Americas

Reaction is raising its ugly head in Bolivia. The strategy of the Morales government seems to be based on making more concessions. Taking advantage of the temporising and vacillation of the Morales government the oligarchy is gaining even more confidence. What is needed is a serious campaign among the masses to explain what is at stake and take firm revolutionary socialist measures.

The Salvadorean newspaper Diario CoLatino has dedicated its weekly supplement Perspectivas to balance-sheet of the defeat of the constitutional reform in Venezuela, publishing in two pages the article by Alan Woods. Diario CoLatino has a circulation of around 35,000 copies and is the most widely read newspaper amongst left wing activists in the country, in the FMLN, the trade union and the student and peoples' movement. A few weeks ago, Diario CoLatino also published the analysis of the Argentinean elections by the comrades of the Corriente Socialista El Militante, showing the impact of and interest for Marxist ideas in the country.

In 2005 the revolutionary movemenet of the Bolivian masses produced the Morales government. Since then vacillation on the part of Morales has given the oligarchy room to manoeuvre and now it is stepping up its activities as it prepares to exploit the weaknesses of the government. Urgent revolutionary measures are required.

The world situation is one of increasing political and economic instability, social polarization, and the ravages of war and famine. Across the planet, layoffs, cuts in social services, and the merciless squeezing of the working class and poor is on the order of the day. But there is an opposite side to these counter-revolutionary tendencies: the revolutionary movement of millions of people who are saying “enough is enough!”

The proposals for constitutional change have been defeated by 50.7% to 49.3%. The opposition hardly increased its absolute vote, but there was a high level of abstention. This is a warning. The masses are demanding decisive action not words! It may be that this defeat will have the opposite effect. It can rouse the masses to new levels of revolutionary struggle.

Economic sabotage is an underexposed and underreported tool of the counterrevolution in Venezuela. It is part and parcel of a general plan of destabilisation of the revolution in the run-up to the referendum. The limits of reformism in combating food scarcity stress the need for bold measures, like nationalisation of the food industry and the mobilisation of the masses. No time can be lost!

No sooner had I finished my article,Venezuela: counterrevolution raises its head - Heinz Dieterich and General Baduel (parts One and Two)when I was sent yet another of Dieterich's articles, which the Professor seems to produce with the same ease as a machine churning out sausages. This time it was a reply to my Cuban friend and comrade Celia Hart, who has clearly incurred the Professor's wrath by her negative comments on the very same article I have dealt with here.

The Marxists have long argued that the only way forward for the Venezuelan revolution is to strike blows against the counterrevolutionary bourgeoisie, by expropriating the bankers, landlords and capitalists, etc. However, there are other voices saying rather different things. One of the most persistent of these voices is that of Heinz Dieterich, who has been waging a noisy campaign in favour of what he calls “Socialism of the XXI Century” - a strange kind of socialism indeed in that it differs very little from capitalism.

The attacks against the Marxist Tendency Militante in Mexico have stepped up. A further 10 arrest warrants have been issued for comrades involved in student struggles in the summer. Given the class polarisation in Mexico, the increasing repression at the hands of the state and the increasing unwillingess of the people to back down, Mexico is headed for a social explosion.

The Cuban revolution has made many spectacular advances, but it faces serious problems. From the streets of Havana Darrall Cozens offers an eyewitness account of these successes, challenges, and the debates that are taking place in the island.

Due to the lack of a genuine left alternative in Argentina, the masses have voted for Cristina de Kirchner, who will continue the policies of her husband, balancing between the classes while defending the common interests of the capitalists and multinational companies. However, owing to the deep contradictions in Argentine society, this cannot last forever.

In the build up to the forthcoming December referendum on constitutional reform some of the reformist elements within the Bolivarian movement are coming out with their true colours. General Baduel, recently resigned Minister of Defence, has openly joined the Opposition, as has "Podemos" a party that was part of the government coalition. Open appeals to the military officer caste to rebel are also appearing in the media. This highlights the dangers to the revolution and the urgent need to complete it.

On Friday, October 19, the screening of the first and second parts of the legendary documentary film “The battle of Chile”, organised by Hands off Venezuela, drew a very large audience at the Bolivar Hall in London.

After Blackwater USA’s recent street shoot out in Baghdad, the role of mercenaries in Iraq has received extra attention in the media. Although they have played a key role in the occupation of Iraq, these “private security contractors” have for the most part flown under the public radar.  During the 1991 Gulf War, the troop-to-private contractor ratio was about 60 to 1. Now they outnumber uniformed troops, more than doubling the actual size of the occupation force.