Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

The “integration” that Chávez promotes and his double talk

If [Argentinean President] Kirchner sought to appear next to [Brazilian President] Lula [at the MERCOSUR Summit] as an expression of “progressive possibilities” . . . Chávez spoke differently depending on who he might be talking to. While in the ceremony together with Fidel Castro in the Ciudad Universitaria in Córdoba [Argentina], he [Chávez] said again, […]

Left Voice

July 24, 2006
Facebook Twitter Share

If [Argentinean President] Kirchner sought to appear next to
[Brazilian President] Lula [at the MERCOSUR Summit] as an expression
of “progressive possibilities” . . . Chávez spoke differently
depending on who he might be talking to. While in the ceremony
together with Fidel Castro in the Ciudad Universitaria in Córdoba
[Argentina], he [Chávez] said again, quoting Rosa Luxemburg, that the
alternative was “socialism or barbarism,” in his intervention during
the Presidents’ meeting he chose as models to follow the ideas
of . . . Celso Furtado and Raúl Prebisch, and the Argentinean
economist Aldo Ferrer. These three are among the main referents of
CEPAL (the Economic Commission for Latin America, founded from an
initiative of the UN in 1948). With some variations, the arguments of
these authors are the source of various ideas of “propponents of
bourgeois development” . . . . From the original ideas of Prebisch,
the “CEPAL-ianos” supported the fallacy that the Latin American
bourgeoisies are capable of overcoming the backwardness and
dependency of our countries, a claim repeatedly refuted by the facts.

As we see, the “integration” proposed by “the Bolivarian” [Chávez]
has nothing in common with the socialism of any century; rather, in
this “integration,” the capitalist bases of the social order that,
with the exception of Cuba, is in force in the various countries of
Latin America, remain intact. In his years in power, Chávez, despite
rhetoric about the “Bolivarian revolution,” has made no progress in
laying a hand on the sources of the economic power of the Venezuelan
oligarchy, not even of those who obviously organized the imperialist
coup of April, 2002, or the subsequent “lock out” by the employers,
both defeated thanks to active intervention by the mass movement.
That is why, although extremely high income from oil profits has
permitted policies of social assistance to the most impoverished
sectors, improving their health and educational conditions, levels of
poverty [in Venezuela] remain very high and the percentage of the
national income going to workers has not greatly improved.

Facebook Twitter Share

Left Voice

Militant journalism, revolutionary politics.

Archive

The Unknown Paths of the Late Marx

An interview with Marcello Musto about the last decade of Marx's life.

Marcello Musto

February 27, 2022

The Critical Left in Cuba

Frank García Hernández discusses the political and economic situation in Cuba and the path out of the current crisis.

Frank García Hernández

February 27, 2022

Nancy Fraser and Counterhegemony

A presentation from the Fourth International Marxist Feminist Conference.

Josefina L. Martínez

February 27, 2022

Who is Anasse Kazib?

Meet the Trotskyist railway worker running for president of France.

Left Voice

February 27, 2022

MOST RECENT

A group of protesters, in the front of whom are a line of protesters wearing red vests. In the front right corner, a white sign reds "vive la retraite," with a skeleton wearing a red hat in the middle of the sign on a black background with a text bubble on its left that reads, "oiv a bosse, c'est pas pour en crever!"

“French March”: The Right to Revolutionary Optimism

Evoking memories of '68, the students enter the fight against Macron. In our chaotic world, the future can only be built in the streets.

Eduardo Castillo

March 26, 2023

Joe Biden Is Deporting Russians Who Escaped Putin’s Draft — Let Them All In!

The United States is deporting Russians who sought asylum following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is a heinous attack against war resisters and shows that the proxy war in Ukraine is about capitalist rivalry first and foremost.

Sam Carliner

March 26, 2023

On Monday, Germany Will Experience a “Mega-Strike”

On March 27, German railway workers and public sector employees will shut down the whole country. All trains are being canceled. Airports, freeways, hospitals, and daycare centers will all be affected.

Nathaniel Flakin

March 25, 2023

France: On the Frontlines of the War Against Austerity

The French masses have raised the banner of class struggle in what is becoming the first major battle against austerity after the pandemic. Working people across the world should pay attention.

James Dennis Hoff

March 25, 2023