Venezuela: what happened to a million communists in 1965 in Indonesia should be a warning for us.

‘No volverán’ is not just an empty slogan, it is an issue of life and death.

Surely with all his arms of mass destruction, our Tio Rico is becoming a global pauper. His mother-country, Great Britain, which was ruling the waves as super power, went down the drain with all its mighty arsenals of arms. The only difference this time is that the downfall of the USA will be the downfall of the world market; hence, the new competitors for world hegemony are very reluctant to relieve the USA from its economic agony.

In any case, we are in the age of globalization, of corporate capitalism, which has no political boundaries anymore. In this sense, like in the case of the ex-Soviet Union, one good morning we will wake up, not missing the Twin Towers, but rather the very USA itself.

In Africa we know that when a man-eater, a lion is mortally wounded, it becomes more ferocious, more brutal. Hence, comrades, beware!

Let us briefly summarize the somewhat eerie economic situation of the USA in the Year 2008, and relate it to the Venezuelan “dictatorship”.

Concerning the US fiscal deficit, already in 2005 the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service warned that “the United States federal budget deficit will expand in fiscal year 2005/06 and interest rates will continue to rise. The deficit in 2005/06 was already expected to widen. Tax receipts will rise more slowly as the softening economy limits growth in revenue, while spending will continue to rise for defense, homeland security and most discretionary programs. Rising interest rates will mean that debt-service costs will continue to become more of a burden than in recent years.” 1)

At the end of 2007, the war economy of the United States of America reached a record national debt of $9.125 trillion; about $4 trillion of it were surpluses paid into security and retirement trust funds. The fiscal deficit runs at about the same velocity.

As we know, in 2007 the United States of America experienced chronic economic and military setbacks, which were pushing the country towards a recession, a housing market crisis and a credit fiasco. Added to this, compared to the European Union, and its strong euro, the sick, unproductive United States economy is dependent on a regular foreign influx of some 4 billion petro dollars a day; it is also haunted by sky-rocketing debts and deficits, which play havoc with the US dollar as leading world currency. Many central banks have changed over to other currencies already. The dollar itself lost over 40% of its real value. No real capitalist will forever deposit its profits in a dying world currency.

As excellent Marxist political economists, like Ernest Mandel (Late Capitalism, 1975), have pointed out long ago, the desperate attempt to produce more liquidity by printing more greenbacks that are worthless paper clippings and the lowering of interest rates are just accelerating the coming fiasco, are exacerbating the central imperialist corporate problem, The immediate results we have experienced in 2007 already: rapid decline of the dollar and a soaring inflation. Concretely, this implies the progressive pauperization of large sectors of the lower classes and the disappearance of an opulent middle class.

In 2008, because the sick dollar, buying will be less, many United States citizens will end up homeless, paying huge bills for imported goods, energy and food; logically internal unrest will result, and the ‘patriot acts’ can then fully perform their oppressive domestic tasks.

Instead of reducing poverty, of introducing real popular power, by estimates made between 2000 and 2006, all the countries of the world spent US$ 1100 billion for military purposes, in order to butcher each other one day.

The U.S. military budget is the highest in the world. Its national defense spending of US$ 623 billion surpassed the total spending of the rest of the world. The next highest of the bigger countries is China (65 billion), followed by Russia (50 billion); among the lowest Switzerland ( 4.5 billion) and Sweden (5.5 billion). Among the Third World countries: Brazil (9.9 billion), Colombia (3.5 billion) and Venezuela (1.6 billion). Of course, by 2008, without altering their ranking, all these figures have changed; for example: “The FY2008 budget requests $481.4 billion in discretionary authority for the Department of Defense base budget, an 11.3 percent increase over the projected enacted level for fiscal 2007, for real growth of 8.6 percent; and $141.7 billion to continue the fight in the Global War on Terror (GWOT).” 2)

On July 11, 2007, with reference to the military budget of 2008, and its usage, what did the White House tell us?

President Bush gave the world a detailed plan of how to overcome the bankruptcy of the United States ailing war economy by 2012 “while keeping taxes low”, and ‘spending taxpayers dollars wisely’. A central wise strategy in balancing the nation’s accounts is: combating terrorism and protecting the homeland against vile threats of rogue nations, which have organized themselves as dictators and tyrants in the ‘axis of evil’, among them, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria, Bolivia and Venezuela.

“The Budget supports our troops fighting terrorism, strengthens our military for the future, supports our efforts on the diplomatic front and protects our homeland from attack. (Bush)” 3)

This will certainly improve the United States economy by 2012. What he did not tell the world was, that if current imperialism continues its genocidal warpath, by then the global ‘balance of power’ would have shifted to China or even that a possible nuclear barbarism would be ruling the world.

Also, just by studying Marx’s Capital again, by updating it wherever necessary, nothing is more absurd than the belief that in the epoch of globalization, in the realization of world capitalism, we we are already gradually developing towards a new, post-capitalist multi-polar international ‘socialist’ system.

The immense problems that the current world market, the backbone of global corporate imperialism are posing do not entice any other possible great power to take over immediate control of this sinking Titanic. In his article ‘Balance of Power Is Continuing to Shift From the US’, Leon Harder formulated this as follows:

“While China, the Middle Eastern oil-producing countries and other emerging economies in East Asia and the Middle East, as well as in Latin America (Venezuela) may be challenging American global supremacy, the United States remains central to the global economic and military infrastructure, and there are no signs that any of the rising powers, including the European Union (EU) is ready to replace Washington in the driver’s seat.” 4)

However, in 2008, things may worsen. Israel and its ‘Jewish lobby’ in the Pentagon could get totally crazy and attack Iran. The current conflict in Pakistan may spill over to its natural habitat again, to the perpetuate power struggle between Pakistan and India, with the corresponding military meddling in the internal affairs of other countries by Israel and the USA. Apart from the above, the corporate oil war mess in Afghanistan and Iraq and the rising oil prices are progressively eroding US geo-strategic political power.

Concerning fighting ‘terrorism’ in Venezuela, to topple the ‘dictator’ and ‘tyrant’, Hugo Chavez Frias, it is most unlikely that Washington could afford to fight more major wars. At this moment this would be economic suicide, sending oil prices to $200 a barrel, which would place the world market in jeopardy, eventually generating dozens of class wars all across the globe and in the USA itself.

In its diatribes against Venezuela, confronted by the rising powers of China, India and Russia, the White House will have to turn low the flame of its major hoax, its global democratic crusade.

For all these reasons explained above, in 2008, a direct military invasion of Venezuela by the USA would be suicide, because it could spark off that what Marx and Engels already in 1848 have predicted in their “Manifesto of the Communist Party”: Globalized Chaos and Anarchy.

“A similar movement is going on before our own eyes. Modern bourgeois society, with its relations of production, of exchange and of property, a society that has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, is like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells. For many a decade past the history of industry and commerce is but the history of the revolt of modern productive forces against modern conditions of production, against the property relations that are the conditions for the existence of the bourgeois and of its rule. “ 5)

Rather the danger is from within, within the ranks of the Bolivarian Revolution.

It comes in the following waves:

a) from those anti-socialists and anti-communists who only want a non-Marxist, reformist, Christian ‘revolution’, that is, who are ignoring workers’ social interests, self-liberation and class struggles;

b) from those counter-revolutionary forces, including oligarchic and clerical ones, which have infiltrated all walks of life, who are sabotaging radical change from within;

c) from those pacifists who ignore workers’ self-determination and who want to decree and dictate social revolution from above, including its theory and policies; and

d) from all sorts of foreign infiltration in Venezuela: CIA, endowment funds, sects, scientology, paramilitary troops, death squads, saboteurs, etc.

However, the greatest danger is structurally, is strategically, it comes from the total absence of an effective, efficient proletarian socialist vanguard party, which has to be founded and nurtured by the most conscious nuclei of workers’ power, in alliance with critical support and assistance from other sectors of the population which have made workers’ interests their own, new class interests. Only such a party will be able to develop a revolutionary program for Venezuela, a socialist workers’ program that will not be swallowed by a bourgeois democratic constitution, that is, will create a political environment in which workers can decide who will be their leading representatives and for how long he or she will stay. This will be true sovereignty, is people´s power. Only this organized, militant class conscious party, in embryo already existent as our ‘Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV)’, will be able to confront the immense dangers that will confront us in the near future.

Beyond any doubt, the revolutionary leadership of socialist revolution in Venezuela currently is reflected in President Chavez, but one man, a great leader, does not and can not make a revolution, does not make socialism, does not make history.

Marx and Engels very clearly explained what is the capitalist essence of the current social conflict in Venezuela, of the class struggle in Latin America and who and what make current world history:

“ … the history of industry and commerce is but the history of the revolt of modern productive forces against modern conditions of production, against the property relations that are the conditions for the existence of the bourgeois and of its rule.”

That we did not succeed to develop workers’ nuclei of revolutionary cadres ever since eight years is grievous indeed; what is more dangerous is that in our midst an opulent political middle class came into existence which loves dolce vita, ‘hummer’ vehicles and Gringo whiskey. Surely, as Rosa Luxemburg has pointed out, socialist revolutions, class struggles, have their ups and downs, but this does not mean that we should rflee after hearing the first counter-revolutionary salvo. She also pointed out that all, real, true revolutionary victories remain, even in a temporary setback. However, another danger is that the ‘opposition’ was granted the little finger, now it thinks that it can grasp both hands in 2008, and then enjoy Christmas with Hallacas without Chavez.

If we do not change from defensive to offensive, to open defence of the revolution, the result could become catastrophic.

Of course, nothing is sure, we could lose our revolution, but for the ‘opposition’ the brainless offensive that it started already will be its greatest mistake.

Either the Bolivarian Revolution enters a new phase, really begins as workers’ revolution, that is, with a socialist counter-offensive, or we may lose a grande opportunity for the second time, that what was necessary to do on April 13, 2002. If we did so, no oil sabotage would have resulted, also not the current fiasco of constitutional reform. We could learn many things from our enemies, but there are sufficient evidence to know what they will do with us should they ever regain power again. ‘No volverán’ is not just an empty slogan, it is an issue of life and death. What happened to a million communists in the Indonesia CIA Massacre in 1965 should be a warning for us in 2008.

As Marx stated, and what was later discussed extensively by Lenin and Trotsky, also in Venezuela, in 2008, the whip of the counter-revolution will set free revolutionary forces undreamt of until now, which are being created by the profound contradictions and class struggles within the world system, as reflected currently by the decaying North American and other metropolitan societies.

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FOOT NOTES:

1) www.infoexport.gc.ca/ie-en/DisplayDocument.jsp?did=61799

2) www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spending.htm

3)  www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/budget/2008/index.html

4) www.antiwar.com/hadar/?articleid=12129

5) www.marxists.org/archive/marx/
works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm

NOSPAM.emancipation@franzlee.org
www.franzlee.org

venezuela.indymedia.org/es/2007/12/14006.shtml