Venezuelan tells WW
'The right wing can't stop history'
Marcos Fuenmayor, second secretary of the Venezuelan Mission
to the United Nations, told a Workers World Party meeting in
New York on Aug. 20 that the "unfinished revolutionary process"
in his country has a solid base in the popular movement and is
going forward. He described the present stage as one of reforms
in which the nationalized oil industry is being used to finance
dramatic improvements in the lives of the people. These are
being opposed by the wealthy elite and the U.S., but they
"can't stop history." Fuenmayor said that the right-wing has
had to accept the results of the recent referendum, which
President Hugo Chávez won easily, because they fear
instability in oil prices and social upheaval throughout Latin
America.
People in the audience, many of whom have marched in support
of Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution, received Fuenmayor warmly
as he explained how the Bolivarian process began with the
redistribution of the oil revenue. The 2002 coup against
Chávez was instigated by executives in the oil industry
close to the multinational oil companies. After the people
foiled that attempt, the right-wing tried to shut down oil
production. But again they failed. Now, "the social movement
managed to stop this and is in control of the oil industry."
Responding to questions, he emphasized that the Venezuelan army
differs from that in Chile, for example, in that the officers
mainly came from the poor and rose through the ranks. He also
described how the 2002 coup revealed the backward elements in
the military, who were removed.
--Deirdre Griswold
Reprinted from the Sept. 2, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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