[The following article is translated by Intercontinental Press from the June 7 issue of Avanzada Socialista, the weekly newspaper of the Argentine Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores (PST - Socialist Workers party).]
Venezuela is one of the richest countries in Latin America. Because it is a big oil producer, for a number of decades it has been receiving an "injection" of millions of dollars, which has transformed it from an agricultural country into an essentially urban, capitalist nation.
But, on the other hand, it is also one of the poorest countries on the continent. It suffers from a tremendous and increasing number of persons who are "permanently unemployed": Of the thousands of young people who should be joining the work force each year, more than half cannot find a job. Caracas, the capital, is a microcosm of this stark reality. Its impressive superhighways, its tall skyscrapers and modern automobiles cannot hide the miserable slums surrounding it in which thousands of workers and jobless people live in flimsy tin and cardboard shacks, insecurely attached to the hillsides - until a tropical rain washes them away.
The End of Social Peace
The entire country has been geared to further the superprofits of the Yankee oil companies and a small group of local multimillionaires who pull the strings behind every government. The "social peace" that made it possible for them to enjoy their privileges was based on the total fragmentation of the workers movement (it is common to find three or four unions operating in the same factory), the existence of a caste of completely corrupt union bureaucrats (who run the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela [CTV - Venezuela Workers Confederation]), and economic stability which meant an inflation of only 1.7 percent between 1968 and 1970 (in Argentina it was thirteen times as high).
But the economy's present state of deterioration has prompted the workers movement to react, impelling it into struggle against the wishes of the union leaderships. Within three years, "legal" strikes fell from 3,000 to 800, but "illegal" strikes went up from 1,000 to 38,000.
The student movement, which has a great tradition of struggle, is not silent either. One conflict after another is occurring among the secondary school students. Less than two months ago, Caracas was the scene of a demonstration by 10,000 students. And recently, during the visit of [U.S. Secretary of State William] Rogers, new mobilizations shook many cities for five days.
Bourgeois Nationalism Advances
The Venezuelan bourgeoisie is joining the general process that is going on in Latin America: the emergence of bourgeois nationalist governments that are trying to maintain the capitalist system by adapting to the new situation, reflected in an upsurge in the mass movement; superexploitation by Yankee imperialism (which does not leave the local bourgeoisies with sufficient profits); and increasingly sharp competition between the Yankee and European monopolies.
In the past three years, the Venezuelan bourgeoisie has taken various steps along these lines: a new tax policy, nationalization of gas, state control over the domestic market in petroleum by-products, and the "Reversion Law," which provides for petroleum plants to automatically become state property in 1983.
This general process is being dubbed "Democratic Nationalism" - the equivalent of the "National Socialism" of the Argentine Social Justice [Peronist] movement.
Limitations of 'Democratic Nationalism'
These measures do not provide any thoroughgoing solution to the Venezuelan crisis, although it is obvious that this policy is not the same as the policy of handing over the nation's wealth to imperialism that was followed a few years back by Betancourt.
The limitations stand out clearly, in, for example, the fabulous oil deposits discovered not long ago in the so-called "Orinoco bituminous strip." The Yankees want to be sure that they remain under their control, and that they go into production as soon as possible; they are demanding guarantees for the capital that will have to be invested. The government stated that "no negotiations or conversations of any kind are under way," but the [U.S.] State Department itself revealed that secret negotiations between the two governments have been carried on since 1972.
Once again the national bourgeoisie has shown itself incapable of putting up a serious confrontation with its imperialist partners. Even the demagogy of the Christian Democratic president, who displays more bravery in words than in deeds, never even mentioned the possibility of a break with imperialism. The bourgeoisie knows that in any showdown it would be the workers on one side and imperialism on the other.
The Elections
This is the context in which an intense election campaign, scheduled for next December, is taking place. Two bourgeois parties are fighting for the votes of the people. And although both Acción Democrática [Democratic Action] (representing the most "hard-line" of the bosses) and the Christian Democrats of COPEI [Comité Organizado por Elecciones Independientes - Committee Organized for Independent Political Action] (who today portray themselves as nationalists) have their bureaucratic deputies in the central workers union, neither has anything in particular to offer as an alternative to what the Venezuelan masses have been going through.
Nor does Nueva Fuerza [New Force], which is made up of a bourgeois split-off from Acción Democrática and the Communist party. In spite of the socialist slogans that the CP demagogically raises, its basic policy is one of promoting class harmony.
The only organization that could be an alternative is the Movimiento al Socialismo [MAS— Movement Toward Socialism], which views the construction of socialism as an immediate task and rejects electoral alliances with the parties of the bosses. Its first action last year drew between 20,000 and 30,000 companeros who wanted to support a socialist approach as an alternative to the old and corrupt bourgeois and reformist parties. Its candidate is J. V. Rangel, an independent deputy with an outstanding reputation as a fighter in the struggle against repression.
Alongside these positive points, there are a number of dangerously unclear aspects to the MAS. Its propaganda is not tied to conflicts that are occurring on a daily basis, and it is not clearly emphasizing the decisive role of the workers in the battle for power and the building of socialism.
These weaknesses of the MAS do not justify the desertions of the ultraleftists, who are calling for people to cast a blank ballot, thereby aiding the plans of COPEI and Acción Democrática to remain in the driver's seat.
An example of how revolutionary Marxists ought to act in a process such as the one Venezuela is going through is provided by the Grupo Trotskista Venezolano [Venezuelan Trotskyist Group], which publishes Voz Marxista. It is intervening directly in the class struggle by supporting the mobilizations of workers and students and by putting forward a program that begins with the nationalization of oil under workers control. And at the same time, it is intervening in the electoral process by supporting the Rangel candidacy in an attempt to correct the deviations of the socialist campaign, to present the workers with an independent alternative, and to lay the basis for building a strong revolutionary, workers, and socialist party in the heat of popular struggle and political polarization.