Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Re: ''Hugo Chavez (and) real Anti-capitalism''
A rebuttal to anti-Chavez criticisms enunciated by the right wing anarchist sector.
Re: ''The incurable flaw of the Left seems to be its weakness forleadership cults. Apparently the global left has forgotten thehorrors of Stalinism and Maoism.''
Reply: The basic assumptions of this comment are innacurate. Hugo Chavez isnot ''like Stalin'' or ''Mao''. The Bolivarian Revolution has not established a dictatorship. There is absolute freedom of speech, movement and the press in Bolivarian Venezuela.
Re: ''It is no longer capable of differentiating between grassrootscontrol and bonapartism (i.e. rule by a strongman).''
Reply: The propaganda that Chavez is a ''stongman'' comes from the neo-liberal, pro-Bush opposition: The Escualidos. Chavez is a democratically elected president who presides over a socialist democracy in construction. The aim of the Bolivarian revolution is to achieve a situation where the people of Venezuela will be the rulers of their own destiny: personally and collectively.
Re: ''The global left fools itself, furthermore it contradicts itself by thinking that following nationalist strongmen is the way to bring about a global ecologically sustainable socialist democracy.''
Reply: Chavez is not a ''stongman''. He is the democratically elected leader of the people of Venezuela. The Nationalism of the Bolivarian revolution is a positive type of nationalism because it aims to empower Venezuela against United States imperialism.
Re: ''The leadership cults around Mao or Stalin in the past; Castroand Chavez today all have a common denominator: The suppression of critical thinking in favor of the BIG LIE – whatever it might be, nomatter how absurd.''
Reply: There is no ''supression of critical thinking'' in Venezuela. There is absolute freedom of the press and absolute freedom of speech, more so than in the United States or the European Union. In Bolivarian Venezuela the right to free expression is extended to the poor and those socially excluded under neo-liberal capitalism.
Re: ''Honest socialists and other progressive people are focusing so much on the apparently ''anti-capitalist'', ''anti-Yankee'' rhetoric emanating from Telesur and Chavez's various media performances...that they are not looking at Chavez critically.''
Reply: Denunciations of U.S. Imperialism and global neoliberalism are not just ''rethoric''. The Chavez government ACTS politically, economically and diplomatically on its words to serve as a counterpoint to U.S. domination over Latin America. The media performances come from the opposition media, whose style of journalism is yellow.
Re: ''The Multinationals still control the economy, the rich continue to become richer at the expense of the poor, the projects related to the so-called `'empowerment'' of the urban and rural poor are no more than localized experiments, there is corruption, there is rampant crime, street children. The `'Cogestion'' (i.e. workersco-management) projects are a scam. The workers never really manage anything. The `'workers management'' meetings are staged for the benefit of visitors and TV cameras.''
Reply: These are lies. Yes, there is a private sector but it is taxed and regulated. The State and NGO sectors have a proportional influence over the Venezuelan political-economy. There is no private sector dictatorship as in the United States. Poverty and unemployment have been reduced consistently since 2004 while economic growth per annum has been 5 to 8 %; these facts are recognised by the World Bank. There is a crime and corruption problem, but the Bolivarian government is in the process of implementing policies to counter these phenomena. No one has said that the Bolivarian Revolution is ''perfect''. There is plenty of crime in the United States and in the European Union. There are 'Misiones' (i.e Social Programs), in place to provide services to street children and the homeless. The Cogestion program is not ''stage managed'', the workers have direct imput into production in Alcasa and PDVSA. This situation did not exist under the previous neoliberal capitalist regime.
Additional Discussion: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/redsquare2/
Reply: The basic assumptions of this comment are innacurate. Hugo Chavez isnot ''like Stalin'' or ''Mao''. The Bolivarian Revolution has not established a dictatorship. There is absolute freedom of speech, movement and the press in Bolivarian Venezuela.
Re: ''It is no longer capable of differentiating between grassrootscontrol and bonapartism (i.e. rule by a strongman).''
Reply: The propaganda that Chavez is a ''stongman'' comes from the neo-liberal, pro-Bush opposition: The Escualidos. Chavez is a democratically elected president who presides over a socialist democracy in construction. The aim of the Bolivarian revolution is to achieve a situation where the people of Venezuela will be the rulers of their own destiny: personally and collectively.
Re: ''The global left fools itself, furthermore it contradicts itself by thinking that following nationalist strongmen is the way to bring about a global ecologically sustainable socialist democracy.''
Reply: Chavez is not a ''stongman''. He is the democratically elected leader of the people of Venezuela. The Nationalism of the Bolivarian revolution is a positive type of nationalism because it aims to empower Venezuela against United States imperialism.
Re: ''The leadership cults around Mao or Stalin in the past; Castroand Chavez today all have a common denominator: The suppression of critical thinking in favor of the BIG LIE – whatever it might be, nomatter how absurd.''
Reply: There is no ''supression of critical thinking'' in Venezuela. There is absolute freedom of the press and absolute freedom of speech, more so than in the United States or the European Union. In Bolivarian Venezuela the right to free expression is extended to the poor and those socially excluded under neo-liberal capitalism.
Re: ''Honest socialists and other progressive people are focusing so much on the apparently ''anti-capitalist'', ''anti-Yankee'' rhetoric emanating from Telesur and Chavez's various media performances...that they are not looking at Chavez critically.''
Reply: Denunciations of U.S. Imperialism and global neoliberalism are not just ''rethoric''. The Chavez government ACTS politically, economically and diplomatically on its words to serve as a counterpoint to U.S. domination over Latin America. The media performances come from the opposition media, whose style of journalism is yellow.
Re: ''The Multinationals still control the economy, the rich continue to become richer at the expense of the poor, the projects related to the so-called `'empowerment'' of the urban and rural poor are no more than localized experiments, there is corruption, there is rampant crime, street children. The `'Cogestion'' (i.e. workersco-management) projects are a scam. The workers never really manage anything. The `'workers management'' meetings are staged for the benefit of visitors and TV cameras.''
Reply: These are lies. Yes, there is a private sector but it is taxed and regulated. The State and NGO sectors have a proportional influence over the Venezuelan political-economy. There is no private sector dictatorship as in the United States. Poverty and unemployment have been reduced consistently since 2004 while economic growth per annum has been 5 to 8 %; these facts are recognised by the World Bank. There is a crime and corruption problem, but the Bolivarian government is in the process of implementing policies to counter these phenomena. No one has said that the Bolivarian Revolution is ''perfect''. There is plenty of crime in the United States and in the European Union. There are 'Misiones' (i.e Social Programs), in place to provide services to street children and the homeless. The Cogestion program is not ''stage managed'', the workers have direct imput into production in Alcasa and PDVSA. This situation did not exist under the previous neoliberal capitalist regime.
Additional Discussion: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/redsquare2/
For more information:
http://redsquare2.blogspot.com/
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
The capitalist elites have had it in for Chavez for years and they continue the drumbeat of a coparison with him and the big government dictators like Moa and Stalin. A typical propaganda tool used by Hitler--associating onerous names with the name of anyone you want to smear.
The conservative business elite loathes Chavez because he recognises the essential evil of capitalism in that capitalism must continually feed the maw of its investors in order to grow and growth is fundamental to its continued life. Chavez, as with all other socialists, realises the essential bleakness of this path; he realises that resources are part of the birthright of all the people of a country not just an ATM to be accessed and used by the business elites to improve their bank accounts.
For more information:
http://dianentim@optusnet.com.au
The fact that Chavez is carrying out his reforms within the context of a capitalist economy severely limits how far they can go and also keep his presidency in a very unstable state. Cuba, since its 1959 socialist revolution, has been able to provide free education up through university levels and virtually eradicate illiteracy, provide free health care, carry out a sweeping land reform, convert agriculture to organic farming techniques, establish sustainable energy policies, and make sure that everyone is fed even in this face of a U.S. led economic embargo. This progress would not have been possible under a capitalist economy. Further more the revolution probably would have been overthrown by the economic power of the capitalists had their ownership of production not been taken away and used for the benefit of the people of Cuba.
The half steps taken by Chavez serve to anger the capitalists of both the United States and Venezuela without permanently neutralizing their power over the day-to-day workings of the economy and without neutralizing their power within the military inherited from the previous regime. Corporate control of the media, rather than nationalization or direct workers control, was a very important tool used by the capitalists in the attempt to overthrow of the Chavez government. Like all wealth the wealth of capitalist newspapers belong to the workers who created that wealth, not the capitalist blood suckers that have stolen that wealth. While a freer press than that of Cuba is possible and should exist in a socialist society, there is no reason to continue to allow the undemocratic control that the capitalists have over the economy and information.
Venezuelan Socialists: What does the reelection of Chávez mean?
http://indybay.org/newsitems/2006/12/09/18336285.php
The half steps taken by Chavez serve to anger the capitalists of both the United States and Venezuela without permanently neutralizing their power over the day-to-day workings of the economy and without neutralizing their power within the military inherited from the previous regime. Corporate control of the media, rather than nationalization or direct workers control, was a very important tool used by the capitalists in the attempt to overthrow of the Chavez government. Like all wealth the wealth of capitalist newspapers belong to the workers who created that wealth, not the capitalist blood suckers that have stolen that wealth. While a freer press than that of Cuba is possible and should exist in a socialist society, there is no reason to continue to allow the undemocratic control that the capitalists have over the economy and information.
Venezuelan Socialists: What does the reelection of Chávez mean?
http://indybay.org/newsitems/2006/12/09/18336285.php
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$110.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network