Further major victories for President Chavez’s ruling coalition were made in the regional (state and mayoral) elections on 31 October. This follows the historic rejection, in the 15 August referendum, of an opposition demand that Chavez be recalled from office. The Bolivarian movement won in 20 of the 22 states where elections were held, including the Miranda State governorship and the office of Metropolitan Mayor, both of which were active against President Chavez in the defeated 2002 coup. It took hold of an additional 50 municipalities. ALVARO MICHAELS reports.
In its bitter frustration, the opposition has again turned to violence. State Prosecutor Danilo Anderson was killed by a bomb in his jeep on 18 November. Amongst other cases, he had pressed charges against six agents of the Caracas metropolitan police for killings during the defeated coup. He was prominent in an investigation into nearly 400 activists who supported the coup, and was preparing a case against army officers – some accused of bombings in Caracas and now sheltering in the terrorist bolt-hole Florida – who had declared themselves in open rebellion against President Chavez.
Regional elections
Previously the government held 15 out of 23 states. The opposition controlled eight states, Metropolitan Caracas and some 220 municipalities out of 335. In fact in the 2000 elections the Chavista Platform won 17 states, but two of the governors abused their mandate and joined the opposition. These manipulators have now been democratically removed. The government thereby gained five governorships and now holds 21 of 23. It increased its control of the town halls to 270 of the 334. In two states, Carabobo and Yaracuy, defeated governors rejected the results. Government troops were dispatched to ensure an orderly transition. As Chavez said: ‘The leaders of the revolution have to be as open as doves and as astute as snakes, to understand and defend it on whatever ground’. ‘The Office for Transition’, funded by the US government to finance the opposition to Chavez and located in the US Embassy in Caracas, is no doubt a little upset! The money that the US Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy delivers to government opponents in Venezuela, would be quite illegal in the USA if conducted by a foreign government! It is illegal to ‘solicit international intervention’ in Venezuela and recipients of this US blood money are now facing trial.
On 5 December, recall referenda for nine opposition deputies will be held, called for by Chavistas, who originally called for 35 deputies to be voted on. Since only three of these have pro-government substitutes – the others having an anti-government or no alternative – the government could only gain three new deputies. Nevertheless, since the government and its allies have only 87 out of 165 deputies in the National Assembly, the additional three, if elected, are important. The simple majority is 84 votes.
For five years, the opposition governors and mayors have obstructed, legally and illegally, the government’s reform programme. Now Chavez must not only extend the popular social programmes in subsidised food, training, free education and health care, but meet very serious challenges in breaking up and replacing the old state system.
Transforming the administration
On 13/14 November the mayors, governors elect, ministers and senior military officers met in Caracas to discuss the Bolivarian Revolution: New Stage, New Strategic Map. A key objective was to discuss the transformation of the country through full participation. ‘Popular participation is the foundation of this revolution,’ said Chavez. Ali Rodriguez, president of the state-owned oil company PDVSA, had said elsewhere that: ‘The main obstacle is the administrative structure of the state’. Last April he said: ‘we have a revolutionary government but we still don’t have a revolutionary state’. Thus Chavez insists ‘this new stage has to be characterised by more rapid advances and successes in changing the economic model’.
At this meeting they discussed democratising communications – bringing popular communication centres to every part of the country, creating an anti-corruption task force, the civil-military alliance, the private sector, poverty, popular participation in the creation of budgets, the social economy and international relations. Concrete plans are to be presented in Congress in the New Year.
The previous election campaigns (eight including the August ‘Recall’ referendum), the experience of the attempted coup of 2002, the old PDVSA managers’ strike 2003, followed by the recall referendum campaign, created a mass of new working class and poor peasant activity in support of the government. Assemblies of citizens, Bolivarian circles, parent campaigns to open schools, motorcycle couriers, groups defending state property from attacks, petroleum convoy escorts, and other activities, have seen new levels of working class self-consciousness. A ‘Positive Middle Class’ movement also developed to support the government. The government created ‘Missions’ to support those in the poorest and most neglected sectors, creating a sense of hope and direction. Food distribution, housing, education and health groups were set up. Already the ‘Barrio Adentro’ programme has provided free health care to 15 million people, strongly supported by Cuban volunteers. In housing projects this led to a new relation between the people and the military. These ‘Missions’ had to be set up outside of the existing ministries. Now these ministries are being restructured and new ones are being set up. The government is discussing with the banks a project to build 80,000 low-cost houses for the poor.
The MVR (Fifth Republic Movement) and its Congressional allies, created electoral battle units (UBEs) to politicise the poor and to win the recent elections. These units, composed of ‘inexperienced’ supporters, spontaneously organised themselves where they worked and not necessarily the electoral district where they lived. They allowed many thousands of supporters to act independently, regardless of the quality or existence of MVR local leaders. This real grass-roots movement is to be converted into Endogenous Battle Units (again, UBEs) dedicated to fighting poverty. Chavez has stated ‘poverty cannot be eliminated if we do not give power to the people’, but it was of course the people who gave power to Chavez, both electorally and in forcing the military to defeat the attempted coup from within its own ranks. It is his six million voting supporters who are setting the agenda, whilst he remains responsible for guiding it to success.
A high level of abstention (55%) marked the regional election results and although this is typical for regional elections it presents the governing coalition with a challenge before the next set of elections. It is now official policy to promote representatives of the people to stand as local councillors in the mayoral elections on 25 February 2005, to deepen the revolution from the base upwards. Social controls and audits will be exercised to combat corruption and inefficiency from then onwards. There are also national parliamentary elections due in December 2005. To develop the democratic procedures all electoral contests will include primaries in future, including for the 2006 presidential elections.
The economy
The 2003 sabotage campaign – ‘lock out’ – by the management of the old PDVSA between December 2002 and March 2003, aimed at forcing President Chavez out, cost the country some $10bn. Last year $2.2bn debts were paid on time and $2.5bn bonds have just been re-purchased. By July this year, production was normal, despite the opposition’s lies, at 3.1m barrels per day (bpd) – slightly above its OPEC quota. Refining capacity is at 1.17m bpd. The government recuperated because of the intense effort of the ordinary workers, retired technicians and sympathetic consultants. Now two of the 11 PDVSA directors are workers, and new ‘steering committees’ are being constructed to contribute to the embryonic self-management system.
On 7 November Venezuela signed a new oil-supply agreement with Cuba. This is linked to a strategic plan for Latin American state-run energy sector integration, proposed by Venezuela on 29 October at the 34th Meeting of Experts of Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE).
The investigation into Danilo Anderson’s assassination led to a shoot-out in Caracas. The lawyer son of former legislative representative Lopez killed a police officer and wounded two others. A large cache of weapons and bomb-making material was found, along with manuals and photos that show the suspected assassin was trained at US mercenary schools.
Those who believe that the opposition has ‘gifted’ the government with opportunities to press forward the Venezuelan revolution want to see ‘luck’ as an explanation. In fact the government of President Chavez has defeated immense threats from imperialism through its discipline and the continuous participation of the Venezuelan working class in constructing a socialist future.
FRFI 182 December 2004 / January 2005
