On Jan. 10, Hugo Chávez inaugurated his third term as president of Venezuela after winning the December 2006 elections with 62 percent of the vote. “Nothing and nobody will lead us away from the path toward Bolivarian socialism, Venezuelan socialism, our socialism,” asserted Chávez.
Chávez is moving to speed up the revolutionary process during his new six-year term. He used his inaugural speech to
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With the National Assembly and the vast majority of provincial governments fully behind the Bolivarian process, the period ahead holds great potential for the advancement toward socialism.
Chávez also discussed plans to further nationalize the Venezuelan economy, including strategic areas such as energy and telecommunications.
The new plan will bring power utilities, the country’s largest telecommunications firm and the lucrative Orinoco River basin oil projects under state control. The Orinoco oil fields are presently controlled by foreign companies such as British Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Statoil, which will be allowed participation as minority partners. (People’s Daily Online, Jan. 14)
One of the greatest gains of the revolutionary process in Venezuela has been the allocation of an increasing portion of the country’s oil wealth to fund social programs that benefit workers and the poor. The Venezuelan capitalist class and foreign oil companies have fought tooth and nail to keep the profits flowing into their own pockets rather than back to the people.
“Whoever doesn’t want to stay as a minority partner: Goodbye, thank you very much,” said Chávez. “This is about national sovereignty.” (Bloomberg, Jan. 13)
Government changes
Chávez’s new term also comes with a number of cabinet changes—including new ministers of Labor, Education, Higher Education, Finance, Environment and Popular Participation. The Popular Participation Ministry has been responsible for transforming local governance through Communal Councils that empower the population. Additionally, new ministerial posts have been created for Telecommunications and Indigenous Affairs.
The outgoing vice president, José Vicente Rangel, explained that although he and other government officials may be leaving the government, they “are not leaving the revolution.” Chávez praised both Rangel and his successor, Jorge Rodríguez, in his speech. (VenezuelaAnalysis.com, Jan. 8)
The U.S. capitalist media has responded to the announcements by Chávez with the usual hysteria and slander, claiming that the request for special executive powers are an attempt to introduce totalitarianism in Venezuela by bypassing the legislative branch—accusations laden with hypocrisy.
No such statements were made when Bush requested permission to bypass Congress to begin an illegal war against Iraq. By automatically rubberstamping every appropriations bill for the Iraq war, Congress has effectively given Bush the power to wage a war of aggression by decree.
Of course, the U.S. ruling class is not really concerned about the specific mechanisms of Venezuelan governance, but rather about their impact on private property and profits.
When Chávez was given special powers by Venezuela’s legislative branch in 2001, he used them to pass over 40
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While the “special powers” of the U.S. executive branch have been used to advance the interests of the capitalist class, in Venezuela they have benefited the working class and the poor, much to the discontent of rich Venezuelans and foreign investors.
Countering the capitalist press and imperialism
The Venezuelan government is being painted as an enemy of “free speech” for deciding not to renew the broadcast concession of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV). But the Venezuelan Constitution of 1999 has provisions for social responsibility of the media, which RCTV and other private media have consistently violated. “The airwaves do not exist for summoning insult, assassination of prominent individuals or civil war,” explained vice president Rodríguez. “They exist to inform, include and entertain.”
RCTV, together with other private media outlets such as Venevisión and Globovisión, has actively tried to destabilize the country and undermine the Bolivarian revolution. It openly supported the April 2002 coup against Chávez. The people of Venezuela quickly took to the streets and overturned the coup in two days, clearly showing that the corporate media did not reflect the sentiment of the masses.
Venezuela’s national bourgeoisie and their imperialist backers simply cannot accept the loss of a valuable instrument of counterrevolution such as RCTV. The reactionary elites want to protect their stranglehold over the country’s media to ensure that “free speech” continues to exist for the rich only.
The United States considers the Bolivarian revolution a threat to its hegemony in the region. Under Chávez, Venezuela has developed a strong and prosperous relationship with socialist Cuba based on mutual cooperation that prioritizes people’s needs. The country has become the leading force in the shift to the left in Latin America.
“Chávez is among the most stridently anti-American leaders anywhere in the world, and will continue to try to undercut U.S. influence in Venezuela, in the rest of Latin America, and elsewhere internationally,” said John Negroponte during a Jan. 11 Senate hearing. (Miami Herald, Jan. 12)
Indeed, the anti-imperialist role of the Venezuelan government extends well beyond Latin America.
Chávez has developed ties with president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from Iran—another country on the U.S. hit list. The two leaders had previously agreed on a joint $2 billion fund to finance investment in Iran and Venezuela, but, on Jan. 13, they announced that the money will also be used to fight U.S. influence in Latin America and Africa.
“This fund, my brother,” Chávez said to Ahmadinejad, “will become a mechanism of liberation. Death to U.S. imperialism!”
