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On 24 Mar 2019 at 10:21, Chris Slee via Marxism wrote: > John Reimann takes phrases out of context to give a misleading > impression of what Federico Fuentes is saying. > > Fuentes says that "hyperinflation has meant workers' wages have > plummeted". He says there is a "deep economic crisis" in > Venezuela. > > But the important point is that this crisis is to a large extent a > result of the "economic war" waged by the US and its allies against > Venezuela. You're still defending the indefensible, Chris, namely Fuentes's article. Fuentes knows that there is an economic crisis, and himself says "Venezuela´s current minimum wage - the lowest in the region - stands at less than US$6 a month, or enough to buy one egg per day." But he doesn't care. The context is, Maduro -- right or wrong. When the apologists of Maduro say that they have a criticism or two, or admit something about the economic and political crisis, it's not to take these criticisms seriously. It's to say, don't worry, we're taking care of everything. It's to say, as Chris Slee points out, that the problems have to be put in a "context", namely, defense of Maduro. The imperialists have a saying about various of their allies, "he's a bastard, but he's our bastard". The apologists of Maduro are backing that type of "wisdom", but in sham "anti-imperialist" phraseology. Hunger stalks Venezuela, and three million people have fled. That's about a tenth of the country. The apologists for Maduro generally won't say this directly. So they write the most absurd contradictions, such as that the shortages are over (which Fuentes says) and at the same time there's a deep economic crisis, and workers -- even skilled ones -- can't afford to buy these things (which Fuentes also admits, albeit in toned-down language). Then, after admitting a few things, Fuentes goes on to paint a glowing picture of how things are really quite good.These are Fuentes's contradictions; don't blame Reimann for them. Fuentes's article may admit a few things about the economic crisis, but does not go into the roots of it. Other sources have, and they have shown that this crisis began prior to sanctions starting to bite heavily. But Steve Ellner, whose article was debated on this list last month, wanted to show otherwise. According to to his account, "international sanctions" didn't begin until 2015. So to prove that some type of US sanctions had seriously harmed the economy earlier, he refers to a previous economic war but cites only one example: "... the George W. Bush administration banned the sale of spare parts for the Venezuelan Air Force´s costly F-16 fighter jets in 2006, forcing the country to turn to Russia for the purchase of 24 Sukhoi SU-30 fighter planes." (https://consortiumnews.com/2019/02/15/how-much-of-venezuelas-crisis-is-really- maduros-fault) Did the Chavista government intend to fight imperialism with jet fighter planes? Or perhaps it's that these planes were instead for the purpose of keeping the Venezuelan military happy. <> For the apologists of Maduro, it isn't important that hunger is stalking the land. It must be taken in context, that context means Maduro, right or wrong, with or without the working class, with or without sellouts to the multinationals, but Maduro forever . Let three million people flee Venezuela in economic desperation. It must be taken in context, say the apologists.. As I pointed out before, Fuentes says contradictory things in his article, because apologists for Maduro can accept any contradiction. Fuentes admits that "Venezuela´s current minimum wage - the lowest in the region - stands at less than US$6 a month, or enough to buy one egg per day. > > This is not to deny that economic mistakes have been made, or that > corruption is a serious problem. But for those of us who live in > the Western imperialist countries, our priority should be > campaigning against the blockade. > > Chris Slee > ________________________________ > From: Marxism <[email protected]> on behalf of > John Reimann via Marxism <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, 24 March 2019 5:36:12 AM > To: Chris Slee > Subject: Re: [Marxism] Venezuela: despite the crisis, Chavez's > legacy endures (Green Left Weekly) > > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > First of all, as far as the relative "cheapness" of goods in > Caracas: The > way it's put tends to deceive since people will remember better that > the > goods are "cheap" than the qualifying comment. Completely aside from > that, > the practical meaning is this: These goods are cheap in dollars but > sky > high in bolivares. Fuentes writes: "It is common to find street > hawkers > with debit and credit card machines, and many happy to accept US > dollars to > overcome this problem." The clear implication is that goods are > easily > affordable, and that is true... for those who have access to US > dollars! > But this "little detail" isn't mentioned by the author, so he leaves > a > false impression. Who has access to dollars is the bolibourgeoisie, > another > "little detail" not mentioned by Fuentes. In other words, the > bolibourgeoisie isn't seriously hurt by the collapse in the value of > the > bolivar but the masses of Venezuelans are. > > I find it hard to believe that the author was not aware of the > effect on > the reader of leaving out of these key facts. Likewise, I find it > peculiar > that he completely fails to mention the several million Venezuelan > refugees > who have fled Venezuela. > > I am guessing that the reporter didn't just go to Venezuela on their > own > but that they were shown around, so the question is: "Who is it that > showed > them around?" That little detail is left out, but I would bet it > wasn't the > socialist opposition, for instance the Party for Socialism and > Freedom > there. In fact, I would bet it was people associated with the PSUV, > that is > to say, Maduro supporters. Were they told about the FAES > (government > militia types) having murdered people? Were they told about how the > food > supplements are given to the government supporters, not to the > working > class as a whole? > > A few days ago, I posted to this list an article from the Wall St. > Journal > describing the desperate situation for Venezuela's poor, as well as > the > repression the Maduro regime is carrying out against them. Chris > Slee did > not deny the possibility that the article was accurate. So he is now > left > in a difficult position, because that WSJ article and the Green Left > Weekly > article cannot both be accurate. They present radically different > pictures > of life in Venezuela. Given the subtle misrepresentations and the > failure > to mention key facts (e.g. the millions of Venezuelan economic > refugees) as > well as the descriptions from such left sources inside Venezuela as > Simon > Rodriguez (laclase.info -- at the moment not working, for whatever > reason), > I don't find the Green Left Weekly article credible. > > One simple question > > -- > *"In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery." *from "The Black > Jacobins" by C. L. R. James > Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/chris_w_slee%40hotmail.c > om > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/jgreen%40communistvoice. > org --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
