<!--venez-->Published 2006 by Resistance Books. Articles from
Green Left Weekly and Resistance. Also available as a pamphlet from
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Resistance Books.
Contents
Venezuela: This is what revolution looks like
In August 2005, more than 20 Resistance members travelled to Venezuela with dozens of others in the first-ever Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Brigade to see firsthand the Bolivarian revolution, as the process of social change led by the government of President Hugo Chavez is known.
Kiraz Janicke and
Federico Fuentes stayed on to help establish the
Green Left Weekly bureau in Caracas.
GLW, which Resistance activists help produce, is the only Australian newspaper with a permanent bureau in Venezuela reporting on the revolution. Below, they provide a glimpse of why Resistance is so excited by the revolutionary process underway.
Having been inspired by reading about the Bolivarian revolution, we knew we had to experience it firsthand. However, nothing prepared us for what Venezuelans refer to as their “beautiful revolution”. From the moment we arrived it was clear that a profound political radicalisation had taken place. Driving from the airport to Caracas we could see revolutionary graffiti covering the entire city, and government advertisements declaring “Venezuela
Ahora Para Todos!” (is now for everyone!)
Everywhere we went, people wanted to talk about how the revolution has touched their lives. They would group around stalls selling copies of the latest laws, discussing and debating the Venezuelan Constitution — adopted by popular vote
in 1999 — which sets out the principles of a “new Venezuela”, a society based on justice that Venezuelans are realising is possible through socialism.
Historically, the corrupt elites have siphoned off Venezuela’s oil wealth, leaving 80% of the people in poverty. In the poor neighbourhoods (
barrios) that line the hills surrounding Caracas, millions try to eke out an existence, building houses wherever they can, sometimes almost on top of each other. These people have long been denied things we take for granted — running water, electricity and a local doctor, to name a few. No wonder they are making a revolution.
Since the election in 1998 of President Hugo Chavez, the oil wealth has been increasingly used to benefit the poor. The free health-care program
Barrio Adentro (Into the Neighbourhood) can be found in every neighbourhood, providing many Venezuelans with their first-ever visit to a doctor.
The poor, organised in local assemblies, debate the ways to take control over decisions affecting their daily lives. We visited the Bolivarian University, previously the lush headquarters for the state oil company bureaucrats, where students receive free education, and the sign over the entrance says: “
Viva Socialismo”.
We visited the state-owned aluminium plant ALCASA, and saw a 1000-strong workers’ assembly discuss how the factory should be run. We stayed the night in a petrochemical factory, occupied by its workers who were fighting for their jobs.
We met some of the 1.5 million adults who had been given a second chance in life, learning to read and write through the government-funded Mission Robinson over the last two years.
We met young people, just like us, fighting to change the world, and winning.
This truly is what a revolution looks like.
We went to a welcome-back rally for Chavez after he returned from a UN General Assembly meeting where he denounced the body as a tool of US imperialism. All night people kept asking where we were from and thanking us for being there. They realise their battle is a global one, and that the socialism of the 21st century is nothing if it is not international.
We often wondered how we could ever leave this amazing place. But ultimately, the most important act of solidarity we can give the Venezuelan people is to make revolution a reality in Australia, a revolution that — like in Venezuela — will be led by the young generation.
From Green Left Weekly, December 7, 2005.
