Bush, Kerry and Venezuela
By Monica Moorehead
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess where the
current U.S. administration stands on Venezuela. President
George W. Bush has openly sided with the right-wing oligarchy
there and its reactionary Aug. 15 referendum that failed to
oust democratically elected President Hugo Chávez.
Bush, along with the CIA, helped to orchestrate the illegal
attempted coup on April 11, 2002, in which Chávez was
taken prisoner. Two days later, thanks to the direct
intervention of the Venezuelan masses, Chávez was
returned to the Presidential Palace with a hero's welcome.
Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic Party's presidential
candidate, has a view of Venezuela as well. On March 19, Kerry
made a statement in support of the referendum. The following
are excerpts from this statement:
"Throughout his time in office, President Chávez has
repeatedly undermined democratic institutions by using
extra-legal means, including politically motivated
incarcerations, to consolidate power. In fact, his close
relationship with Fidel Castro has raised serious questions
about his commitment to leading a truly democratic
government."
Kerry went on to say: "Moreover, President Chávez's
policies have been detrimental to our interests and those of
his neighbors. He has compromised efforts to eradicate drug
cultivation by allowing Venezuela to become a haven for
narco-terrorists, and sowed instability in the region by
supporting anti-government insurgents in Colombia."
Putting aside any tactical differences, including rhetoric,
Bush and Kerry share the view that Chávez is
"undemocratic," even though the voters have given him a wide
margin of victory several times. Bush and Kerry identify with
the interests of Venezuela's comprador bourgeoisie as opposed
to those of the vast majority of the Venezuelan masses.
Workers World Party is running three working-class,
nationally oppressed candidates in the upcoming elections: John
Parker for president, Teresa Gutierrez for vice-president and
LeiLani Dowell for the Congress. The WWP candidates issued a
state ment on Venezuela several days before the defeat of the
Aug. 15 recall referendum.
Their statement read in part: "Since coming to office in
1998 and being re-elected in 2000, President Chávez has
consistently mobilized Venezuela's workers and peasants to
fight in their own interests. He has stood up to U.S.
imperialism at home and abroad, including opposing the brutal
war and occupation of Iraq. He has moved to put oil profits to
use for people's needs and to distribute land to the poor.
"His government has strengthened relations with socialist
Cuba in defiance of the United States. Cuba, in turn, has
stretched out its hand in solidarity, providing personnel to
assist with health care, literacy and education programs.
"The Venezuelan masses understand that the recall referendum
is yet another plot by U.S. imperialism and Venezuela's wealthy
to turn back history. The U.S. regime, whether Republican or
Democrat, can't abide an independent Latin American country
that is avowedly anti-imperialist, one that seeks to use its
oil revenues and other resources to lift up the poor and
oppressed instead of filling the bank vaults of U.S. finance
capital."
The issue of Venezuela is one important example that
illustrates why a revolutionary Marxist party participates in
the bourgeois elections.
Candidates such as Parker, Gutierrez and Dowell are running
in the 2004 elections not to validate them. These candidates
are using the electoral arena as a platform to speak
independent class truth to the broader political movement, a
great number of whom have succumbed to the "anyone but Bush"
phenomenon.
Reprinted from the Sept. 2, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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Email: ww@workers.org
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