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Venezuelan “Socialist Areperas”—state-owned restaurants that serve
the food staple arepa (Venezuelan-style tortilla)—are a cause of
interest and concern for U.S. embassy officials, according to a recently
released cable from January 2010.
The Socialist Areperas system is indicative of the overall objectives
of the Venezuelan revolution: prioritizing meeting people’s needs, not
maximizing profits. These restaurants get all of their supplies from
state-owned companies and offer high-quality food costing at least 10
times less than the same food at a private restaurant.
The idea behind Socialist Areperas is to create community-based
businesses, create jobs for locals and combat price speculations from
private companies. The Venezuelan government launched the initiative in
early 2010 to fight against major price hikes imposed by private
corporations.
Referring to a public statement made by Eduardo Saman, a prominent
Venezuelan revolutionary and former Commerce Minister, the cable stated,
“Saman highlighted another key difference between socialist and
capitalist ‘arepera’: customers pay only after eating, while ‘in fast
food chains … they only think about money.’”
Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution, led by President Hugo Chavez, is
posing a serious threat to U.S. imperialism in Latin America. His
government has become progressively more radical since assuming power
after the 1998 elections. In 2005, Chavez publicly declared the
revolution “socialist.”
Workers and poor people in the United States should follow the lead of our sisters and brothers in Venezuela.
Click here to read the full text of the cable released by WikiLeaks.
