En Passant

It is our duty to fulfill and deepen Chávez’s legacy, to aid the giant of the revolution to its feet: the Bolivarian People. This is the critical moment to unleash this colossal force. Now is the time. This is how we can save the revolution.

The choice for Labor is the Hugo Chavez route or oblivion. Goodbye Labor.

I have a suggestion for Labor. Abandon neoliberalism. Adopt a radical program like that which Chavez put forward. Tax the rich to improve the lives of the 2.2 million Australians in poverty and fix up the 17% gender gap. Use this money to negotiate a treaty with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

That of course would just be the opening salvos of a radical program to fundamentally challenge the rule of capital.  It would involve nationalising the banks, mining companies and the other big battalions of capital and massively increase spending on public health, education, transport and social payments and develop a real program to address climate change.

That of course would just be the opening salvos of a radical program to fundamentally challenge the rule of capital.  It would involve nationalising the banks, mining companies, and other big battalions of capital and massively increase spending on public health, education, transport and social payments and develop a real program to address climate change.

Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez Frias has died in hospital after a long fight with cancer. Mike Gonzalez in Socialist Worker UK looks back at Chavez’s life and ideas — and the Venezuela he leaves behind

With President Hugo Chávez suffering from severe health problems, what does the future look like for Chavismo in Venezuela? Lance Selfa explains in Socialist Worker US

Without Chávez controling these contradictions will require more and more repression, and the people will have to organize anew, independently of those in power. But that has to be prepared already today. The socialists, many of whom fight sincerely as part of the Chávez movement, should dedicate themselves from now on to work from the grassroots, creating the capacity to rescue socialism – the theory and practice of the working class that transforms itself into the maker of its own history – from the hands of those who try to redefine it as the instrument of a state that more and more serves its own interests.

Porque la realidad es que el estado chavista se ha convertido en un aparato de poder que se dedica a frenar toda iniciativa popular, incorporando a líderes de base por un lado e incluso reprimiendo las iniciativas populares a escala local por otro. … Sin Chávez su control se volverá cada vez más represión y el pueblo tendrá que organizarse de nuevo, independientemente de las instancias del poder. Pero esto se tiene que preparar desde hoy. Los socialistas, muchos de ellos peleando sinceramente dentro y desde el chavismo, se dedicarán desde ahora a trabajar desde las bases, creando la capacidad de actuación y rescatando el socialismo (teoría y práctica de las clases trabajadoras que se transforman en protagonista de su propia historia) de manos de los que tratan de redefinirlo como protagonismo de un estado que actúa de parte y en ausencia de ellas, y cada vez más en sus propios intereses.

There are only two ways in which the followers of Chávismo can solve the structural difficulties of capitalist society in Venezuela: either pushing the Bolivarian process from the center-right towards the real socialist left, which would entail a tenacious clash with the bourgeoisie; or building a pact that favors the bourgeoisie with benefits, privileges and concessions not in the interest of the working class. This latter option would not solve the underlying problems of the economy and leaves the door open to allowing greater rates of capitalist exploitation over millions of workers.

If public statements are a hint, the leadership of Chávismo is for conciliation and open negotiation with the local and transnational capital.

The immediate question for the left and for activists, Chavez supporters or not, is the need to rebuild organisations on the ground that will be able to act independently of their rulers, whoever they are. Such organisation would enable the Venezuelan masses to defend their own class interests—and to deepen a revolution that still has far to go.

Chavez supports the Iranian dictators as an expression of his bourgeois nationalist policies. I’m with the Iranian protesters and the nascent Iranian revolution.