Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Venezuela at the Crossroads: Voices from Inside the Revolution

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Venezuela at the Crossroads: Voices from Inside the Revolution

by Luke Stobart from Venezuela Analysis. An excellent discussion by Venezuelan activists about the problems and prospects of progress in their country. I was pleased to see this article also re-printed in Venezuela Analysis website where, too often, I have seen the site as only acting as a cheerleader for the "Bolivarian Revolution". Unlike some left-wing enthusiasts of Venezuela, I've seen a definite plateau reached by the progressive forces in the country and increasing entrenchment of the bureaucracy, and fear that the gains that have been made will be lost if things do not progress further.

Chávez has a progressive sensibility and a character far removed from that of a tyrant or demagogue. But he has around him a military and bureaucratic presence which sees itself as the vanguard of the revolutionary process. Because economic, political and bureaucratic interests are so prevalent in the government the project becomes strictly the opposite: corporative, bureaucratic and militarised. The worrying thing about Chávez is whether he is aware of this, and also how he fails to react when everybody is saying, “Throw out all these satraps in the government.”