From: dashyaf@EASYNET.CO.UK
Date: Sat May 29 2004 - 11:24:58 EDT
I thought this might be of some interest to those following developments in Venezuela David Yaffe >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the June 3, 2004 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >CHAVEZ ANNOUNCES BIG STEPS FORWARD FOR VENEZUELA: >NEW PEOPLE'S ARMY, LAND TO THE POOR > >By Berta Joubert-Ceci > >It was a wake-up call. On May 9 Venezuelan forces surprised 150 >Colombian paramilitaries who had been hired to assassinate President >Hugo Chavez. They were apprehended on the farm of opposition leader >Robert Alonso, architect of the "guarimbas"--violent street blockades >staged by supporters of the Venezuelan oligarchy. Alonso is a counter- >revolutionary who comes originally from Cuba. > >It was a reminder that U.S. imperialism, joined with the Colombian and >Venezuelan oligarchies, has not ceased to conspire to oust President >Chavez from office--both in the open, through a failing recall >referendum, and in secret, as this incident reveals. > >The leaders of this paramilitary grouping are also leaders of the >vicious Autonomous Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. To date 130 >Colombian paramilitary forces have been arrested in this operation. >Their plan to kill Chavez has been brought to light through extensive >interrogation. > >They were to kill and decapitate the Venezuelan president. Then they >planned to send his head to Cuban President Fidel Castro. As part of the >assassination/coup process they would fire on Miraflores, the >presidential palace, creating chaos in Venezuela. > >Only the vigilance of the Venezuelan police and National Armed Forces >(FAN) prevented the counter-revolutionary plot from reaching its goal. >But with so much at stake and given the relentless quest of the >bourgeoisie to regain its previous power, the police and the FAN are not >enough. > >Beginning early in the morning on May 16, one week after the plot was >brought to light and the paramilitary troops arrested, thousands of >people poured onto the broad Bolivar Avenue in Caracas to participate in >a March for Peace and Sovereignty and Against Paramilitarism and >Terrorism. They were eager to hear Chavez himself address them. > >The march had been called by many different popular organizations with >varied political affiliations and perspectives, including labor unions, >political parties, and student, peasant and other social movements. All >were united in their loyalty to and support of the Bolivarian Process-- >and all were intent on sending a message that the people themselves are >not going to allow an assault against their revolution. > >So significant was this march that Chavez canceled his Sunday Aló >Presidente television program to be at the demonstration. His speeches-- >really a dialog with the audience--usually last for hours and are >listened to very attentively by the masses. They stay as long as he >talks, and respond very actively with applause, cheers and loudly >chanted slogans. This is because his talks are a combination of history >class and presentation of action plans. > >The May 16 speech was a particularly important one. Chavez announced a >new phase of the Bolivarian Revolution. While formally declaring the >revolution to be anti-imperialist, he made a call to the masses to be an >army for the defense of the revolutionary process. > >Stating that the revolution is "just beginning," Chavez encouraged the >crowd to always think and reflect on the events that occur and put them >in a historical perspective. Always ask, he urged: "Where are we? Why >has it happened?" > >He explained the dangerous and unipolar character of U.S. imperialism >after the fall of the Berlin wall and the break-up of the Soviet Union, >and its viciousness after the Sept. 11 events. He differentiated >neoliberalism from imperialist adventures by the United States, stating >that neoliberalism--the effort to invade countries via economic measures >like the Free Trade Area of the Americas, with the aid of the >International Monetary Fund and World Bank--is not having the success >the bourgeoisie hoped for in Latin America and the Caribbean. Therefore, >he said, Washington is reverting to old-style imperialist military >invasions. > >Referring to the revolution's newly declared anti-imperialist character, >he said: "And that gives it a special content, which forces us to think >and act clearly not only in Venezuela but in the rest of the world," >adding that "with the Constitution in our hands, we have to take actions >... for example, the expropriation of lands to put them in the hands of >those who really need them." > >Chavez said, "We cannot permit [ourselves] to be absorbed by a >conservative spirit; either we are or we are not." He went on to spell >out the different laws that have been enacted and should be enforced, >like the Land Law and the Supreme Justice Tribunal Law. This last one >will allow, after careful review, the removal from the courts of counter- >revolutionary elements who are still part of the justice system and are >sabotaging the Bolivarian process. > >The strongest call was for forming a popular army to defend the >revolution as part of the three lines of action of a newly created >"Comprehensive National Defense" strategy. > >Saying that "the time has come to revolutionize the national security >and defense, the time to reconceptualize and reorient," Chavez quoted >Mao Zedong: "The people are to the army, what the water is to the fish." >He added that "like the fish in the water, the Bolivarian soldiers >should be together with the people." > >He went on to say, "I call on all the Venezuelan people to incorporate >themselves into the national defense, the territorial defense, the >defense of the national sovereignty; and of course I not only make a >symbolic call to the people; no, as head of the state, as commander-in- >chief of the armed forces I have already begun to give the orders to >open the channels, in order to open the massive popular participation >into an integrated national defense." > >The FAN has been ordered to select and summon retired military >professionals as part of the active reserve to "incorporate them into >the tasks for popular organization for the defense of the country in >each district, in each ravine, in each island, in each field, in each >university, in each factory, in each jungle, in each place where there >is a group of patriots, there they must be organizing themselves." > >Explaining how this has already begun, Chavez said: "For example, in old >Tacagua, I found one day, when I was there, a gentleman who came with >his family to greet me, and he said to me: 'My Commander, how are you?' >He turns out to be a retired sergeant of the National Guard. I told him: >'Compañero, look throughout all this ravine for all the reservists, >[and] in the first place organize a squad, organize a company, organize >a battalion, make the list in a notebook.' A computer is not necessary >because sometimes we are stuck with this technology. Simón Bolivar >organized an army without computers and airplanes." > >The National Defense Strategy's other two lines of action are: >strengthening the military by increasing the number of troops >nationally, for which Chavez has already assigned 20 thousand million >bolívares (approximately $1 billion U.S.) for the FAN and the National >Guard, and weeding out counter-revolutionary elements in the armed >forces. > >In a display of compassion and understanding of the roots of the problem >in Colombia, Chavez mentioned that some of the paramilitary forces were >children who had been forced into the ranks of the paras by extreme >poverty and lack of opportunities in their own country. He said these >children are not in a military prison like the adults arrested, and that >they will be returned to their parents. He added that after consultation >with the National Council for the Defense of Children and Adolescents' >Rights, it had been decided that these children could stay in Venezuela >if they wish to, and receive free education in an effort to save their >futures. > >The Bolivarian Revolution is at a crossroads, with all the elements, >particularly the strength of the peoples' commitment to it, in place. >However, U.S. imperialism is fiercely advancing with plans to destroy >it. As Chavez himself recently said, it is very strong but not yet >irreversible, as the Cuban Revolution is. > >Venezuela, along with Cuba, is a beacon to all the dispossessed masses >in Latin America and the Caribbean who are rising up for the first time >in considerable unison, realizing that U.S. imperialism and its "free >trade" will never be the answer to their needs and their misery. On the >contrary, it is the health care, education and development of employment >offered by these revolutions that give hope to the millions of people in >deep poverty, not only in the region but worldwide. > >This is a huge threat to the bourgeoisie. They will not let it go on >voluntarily. It is an urgent task for the people of the United States to >not only offer unconditional solidarity to the Bolivarian Revolution, >but to actively organize here and demand as loudly and clearly as >possible from the U.S. government: USA, hands off Venezuela! > >- 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: ww@wwpublish.com. Subscribe wwnews- >on@wwpublish.com. Unsubscribe wwnews-off@wwpublish.com. Support the >voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) > > > > > > > > > >------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> >Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 >http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/3hSolB/TM >--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > ><*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Viva_Cuba/ > ><*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > Viva_Cuba-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > ><*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ >
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