------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 23, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
VENEZUELA: RIGHT-WING LOCKOUT LOSES STEAM By Andy McInerney Venezuela's bosses and their masters in Washington face the prospect that their lockout and attempted shutdown of the Venezuelan economy will fail to unseat the democratically elected government of President Hugo Chavez. This failure is due to the determination of the Chavez leadership team, the strength of the organized masses and the vacillation of U.S. imperialism as it faces challenges on every front. Since Dec. 2, a coalition of big-business federations, members of Venezuela's old political elite, some corrupt union leaders and a handful of dissident military officers have tried to economically strangle the Venezuelan people and force Chavez to resign. The same coalition tried to unseat Chavez in an April coup backed by the U.S. government. The Venezuelan ruling class is furious that Chavez has managed to restructure the political system, giving poor and working people a voice for the first time in history. He has encouraged the formation of "Bolivarian circles," neighborhood-based groups organized outside the bounds of the police to defend his "Bolivarian revolution." Chavez has also initiated a number of economic projects designed to shift part of Venezuela's oil wealth to benefit the 80 percent of Venezuelans who live below the poverty line. He has proposed land redistribution. His government has proposed a bigger role for the state in the oil and banking industries. In addition, his independent foreign policy has met opposition from the U.S. government. Chavez has challenged U.S. aggression toward Iraq and Cuba. He has refused to support U.S. intervention against the leftist insurgencies in neighboring Colombia. The organizers of the most recent attempt to topple the Chavez government call their effort a "strike." But it is a lockout: It is organized by bosses and business executives, not by workers. Its main target is the oil industry, where the lockout is supported not by oil workers--many of whom are valiantly working to keep the industry running--but by executives and highly paid technicians. The shutdown has had the open support of the U.S. government and big corporations based in the United States. For example, a Dec. 26 French Press Agency report quoted Ramon Martinez, governor of the state of Sucre in eastern Venezuela: "The transnationals are involved up to their necks." He detailed a government seizure of the "Barbara Palacios," one of the oil tankers refusing to unload Venezuelan oil. "The captains were receiving instructions from Washington and were handling accounts in dollars," Martinez charged. The governor also said that U.S.-based oil companies like Exxon were ordering their tankers not to load oil. Proctor and Gamble, General Motors and Goodyear are some of the other U.S. companies that have shut down their operations in Venezuela to support the "strike." A Jan. 9 Associated Press report revealed that the U.S.-based Ford Motor Co. sent 1,300 workers home "on vacation"-- beginning Dec. 3, the second day of the shutdown. International bankers have also weighed in. On Jan. 10, the World Bank's International Finance Corp. froze distribution of $225 million in loans-- at the very time that the Venezuelan government is preparing to normalize oil production. The U.S. government itself has been far from neutral. In the early weeks of the shutdown, the State Department endorsed the right wing's call for an early election--despite the fact that such an election has no basis in the Venezuelan constitution. When Chavez proposed a "Friends of Venezuela" group on Jan. 3 to mediate the conflict, the White House immediately threw cold water on the idea. But one week later, the Bush administration had apparently made an about- face. On Jan. 10, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. government was pre paring a "major initiative" on Venezuela: "The U.S. initiative is centered on the formation of a group of 'Friends of Venezuela,' trusted by one or both sides to the conflict, that would develop and guarantee a compromise proposal." The U.S. proposal, of course, counts the Bush administration as among the "friends." According to the Post, "Its immediate goal would be an end to an opposition-organized strike." Carlos Ortega--one of the main organizers of the shutdown affiliated with the old "Democratic Action" party that Chavez trounced in both 1998 and 2000 elections--was summoned to Washington on Jan. 11 for a meeting with the State Department. BEHIND THE SHIFT Why the shift in tactics? A Jan. 11 New York Times headline pointed out one factor: "Venezuela Crisis Complicates Iraq Situation, Experts Say." "A few months ago everybody thought that if we went to war in Iraq oil wouldn't be a major problem," said oil industry analyst Larry Goldstein. "Now, we won't have enough spare capacity to take care of both those events," referring to an invasion of Iraq and a protracted crisis in Venezuela. Another factor has been the Chavez government's refusal to offer any concessions to the rightists. Instead of following a strategy of trying to reach accommodation with the opposition, Chavez has stood his ground. Hundreds of oil executives have been fired for their sabotage. On Jan. 8 Chavez unveiled a plan to restructure the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela to gut the managerial bureaucracy, the heart of the anti- Chavez movement. When bank executives and supermarket owners tried to stage a shutdown, Chavez threatened to nationalize the banks and send in the army to seize warehouses of food. But the most crucial factor in forcing Washington and its lackeys to back down from all-out confrontation has been the strength of the mobilized poor and working people in defense of what they call their "Bolivarian Revolution." Workers take pride in working against the will of their bosses. Oil production is resuming at one refinery after another--despite sabotage by managers and engineers. When bankers shut the doors in solidarity with the "strike," tellers and other employees reported for work. Consider the opening line of a Jan. 9 Associated Press report on the bank "strike": "Many bank workers ignored a call Thursday for a two day-strike." Daily demonstrations show support for Chavez and his government. Right- wing rallies are blocked in the streets by mobilizations from the poor neighborhoods. Despite U.S. efforts to pull the Venezuelan ruling class back from an immediate confrontation with the Chavez government, a threshold has been crossed. The Bolivarian Revolution is passing from its electoral birth into a phase of open class struggle. The outcome of this struggle will be felt across Latin America. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
