the elections was a political Latin America and Europe threat- (El Topo Obrero, N. Ed) consid- crisis that was closed by an agree- ened to open a new revolutionary er that the bourgeois opposition to ment Capriles-Maduro-Obama be- period worldwide. For now, by con- Chavezism was developing a coup cause their panic was precisely that centrating their forces they have d’etat. Perhaps I’m wrong, but that’s in response to the fascist gangs trig- saved Wall Street and its 1% of par- not what we say because we do not gering on the edge of the mobiliza- asites in bankruptcy and dispersed believe it.” the revolutionary processes. tion summoned by Capriles against We will try to answer this ques- Maduro, the masses could react not Any debate on the developments tion. It was you who in your state- only squashing the fascists but also in Venezuela, which does not see ment of April 17, posed that Capriles occupying the center of national pol- how these international conditions and Lopez are who direct the fascist itics. That quickly pushed the agree- refract in our country, will not be able gangs. Not only the MUD. ment Capriles-Obama-Maduro. to achieve an accurate diagnosis of What the FLTI did first of all is ex- the situation and much less conquer The outcome of the election is plaining to you a problem of meth- the conditions for the victory of the the worst thing that could have hap- od in Marxism, which is as follows: proletariat. pened to the Bolivarian regime. there is no doubt that Capriles has It did not get a strong Government, counter-revolutionary forces. But 40 International Workers' Organizer like that of Chavez, and meanwhile fore, during and after their actions their teeth to ensure that the mass- a Government much more weak- on the events of the Venezuelan es do not intervene! (and that their ened arises (Maduro’s), just when political crisis, with the worker mili- fascist dogs returned to the corral an ambitious bourgeois opposition tias before those fascist bands are because they could ignite the fuse of appears avid of new business, one developed. The worker militia is in- a new Caracazo!) that stayed out of them to a large dispensable and the workers should The fight against the Covenant extent or had to share them with arm themselves with the weapons Capriles-Maduro is what guaran- the Bolivarian bourgeoisie which of the fascists, among other means, teed creating the conditions to crush amassed fortunes during these to defend themselves, as you raise the fascist bands of the MUD... and years. in your document also against the stop the offensive, increasingly more All the facts realize this and your Chavezite National Guard, against aggressive against the workers, first statement does not. Your state- the Bolivarian police of Tarek which of the Chavezite National Guard. ment raises a scenario of a clash of left two killed workers, of Petrocasa Maduro called the masses to stay bourgeois camps, from the begin- and the vicious repression suffered quiet at home AND IT WAS THUS ning to the end, as we will see be- by workers of Sanitarios Maracay BECAUSE HE WAS NEGOTIATING low. Not only you do not pronounce and Sidor, among others. WITH CAPRILES. against the real political crisis, i.e. Now, you continue asking about That’s why the fight was and the assumption of Maduro or not, where we got the idea that you said continues being: we must ex- but just denounce and call to have a a coup d’Etat was being developed. propriate both the bourgeoisie program of action around the attack You are actually saying something and imperialism, which finance of fascist gangs. more than that. You say “Capriles preventively fascist gangs but It does not denounce or fight and Leopoldo López’s fascist centrally back Maduro, prepare against the agreement which was gangs attack and murder as on the Capriles to attack the masses, already emerging at the start of the 11A and they are merely threatened with the bayonets of the generals, political crisis between Capriles- by lip service or forgiven their ag- and of course with the blessing of Maduro-Obama. gression” (our bolds). Obama and the Vatican! Undoubtedly, as the FLTI insists You are describing an attempt of in its document, we Marxists advo- fascist putsch directed by Capriles, cate in the case of a coup d’etat, a the MUD and its fascist gangs, so higher regime (a “democratic bour- Maduro did not assume and that it Maduro and Capriles, both geois” one) against a lower regime would have begun to attack and mur- candidates of Obama, will make der as in the military coup against (either “Bonapartism” or “fascism”). a pact against the working class But as Trotsky said in Spain we Chavez, the 11A. That’s what you defend “democracy” with the meth- say there. and the masses. The Bolivarian od of the proletarian revolution. The facts show that this was not bourgeoisie still guarantees the But this was not what happened in true. counterrevolutionary pacts with Venezuela coup unlike when in the As we will see later your entire military coup the etat on 11A, as it program in the declaration of April imperialism and the governments is acknowledged in the same letter 17 is based on a united front tactic of the FTA by RG. to confront fascism. For this reason, We didn’t invent anything on your the FLTI said that yours was an error positions. You are those who pose of characterization which had pro- in your statement that Capriles and grammatic implications. Please read your statement of Lopez fascist gangs are killing The key question posed to April 17 and you will see that the people as in the military coup on you by the FLTI is that the central section of the program that emerg- 11A. You said that. policy of the bosses and imperi- es from the title “only working peo- Every reader, when reading your alism was backing Maduro, while ple will save the people” is articu- letter would say “there is a fascist strengthening Capriles, impos- lated around the labor front tactics coup led by Capriles, who is killing a factual (and also “legal”) to crush fascism and not around ing people as in the 2002 coup for pact under the counter to prevent defeating the Pact Capriles-Maduro- Madero not to take charge of the the deepening of the gaps in the Obama sustained in the caste of of- presidency”. How do you call this heights and the masses’ taking ficers of the most millionaire army of you yourself wrote? This did not hap- advantage of it. Venezuela. pen in Venezuela in this political cri- So the central denounce should In that moment and still at the sis. Much less it was Capriles’ plan have been: down with the agree- present time the central institu- to organize a fascist putsch to ignore ment of Maduro and Capriles under tion that attacks the masses is the the outcome of the election. the direction of Obama and with the agreement Maduro-Capriles. This is The MUD has fascist bands; guarantee of the caste of officers an agreement based on setting up well, it is essential to crush them be- of the Bolivarian army that showed a kind of bipartisanship Bolivarian- International Workers' Organizer 41 style, to prevent the bourgeois opposition having to perform a military coup before coming to power. This is an agreement of equal size and scope of the agreement Castro-Maduro to give in Cuba to imperialism; of the same caliber of the agreement (of Chavez, T. N. ) with Santos and Uribe to deliver the Colombian resistance. AND THOSE ARE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY AGREEMENTS IN WHICH THE WORKERS PUT THE BLOOD AND Tsipras of Syriza THE CAPITALISTS GATHER THEIR PROFITS. We insist, in relation to this you that is the policy of imperialism. But tually happened, and not what you do not respond in your statement, that is what happened. posed in your letter when the polit- your policy is “everybody against The actions of Capriles and the ical crisis opened and Capriles dis- fascism”, and from there you attack semi-fascist or vigilante forces that avowed, for a moment, the outcome Maduro that contains the masses cover under his wing, had the aim of of the election. There were not so and even attacks them. It is a prin- ensuring that Maduro would be aris- many alternatives, either a fascist cipled program, but it didn’t corre- ing as weak as possible. Capriles putsch or coup d ‘ état materialized spond to the reality of the political cancelled rapidly all reactionary or it was necessary to fight against crisis. mobilizations in the streets, so that Maduro-Capriles’ agreement. This Bolivarian policy imperialism Maduro could assume the most You talk about fascist bands... does not want to remove for now, strongly necessary to attack the What about the caste of officers of since it guaranteed him to expropri- people and download all the global the Bolivarian army that is which ac- ate the revolutionary processes in crisis hitting Venezuela on the shoul- tually tipped the scales in favor of key countries of the Americas. ders of the masses. Maduro? The truth is that you did not it in your document of April 17. The masses already defeated That’s why we answered the fol- even a couple of putschist adven- lowing: And Maduro… had he to assume tures in Venezuela in 2002-2003. “Maduro represents a bourgeois or not? In your document you do not This fight was part of a revolution- nationalism that can no longer be. set position in this regard, when that ary offensive in Ecuador, Argentina, Capriles is the direct representative issue was discussed everywhere in Bolivia, etc. of the imperialist banksters, which do Venezuela. We insist, in our view, there was a clash between two fac- Today, all Governments of the not want to stay out of the business tions of the bourgeoisie which are FTA and the Bolivarian ones are to- in the coming years, and has taken dispute which of them is going to gether in UNASUR -for now and just the banner of the Bolivarian revolu- attack the most the masses in the for now, as such is the imperialist tion to succeed. We do not see im- midst of the economic crisis that policy. perialism putting its stakes, for now, to a fascist attempt. It would be a Venezuela is in and who will handle If US imperialism ends absorbing suicidal policy, because it would be the Bolivarian Republic business at Cuba, if Morales and the Kirchner about to provoke a strong response the next stage. and the Capriles-Maduro Pact are from the masses, including a rupture In the middle of the political able to defeat the Latin American of Maduro’s base with the Bolivarian crisis and denouncing the on- working class, if Stalinism, the bourgeoisie, which would go out to coming pact the FLTI stated in its Bolivarians and the Renegades of the streets, we insist, despite and program: Trotskyism continue subduing the against the Chavezist bourgeoisie. It American working class to Obama “THE VAST MAJORITY OF would accelerate the rupture of the as they have done up to now, the sa- VENEZUELA- the revolutionaries masses with Maduro. It would be like ble rattling of the generals will regain must affirm- WE ARE THE WORKING the bourgeoisie playing its agents all stage, after the imperialist using of CLASS WITH THEIR HUGE at a time, in a moment when it needs these native bourgeoisie’s govern- RESERVE INDUSTRIAL ARMY OF them to attack the masses. It would ments like squeezed lemons. UNEMPLOYED WORKERS WHO mean removing Capriles from his MUST BE PLACED TO PRODUCE This is because imperialism, role of “democratic opposition” of the BY A PLAN OF NATIONAL PUBLIC sooner rather than later, will want to Bolivarian Constitution, and putting WORKS EXPROPRIATING THE stay with the entire businesses here. him as a fascist agent. That is an er- BANKERS AND DISREGARDING At any point in your document, ror of appreciation.” THE ILLEGITIMATE FOREIGN we again insist, you say that Maduro Now, are you in accordance with DEBT. will agree with Capriles, because this or not? Because this is what ac- 42 International Workers' Organizer

The true majority are not those program in comparison with yours level. They like castrism and the governments that are representative that is based on a tactic of worker Iranian bourgeoisie are together of that fake “bolivarian revolution”. united front against fascism com- with Russia and China, the guar- The majority isn’t the Bolivarian bour- manded by Capriles and López. The antors of the bloc, the fence of geoisie, or Maduro, or Capriles, all of FLTI affirmed: the Syrian bloodstained by the them agents of the board command- “Occupy all the factories, oil com- killer Al Assad. For this, Maduro ed by Obama. The true majority are panies, and Banks in Venezuela! asked and demanded that in spite the workers and people that produce That´s the road to impose the worker of having only one vote of differ- the wealth and suffer hunger in that control. ence in favour, he will assume. country. It is necessary to group the The forces of Chavezism are based Workers already died due to majority of Venezuela, to raise them on the counterrevolutionary role these disputes between such up, to conquer A GREAT NATIONAL they play strangling the proletarian bourgeois factions. We cannot CONGRESS OF EMPLOYED AND revolution from the WSF, to strangle put our blood at the service of the UNEMPLOYED WORKERS WITH the international socialist revolution. bourgeois factions disputing the RANK AND FILE DELEGATES, On that question they are masters, business. For self-defense com- INHABITANTS, POOR PEASANTS, they learnt how to expropriate the mittees and worker militias! The SUPPLY COMMITTEES. THAT’S Caracazo sustained by the rene- “Bolivarian” Armed Forces sooner or THE MAJORITY OF VENEZUELA.” gades of Trotskyism and Stalinism… later will agree a pact with Obama for that reason, “only by a vote of dif- The statement of the FLTI says and Capriles to attack the people. All ference in favour” he keeps the con- nothing about not to confront the capitalists must attack workers trol of the Venezuelan government. the counterrevolutionary gangs and people by their plans of hunger of MUD with worker militias. But and misery.” As we have already seen above, the FLTI articulates the program our document is to state that such It draws the attention the lack of around the fight against the clash, such political crisis was it in your document since it doesn’t agreement-pact Capriles-Maduro, straight to an agreement at the state that the working class cannot sustained by the Bolivarian armed heights for masses not to rise up. put their body, blood and life to de- forces and Obama. fend the Bolivarian bourgeoisie and Are Capriles and Maduro the After affirming that all of them will their business. It is also a huge trag- same? As it is stated in your last attack the rebelled masses like in the edy, workers dying under the coun- concern posed. Who studies the Caracazo, the FLTI calls for fighting terrevolutionary mobs defending document of the FLTI will see it is not saying the following: Maduro and the biggest millionaires stated that we must say Capriles to “Confront the reaction and of Venezuela. It must be said! put under control the MUD. We have Capriles! Expropriate the bourgeoi- been already explicit by quoting the sie, imperialism and bankers! Stop document of the FLTI to prove that’s Facing this open political crisis the attack of devaluation and high not the case. there appears two different pro- cost of living of Maduro and the bour- What the FLTI does affirm -and grams, for us, you are mistaken and geois factions in power sustained by from the LCT we have agreement- got impressed before a fact of reality the armed forces’ bayonets against is that to build the worker militia it and lost a view of the whole events the working class! Stop the new is necessary to break with Maduro and did not adjust the program cor- counterrevolutionary attacks against who prevents fighting and he con- rectly. The collaboration to you of the the people! tinues concentrating the government FLTI is about it. The working class can no longer of Venezuela and administering It is why because you have a na- be tied to any bourgeois faction be- the power and business of all the tional view as regards Chavezism cause all of them are their execution- bourgeoisie. and don’t see the necessary role ers. They fight each other for their For Lenin the bourgeois govern- they still play to sustain the imperi- business not for our salaries, not ment is a chief board of all the ruling alism’s interests in Latin America, for our jobs. They fight each other classes and who concentrates the sell out Cuba, legitimate the action to resolve who command the attack attack to strike against masses and of Obama in the left-wing of the US to snatch our gains. Quickly they will impose the worst hunger and misera- working class and by their “anti-im- agree and altogether will confront ble plans. Maduro never abandoned perialist authority” to sustain the our struggles.” the command of the bourgeois gov- counterrevolutionary actions of Al ernment since Chavez death, before Then, the FLTI takes the threat Assad in Syria. Thus, even in the and during and after the elections. launched by sectors of Chavezism moments of “major confrontation” calling on masses to apply the work- between Capriles and Maduro that It is necessary to break with the ers’ control on the bourgeoisie and will not last more than a day, the bourgeoisie. Even, the tactic of work- denouncing the murder of workers FLTI was able to see they were go- er united front is about it for every on the part of the counterrevolu- ing to make an agreement. responsible Marxist to confront se- tionary gangs (excuse us, but we riously fascism, even incipient in Chavezism is still necessary include the quote to avoid confu- Venezuela after the defeat imposed in Venezuela and at continental sions). Of course, it is not the same on the military coup in 2002. International Workers' Organizer 43

We insist on it, Maduro and Capriles are the same as long as both of them recognize the Bolivarian Constitution. They are the same as long as whoever assumes will apply the same attack over masses under the command of the imperialism, as long as all of them will pay imperialism for the foreign debt. The are the same as long as they look the other way, arm or support the Al Assad’s massacre in Syria; as long as both support the imperialist pillage in Latin America and hug together with the fascist government of Uribe-Santos; as long Second summit of CELAC in Havanna, 2014 as both are in agreement to keep the CELAC and UNASUR, a den of thieves, of Obama’s lackeys; as long alist demands can be solved. erished but also it has improved the as they both called masses to vote In that way we have defined, family income increasing the level for Obama. we feel it was in common, that of family income that 15 years ago Are they identical? No. while Chavezism was the abortion of the hardly was enough to eat…Perrarina Capriles will apply it by leaning him- antiimperialist fight of masses be- (food for dogs TN) in some cases.” self on the middle class, with the la- cause it was who closed the road Against this position you pose, bour aristocracy and some lumpen to the socialist revolution. On it we we affirm the following: sector throwing it against the mass- will be in agreement, justly for that The Missions are the Institutions es. Chavezism is carrying out it and reason, the “Socialism of the 21C” is of alms that the bourgeois State was will apply it by manipulating masses a vile lie and bourgeois demagogu- obliged to give to prevent the road to and even openly attacking their own ery as it was Perón who spoke about the proletariat’s revolution at the ex- social base. Unless there is anyone National Socialism or as it was the pense of state-zing and corrupting all who believes that Chavezism will case of Al Assad speaking about the the mass organizations for them not surpass the world economic crisis al- Socialist Republic of Syria. to be independent from the bourgeois ready settled in Venezuela by touch- State and all his institutions. In any ing the interests of the big bourgeoi- case, the victory is not the “Missions” sie and imperialism. of the bourgeois State and the PSUV Thus, we affirm that the bour- Did the so-called “Missions” of but the partial conquests got by the geoisie had a great lost with Chavez Chavezism give progress to the exploited as a sub-product of great since he was the most legitimized to revolutionary fights. exploited masses? The Trotskyists apply such attack against workers. We have studied that in Argentina, In the previous polemic on the affirm that they are alms that the for example, peronism say they gave death of Chavez, a reflection came bourgeois state was forced to give the 8 hours labour shift, the paid hol- out on your document on this ques- idays and the Christmas bonus to tion. In such document you stated up to prevent the advance of the the working class about the middle that Chavez started during a peri- proletarian revolution and to be of the ‘40s. It is a bourgeois fake ( To od the anti imperialist fight of the compare what the peronist bourgeoi- able to nationalize the workers’ Venezuelan masses. Then, you told sie was obliged to give masses as orally to the FLTI that it had been an organizations conquests with the miserable alms involuntary mistake in your docu- Chavezism gives, it would make any ment. Justly, we reminded you that bourgeois peronist blush; any bour- masses were who gave the anti-im- geois peronist that surely we could perialist fight in the Caracazo leaving On the question of the “Missions”, meet in the streets of Caracas doing their dead in the struggle against the we want to pronounce on it since we profitable business with the bolivar- IMF and then, began a hard combat don’t agree with the statement of RG. ians). Those are the partial con- of self-organization in 1996/7 expro- You affirm: “The Missions have quests the Argentine working class priated by Chavezism. It was in that contributed to, despite the fact that almost already lost in a vast major- way to prevent the initiated fight in vast sectors of the class have the ity for not taking power and that the the Caracazo from not getting com- collective agreement frozen, cause a bourgeoisie was obliged to give due bined with the taking of power on the substantial improvement not only in to the great working class’ struggles. part of the proletariat, only possibility the quality of life of the poorest layers For the petty-bourgeois politi- the oppressed peoples’ anti imperi- of our people and other not so impov- cians it would seem the Argentinean 44 International Workers' Organizer working class was on holidays from corroded to the ALBA’s countries. Otherwise, you are stating that the ‘30s to ’45. When in reality, it Think about it: there are 500.000 there may be perennial gains in the was one of the periods of revolution- dismissed Cuban workers while with framework of capitalism, and not ary upheaval and huge struggles of their “medical Missions” in the ALBA that the whole conquest, even the the working class with which they countries the Cuban proto-bour- slightest is lost if the working class conquered the CGT, the unions for geoisie shares out the budgets of does not take power. That is what is branches, etc. the States in association with the happening and is going to go much Here you are saying that the Bolivarian bourgeoisies. deeper with the global economic partial concessions and alms of Let’s think together on the tragedy crisis, which has hit, like submarine Chavezism are a product of a char- of the revolution in Centro America rocks, the hull of Bolivarian ship. itable bourgeoisie who massacred and the Caribbean. 500.000 Cuban Chavez was not the one who more than 2000 workers during the workers have been dismissed or graciously gave concessions to the most important revolutionary and placed as casual workers selling masses to “raise their standard of anti-imperialist upheaval in Latin bouillon cubes in streets of La Habana living” with his “Missions”. In any America at the end of the ‘80s, that or cutting hair at their home door. case, these alms, which are not de- is, the Caracazo. Those are the Castroist “Missions” to cent and are a million miles away The “Missions” are a source keep under control the Cuban unem- from the needs of the masses, are a of control of the bourgeois State ployed workers dismissed like dogs byproduct of the revolutionary strug- on the mass movement. With them by the Stalinist scourge transformed gle of them, the Caracazo among they make pass the ultra-partial into new bourgeoisie. others, where the bourgeoisie was conquests the bourgeois State was For workers and the people there forced to give something to not lose obliged to give as alms of a kind and are doctor´s offices almost empty in everything. And they were presented paternalistic bourgeoisie. the neighborhoods with a doctor and as conquests granted by the bourgeois state, thanks to the policy of With them, the political cadres a stethoscope and the high quality the masses’ reformist leaderships. of the PSUV get rich as middlemen, health is for the Capriles’ people. With this perverse policy, the bour- they are who go to every demon- You and we know it. geoisie gives a miserable partial con- stration and even applaud the bird 105.000 billion in concept of ex- cession to the exploited people as if of Maduro…it is bourgeois alms that ternal debt have been paid to imperi- it were a conquest granted by the submit the most exploited masses to alism, it is more than enough money exploiters. But as Trotsky would say, the State. for decent work for all, high quali- at this time of crisis, reformism can ty education and health services, They are institutions of the bour- pass less every time as conquests, public works plan and high quality geois State. the alms and gifts of the bourgeoisie. housing for all the exploited people. There are “Missions” that are as a Let’s not even talk about paying a They do that so the state can kind of internal NGOs, of the health, progressive tax on large fortunes of control the masses tightly. Why? food, literacy, socialist culture, that is, the Bolivarian bourgeoisie that could Because sometimes, this native many “Missions” whose cost doesn’t pay education to a university gradu- bourgeoisie should use the mass- mean more than the 5% in subsidies ate career to all illiterate people that es to negotiate and blackmail the of the Venezuelan oil income. To say a “Missions” hardly teaches to read imperialism. But Chavezism is now that it was useful for the starving and and write. This is what a Marxist has far from this bourgeois mechanic deprived masses of Venezuela is min- to tell the masses. and increasingly is becoming direct imally to embellish the super profits agent of imperialism, as the FLTI What Comrade RG has written and millionaire theft of the Bolivarian said in the earlier paper. bourgeoisies and the plundering of undoubtedly has been made in a This is what Bonapartism “sui the IMF. Moreover, the salary of the rush, we would like him to think it generis” is in semi-colonial coun- workers of the “Missions” who are not again. tries. The native bourgeoisie negoti- chavist cadres, as medical staff and Even if you believe what you af- ates its share of national income, as nurse in doctor’s offices dealing with firm in your appointment, you should a junior partner of imperialism, but casual patients is a misery. Besides, say that with the rampant annual in- always, always ends. the big business of health is made flation of 27-30% and recurring deval- with the big clinics and private health uations, these gains are lost and the The “missions” are a small, pet- insurance companies putting state cost of living becomes unbearable ty cash of minor employees of the workers of Venezuela. It is not fair for and shortages chronic. When we saw Bolivarian bourgeoisie. Among other the Cuban working class to embellish the note you’ve written it looks like things to keep the masses controlled these “Missions” either. the exploited masses have solved preventing another Caracazo. They are forced to subsist only by subor- The “Cuban doctors” of that the problem of poverty in Venezuela dinating them to the bourgeois politi- Missions of course, are very-well and that they are not intended to be cians. They threaten with the black- paid, the castro proto-bourgeoi- the same or worse than before. For mail to go back to perrarina’s times sie receives huge commissions for not only the salary is frozen but also (dog food, eaten by the masses at moving their health system totally grants, indeed, are not paid anymore, as you have denounced. the end of `80). Meanwhile they International Workers' Organizer 45 make lucrative business, for exam- a whole. ple, with the bourgeoisie of Polar It is what Group. all the unions’ For you, the “Missions” are bureaucratic the solution for millions of unem- leaders deny. ployed. If so, the socialism of the 21 W e , Century,has something of socialism. Trotskyists Now we understand why it does not have the key matter in your program, the unit em- to conquer ployed and unemployed workers, the unity of as it is evident in your statement the working of April 17. There you do not raise, class: our next to the sliding scale of wag- Transitional es, the sliding scale of working Program. hours so all the unemployed can The fight work and stop living on alms. Do you to set up fac- consider that 50% of the labor force Leopoldo Loópez from MUD tories com- (Overpopulation Consolidated- mittees and not relative-that Marx speaks about unemployed union bureaucracy, nor Chirino, in in Chapter XXIII of Capital) living in workers’ committees, for the sliding particular, that lead everything to informal employment and self-em- scale of wages and working hours, the judgments that last years in the ployed state handouts without in- is justly the only road to conquer the Chavezist Labor Ministry. dependent organization to defend political independence of the work- them are not part of the working We must tell the Venezuelan ing class from the bourgeoisie and class and are well taken care by the working class the truth as well to the State, and it is what all the left “Missions”of Chavez? Since when the millions of unemployed workers keeps in silent. A decisive appeal of revolutionary Marxists defend the many times named “casual work- the unions and worker organizations alms collected by the working class ers” raising a program: No more crying out: No more Bolivarian alms, as a revolutionary product of great alms and misery of the Missions of one more labor shift in all the facto- deeds, and they forget that you have the millionaire Bolivarian bourgeoi- ries with a salary according to the to end the informal employment and sie! The Transitional Program states: family basic needs, decent job for chronic unemployment, because “THE RIGHT OF EMPLOYMENT IS all, no payment of the foreign debt this situation strengthens the bour- THE ONLY SERIOUS RIGHT LEFT and expropriation of the bankers, for geoisie (having a huge army indus- TO THE WORKER IN A SOCIETY conquering a plan of public works trial reserve) to keep frozen collec- BASED ON EXPLOITATION. THIS and decent housing for all! tive agreements? RIGHT TODAY IS BEING SHORN This appeal would strengthen to- FROM HIM AT EVERY STEP. Without doubt the unions have tally the unions and mainly, the uni- AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT, left the unemployed to their fate (it ty of the working class for the crisis STRUCTURAL AS WELL AS means to the Missions and alms of to be paid by the capitalists, and CONJUNCTURAL, THE TIME IS chavezism) and focus on fighting for Venezuelan bankers and of the world. RIPE TO ADVANCE ALONG WITH their collective labor agreement they THE SLOGAN OF PUBLIC WORKS, did not realize that justly the huge This is the most “economic” THE SLOGAN OF A SLIDING industrial army of reserve is social road for the working class to break SCALE OF WORKING HOURS. base of the bourgeois forces that with Chavezism and conquer an Trade unions and other mass organ- have expropriated the revolution and alternative to fight for the socialist izations should bind the workers and will deep the attack against masses revolution. the unemployed together in the soli- as a whole; and thus, the existence It isn’t by chance that Chirino and darity of mutual responsibility. On this of a chronic unemployment only all the left currents that adulate him basis all the work on hand would then makes more and more difficult the “forget” it. be divided among all existing workers fight for collective contracts and oth- The Transitional Program vindi- in accordance with how the extent of er vindications. cates the right to work and a decent the working week is defined. The av- The working class is divided; the existence for all; in the chapter on erage wage of every worker remains employed worker can live through, “the sliding scale of wages and labor the same as it was under the old survive while the unemployed work- hours” insists that to the increasing working week. Wages, under a strict- ers have to eat every day without a high cost of living it is necessary ly guaranteed minimum, would follow job. to oppose the sliding scale of wag- the movement of prices.” es, that is, the automatic increase Many times, this breach between This concept is summarized in the of salaries according to the high in employed and unemployed workers Transitional Program in the following prices of the consumer goods. Of gets deep enormously and weakens way: “IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCEPT course, this politic is of neither the all the forces of the working class as ANY OTHER PROGRAM FOR 46 International Workers' Organizer

THE PRESENT CATASTROPHIC ployed entered as slaves to the to conquer the unity of the working PERIOD”. Sliding scale of sala- productive process and the “maqui- class and exploited. It is not possible ries for the employed workers and la” Argentina emerged having more even dream with the unfrozen of the Missions for the unemployed cannot than 55% of labor force under no collective agreements without set- be the program of Trotskyists for the registration, without any right. ting up a movement of revolutionary Venezuelan working class, since it Kirchner has given U$S 30 like unemployed workers. divides the working class and sub- subsidy per children for every un- They are part of the working mits the different sectors to the Labor employed worker or any worker class despite Chavez and chavists Ministry and the bourgeois State. with a salary minor to U$S 600. We don´t like it. Let’s reflect on this question. have studied a document of LOI-CI It is the first point of a program to According to this note your proof Argentina and their press where conquer a revolutionary leadership gram would be: decent judgments they state it means a subsidy for the of the trade unions. companies not for workers. for the collective agreements and Cháves was not initially a pet- defense of the “Missions” because It is the State paying the part of ty-bourgeois government but the in that way the mass living standard the deferred social salary to workers representative of the officers’ caste is maintained. and bosses don’t pay it while keep of the most rotten Venezuelan bour- We believe the opposite of it. 50% of the working class under no geoisie who came as Bonaparte to We think that there is an absolute registration. save the interests of the whole bour- tendency of masses to misery, and It is a subsidy for the boss so that geoisie and the imperialism’s busi- if Chavezism in a conjunctural way it can be kept low the value of the la- ness in Venezuela after the revolu- had to give concessions was to cov- bor force as whole of the Argentinean tionary process of the Caracazo. er itself with demagoguery and con- working class. With a salary of U$S The “Missions” mean capitalist trol masses so that they don’t ad- 600 in Argentina and U$S30 per chil- begging; even they are no longer this. vance to revolution. dren it is not possible to eat even It has nothing to do with socialism ten days per month. The worker un- We affirm that every time is lesser or high quality health or free educa- der no registration earning no more the investment of the bourgeoisie on tion that the Cuban masses gained than U$S 300, plus the miserable the wage sum and subsidies in rela- by their revolution expropriating the subsidy given by the government… tion to the devaluation and high cost bourgeoisie. In Cuba now they get- the Kirchners must live with that mon- of living for the inflation. We believe ting lost and the remains are export- ey. It is a subsidy for the Bolivarian that there is chronic and structural ed abroad to cover the bourgeois bourgeoisie and alms for workers. hunger in Venezuela and that the governments, agents of imperialism, And what should we state? That the bourgeoisie will throw even more the as “anti-imperialist” and “socialist”. crisis on exploited, even Chavezism subsidy in Argentina must not be col- Those “Missions” are the fate for will do it on his own social base. lected, not to go to the market to buy the more than 500.000 workers dis- For that reason, Capriles waits for cheaper food? Not to go to the doc- missed in Cuba, that means the mar- it quietly, because he knows that tor’s office in the neighborhood where ket “socialism”, that is, submission Chavezism is a squeezed lemon. you only have a doctor to assist sick people without the possibility to go to of the working class to the capitalist Comrade RG has not thought a high quality hospital…where only market. where he could reach in the program the bourgeoisie can go? Lastly, we affirm that every reader based on that characterization. We say: let´s take everything; we of the letter of the FLTI sent to you We insist on it, we have studied would have nothing without fighting in relation to the political crisis in deeply Argentina and his revolu- and giving deaths. But if we fought Venezuela can observe that at any tionary process in 2001 and how and died for these is not worthy, we moment it sustains what you say in the native bourgeoisie expropriat- must fight for everything. your letter: “the MUD attacks or a ed such revolution with the support sector of it including assassinations Moreover, with the inflation and of Castroism, the renegades of of men and women of the People are high cost of living, the subsidies for Trotskyism and all the Bolivarian of fascist-type and not simply deaths food and for unemployment are not the continent. in any demonstration”. (our bolds) enough to eat ten days per month. There, as a byproduct of deaths The FLTI’s document at any These are the misery and hunger and huge revolutionary upheavals at moment speaks about “simply conditions we suffer after huge fights the end of the ‘90s and beginning of deaths” in any demonstration. and for what? For the bourgeoisie this Century with a 20% of unemploy- What the document states is the makes big business? ment as an engine force, the working following: class gained subsidies for the unem- This is what we, the Marxists, “In this question you are serious- ployment equivalent at that moment must tell the exploited, that is, what ly confused, which may even con- at U$S 100 and then U$S 40 with de- really is taking place. tradict the facts. In any reactionary valuation named “Planes Trabajar”. The demand of a sliding scale of bourgeois action there are people When the growing cycle is re- wages and working hours is a cen- who die and this doesn’t mean newed in Argentina, those unem- tral slogan in Venezuela if the aim is it is a fascist coup. The counter- International Workers' Organizer 47 revolutionary bourgeois reaction of Capriles must be confronted, but first of all, if we want to mobilize the masses, we must fight the cowardice and effrontery of Maduro’s bourgeois faction, who hasn’t called the masses to do any action against this so called “fascism” or “coup”, as Maduro characterizes it. Since if the working class doesn’t break with Maduro and overpasses the limits of the “Bolivarian Revolution”, it will never be able to smash Capriles. Argentina: “Piquetero” movement Because Maduro has workers locked in their houses and the leaderships of the working class under his dis- letter the fact that Capriles launched We warn that the fascistic gangs cipline. Both factions are using the a fascist coup would be destroy- will not only emerge like the MUD masses to discuss their business. ing a bourgeois opposition already are doing but when the break with But the limit they both have on them conquered within the frames of the chavezism on the part of the work- is to support the regime and conquer Bolivarian Constitution and that was ing class gets deeper-something a strong government to attack the very near to win over Chavezism that already has started- from the working class and exploited people.” in the elections. For them, it would chavezism’s core will emerge …do have been a political suicide. The you know what, comrades? An Al As you can see here there is no imperialism and the general staffs Assad and a monster like Kadhafy… mention of “simply deaths” or any are cleverer that this. They know or an Ahmadineyad who cried for the demonstration. What it is affirmed very well when and how to use each Chavez death while sent his coun- is that in any bourgeois reactionary one of their agents. terrevolutionary Republican Guard action can appear dead people but of Ayatollahs to massacre from the it doesn´t mean a fascist coup. The The emergence of the militias of core of the fascist Army of Al Assad State is about it, a gang of armed men the worker organizations to smash the Syrian masses. Why? It is be- to kill workers…even Chavezism that the counterrevolutionary and fa- cause around chavezism emerged a as member of the murderous officers’ scistic gangs of the MUD will also new and powerful bourgeoisie linked caste of the regime of Punto Fijo or emerge from the fight for the Self- to the oil income and the Wall Street the Bolivarian Constitution is tired of Defense Committees to confront the business. killing workers. And not for this rea- brutal repression that the Chavist son they are fascist. National Guard and boss hitmen Chavezism is part of a move- against any serious workers’ fight… ment like it was the imperialist ruling Fascism for Marxism is not the of course that the chavist Labor regime of Yalta and Postdam, the same way of bourgeois ruling than Ministry will pose like “democratic” movement of “not aligned” or the bonapartism or popular front or the and “allied” and “friend” of workers. “OPEC” where the native bourgeoi- bourgeois democratic regime or the Justly the mortal trap of Chavezism sies together with the oil companies bourgeois monarchy. It is a way of rul- for masses is about it. defined and negotiated or confronting based on the annihilation of every ed each other in a conjunctural way worker organization by methods of The entire bourgeoisie is already for the oil price. civil war of the middle class under the conscious that the lie of “Socialism command of the Big Capital, and in a of the 21 Century is getting over. The To see the fascist danger com- semi colonial country under the direct Maduro-Capriles-Obama agreement ing from the core of the Venezuelan command of the imperialism closing is an attempt to strengthen the regime oligarchy of Capriles and not to see a revolutionary situation. For that, it is and his government to clash against the murderous role the Bolivarian the last resource of the bourgeoisie, masses to make them pay for the officers’ caste will play when their like the classic bonapartism to smash crisis of the capitalist world economy property appears to be under risk, it a revolution. already striking Venezuela. As the it can be a very dangerous oblivion. states the document the center of the It is the difference, simply. Read We expect to have your FLTI has sent you: The lie of “21st document. your document where you affirm Century Socialism” is reaching the Revolutionary Greetings, that Capriles is at the head of fas- end since “with it only the bourgeoi- cist gangs that massacred in 2002. sie and imperialism got profits… and When this process was escaping Capriles, who already swore loyalty Carlos Munzer from the control of Capriles and to the Bolivarian Constitution didn’t Maduro, quickly, they stopped every come out of nowhere but he comes confrontation between them terri- out from the unconditional respect for fied with the irruption of masses like the Chavezism’s private property”. in 2002. As we have proved in this 48 International Workers' Organizer November 9th, 2016

THE UTOPIA OF THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE REGIME OF THE BOLIVARIAN CONSTITUTION

The positions of the renegades of Trotskyism on Venezuela are a sam- ple of how, in the midst of the global capitalist bankruptcy, the currents of the “New Left” play the role of hold- ers of states and regimes. The LTS, a small group run from Buenos Aires by PTS, is one of the greatest shameless supporters of the decomposing Bolivarian Republic. At the other extreme of the renegades of Trotskyism, from a liberal democratic opposition to Maduro, the PSL (UIT) and the Maduro with the Bolivarian armed forces UST (LIT) raise a policy that essen- tially coincides with the LTS. They are rare opponents of Maduro who ing water, whose children die. All the sinking Venezuela. The leaders of are in a front of class collaboration exploiters know it. The MUD and the the PTS are abstracted from all this with Chavez currents. The position of Church do not get tired of saying it. and dream that Maduro and the gen- these currents before the Bolivarian The PTS-LTS leadership also erals retire peacefully, and that from bourgeois regime makes it clear that knows this. It is not an oversight, but this Bolivarian Republic a beautiful the renegades of Trotskyism gave up the true demands for the workers’ ‘democracy’ arises which will be the the struggle for socialist revolution to bread are hidden in order to justify deepening of the ‘partial and limit- embrace the program of “extreme de- a liberal support program for Maduro ed conquests’ of Chavezism. In that mocracy”. Therefore, this controversy and the Bolivarian regime, as we will ‘extreme democracy’ (a “Constituent is not limited to the LTS but is directed see below. That leadership does not Assembly”), arising from the expan- to all these currents. Let’s see. tell the truth to the working class. sion of the Bolivarian Republic, the workers will have many ‘rights and In the October 26 statement pub- social conquests’. Chavez, says the lished in La Izquierda Diario, the LTS, advanced on that path but un- LTS says that the task at hand is “to The LTS-PTS and its Bernstein- fortunately had limits, and now the conquer a greater freedom for the right wing tries to liquidate these like extreme democracy working people”. According to this “ ” conquests, as happens in Brazil with current, it is about “responding to the Dilma. legitimate democratic aspirations In that statement, the LTS says This “extreme democracy” is the of the working people, who seek a that the working class must fight solution to the very serious situation longing of these people. It has noth- for “a greater democracy”, for a ing to envy to the utopia of the right- and want to really weigh their will in “Constituent Assembly” that will national affairs.” wing social-democrat Bernstein, who solve the exploited all the problems sought to move from capitalism to so- In the first place, it is complete- ... but without the need to defeat the cialism by a peaceful and evolution- ly false to say that the workers are Maduro government and the General ary stretch of bourgeois democracy. fighting to expand their democratic Staff of the FANB, or to overthrow the rights in a country where there were Bolivarian regime to seize power. In literally thousands of spontaneous that statement they speak of “social- revolts due to hunger since 2015, ism”, of “organisms of self-determina- Democratization of the Bolivarian against the African living conditions tion”, etc. but they do not even men- Republic or socialist revolution? imposed on them by the exploiters. If tion this central issue. the PTS leaders lined up for 8 or 10 This current omits hunger, re- hours to get some rice or bread, or pression, the dead, mass deten- Nobody denies that the exploited if they went down to the pickets for tions, fascism; they are silent that need more democracy. That is basic. hunger or water in the slums, they the Bolivarian Republic is a fierce The question is what kind of democ- would not meet people demanding class dictatorship organized so that racy do they need, how is it achieved to vote but with hungry workers, Wall Street continues looting and and for what purpose? who ask for food, medicines, drink- International Workers' Organizer 49

In recent years, the exploited faced the Maduro government by setting up assemblies, strike committees, pickets, de facto committees in the neighborhoods, but not to demand voting as the LTS says, but for wages, food, medicines or water. There it was decided by show of hands what action to take forward, determining its future always with the method of workers’ democracy. There lived the democracy that the exploited needed to face Maduro. This happened in SIDOR, in the streets of San Félix, Ciudad Piar, Military commando in the street of Caracas Puerto Ordaz, in Catia and Petare. The spreading, deepening and centralization of these organisms MUD, the caste of judges and above and quality, and that nothing comes was a huge danger not only for all, the murderous officers of the to the working class neighborhoods. Maduro, but especially for Wall FANB monitored by the Pentagon in abundance and quality, and Street and the oligarchy. That is why from Colombia. That is, they want that nothing comes to the working the army troops, the Gendarmerie, to break with imperialism and leave class neighborhoods. intact the bourgeois state machinery the police, the fascist collectives of It is evident that in order to eat the that is just to guarantee the imperi- the SEBIN, the union bureaucracy exploited must expropriate not only alist plundering with violence and and the lumpen, came to dissolve those large warehouses, but also terror on the exploited of Venezuela. these direct democracy organiza- the property of imperialism and the tions and crush the struggle of the In the Bolivarian Republic, any- oligarchy, to produce food and im- workers with tanks and lead. one who touches a single dollar of port the shortage. And it is also evi- This was not done by the oligar- the transnationals ends up dead by dent that this cannot be done peace- chy or imperialism. The Bolivarians repression, shot by the paramilitary fully with a Constituent Assembly, if did it under the bourgeois Bolivarian gangs of the Chavists’ Collectives, the generals are not defeated be- Constitution that they themselves or imprisoned with false charges and fore the institutions of the Bolivarian sanctioned in 1999, which protects tortured like the CIVETCHI workers. Constitution regime are demolished, first private property, and above all, The LTS wants to build an “extreme because they guard the food depos- the property and business of Wall democracy” that coexists alongside its and the property of the banks and Street. The Bolivarian Republic that that state machinery of repression at transnational. That is why, for the the LTS wants to deepen is a fero- the service of imperialism. elementary question of obtaining cious Bonapartism that keeps the This current knows perfectly well food, the exploited must make a rev- factories and working-class neigh- that in Venezuela all serious struggle olution: to set up direct democracy borhoods under military occupation for the rights of the exploited leads organizations, arm themselves and to guarantee imperialist plunder. to a direct clash with the govern- leave the army to prepare the insur- There are dead, missing and prison- ment and the troops, and that rais- rection and the seizure of power. ers. For any suspicion, a worker is es its revolutionary fall. Let’s look at But these questions, which are taken from his house by the SEBIN the elementary question of food, for the ABC of Marxism, perfectly known or the Chavez collectives, and if he example. by the LTS-PTS and all the rene- is lucky, he is not shot in the head in What did the Executive Power do gades of Trotskyism, are conscious- front of his family, but he is impris- with food? He militarized his distri- ly silenced by these directions. oned and tortured. bution and placed it under the direct So, what “democracy” wants custody of Padrino López, Chief of to expand the LTS? Does the “ex- the General Staff of the FANB and treme democracy” that breaks with superintendent of Maduro. Today the The lessons of the Maghreb and imperialism and makes “socialism” Armed Forces guard the department the Middle East -as they maintain in its declara- stores and merchandise stores. The tion- arise from the peaceful evolu- officers manage the “bachaqueo” of tion of the bourgeois pro-imperialist food (resale on the black market) Social-democratic LTS-type reci- Bolivarian Republic? This current and have monopolized huge food pes, which embellish implacable en- speaks of breaking with imperial- deposits in the main barracks. They emies and throw dirt into the eyes of ism with an “extreme democracy” guarantee that rich neighborhoods workers, end in tragedy for the ex- without demolishing the Executive will get meats, fresh vegetables, ploited. In the Maghreb and the Power, the National Assembly of the oils, preserves, etc. in abundance Middle East all the renegades of 50 International Workers' Organizer

Trotskyism applied a policy modeled of the generals, fierce dictatorships heartfelt aspirations of the deep pro- after the LTS. When in 2011 the ex- such as Al Sisi in Egypt, and in Syria, letariat that will rise up against the ploited from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, a terrifying genocide that is costing Bolivarians. The factory workers of Syria, etc. took to the streets for the lives of 600 thousand exploited. La Paz and their struggle against bread and to conquer it they threw Maduro, the Castro, Evo Morales, Evo Morales are the vanguard of the dictatorships and left armies, these etc., supported Khadafy as they workers’ movement that is beginning currents said that they did not have support Assad today demanding the to emerge from the decline of the to arm themselves, move towards crushing and extermination of the Bolivarians. the expropriation of imperialism and revolutionary masses, because they The Trotskyists of the FLTI defend the seizure of power. They said that know that there is not only the po- the legacy of the Fourth International they were democratic revolutions, litical regime at stake, but the prop- and the program theory of the whose task was to replace the tyran- erty of the exploiters and the very Permanent Revolution because that nies of Mubarak, Ben Ali, etc. by existence of the bourgeois state that is the flag that will lead to the triumph bourgeois democratic regimes. “Eat? holds that property. of the Latin American proletariat. In Of course”, they said, “but the imme- Venezuela there will be no bread or diate task is to conquer democracy; “democracy” if it is not making the let’s vote and get organized”. revolution, if it is not defeating and Which was the result? The bread The program of the Fourth throwing off the oppressors and was not obtained because neither International is the key for the exploiters who bleed the people to was it expropriated to the imperial- hand over the nation to Wall Street. ism and the oil companies nor power victory of the Venezuelan workers Only in this way can a truly demo- was taken; the “democratic revolu- and exploited cratic Venezuela emerge, where the tion” proclaimed by these renegades broad masses rule and not a handful ended in a bloodbath at the hands of parasitic oligarchs and boli-bourgeois, with their general execution- We Trotskyists ers; a Venezuela independent from say to the workers, imperialism and bankers; a socialist to the oppressed Venezuela, where the property is in of Venezuela: in the hands of the exploited, to meet order to eat you the needs of the vast majority of the have to make “the people; a Venezuela bastion of the workers’ revolution” Latin American and world revolution. proclaimed by the This is the objective of the Trotskyists workers of SIDOR, of the FLTI... a workers’ and socialist on whom the LTS Venezuela without generals, bosses turned its back. Let or imperialist bankers. the renegades of Marxism accompany the Bolivarians Liga Comunista de Trabajadores to the grave. They (Workers’ Communist League) Leon Trotsky have nothing to of Venezuela do with the most

The reader may find more statements of the class struggle in Latin America and world wide on our website: www.flti-ci.org International Workers' Organizer 51

* Originally published in “El Organizador Obrero Internacional” (International Workers’ Organizer) #20 / Special Dossier on Cuba / December 2016

CUBA December 2016

On the passing away of Fidel Castro The leader of the capitalist restoration in Cuba has died

On November 25, 2016 Fidel Castro passed away. Af- ter a ceremony lasting more than a week, his body has been cremated. In the face of this event followed by the mainstream media all over the world, important sectors of the bourgeoisie and the whole international left has honored him, revitalizing his figure and presenting him before the exploited of the world as a “revolutionary leader” and “creator, organizer and leader of the Cuban revolution”. We Trotskyists who feel part of the glorious Cuban revolution, who have always defended its gains for decades and confronted the Stalinist bureaucracy with the program of political revolution as part of the internation- Castro and Putin al socialist revolution, affirm that before dying, Fidel has concluded, regrettably, his primary and fundamental The so-called “New Left” and its representatives like task: the capitalist restoration in Cuba. the FIT in Argentina vindicate Fidel Castro; at most, The liquidators of the Fourth International paid their they “criticize” him for having been “responsible for the respects to the largest and most representative Stalin- bureaucratization of the Cuban regime.” They only re- ist leader of the CCP, restorative of capitalism on the flect old theses of capitulators to Stalinism who say it island. He was bidden farewell with “Hasta la victoria has a “dual character o nature”; i.e., on the one hand it siempre” (Until victory, forever) claiming him as “the is “revolutionary” and on the other hand, “bureaucratic.” leader of the Cuban and Latin American revolution.” With this “theory” they justify their support for decades The renegades of Trotskyism embrace and embellish of Stalinism, their abandonment of the struggle for po- Stalinism and its leaders who for decades have prevent- litical revolution in the former workers’ states and their ed every revolution in Americas from succeeding fully submission to all reformist and bureaucratic leaderships and effectively as a socialist revolution within the Unit- of all kinds. ed States and the whole continent, like the Cuban revo- The Trotskyist thesis is opposed by the vertex. As we lution. The death of Fidel Castro highlights who really shall discuss in this article, we affirm that Stalinism has defend the Cuban revolution and set up a program for only one “nature”: it is counterrevolutionary. The Fourth the victory of the socialist revolution in Latin America International clearly stated in the 1930s that without the and the world, as those who uphold his figure do noth- progress of the world revolution and without the victory ing but uphold the cruel defeats that Castro-Stalinism of a political revolution, the Stalinist bureaucracy, while brought on the international proletariat. defending the workers’ state in its own way with the aim 52 International Workers' Organizer of maintaining its privileges, actually endangered it and weakened it at every step; sooner or later the worker state bureaucracy would end up becoming the direct agent of the world bourgeoisie within the worker state, overthrowing the new forms of property and restoring capitalism. This is what happened in the former USSR, Eastern Eu- rope, China, Vietnam, and today Cuba. Bidding Fidel Castro farewell with hon- ors and presenting him as the “leader of the Cuban and Latin American revolution” amounts to embracing the Castro-Stalin- ist theory that “socialism on a sole island” is possible without struggling to extend 1959: general strike in Havanna the revolution to the imperialist countries. Claiming Fidel Castro as leader of the revolution and socialism before the exploited of Before he died, Fidel Castro had fulfilled the world is so that they do not repeat again (neither in his objective: with the Obama-Castro Cuba nor in the world) the heroic workers' and poor peas- pact capitalism in Cuba has been restored ants' revolution of 1959 -which demonstrated that the with the US flag fluttering in Havanna living conditions of the exploited can only be improved by expropriating imperialism and the native bourgeoisie. The twenty-first century began with enormous revolu- The Castroites and their supporters want to convince us tionary mass battles throughout the Americas. The mass that “socialism” is a worker earning a 18 dollars-wage forces and their allies were to stand again in Ecuador, and suffering enormous hardships; that this is the max- Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and the United imum that a revolution can bring. Declaring -as the PO States to defeat the imperialist blockade of Cuba, and to leadership did- that the “best tribute to Fidel is to con- make that revolution once again be the vanguard of a sin- tinue the struggle for socialism,” is to take responsibil- gle socialist revolution throughout the entire continent. ity for each of his betrayals to the revolution, to place However, this was directly against the interests, not only oneself in the trenches of those who supported -like the of imperialism, but also of the former Castroite bureau- Castro brothers- and continue supporting genocidal Al cracy that was trying to restore capitalism in Cuba and Assad who is massacring the Syrian people on behalf of becoming a new bourgeoisie. To do this, it had to control, imperialism; it is also making oneself responsible for the abort and defeat the generalized revolutionary rise that defeat the capitalist restoration in Cuba means for the was crossing the continent. The scam of the “Bolivarian world working class. revolution” was set in motion to expropriate the workers We Trotskyists do not pay homage to the Stalinist and peasants’ revolution on the Americas. Fidel’s last trip executioner of the socialist revolution; we affirm that out of the island was intended for him to head up in per- socialism will come by seizing power and expropriating son this task. the bourgeoisie in the central imperialist countries where In 2003, in Buenos Aires, Castro pronounced an ex- the most advanced of the productive forces of humanity tensive speech before thousands of people, putting all the are concentrated. Fidel Castro was an enemy to this strat- authority he had usurped to the Cuban revolution at the egy, he never called on the US working class to make service of subjecting the revolutionary mass struggle to the socialist revolution in the US, and he ended up em- the feet of the native bourgeoisies and imposing the farce bracing Obama to becoming, he and his cronies, a new of the “Bolivarian revolution”. bourgeoisie on the island. The same renegades of Trotskyism who today present We do honor the workers and revolutionary peasants Fidel as “the leader of the Latin American revolution” who in Cuba and throughout the continent have given were who presented Castro and held him the microphone their lives fighting imperialism in defense of the Cuban for that speech. In front of 2001 revolutionary Argentina revolution and that suffered one and a thousand betrays and its cry “All of them should go away and not a single by the Stalinists, who backstabbed them. The Cuban one should remain!”, Fidel affirmed that Kirchner had to working class and poor peasants as well as their peers be supported, so everybody was put to produce and soon in the Americas will once again stand on their feet. The that government was going to make the wealth trickle traitors, who betrayed and sold them out, never will! down; that it was not the time to make “new Cubas” as it was one of ideas and not of violent revolutions. The goal of the old World Social Forum Bolivarians and International Workers' Organizer 53

Castro’s so-called “socialism of the 21st century” was ing capitalism, stating that “socialism is no longer viable to prevent the expropriation of imperialism and the even in Cuba.” Thus the bureaucrats now become into native bourgeoisie that 1959 Cuba had performed. new rich have restored the right of inheritance and private Castro’s and the WSF policy was, supported on the property; they handed the land over to “cooperatives” left by the renegades of Trotskyism, to prevent Ecuador, where big money put on a make-up to keep everything Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia from being “new Cubas.” back; they finally opened the borders to the imperialist This was the essence of the “Bolivarian revolution” transnationals with free zones as in Puerto Mariel, defin- scam expropriating the workers and peasants’ revolution, itively liquidating the monopoly of foreign trade and the which resulted in the Boli-bourgeoisie applying IMF and planned economy. To this true tragedy against the Cuban transnationals’ plans and Cuba being a capitalist semi and world working class, the renegades of Trotskyism as colony again. the PO titled the arrival of the US embassy to the island: On this basis, the Obama-Castro Pact was consum- “David beat Goliath”. The destroyers of the Fourth Inter- mated. This was crucial to legitimizing the US imperi- national have become true Castro-Stalinists! alist staff in the midst of the global crisis. At times of The Miami “gusanos” and their chief Trump came to the greatest catastrophe and putrefaction of the world the streets to celebrate the death of the leader of the CPC. capitalist system, Castro preached that socialism was no They, the exploiters have much to celebrate, as they are longer possible. Castro and Chavez called for a vote for returning to Havanna along with Coca-Cola and Morgan the “blackened Bush”; they destroyed the “Occupy Wall Bank. Street” movement that told the exploited of the world What they celebrate is not the death of Castro, but that their enemies were the 1% of parasites that plun- thanks to the new rich “gusanos” in fatigues of the CCP, der the planet. Castroism subjected the US working class the Miami parasites and imperialist big bourgeoisie will and the workers and poor peasants of the Americas to so- return to the same hotels and brothels they used to vis- called “democratic Obama” who assumed power. it when Cuba was governed by Batista’s dictatorship... The Obama-Castro pact was the culmination of the They celebrate that the capitalist restoration on the island expropriation of the Latin American revolution and as has left them cheap labor for a 18 dollars-wage to be ex- such, the fundamental institution that imposed the cap- ploited in the new maquila of Puerto Mariel, a true “free italist restoration in Cuba, with the CCP leaders becom- zone” for the imperialist transnationals. ing a new bourgeoisie on the island, associated with Fidel Castro’s last service to imperialism was to transnational corporations and under command of the guarantee US flag fluttering in Havanna and Cargill con- US embassy that returned to the island. trolling Cuba, just at a time when more than ever, before But before that, the last service provided by Castro imperialist bankruptcy, the only alternative is: socialist was to guarantee the so-called “peace negotiations in Co- revolution or wars and fascism. lombia” sponsored from Havana as headquarters. This The PO, PTS and the whole “New Left” go out to meant the surrender and massacre of Colombian resist- vindicate Fidel Castro, presenting him as a “great rev- ance and the legitimacy of the seven military bases of US olutionary” to legitimize capitalist restoration. They imperialism in Colombia targeting the exploited of the present Fidel as the “leader of socialism” to convince, entire continent. This was the last counterrevolutionary like Stalinism does, the exploited masses that the bour- coup that gave assurances to the new Castro bourgeoisie geoisie should not be expropriated, that the proletarian that it could lift US flag in Cuba unhindered. revolution in the United States is not necessary for us Fidel has died, but not without first liquidating the to really advance to socialism with the most advanced conquests of the Cuban revolution one by one and restor- industry, technology and science in the hands of the working class. They want to deceive the masses by saying that it is possible to develop “socialism on a single island” and that there is no other way than to agree with imperialism. The renegades of Trotskyism vindicate Fidel Castro because they want to hide the revolution, they want to hide that it is possible and necessary to expropriate imperialism and demolish the bourgeois state as was done in Cuba in 1959. Vindicating Fidel Castro after decades of his betrayal to Latin American revolution, after his having sold out the Chilean revolution of the Cordones In- dustriales (industrial belts- name given to the Chilean soviet embryos, NT) of ‘73 proclaiming the “peace- The pirate Obama in Havanna ful road to socialism”; after his 1980s betray to the 54 International Workers' Organizer

Central American revolution being the guarantor to socialist camp,” thus embracing Stalinism. signing the pacts of Esquipulas and Contadora with Though, their theory about the existence of “two which the Salvadoran and Nicaraguan revolutions camps” in conflict was a fraud. In reality, there was a were sold out; after he was also the guarantor that the single capitalist economy where class struggle prevailed; scam of the “Bolivarian revolution” could impose the therefore, the Fourth International program proposed worst of miseries on the masses… after all that, and that, in order to defend the former workers’ states, it was now after his pact with Obama; after being guaran- a must to throw down the Stalinist bureaucracy with a tor of the surrender and massacre of the Colombian political revolution, and that this was one of the tasks of resistance; after he hoisted the gringo flag in Havan- the world socialist revolution. na... claiming Fidel as “the leader of the revolution” In the face of Fidel’s death, all the “New Left” par- amounts to reneging the socialist revolution and to ties and currents, as the FIT in Argentina, revived the become in neo-Stalinists. thesis about Castro-Stalinism being both “revolutionary and bureaucratic at the same time” and therefore It is now clear why so much vindication of Stalinist for them the right attitude is criticizing its regressive Gramsci on the part of the PTS, the English SWP and aspects and supporting its revolutionary measures. This all the currents that have reneged Trotskyism. The rea- is to deny the fight of the Fourth International against son is they have adopted Stalinist policy and so their Stalinism and all kinds of treacherous bureaucracies. program is to fight for “a superior democracy” as Del The bureaucracy is the agent of the bourgeoisie in the Caño and the FIT leaders affirm, or that “the socialism ranks of the working class. Taking this debate to a lower is a leap to the void” as the former candidate for the level, as for example in a union struggle, what the FIT FIT, PO’s Altamira has affirmed. Their recipe is that the means is that when a bureaucrat leads a struggle, a strike working class can improve its general standard of liv- or mobilization, he would be developing his “revolution- ing under the capitalist regime “by filling the national ary side”. For the Trotskyists, when a bureaucrat is at the parliament and the (provincial) legislatures with leftist head of the struggle, he is trying to legitimize himself in deputies.” Therefore the PTS, the PO, the English SWP order to better betray the workers. This law ruled Sta- and all the destroyers of the Fourth International pay linism in the former workers states and also rules in the homage to the Stalinists restorers of capitalism. smallest of the unions led by the bureaucracy. We Trotskyists are not going to keep quiet and si- The Trotskyist thesis is that the nature of Stalinism lence our struggle against Stalinism and the new rich of is counterrevolutionary all along the line, and its aim is the CCP, who are bidding farewell to their leader today; to liquidate the world revolution to become a new bour- we will not renege the struggle for socialist revolution geoisie by selling out the former workers states: and with patience we will convince the vanguard of the “The longer the USSR remains in the vicinity of cap- working class and the youth of the whole world that it is italism, the deeper the degeneracy of its social fabric. not revolutionary who legitimizes, supports and supplies An indefinite isolation must bring, not the establishment genocidal Al Assad against the Syrian revolution as Cas- of a national communism but the restoration of capital- troism and its partners have done and continue doing. ism”. (Trotsky, L.D., The Revolution Betrayed, 1937). That is the Trotskyist thesis and this is what happened in the former USSR, Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam, and To justify their support for restorative now in Cuba! Castroites, the destroyers of the Fourth

International resort to the old scam of the “dual nature of Stalinist bureaucracy”

For decades, false Trotskyists recognized Castro- ism as “the greatest revolutionary leadership after Lenin.” There was not a single current of the liquidators of Trotskyism that did not raise this thesis throughout the sixties. All the tendencies of liquidators of Trotskyism adopted the Pabloite thesis of an alleged “dual nature of the Stalin- ist bureaucracy,” that is, “revolutionary and bureaucratic at the same time.” It was the theory to justify Pabloism after Yalta which had dissolved much of the parties of the Fourth International within the CP under the argument of an “imminent clash between the capitalist camp and the Fidel Castro with Pinochet in Chile International Workers' Organizer 55

The renegades of Trotskyism embrace the Stalinist epics about the Cuban revolution

In the face of Fidel’s death, the “New Left” and within it the FIT, has definitively added to the fraudulent epics of Castro-Stalinism, which it has defined as “leader of the Cuban and Latin American revolution”, thus covering the backs of the new rich restorers of the CCP. They want to hide the truth of the Cuban revolution and the role of Castro-Stalinism since the very victory of the revolution in 1959. They want to hide that the Santos, Raul Castro and the leadership of FARC Cuban revolution succeeded, molded by the conditions of the post-World War II Yalta Pact by which Stalinism Far from the Castro-Stalinist legend that the Cuban had signed with imperialism the so-called “peaceful revolution was made by the “bearded men” coming coexistence” whose objective was that the CP funda- down from the Sierra Maestra, what happened in 1958, mentally prevented the triumph of the socialist revolu- as part of an upsurge in the international class struggle, tion in the central imperialist countries and also, albeit was a powerful insurrectional general strike in La Ha- secondarily, in the semi-colonies. In return, “democrat- vana that lasted 5 days and dislocated the army of Bati- ic imperialism” (as Stalinism defined it) guaranteed to sta and his entire regime. The guerrillas of Fidel Castro Stalinism the administration of the USSR and Eastern and his M26 movement had spent months in military Europe, the source of the privileges of the counterrevo- operations on the mountain separated from the proletar- lutionary bureaucracy. ian and peasant masses that were leading a huge revolu- The best expression of this policy was “The Berlin tionary rise against the pro-imperialist dictatorship that Wall” raised by Stalinism in Germany to stop, surround had plunged the island into the worst misery. The Gen- and defeat the socialist revolution that was in the works eral Insurrectional Strike of late 58 and early 1959 was in Europe. the absolute guarantee of the triumph of the revolution. Stalinism fulfilled blood and fire the Yalta Pact, de- What the renegades of Trotskyism want to hide feating the world revolution, physically crushing rev- is that Fidel’s policy was not the triumph of the so- olutions, shooting the revolutionary vanguard and im- cialist revolution in Cuba or on the continent. This is posing the policy of popular front and class collabora- what Fidel Castro himself said in an interview given in tion with the native bourgeoisies in the semi-colonies. New York in April 1959, “I have told you in a clear and For this reason, the revolutions betrayed and aborted by definitive way that we are not Communists. The doors Stalinism during the Yalta Pact period were the norm. are open to private investments that contribute to the The triumph of the Cuban revolution, as well as the rev- development of industry in Cuba. It is absolutely im- olutions in China, Yugoslavia, North Korea and Viet- possible for us to make progress if we do not share an nam and the expropriation of the bourgeoisie in Eastern understanding with the United States”. Europe, was an exception to this rule. After the defeat of Batista, they quickly improvised These exceptions had been envisaged as hypotheses a “democratic” government of popular front, putting by Trotsky and the Fourth International: “(…) the the- Urrutia in the presidency, who was a son of a legend- oretical possibility cannot be rejected that, under the ary family of the Cuban oligarchy. But the workers and influence of completely exceptional circumstances (war, peasants advanced in the revolution and occupied all defeat, financial crash, the revolutionary pressure of the factories, fields, houses and mansions, hotels and pri- masses, etc.), the petty-bourgeois parties, including the vate clinics; the revolutionary masses expropriated Stalinist ones, can go further than they themselves want everything in their path and were not willing to surren- on the path of a break with the bourgeoisie”. (Trotsky, der what they had conquered. LD, The Transitional Program, 1938). This is what The bourgeois democratic government of Urrutia happened in China, Vietnam and Cuba. supported and propped up by Fidel could do nothing However, the Yalta Pact transformed these tacti- against the advance of the proletarian revolution. Thus, cal triumphs of the revolution (being semi-colonial that party-army of guerrillas, which had to go beyond countries) in the hands of petty bourgeois leaders, its intentions, objectives, politics and strategy, forced into the strengthening the Stalinist counterrevolu- by the revolutionary masses, assumed power. tionary leadership to strangle the world socialist The Cuban revolution was a socialist revolution, revolution and to open the way to capitalist restora- driven by the demands of bread and land; its tasks were tion of the former worker states. to solve national independence and the agrarian revolu- 56 International Workers' Organizer tion, i.e., the rupture with imperialism and the expropriation of the native and transnational bourgeoisie and the oligarchy. We Trotskyists assert that Castroism was then one of the Stalinist petty bourgeois currents who, by applying the Yalta Pact policy, of “peaceful coexistence with imperialism” and of preventing the triumph of the socialist revolution in the central countries, played the role of expropriator to the triumphant 1945: the Yalta Pact between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin socialist revolution in Cuba, the first of the American continent. world revolution but also to advance their counterrevolu- We reaffirm this, because from the first moment in tionary blows into the former USSR. 1959, Castroism conspired under Moscow’s Stalinist In the general revolutionary rise of 1968 -’74, the most leadership in order to prevent the Cuban revolution important struggles of the proletariat were confronted from expanding to the rest of Central America and with the counterrevolutionary obstacle of the Communist fundamentally for it not reaching, developing and Party. In French May the Stalinists were expelled from succeeding in the interior of the United States. assemblies, barricades, and occupations of factories and universities. The 1968 -’74 rise was also against Stalin- In Cuba, then, due to the character of its leadership, ism and therefore the role of Castroism was decisive in what emerged was a deformed workers’ state, i.e. a dic- preventing the revolutions within a series of imperialist tatorship of the proletariat controlled from the outset powers from being combined with processes of political by a counterrevolutionary bureaucracy hostile to the revolution in the USSR and Eastern Europe and the rev- socialist world revolution. A true “Berlin Wall” was set olution in the colonies and semi-colonies. Fidel Castro up on the American continent - in analogy to the wall and “Che” Guevara were the great figures for the masses erected by Stalinism in Germany so that the socialist in Europe, and Moscow Stalinism well knew how to use revolution would not succeed in Europe at the end of them to abort and defeat the widespread upheaval. World War II. That is why the Cuban revolution was The PTS, PO and other representatives of the New a great triumph of the exploited of the world, albeit a Left of Trotskyist renegades affirm that Fidel “was a rev- tactical triumph, because by the counterrevolutionary olutionary leader.” It is a blatant lie and deception; they character of its leadership, this tactical triumph would know full well that Castro, usurping the Cuban revolu- be used against the working class and the world revolution and using its authority, was decisive to prevent, with tion, becoming a strategic defeat. the policy of the popular front, the triumph of a chain of revolutions in Africa where he subjected both the proletariat and the peasants to bourgeois nationalism and Once again on the “nature” of Castro-Stalinism ended up defending Rockefeller’s oil wells. Fidel open- The renegades of Trotskyism want to hide ly supported the massacres of the Red Army like that in that Castroism was the guarantor of the Czechoslovakia and was crucial to revitalizing the hated CPs before the toiling masses. Without Castro, Stalinism defeat of the revolutionary rise of 68-74 could not have betrayed and destroyed the world 1968 and the continuance of the restorationist -’74 upheavals. Without Castroism and without usurp- bureaucracy of Moscow that surrendered ing “Che’s flags” with which they buried the revolution former USSR to imperialism on the American continent, the CP could not have made a leap in its goal of restoring capitalism in the former As we have shown, Stalinism transformed the Cu- USSR. This was the “Berlin Wall” of the usurpation of ban revolution, which had awakened the enthusiasm of the Cuban revolution, which is being handed over today the exploited throughout the Americas and the world, by the same filthy Stalinist Castroism that has become in a conspiracy center to prevent world revolution. The a new bourgeoisie restoring capitalism. This is what the Stalinists used the authority and prestige of the nascent FIT leaders want to hide! revolution as a fundamental tool of legitimization and Of what “dual nature” of Castroism do the rene- self-support to guarantee not only new betrayals to the gades of Trotskyism speak about, when they say that International Workers' Organizer 57

Fidel was a “revolutionary leader” and at the same time “responsible for the bureaucratization of Cuba”? Fidel’s first trip after the triumph of the Cuban revolution was to the Unit- ed States to be held accountable that he would never push the socialist revolution into the heart of the imperialist beast, and later he set out to traverse Latin America to say that there could be no “new Cu- bas,” that they were pushing “socialism into one country, on a single island” and that it was necessary to develop “socialism through a peaceful way” and to sup- French May 1968 port the “progressive bourgeoisie”, thus disarming the masses and giving them up to imperialist fierce repression as it was militias demolished the state and even charged the head in revolutionary Chile in 1973. of that slave trader to Europe that was Khadafy. In Syria, mass mobilizations -from a single revolution in the Magh- This was the international policy of Castroism, while reb and Middle East- began to demand the fall of the re- in the interior of Cuba he pursued a policy of bureaucrat- gime, the fall of Dictator Al Assad. ic counterrevolution, liquidating any workers’ democra- The workers of the world looked at that hot spot on the cy, persecuting and imprisoning all workers who criti- map; in Europe a new wave of struggles began to unfold; cized the regime, promoting the reactionary utopia of in the US the anti-war movement interspersed with the socialism in a single country, whose continuity was the Occupy Wall Street movement; we were on the threshold international policy of preventing “new Cubas” across of a new revolutionary general ascent of masses. the continent. This guaranteed that Castroism would es- This in Latin America had its correlate with the tablish itself as a bureaucracy, a petty bourgeois caste first hard fighting against the Bolivarian governments that lived in Cuba from privileges for the administration and again the working class, and the Bolivian peas- of the worker state. As the international socialist revolu- ants placed themselves in the vanguard, in hard general tion meant the defeat of its privileges both were and are strikes against Evo Morales. irreconcilable. The policy of Castroism was what fenced the Cuban revolution and led Latin American revolution Meanwhile the renegades of Trotskyism said that to thousands of defeats. North Africa and the Middle East were not revolutions No current of the renegades of post-war Trotskyism for bread, that is to say, workers’ and socialist revolu- has failed to sustain Castroism and claim it as a revolutions that stood up, but “Arab spring”, “democratic tionary leadership; for 57 years they have been support- revolutions”, etc., and Castroism put in a state of alert, ing it from the left and snubbing the struggle for political understanding with insight and full clarity the danger revolution. Now that Fidel has died, they vindicate him that lurked in the final stretch of it plan to become a as their leader, so they must be responsible and answer bourgeoisie. for the years of betrayal of the leader who even decorat- ed and honored Ramón Mercader, the murderer of Leon Actually these revolutions for the bread were against Trotsky. the “Bolivarians” and supposedly “anti-imperialists” of that side of the world. Their triumph would mean a huge leap for the world revolution and this was directly against Fidel Castro, supporter of Al Assad and the Obama-Castro pact that was taking firm steps for the capitalist restoration in Cuba. his genocide against the Syrian revolution For this reason the Castro at the head of the Bolivari- on behalf of imperialism ans led in Latin America the support and promotion to Al Assad’s genocide, when on behalf of imperialism he be- In 2011, in response to the imperialist crack that was gan the bloodiest counterrevolution of the last decades. thrown on the backs and stomachs of the oppressed peo- The Castro, the Chavez, the Evo Morales actively ples of the world, there started powerful revolutions for mobilized to crush the Syrian revolution and the Cu- bread in the Maghreb and Middle East. As links of the ban state commanded by the new rich even sent part of same revolutionary chain, insurrections erupted in Tuni- its officialty to collaborate with the genocidal troops of sia, Egypt, Bahrain… In Libya the workers and popular 58 International Workers' Organizer

Bashar. The new rich of the CCP and the Bolivarians are the Al Assads of Latin America! Anybody paying respects to Castro, as the renegades to Trotskyism do, is vindicating somebody who has put all his forces at the service of physically crushing the Syrian revolution before dying. They must take responsibility before the masses of the world!

The genocide against the Syrian revolution and the capitalist restoration in Cuba are two hard counterrevolutionary blows to the masses of the world that will not remain unpunished Kerry raising the US flag in Havanna For a new socialist revolution in Cuba that will successfully and effectively not done so to flutter the US flag in Havana and let the triumph in a socialist US! transnationals have free zones to do their business.

In Cuba a new socialist revolution is needed that ex- The renegades to Trotskyism, like the PTS, refuse to propriates the transnationals and also the new rich of call to defeating Castroism under the pretext of “defend- the CCP in the island. Only this way the Cuban people ing the conquests of revolution”. Counterfeiters! They will be able to reopen the way for leaving the misery in want to hide that the only way to defend what little can which they have been sunk as an outcome of the restor- be left of the achievements of the heroic Cuban people is ative politics of Castroism. Out with the clique of the defeating the Castro government and resuming the rev- Castro brothers and the new rich of the CCP, part- olution of 1959, which can only succeed as a chapter of ners to European and US imperialism! Open the way the Socialist United States of North and South America! to the restoration of the Cuban worker state under a revolutionary shape! Open the way to the Cuban This can only be achieved by a new revolution, with working class! Open the way to socialist revolution! the Cuban workers and peasants standing up their own councils with workers’ democracy, expelling the CCP The generations that gave their lives for revolution- and its police “Committees of defense of the revolu- ary Cuba have not done so to enrich the new bourgeois tion”, and fighting for bread and land to defeat the Cas- of the Castroite Armed Forces and its clique, they have tro regime and all its institutions

For an interim revolutionary government of the councils of workers, peasants, and rank and file soldiers based on self-organization and direct democracy of the masses!

This is the struggle of those who fight to re-found the Fourth Interna- tional of 1938, the party of the world socialist revolution that will restore its Cuban section.

Editorial Board of Democracia Obrera (Workers Democracy) paper 2017: Obama “Welcome to Cuba” International Workers' Organizer 59 August 22nd, 2018 CUBA -

THE MILESTONES OF THE CAPITALIST RESTORATION IN CUBA

he capitalist restoration in Cuba is the Tresult of decades of betrayals, surrender of conquests and counterrevolutionary pacts by the former Castroist bureaucracy with imperialism. As stated by the Transition Program of the IV International about Stalinism in the USSR: " either the bureaucracy, becoming ever more the organ of the world bourgeoisie in the workers’ state, will overthrow the new forms of property and plunge the country back to capitalism; or the working class will crush the bureaucracy and open the way to socialism.. " Clearly due to the crisis of revolutionary Obama and Raul Castro in Cuba leadership, the Cuban working class could not get rid of the Bonapartist bureaucracy of the army-party conditions for the restoration of capitalism on the of the guerrilla commanders. The centrism of Yalta IV island. Only the revolutionary struggle of the masses International, which kneeled before Castroism, has an of the continent and the anti-imperialist resistance of enormous responsibility. While Pabloism dissolved the the Cuban masses prevented Castroism from restoring Cuban section, the largest in Latin America, most of capitalism before, as Stalinism did in 1989 in the the Yalta currents recognized Castro as a revolutionary USSR, Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam and Korea. leadership, and even some of them, like Morenism, From that year, however, Castroism had to take different spoke of Castro as a "Jacobin" and "the greatest steps until it managed to impose capitalist production revolutionary since Lenin." relations. For 50 years, the Castros made Havana a center of conspiracy against the world revolution under the leadership of the bureaucracy of the USSR, a "Berlin Wall" in America (as the wall in Europe which was the 1989: the "special period" opens the process of capitalist res- highest expression of the agreement with imperialism toration that begins to decompose the Workers' State of "Peaceful coexistence" to prevent the revolution from spreading). In the hands of the Castroite bureaucracy Until 1989, the Castroite bureaucracy had not and its nefarious policy of "socialism in one country," been able to advance in the capitalist restoration for the conquest of the Cuban revolution was used to the combats of the 70s and the 80s: the revolution in prevent it from spreading to the rest of the continent: Nicaragua and El Salvador, the proletarian uprising in in Chile in 1973 they proclaimed the "peaceful way Chile of 1982-86 against Pinochet, the uprising that to socialism"; in the United States, Fidel Castro used overthrew to "Baby Doc" Duvallier in Haiti in 1986, the his enormous influence in the black movement to Venezuelan Caracazo in 1989. kneel them before the Democratic Party; in Nicaragua The "special period" that began that year marks and El Salvador, he signed the infamous Esquipulas the opening of the capitalist restoration. The Castroist and Contadora agreements in the 1980s to surrender bureaucracy, based on the defeat of '89, becomes a the revolution; in the XXI Century, he supported restorative agent and lays the foundations to change the Bolivarian bourgeoisies to strangle the Latin property relations, destroy the monopoly of foreign American revolution, etc. Fidel Castro himself was trade and planned economy, which will lead to the in charge of guaranteeing most of these betrayals. decomposition of the Workers' State. The more the bureaucracy managed to isolate This period is shaped, on the one hand, by the the Cuban revolution, the more they prepared the collapse of the USSR, which bought Cuba its sugar 60 International Workers' Organizer production and, in exchange, provided oil and Constitution (1992-1995), allowing the creation machinery; and on the other, by the blockade of US of Joint Ventures (between the Cuban State and imperialism. Cuba had been isolated. The "special transnationals, in which the State retained at least 51% period" meant unprecedented suffering and famine for of the shares) in tourism, nickel, etc. and establishing the Cuban masses, which were used by the bureaucracy a double currency system. The participation of as blackmail to introduce pro-capitalist measures the children of the bureaucrats in the Joint Ventures that began to undermine the socialist elements of the directories allowed bureaucracy to begin a capitalist transition regime. accumulation with the leakage of dividends to the The Castroist bureaucracy, already a restorative Bahamas. agent, carried out "exceptional openings" in the With the double currency, bureaucracy established monopoly of foreign trade and gave permits for small two parallel economies: a capitalist economy with foreign property and small production and cooperatives, and investments in tourism, hotels and nickel mining, where a associations between the State and Spanish, Canadian currency (the CUC) was exchanged 1 to 1 with the dollar. and French transnationals in hotels, tourism and nickel. A dozen Cuban CP bureaucrats and their children This situation deepened social inequality, opening begin to benefit from the economic plan of the double an irreconcilable gap between the privileged currency, exacerbating social inequality. A sector restorationist bureaucracythat became richer and of workers of the mixed companies obtained a salary richer while the people that sank in hunger and differentiated in convertible pesos (CUC) convertible misery. Sectors linked to foreign business handled to dollars, while the vast majority of the workers and dollars, while the vast majority of workers and poor peasants lived on the devalued currency and with peasants lived hardships with miserable ration cards. salaries of U$ 18. They were years of unprecedented suffering of Thus, establishing the double currency and social the people. Between 1990 and 1995, GDP fell inequality meant a hard blow against the egalitarian by 35% and real wages of workers by 80%. consciousness of the masses. In spite of the isolation and US offensive, the Cuban masses presented a heroic anti-imperialist resistance defending the revolution and its conquests. 1997-2006: The Latin American revolution puts in check the But the imperialist blockade could only be broken capitalist restoration plan. The Castroist bureaucracy, allied to with the working class of the continent revolting the "Bolivarian" native bourgeoisies, strangles it to advance in against transnationals and their governments, with workers and peasants of the island supported the restoration by the Latin America and US revolutions, and with the Cuban working class overthrowing the In 1997, the economic crisis began and the process- restorationist bureaucracy with the political revolution. es of the Latin American revolution began: Ecuador But in 1989, the parties that claimed belonging to (1997), Argentina (2001), Bolivia (2003-2005), the the IV International, which had the program for the anti-war movement in the US, the Oaxaca commune political revolution, were totally subjected to Stalinism. (2006), etc. The Cuban masses, who had resisted the Mandelism had supported Gorbachev. In Latin enormous privations of the "special period", saw in these America, they were on political fronts with the CPs. uprisings the possibility of breaking Cuba's isolation. American SWP became an appendix of Castroism. The bureaucracy, on the contrary, saw its own existence These parties reviewed Marxism and blamed Trotsky threatened as well as the capitalist restoration plans to for their own capitulations and adaptations to Stalinism. become the new native bourgeoisie in Cuba. That is why That is why in the process of restoration, they did nothing they needed to defeat the revolution on the continent. but deepen their course of submission to Castroism, Castroism swindled the Cuban masses. It told them definitively refusing to carry out any struggle for the that Cuba's isolation was broken by Chavez and the political revolution in Cuba. "Bolivarian" bourgeoisies. At the head of the World Social Forum, it deployed a policy of class collaboration with the native bourgeoisies and was guarantor With the reform of the Constitution (1992-1995), the of counterrevolutionary pacts in Honduras, Colombia, Bolivia, etc. to prevent the triumph of the revolution. CCP allows the creation of joint ventures with imperialism This posed the question of redoubling the struggle to Establishing two currencies overthrow Castroite bureaucracy with the political revolution and against the "Bolivarian revolution" of the During the blockade of imperialism in Cuba WSF. Far from this, the renegades of Trotskyism joined and with the imposition of capitalist restoration in the Forum as a left wing, actively participating in all its the former USSR, China, etc., the CCP reforms the meetings and legitimizing Castro's counterrevolution- International Workers' Organizer 61 ary action. Its role was to contain and bind the left wing of the proletariat, subordinating it to the bourgeoisies and the governments of the "Bolivarian revolution". Meanwhile, the mechanisms of social differenti- ation inherent in the double currency deepened. The Castroite bureaucracy liquidated the monopoly of foreign trade entering ALBA, which allowed transnational installed in Cuba to trade through the trian- gulation of imports with capitalist countries, and at the same time, a brutal enrichment of the bureaucracy through contraband with the Bolivarian bourgeoisies. The export of health and education services to Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia was another Chavez, Kirchner and Fidel Castro source of enormous enrichment of the bureaucracy. With the Foreign Investment Law of 2014, imperialist monopolies are guaranteed that they will not Since 2009-2010, with the strangulation of the revolutionary be expropriated, and that if they do, they will be processes and the Obama-Castro pact, the bureaucracy enters duly indemnified according to international trea- the final stretch of the capitalist restoration process ties, liquidating the policy of expropriation without compensation imposed in the revolution of 1959 The last period of the restorationist offensive in Cuba With the visit of two Popes in 2012 and 2015, the begins after the crash of 2008. With the Latin American Church, which acts in fact as a legalized bourgeois par- revolution expropriated by the "Bolivarian" bourgeoi- ty, legitimizes restoration and Castroism as a restorative sie, the Castroist bureaucracy, already determined to agent. define the capitalist restoration, agrees with Obama, to whom Fidel Castro and Chavez called their "candidate" US imperialism reopened the Embassy in against Republican McCain. To win the recognition of Havana in 2015 and the US flag, burned in 1959 US imperialism as a restorative agent, Castroism sub- by the exploited, was raised on the island. As part jects the American working class to the Democratic of the concessions to imperialism, Castro created a Party and commits itself to surrendering the Colombian free zone in Puerto Mariel, a strategic zone of depos- resistance with the Peace Accords of Havana. its and circulation of merchandise of the multination- With the assumption of Raúl Castro in 2008, a se- als, where 27 companies from Spain, Holland, France, ries of reforms are defined to liquidate the last so- Belgium, Panama, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea. cialist elements and impose capitalism on the There the workers are prohibited from having unions. island, definitively interrupting the transition re- In this period, Cuba becomes a transitory capitalist gime from capitalism to socialism and allowing state, dependent on imperialism, but not yet semi-colo- the automatic development of capitalism in Cuba. nized, that is, not yet subject to imperialism by econom- In 2010, two key issues were decided: firstly, lay off ic, political and military colonial treaties. over 500,000 workers, liquidating on the one hand full employment and developing an industrial reserve The defeat of the revolutionary uprising of 2011, army, and promoting, on the other, individual proper- whose highest point was undoubtedly the revolutions ty and with it a petty-bourgeois social base for the cap- of the Maghreb and the Middle East and in Ukraine, italist restoration under self-employment; and secondly, was wind in favour of the new Cuban bourgeoisie. the right of inheritance is legalized to bequeath the In 2018, the new rich are ready to approve a bour- property to the children of the families of the Castro hi- geois Constitution for capitalist Cuba, to rec- erarchs. Thus, bureaucracy begins to openly become ognize at the highest legal level the capitalist pro- a possessing class, a native bourgeoisie. duction relations already imposed in recent years. It must be said that the prognosis of the Fourth The resolutions of the CCP - VI Congress in 2011 International was confirmed by the refusal: the revolu- wanted to finish imposing a capitalist economy on the is- tion was isolated, betrayed by Castroism, which ended land, but in an orderly manner. The Bonapartist govern- by imposing capitalist restoration. ment of Raul Castro disciplines the most avid layers of the new rich to prevent from disintegration of the restoration regime and to prevent gaps in the heights, through Juan Carballo where the Cuban masses can escape facing restoration. 62 International Workers' Organizer Continnued from backpage A BURGEOIS CONSTITUTION FOR A CAPITALIST CUBA erty of the new rich and imperial- ers to imperialism. The free zone of new Constitution prepares the con- ism. The new Constitution legalizes Puerto Mariel, where workers are ditions to do so, since it will legiti- this bourgeois class character of the prohibited from having unions, is mize the regime of terror of the PC Cuban State. the reissue of the free zones opened and the Armed Forces, blessed by the That fact that the new rich in China after the Nixon-Deng Xiao Vatican. have suppressed the word "com- Ping pact. Cuba is facing an iron alter- munism" in the text of the new Cuban CP is already a bour- native: to end up like Maduro's Constitution is not accidental. They geois party, like that of the "red Venezuela or Ortega's Nicaragua, a want to liquidate socialist revolution businessmen" of the Chinese PC, or US semi-colony plundered and mas- not only in the Law but in the con- the CPs of the oligarchs of Russia sacred; or the workers and peasants sciousness of the heroic Cuban an- and Eastern Europe. The children of defeat the government of the bour- ti-imperialist masses. the ex-bureaucracy drive Mercedes geoisie of the CCP with a new social The ex-bureaucracy of the CP and Benz and BMW, wear Armani suits. revolution and open a new chapter of the Armed Forces became a native They have luxury restaurants and the revolution in the American con- bourgeoisie associated with impe- companies linked to tourism, man- tinent. rialism in tourism, mining (nickel), sions in exclusive neighborhoods construction etc. The ex-bureaucrats like El Laguito, where they live with CUBA: WORK FOR THE COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY and their families, their children, military custody. It is the party of were enriched by the double cur- the bourgeois who embraced Obama WORK OF THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM rency as shareholders and thieves in and hoisted the US flag in Havana. GAESA and the joint ventures asso- The social base of this restoration With capitalist restoration in ciated with imperialism -large hotel is an avid bourgeoisie of business Cuba, the World Social Forum ends chains, Puerto Mariel (a free zone and property, consciously promoted its counterrevolutionary work in that serves as a deposit for containers since 2010 by the Cuban CP under America. At the beginning of the 21st to trade with US and the imperialist the auspices of "self-employment" century, Fidel Castro and Chavez transnationals are installed to su- (which increased from 150 to 600 were in charge of strangling Latin per-exploit the Cuban workers), etc.- thousand since 2010) and the "coop- American revolution, the uprising ; with frontmen in the cooperatives, eratives". Stalinism thus culminates of the workers and peasants against superexploiting workers for U$18 the work of betrayal and delivery the Bush’s offensive. With a policy per month; with the sale of health of all the triumphant revolutions of class collaboration with the native and education services in Venezuela, of the twentieth century, from the bourgeoisies -supported by the left by Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, which al- former USSR, Eastern Europe and the renegades of Trotskyism- WSF lowed them to leave dollars abroad, China in 1989 to Cuba, Korea and betrayed the revolution and prevent- in Miami and the Bahamas; They be- Vietnam recently. This is how the ed the seizure of power in a number came rich as a commercial bourgeoi- reactionary utopia of "socialism of countries in South America, such sie linked to ALBA. in one country" ended, which was as Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador. With the right of inheritance in fought by Trotsky and the Fourth In 2009-2010, Castro and 2010, the former bureaucracy guar- International. Chavez agreed with Obama. This anteed transfering the property to Capitalism will deepen hunger meant the offensive to define cap- their children. Now with the con- and misery, will bring massive un- italist restoration in Cuba and the stitutional reform, property and the employment and super-exploita- betrayal of the Colombian resist- millions who fled abroad in these tion as in the former workers states ance, today massacred by the par- years will be laundered, with those of Russia, Ukraine and all of Eastern amilitaries and the Armed Forces. who will buy by state-owned com- Europe, and even China. The yoke of In 2013, at the Tunisian WSF, they panies that they are now plundering. Wall Street will be like in the worst openly supported Assad’s massacre The model of these new rich is China years of Batista, with US transnation- in Syria and handed over the post of and its "market socialism". Like the als and the gusanos of Miami coming the international counterrevolution to Chinese CP, the iron control of the to Cuba to buy companies and land Podemos and Syriza, the parties of Cuban CP over the State imposes a for low prices. the New Left. Bonapartist regime of terror on the The new rich have to impose Today, thanks to the betray- masses with the Defense Councils of monetary unification, which will als of WSF to the Latin American the Revolution, to guarantee the mis- be a brutal blow to the Cuban peo- revolution, US imperialism comes ery and the surrender of slave work- ple. The plebiscite to approve the for everything in Latin America International Workers' Organizer 63 commanded by Trump. The "good neighbour" policy of Obama is over. Now comes the "big stick". Trump wants Raúl Castro and the new Cuban President Díaz Canel to kneel even more and give everything to their monopolies: the land for Cargill, the hotel chains to the Sheraton, the business of machines and supplies for construction and in- frastructure to Caterpillar, etc. Castroism and the Bolivarians, CCP Commission for reforming the Constitution whether from the government like Maduro, Evo, Ortega, or from the "opposition" like Lula and the That is why they are with the alism and its lackeys from Alaska to Kirchner, etc., guarantee Trump that "democratic" bourgeoisies and Tierra del Fuego. the plans of imperialism are applied. Stalinism. We can see PTS and FIT The most immediate task in Cuba The Bolivarians withdraw from his- (Argentina), with its policy of class today is the struggle to restore the tory as servants of Wall Street, mas- collaboration with Kirchnerism. In dictatorship of proletariat under sacring the people. Ortega bombed Peru, ITU is in a bloc with the Frente revolutionary ways. A new so- the rebellious city of Masaya, just Amplio and the Maoist union bu- cialist revolution must be prepared, like Assad does in Syria. reaucracy of Patria Roja in the local with armed councils of workers, The surrender of Cuba to world elections in Lima. peasants and soldiers defeating capitalism is a huge defeat for the LIT, which in Brazil claims to face Castro’s government, crushing the American and world working class collaboration with PT, called to bourgeois state and expropriat- class. Castroism liquidated the only vote for Gustavo Petro, the candi- ing imperialism and the new rich workers state on the continent, the date of the Antioquia bourgeoisie in from the CCP. The path is of the only triumphant socialist revolution, Colombia. In the United States, US revolutionary Soviets of the October for which entire generations gave left supports the "Democrat" Sanders Revolution led by the Bolshevik their lives. against Trump. Party and the Third International of The currents that disowned But imperialism does not bring Lenin and Trotsky. The only program Trotskyism follow Castroism that more "democracy" but wars, famines that can lead to the triumph of a new says "socialism does not work any- and barbarism. The hour of social- socialist revolution in Cuba is that of more". They definitively abandoned ist revolution has sounded under the IV International of 1938. It is nec- the struggle for the dictatorship of the crossfire of the class war. The essary to refound Cuban Trotskyism! the proletariat. And while they deny American working class fights back Recover the IV International from the workers the right to exercise their in Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua and hands of the renegades of Trotskyism dictatorship against the exploiters, Haiti, against the plans of Trump and who gave it to Stalinism! these parties, which fight for a "real the IMF. That is why the struggle of generous democracy", only recog- the Cuban working class against the nize to the bourgeoisie the right to new rich of the CCP is inseparable Juan Carballo exercise their dictatorship. from the struggle against US imperi-

* Originally published in “El Organizador Obrero Internacional” (International Workers’ Organizer) #26 / August 2018

The reader may find more statements on Cuba in our website:www .flti-ci.org CUBA August 22nd, 2018 With the new draft Constitution, the National Assembly recognizes private property of imperialism and the new rich of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP) A BURGEOIS CONSTITUTION FOR A CAPITALIST CUBA* A new stab in the back of Stalinism to the Latin American revolution

month ago, the Cuban National A Assembly (AN) approved a draft Constitution that will replace the current one, whereby the new rich of the CCP are ready to recognize the capitalist property they imposed recently. As the Introduction of the Constitution Project says: "the economic system that is reflected maintains as essential principles the socialist property of all the people on fundamental means and planning, to which is added Raul Castro and Diaz Canel the recognition of the role of the market and of new forms of non-state property, including private. " which expropriates capitalists, never the last couple of years". The definitive approval of the again; Socialism does not work any- Article 21, among the different Constitution, a huge blow to the Cuban more." forms of property that are recognized, exploited prepared since 2013 by a Maduro, Morales, Rousseff, includes "private: that exercised over commission of the Political Bureau of Kichnerism, native "Bolivarian" bour- certain means of production, in accord- the CCP led by Raul Castro in person, geoisies who strangled the revolution ance with the provisions". The objec- will be done through a fully Bonapartist with Fidel and the WSF, applaud happi- tive is to guarantee the legal security plebiscite, where you must vote for ly. Today, they allow Trump setting his of the property of the new bourgeoi- "Yes" or for "No" the 224 articles of the feet in Latin America, with murderous sie of the CCP and the imperialist new Constitution project. governments like Ortega in Nicaragua investments. It is a totally bourgeois It is a new chapter in the delivery or Maduro in Venezuela (which follow Constitution, of defence of private of Cuba to imperialism and world cap- the path of butcher Assad in Syria), or property. italism. What the Yankees could not in "oppositions" pro-imperialist puppet All the institutions of the Cuban achieve in 60 years, the Castro broth- like Lula and Kirchner. State, its judges and courts, its ers and the CCP did: impose capitalist It cannot be hidden anymore that Assemblies, and mainly officer caste restoration on the heroic Cuban an- what prevails in Cuba is the private in charge of the band of armed men, ti-imperialist masses. property of the Spanish, French, are organized around protecting the After strangling the Latin American Canadian and Yankee monopolies and private property of the hotel chains, revolution of 1997-2006 that terrified of the new Cuban bourgeoisie and the the imperialist investments, property Castroism and endangered ist resto- Church. of the cooperatives, and even the man- rationist plans -after agreeing with The new Constitution, by openly sions of the new rich in El Laguito, etc., Obama and Wall Sreet in 2009-2010- recognizing private property, comes to against the exploited. it restored capitalism and became the reify capitalist production relations We are no longer faced with a work- propertied class. imposed on the island in the last few ers state that protected nationalized It is a historical betrayal, a "1989" years. As the Draft Constitution of ownership of the means of production. (year of capitalist restoration in the the Republic of Cuba recognizes in its In recent years it has become a bour- USSR, China, etc.) in the American introduction, they need "to make the geois state that defends private prop- continent. In the midst of capital- Constitution correspond to our reali- ist bankruptcy, Castroism tells world ty, the foreseeable future and the other Continues on page 62 workers: "A revolution like in 1959, measures that have been approved in