Venezuela
Venezuela's economic and energy woes?
By Federico Fuentes, Caracas
May 23, 2010 -- In recent weeks, local and international media have attacked the left-wing Venezuelan government over alleged “economic woes” and electricity problems (see article below). Pointing to Venezuela’s inflation rate — the highest in Latin America — and an economy that shrank 3.3% last year, the private opposition media is raising fears of a serious economic crisis.
These same media outlets, which have been predicting the fall of President Hugo Chavez for years, argue recent government actions will worsen the situation. Venezuelan business federation Fedecamaras warned on May 5 that Venezuela faces an “economic and social crisis”. The federation helped organise a 2002 military coup against Chavez that briefly installed Federcamaras leader Pedro Carmona president before a mass uprising restored Chavez.
Venezuela: Millions vote to select socialist candidates
By Federico Fuentes, Caracas
May 9, 2010 -- The May 2 internal preselection of United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) candidates for the September 26 national elections was an example of the mobilising force of this mass party in construction. More than 2.5 million party members participated. This demonstrated the PSUV is the largest national political force, and highlighted its democratic and participatory nature.
The participation rate was greater than the 2.3 million people who voted to preselect PSUV candidates for governors and mayors in 2008. More than 3500 candidates stood in the 87 different electoral circuits, for 110 deputy and 110 alternate positions.
The national leadership, headed by PSUV president Hugo Chavez — also the Venezuela's president — will decide a further 52 deputy and 52 alternate deputy candidates for province-based lists.
Indigenous peoples will select candidates for the parliament’s three Indigenous seats.
Venezuela: 100,000 celebrate May Day
By Tamara Pearson
May 2, 2010 -- Venezuelanalysis.com -- Venezuelans marched on May 1 to celebrate International Worker's Day. President Hugo Chavez also implemented a 15% wage increase, and the government broadened social security entitlements.
The main national march was in the capital Caracas, where people chanted, danced, waved placards and banners and played music as they marched towards the presidential palace Miraflores. While there were no official or police estimates, various participants in the march told Venezuelanalysis they estimated that "hundreds of thousands" turned out, celebrating the achievements of the Bolivarian revolution and its promotion of wage increases, better working conditions and better life conditions for the poor majority. [However, more sober accounts told Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal that participation was around 100,000.]
A range of union and workers' representatives addressed the crowd from the main stage and 7000 police and guards looked after the march.
The `First Socialist International of the 21st Century'
April 26, 2010 -- Venezuelanalysis.com -- During the recently concluded five-month extraordinary congress of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Kiraz Janicke and Federico Fuentes had the opportunity to discuss President Hugo Chavez’s proposal to form a Fifth Socialist International with Julio Chavez, a delegate to the PSUV congress and a member of the congress’s international committee, which is charged with drafting a specific plan of action to form a new socialist international.
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Venezuela: `This what democracy looks like'; Alan Woods: The people in arms
Venezuelan
students organised in the Bolivarian militia. Introduction to Alan Woods' article (below) by Stuart Munckton, photos by Kiraz Janicke
April 22, 2010 -- The Future on Fire -- A common chant around the world when people take to the streets against the crimes of the global capitalist system is: "This is what democracy looks like!"
It is a statement that real democracy is on the streets, in the united action of ordinary people. It is a statement that democracy is more than passive voting once every few years, it is popular power and direct participation.
Speech by Raúl Castro Ruz, president of Cuba's Councils of State and Ministers, delivered at the 9th ALBA-TCP Summit, Venezuela
April 19, 2010 -- It is very moving for us to be in Venezuelan today, April 19, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the independence struggle, which represented the battles for independence in the Spanish colonies in the Americas.
It was the embryo of a first integration process in Latin America, as Simón Bolívar understood the destiny of the peoples of our region very early on. Everything that we do now for the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean began precisely here, on a day like today, two centuries ago.
Celebrating the 8th anniversary of the Venezuelan people’s defeat of the April 11, 2002, coup against Hugo Chavez, and solidarity with the Venezuelan Revolution
By the Socialist Party of Malaysia
Marta Harnecker: `Socialism is a search for a fully democratic society'
Marta Harnecker interviewed by Edwin Herrera
Salinas, for the Bolivian newspaper La Razón. Translation by MRZine's
Yoshie Furuhashi. Posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with permission
After Copenhagen: Can we save the world? Video: Is the climate sick of us?
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Fourth International's response to Chavez’s call to found a Fifth Socialist International
[The following is an excerpt from the "Role and tasks of the Fourth International", a report adopted by the Fourth International at its 16th World Congress held in Belgium in February 2010. Click here for the full report.]
Chavez’s call to found a Fifth International poses other questions about its origins, its framework, that is to say, its viability. The Fourth International declares that it is willing to participate in the debates and preparatory meetings that may be organised. We will contribute our historic gains and our vision about what a new international and its programatic foundations could be. A genuine new international can only be born if its members share a program, an ability to intervene in society, a democratic, pluralist form of functioning, as well as clear independence from governments in order to break with capitalism.
Official announcement for the II International Conference “Bolivar, Lincoln and Marti in the ‘ALMA’ of our America” to be held in Caracas, Venezuela, November 17 to 20, 2010, within the framework of the bicentennial of the independence o
Venezuela: New moves to build workers' power; Revolution in the electricity industry
By Federico Fuentes, Caracas
March 22, 2010 -- The free, sovereign and independent homeland of our dreams will only come true if we radicalise the process and speed up the transition to socialism”, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez wrote in his March 14 weekly column “Chavez Lines”.
The Venezuelan government has launched a number of initiatives in recent weeks aimed to tackle threats to the revolutionary process — including from elements within the pro-Chavez camp that seek to undermine plans to deepen the revolution.
Central to this are new measures aimed at speeding up the transfer of power to organised communities.
Chavez wrote in his February 21 column: “The time has come for communities to assume the powers of state, which will lead administratively to the total transformation of the Venezuelan state and socially to the real exercise of sovereignty by society through communal powers.”
Participatory democracy
The previous day, Chavez announced the creation of the federal government council in front of thousands of armed peasants that are part of the newly created peasant battalions in the Bolivarian militia.
Ecosocialism 2025
