OscailtBolivanarchism: The Venezuela Question in the USA anarchist MovementA US anarchist analysis of Venezula2005-06-24T22:46:15+08:00Anarkismoanarkismoeditors@lists.riseup.nethttp://www.anarkismo.net/atomfullposts?story_id=770http://www.anarkismo.net/graphics/feedlogo.gifShort responsehttp://www.anarkismo.net/article/770#comment7222005-06-24T22:46:15+08:00AndrewI don't have time to respond to this at length but it is a debate worth having. ...I don't have time to respond to this at length but it is a debate worth having. A few hasty points
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1. To invert the logic of this article can I ask why single Chavez/Venezula out of the all the exciting struggles that are happening south of the US border at the moment? In many ways except for the threat of US intervention it is the least interesting of all because it is a conflict between state actors rather than the state/capital and the people. That the state of mobilising the people in its defence gives it some interest in a way that is comparable to Cuba. The Argentinian factory occupations are of greater interest because they are happening in opposition to the state rather than as part of a state led strategy. They were thus far more likely to develop a revolutionary dynamic of their own.
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2. It has to be recognised that the oil reserves make Venezula a unique country in the region - indeed they make Chavezism possible by providing a source of wealth which would allow a social democracy without confiscations of the property of the wealthy. This means that whatever you think of what is happening there it is not necessarly a model for anywhere else - elsewhere providing services to the poor means fighting the rich - in Venezula compromise is possible and is being sought.
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3. The idea implicit in this article that Chavez has some connection with communism makes no sense to me. His program is purely social democratic - it is the intransigence of the bulk of the capitalist class in Venezula that is pushing him towards a mobilisation of the population. But whatever the rhetoric the program he is pushing is one of reform and a very top down reform at that. That is what we need to be pointing out.
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4. An anarchist program for the situation there would be very interesting but would need to be both critical of Chavez and capable of intervening to exploit the contradictions in the mobilisations to defend him. The El Liberterio group seem not to be doing this but just producing rather theoetical explanations of how it all makes no difference. With the fragments we hear about other anarchists it appears they are so involved in the defence of Chavez that they are unable to also develop an alternative to him.
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5. Why does all this matter. I would argue that both the reaction of Chavez to the coup attempt and anarchist analysis of other coups from Spain '36 to Chile '73 warns us that a movement under the control of the state will not only fail to defeat a coup attempt but will leave whatever working class organisations that have developed almost paralysed and defenceless in the face of a coup. A defence of Chavez that builds no independant working class movement is preparing the ground for repression. And there are no signs I am aware of that the movement is independant of Chavez or that any real forces are trying to make it so. If this exists then the first priority is perhaps to enable people to hear of it.
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6. The best comparison if probably with Chile/Allende and at almost every level it is an unfavourable comparison. The Allende government also mobilised huge demonstrations of support but they failed to move against the military (like Chavez) and the failed to arm the people (like Chavez). However Chile has not only a significant independant left but also a vigorous movement within the rank of file of the socialist party itself that put forward the demand for arms. The level of US involvement that we can see also seems comparable with what could be seen before the coup in Chile and so we can guess that hidden from us the same forces may also be at work.
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Anyway a few hasty comments based on my limited knowledge of the situation. I'd be very interested to hear any counter examples that point to self managed organisation in Venezula that is not a gift of the state.brief thoughtshttp://www.anarkismo.net/article/770#comment7252005-06-25T06:53:15+08:00FrancisHello all,
Based on limited personal experience, I think the CRA/El Libertari...Hello all,<br />
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Based on limited personal experience, I think the CRA/El Libertario comrades in Venezuela are sort of like NEFAC here in the States (while the francophone NEFACer's suffer less from this predicament): they are far more interesting, sophisticated, and thoughtful in their analysis when you meet them in person than they are in the propaganda they put forward. Just as NEFAC's propaganda has a one-dimensional feel to it (class struggle, without much nuance), so does the editorial content of El Libertario (against Chavez and the oppostion, in equal measure and without much nuance). But beneath this surface simplicity lie an array of well thought out perspectives on a range of issues, many of which are brought to bear in the (highly laudible) actual on-the-ground work being done by each. I just with that both groups would do a better job of relaying this complexity to the world at large.<br />
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Solidarity,<br />
Francisre: Francishttp://www.anarkismo.net/article/770#comment7272005-06-25T16:29:00+08:00AndrewThanks for that comment Francis, I'm of course only going on what I've read - wh...Thanks for that comment Francis, I'm of course only going on what I've read - what sort of on the ground work do they engage in?Re: Andrew critiqueshttp://www.anarkismo.net/article/770#comment7332005-06-27T00:38:34+08:00RAANAndrew,
Thank you for your comments, they've been added to the discussion we're...Andrew,<br />
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Thank you for your comments, they've been added to the discussion we're having in the RAAN forums. (<a href="http://www.redanarchist.org/forums/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=208&start=0)">http://www.redanarchist.org/forums/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=208&start=0)</a><br />
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- Non-the-ground workhttp://www.anarkismo.net/article/770#comment7342005-06-27T01:44:10+08:00FrancisAndrew,
Good question. During my brief time there near the end of 2004, the ...Andrew,<br />
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Good question. During my brief time there near the end of 2004, the on-the-ground work being done by folks around El Libertario (in Caracas in particular) seemed to be four-fold: first, they publish one of the most widely distributed (per capita) anarchist newspapers I’ve yet encountered in the Western Hemisphere. The paper contains accessible content and appears actually to be read by a pretty wide range of people (ie. not just anarchists). Its circulation would be the equivalent of distributing perhaps 250,000 copies of a paper in the US, six times a year and in all parts of the country. Admittedly, this probably seems less extraordinary in Europe.<br />
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Second, the paper can be distributed across the country because the CRA/El Libertario comrades have succeeded to a great extent in building connections with the small populations of anarchists in almost all the major cities of Venezuela, not to mention a number or small towns. The paper lists a couple dozen contacts across the country, and copies of every issue of the paper are sent to each of them. While my organizationalist (“especifista”) inclinations make me critical of the looseness of this network, it’s still important to realize that the Caracas comrades have expanded the anarchist dialogue in the country in a very positive way.<br />
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Third, last November the CRA/El Libertario grouping opened a community center in a poor, largely chavista neighborhood in central Caracas. This in some ways has the feel of your average North American infoshop – lots of punk kids, piles of books, etc. – except that when I saw the place, it was already being used as a focal point for meaningful community organizing along the model hinted at in one of the quotes Nachie’s article used: attempting to separate the wheat from the chaff of the neighborhood’s chavista community, building ties with the grassroots elements while remaining critical of the leadership.<br />
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Fourth, a number of the Caracas comrades have pretty close ties with several different indigenous groups across Venezuela. I missed an opportunity to visit one such group, which has apparently been involved in significant direct action against the massive hydro-electric projects that have been developed in the eastern part of the country in recent decades. This aspect of work seemed very promising, but I didn’t get to see it in action so it was hard to tell how developed it was.<br />
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Obviously, some key areas of work are missing from this list: foremost among them, the anarchists in Caracas have no organized presence in any workplace that I know of. Second, while a number of the best organizers I met were women, there wasn’t much of a visible feminist aspect to the work being done there. Still, the anarchists of the CRA/El Libertario were inspiring in many ways.<br />
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I hope that answers your question. Also, two other North American friends/comrades who visited around the same time will hopefully post an analysis of their visit sometime soon.<br />
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Solidarity,<br />
Francis<br />
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PS. I also have all sorts of comments on the original piece by Nachie, but those will have to wait.Re:http://www.anarkismo.net/article/770#comment7462005-06-29T10:29:03+08:00NachieFrancis,
Thank you very much for your comments, they've provided a small piece ...Francis,<br />
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Thank you very much for your comments, they've provided a small piece of the puzzle that had been missing up until this point...<br />
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We've had no success in contacting the Venezuelan collectives and it has been a large handicap in trying to get a sense of what's going on there, and how to support it. If it's in your ability, it would be truly appreciated if you could contact any comrades there on our behalf.<br />
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I patiently await any reactions to the essay.<br />
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- Na replyhttp://www.anarkismo.net/article/770#comment13512005-09-29T21:41:25+08:00nestorA reply in Spanish has been posted at the following address. We will publish the...A reply in Spanish has been posted at the following address. We will publish the English translation in the near future.uninformed commenthttp://www.anarkismo.net/article/770#comment13582005-10-01T10:34:09+08:00Paul Bowmanhelvetius at ntlworld dot comI remember watching the peculiar and surreal "reality TV" show of the abortive c...I remember watching the peculiar and surreal "reality TV" show of the abortive coup on television in Spain several years ago. For a moment the morbid horror of witnessing something that could have turned into the Chile 73 was followed by the spectacle of the collapse of the coup (due to withdrawal of US support). My spectacting was coloured by personal links to people on the losing side in Chile in 73 and, for that matter, in Spain during the Civil War.<br />
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It is clear that the aftermath of a successful US-backed anti-Chavez coup would involve the disappearance of a lot of our kind of people, not to mention a serious downturn in the living conditions of the Venezualan working class and poor, both mestizo and indigenous.<br />
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That said, as I think has been mentioned above, the important thing is organising for self-defence. If the rhetoric for the need for self-defence initially concentrates on the danger of US "regime change" thats not as important as that the organisation be autonomous and loyal to the barrios rather than any party. The only defence against "betrayal" is autonomous power.