The Socialist Resistance Day School on Latin America on June 24 drew an audience of over 100, and heard an impressive panel of speakers including author Michael Lowy, Cuban “freelance Trotskyist” Celia Hart, Edouardo Diago from the French LCR along with speakers from Hands Off Venezuela and the Bolivia Solidarity Campaign

John Lister

It is not surprising that a number of countries in Latin America have been centres of rebellion in over the last 50 years, argued Michael Löwy, opening the discussion.

They are some of the most unequal societies on earth, calling up the phrase “Swiss India” – with a ruling class as wealthy as the Swiss bourgeoisie, but a working and unemployed population as poor as peasants in India.

In the towns the rich live behind barricades and high walls, protected by armed guards, while the poor exist in shanty towns.

Although there are very big differences from one country to another, with the exception of Cuba they can all be classified as “dependent capitalism” – subject to economic, political, ideological and potentially military domination.

Within this framework the ruling elite plays its role in reinforcing the domination and exploitation of the peoples of Latin America, and the global institutions of capitalism – the International Monetary Fund and World Bank – also help maintain the inequalities with their pursuit of the neoliberal agenda.

The rebellions began in the 1950s, with further struggles following the victorious 1959 Cuban revolution: but in the 1960s and 1970s movements were ruthlessly crushed by murderous military dictatorships.

In more recent years military rule has been supplanted by “low intensity democracies” which have been slow and timid in reversing neoliberal policies and so failed to improve the lives of the people.

The rebellion against these conditions begins at the lowest level with criminality – “since there is no justice for them, why should they not rob and kill to get by?” – but has also developed into more positive forms of protest in which waves of social unrest have exploded into rebellion.

In Argentina such movements kicked out one president and forced the removal of another.

And more recently mass movements have made themselves felt in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

“We must recognise that in many cases these social movements are mainly peasant movements. It may be surprising for Marxists to realise that these – not the working class – are the most active and the most politically conscious forces,” argues Löwy, while recognising some radicalisation among workers in Argentina and Bolivia.

Löwy also insisted that the ideology of many of the social movements, such as the original initiative to launch the landless peasant movement in Brazil, and Mexico’s Zapatista rebellion, goes back not to Marxism or the class struggle but to forms of “liberation theology” promoted in Latin America by Jesuit and Dominican orders.

“The idea that the poor have to liberate themselves, and organise to do so is not so far from Marx’s idea that the workers must take on the task of liberating themselves.”

“People are looking for an alternative. They don’t want the current position to continue. They see corruption, the power of US imperialism, they see neoliberal policies, and there is a growing anti-capitalist sentiment.”

The level of anger is very high in many parts of Latin America, but there are real problems finding an appropriate political expression for the movements that develop: most political parties of the left are way behind the popular movement and the struggles taking place.

There has been a shift to the left in many Latin American governments, with increased power for workers’ parties, and the emergence of left of centre coalitions as an inadequate reflection of the social movement: however each of these coalitions – such as the Lula government in Brazil, the Frente Amplio in Uruguay or the new government in Chile – remains inside the existing political and social framework.

As a result we see the emergence of “social liberal governments”, which are better than neo-liberal governments – but not much better.

The exceptions have been Cuba, of course, Venezuela and Bolivia: in each case there has been some political expression of the search for an alternative, although each government has problems.

In Venezuela there is Chavez with the support of many of the people, but there are no big parties of the left, leaving an inadequate political representation of the poor and the workers who want change.

In Bolivia on the one level it seems better: Evo Morales heads a party explicitly named the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS): “but it is a fragile party, a front composed of various social movements, rather than a party based on the working class.”

The hope is that the alliance of Cuba with Venezuela and Bolivia can give a lead to the development of indigenous American socialism, created by the peoples of Latin America in their own way.

The people of Latin America are to the left of any of the governments in Latin America, argued Celia Hart.

“We are witnessing a shift of the political pendulum to the left – in response to neoliberalism.

“In this context there have been attempts to integrate the Bolivarian alliance between Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia (Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, ALBA), and this has encountered some problems.”

The ALBA was signed by the three governments in Havana on April 29 2006 – with an appeal for other governments to join. It is seen as an alternative framework of cooperation to the US-dominated neo-liberal Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)

“But I don’t think it is possible to integrate governments such as Lula’s in Brazil into such an alliance,” said Celia.

Morales has taken a slightly different approach and proposed a “people’s agreement”, establishing links with movements in Brazil, in Argentina or Chile. In Bolivia the government is not a socialist government but it is implementing socialist-type measures such as the nationalisation of Petrobras.

Meanwhile the benefits of ALBA have already been demonstrated in Venezuela, which in just one year of collaboration with Cuba has freed its people from illiteracy. Hundreds of medical surgeries and clinics have been opened up with health programmes in the poorest neighbourhoods.

Cuba has also benefited: it has overtaken China to become Venezuela’s top trading partner.

ALBA can be a clear example of what can be done, underlining the fact that it is impossible to offer such benefits to the people under governments that hang on to the capitalist framework and neoliberal agenda.

Che Guevara long ago concluded that the local bourgeoisies in the dependent countries had lost any capacity they may have had to mount any real opposition to imperialism.

The process of integration of Venezuela Cuba and Brazil means that we have to assess the possibility for integration of Marxist forces on a class based perspective for Latin America,” argues Celia.

What is happening in Latin America also has lessons and stirs developments in the established revolution in Cuba. Cubans working in Venezuela have experienced the activities of several left parties, factory occupations, and campaigns for workers’ management and workers’ control.

“These lessons are now being discussed: this can help us in developing our politics in Cuba,” says Celia. “Latin America today is the kind of situation Lenin would have hoped for when he created the Bolshevik party”.

Eduardo Diago explained that Venezuela is a fascinating revolutionary development, which has continued a process of radicalisation since 1998. The turning point was the deepening of class struggle in the three years from 2001, the period in which the right wing did everything it could to destabilise the government.

The process of radicalisation combines elections and mobilisations.

The democratic struggle centres on the establishment of a new constitution, and creating a popular movement to debate that constitution.

The social movement takes on board the fact that there cannot be a social transformation of Venezuela without a mass mobilisation. Chavez has been able to unify the various traditions of the left – not just drawing in the reformist currents but also former guerrillaist elements and revolutionaries.

Diago summed up some of the questions posed and debated in Venezuela today, which included:

How to fight and destroy capitalism – and what to replace it with?

What is the role of the working class in this process?

What model should Venezuela adopt given that oil is its main source of wealth?

All of these debates lead to the bigger issue of whether there should be a socialist revolution in Venezuela. But the lack of clarity on these issues was highlighted during the visit of President Lagos of Chile: huge posters went up in Caracas welcoming the “socialist president” – despite his relatively weak reformist, social democratic politics.

Issues which revolutionary Marxists are raising include the relationship between the state and the constitutional framework, and questions over continued private ownership of the means of production which will become more central as the revolutionary movement gathers strength.

We have already seen the expropriation of a number of enterprises, run under co-management or workers’ management.

The left has to develop its organisations and its support for the mass struggles, seeking to deepen the Bolivarian revolutionary process, raising the issue of a “revolution within the revolution”.

Other discussions centre on the pros and cons of creating a single unified trade union federation, which is complicated by the existence of some who would want any such organisation to be tied and subordinated to the government. Others want an independent, class struggle federation.

There is also the question of the struggle against the right wing in Venezuela, who have so far been defeated on the electoral level, but retain significant control over sections of the economy.

And of course there is a total absence of a political organisation to take forward the socialist revolutionary movement.

“The Bolivarian revolution is now caught in a pincer between those who base themselves on social movements, and those who say we must slow down the mass movement, so as not to play into the hands of the right wing.

“For example some governors now want to privatise electricity: we need to oppose that without allowing this level of opposition to the government to play into the hands of the right.

“We also need to find ways to support the peasants’ movement that is now occupying land demanding agrarian reform, despite the opposition from part of the state apparatus.”

Venezuela is not a completed process, or a finished or perfect model: the point is to encourage the movement and develop the anti-capitalist challenge.

Within the Bolivarian movement we have to continue the struggle against those who recently claim adherence to Chavezism, but who want to limit the revolution to its present stage and not drive it forward.

“That’s why from the LCR we have decided to support a current called Unify All Our Struggles”, and see this as a way to encourage self-organisation and political autonomy with each movement.”

Socialist transition in Latin America

Piers Mostyn

Phil Hearse from Socialist Resistance introduced the final plenary session by arguing that the continental struggle against neo-liberalism in Latin America, “has given an arithmetic content to the algebraic formula “another world is possible”; the only possible one, socialism”. But this panorama of struggle has given rise to new debates about revolutionary strategy that the left has not been used to having for some time.

Rejecting a “one size fits all” strategy across the continent, he presented a series of questions – what are the nature of these societies and their relationship to imperialism? What is the nature of the ruling class? What alliance of popular forces might be mobilised to make a revolutionary breakthrough? What are the key steps needed to break with the capitalist state and imperialism?

The left has to find a way of integrating a range of issues – democracy, land reform, the destruction of the oligarchy, an end to economic robbery, meeting the basics of life for the urban poor, liberation for indigenous people and women – into an overarching strategy to conquer power. The centre left forces (including the PT in Brazil, the PRD in Mexico) reject this perspective. This in turn poses the question of class independence and the need for a revolutionary party.

But, Phil argued, the current tremendous political polarisation, particularly in Venezuela, cannot continue forever. Either it will move forward to socialism or be defeated.

Amancay Colque from the Bolivia Solidarity Campaign, outlined the situation in Bolivia, from the 1985 miners strike to the present with the wave of struggles initiated by the successful Cochabamba water privatisation fight in 2000.

As she put it, “then the wheel started to turn on our side”. These fights confronted a right wing government supported not just by the USA, as she pointed out, but Lula’s Brazil. Morales election in 2005 was a product of this process. His programme, renationalisation of gas and oil, though radical was only an expression of the most basic demands of the movement that put him there.

She spoke forcefully of the need for links with workers in Bolivia. A trade union delegation earlier this year had a tremendous impact. There is a lot to be gained on both sides from an exchange of experiences.

Jorge Martin from Hands Off Venezuela set out the united front character of HOV. It has 4 basic demands. Anyone supporting these is welcome, he explained. You don’t have to be a Marxist or even a socialist, just a consistent democrat.

He challenged a central misconception among some critics of the Bolivarian revolution, that this cannot be a revolution because property relations remain unchanged. All revolutions are processes. This is just the beginning.

He described how in some respects the Chavez government is ahead of the movement with the example of the Minister of Labour criticising a meeting of 5,000 trade unionists for not taking over enough enterprises despite being given a long list by the ministry.

The main task for revolutionary Marxists is to participate in this revolution and push forward its most progressive aspects, not denounce it from the outside.

He highlighted the need to confront an anticipated campaign by imperialism and the oligarchy in the three months leading up to the December elections.

Andrew Kennedy from Socialist Resistance drew together the themes of the day focussing on permanent revolution. But he pointed out that we have found that issues like the position of women, the contradictory role of the family and the question of gay oppression can’t be divorced from the other struggles – they are posed every day, for instance by the culture of “Machismo” violence in Mexico.

He called for Cuba’s politics and history to be revisited as an important issue on the left.

The need for solidarity and how to engage in it had been central to all the discussions. It shouldn’t be a “hook” used to recruit to left wing groups or be seen as a sentimental deviation from “real struggle”. Solidarity is essential to persuading people that socialism really is possible.

The significance of imperialism’s difficulties in Iraq that mean it is unable to invade Venezuela was emphasised. One contributor pointed out that the massive issues raised by these struggles has the capacity to “break the log jam” on the left. And we were reminded of the need to focus on what imperialism is doing, not just the base.

Responding at the end, the speakers underlined the interlinked character of global events and the crucial role of the struggles in Bolivia and Venezuela at the core of this.

Amancay summed up the mood, praising Socialist Resistance for its non-sectarian stance, saying “it is beautiful to see all these people from different countries arguing on different lines”.

And she announced a speaking tour by Cochobambas water struggle leader Oscar Oliveros in early July. Building this is an immediate and practical act of solidarity.

See our Socialist Resistance Audio Page for full audio of the opening session of the day school as well as an archive from past meetings.