Red Pepper's Venezuela Blog

Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution at a Turning Point

[For venezuelanalysis.com editor Gregory Wilpert, with the surprising loss of the constitutional reform referendum in December, Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution reached a turning point.]

What Does the 'No' Vote Mean?

[The Nation recently asked five U.S. analysts for their views on the defeat of constitutional reforms championed by President Hugo Chávez. In the article below, one of the contributors, assistant professor of sociology at Queens College, City University of New York, Sujatha Fernandes, argues that the referendum defeat provides an opportunity to reorient the course of the revolution away from determining how to keep Chávez in power indefinitely and proposing reforms from above, and toward promoting alternative and local sources of leadership and facilitating a plural public debate about the future of socialism.]

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez gestures in this Dec. 3, 2007, file photo, during the press conference in Caracas where he acknowledged his defeat in a referendum that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely and impose a socialist system. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano/FILE)

Without Workers Management There Can Be No Socialism

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Kiraz Janicke reports on a two day conference on Worker's Management: Theory and Practice, as part of a program, "Human Development and Transformative Praxis," run by Canadian Marxist academic Michael Lebowitz at the International Miranda Center in Caracas.]
A worker at the worker-controlled Inveval factory, an hour east of Caracas in the satellite town of Carrizal, state of Miranda. January 2006. Credit: Gustavo Marcano.

Chavez Outlines Proposed Social and Economic Structure for Venezuelan Socialism

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Chris Carlson reports on the recent statements by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez regarding his conceptions of how his constitutional reform proposal would change the political and territorial organisation of the country and provide more political power to community organisations.]

Venezuela’s Chavez Inaugurates New “Socialist Production Centers”

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Chris Carlson reports on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's recent inauguration of several new "socialist production centers" around the country, as part of a policy to promote a new socialist production model for the country.]

Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela Holds First Meetings

[Venezuelanalysis.com report on the the second round of neighbourhood meetings held last Saturday to begin the consultation process for the launching of the soon to be formed Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).]

Venezuelan Labor Leaders Call for Union Federation Elections

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Chris Carlson reports on the call made by various leaders of Venezuela's primary pro-government labour union, the National Workers Union of Venezuela (UNT), for all sectors of the organisation to join together and hold elections later this year. --Ed]

Orlando Chirino, coordinator of Venezuela´s National Workers Union (UNT) at a march in the state of Carabobo in 2006. Credit: Aporrea.org

Where Is Venezuela Going? Chávez and the Meaning of Twenty-First Century Socialism

[Below is an article by International Socialist Review's Lee Sustar that will (1) analyse the rise of Chávez within the context of Venezuelan history and politics; (2) examine the government’s economic, social, and political policies; (3) evaluate the Venezuelan revolutionary process from the standpoint of classical Marxist theory; and (4) outline a strategic approach towards the Chávez phenomenon for those committed to anti-imperialist and revolutionary socialist politics. --Ed]

Against Party Bureaucracy: Venezuela's PSUV and Socialism from Below

[MRZine's George Ciccariello-Maher argues that while both internal and external critics of the Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) speak of an impending authoritarianism, their stance obscures the pernicious influence of party bureaucracies masquerading as "pluralism." In the end, if the party's formation blunts the influence of these bureaucracies, this "crisis" may be a blessing in disguise for the PSUV and the Revolution as a whole. --Ed]

Why Aren't You in a Hurry, Comrade?

[Michael Lebowitz, author of Build It Now: Socialism for the Twenty-First Century, argues that while some of the dismay over the idea of a unified party of the revolution dissipates with Chavez's stress upon the need to build it from below and to make it the most democratic party in Venezuela's history, attention now has focused upon his request to the National Assembly for an Enabling Law that would allow him to introduce laws in specific areas directly rather than taking these through the National Assembly. The real question that needs to be posed is one to traditional Venezuelan intellectuals and their counterparts abroad: why aren't you in a hurry, comrade? --Ed]