People’s victory in Venezuela

Marxists consider a vote to be a measure of the political consciousness of the working class and oppressed peoples. In Venezuela, the vote on the referendum Feb. 15 thereby showed that the bulk of the Venezuelan workers and poor approved the government’s orientation toward socialism in a time of worldwide capitalist crisis.

Of the 11 million Venezuelans who voted, some six million voted “Yes” and five million voted “No” on a referendum to extend term limits for candidates for national offices. In this case, the vote was another referendum on Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, reversing the narrow defeat of the constitutional reform in December 2007.

The victory allows the Latin American leader to run for re-election in 2012 for another six years. It affirms Venezuela’s direction: to oppose imperialist domination of Latin America and to move toward socialism. It asserts Venezuela’s anti-imperialist stance on the world arena.

Chávez has been and continues to be an essential part of that process.

Chávez called the vote “a victory for all the peoples of Latin America.” Within the limits of what any vote can be, in this case the vote is really a victory for all the peoples of the world.