BY ROBERTO JORQUERA
Since the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998 as the president of Venezuela, a process of fundamental social change has been unfolding in that country, called the "Bolivarian revolution" by its supporters. Alvaro Guzman, the national director of the Bolivarian Student Front (Frente Bolivariano Estudiantil — FBE), is currently touring Australia — the first revolutionary leader from Venezuela to visit this country.
Guzman's Australian tour has been organised by the Committees in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean in collaboration with the socialist youth organisation Resistance.
Speaking to Green Left Weekly on his arrival in Australia, Guzman said: "It is important to recognise that the Bolivarian Student Front is only one and a half years old. It is a very young organisation but it is very much part of the social and political environment of the country. However, we cannot say that it is a new organisation in relation to the ideals that it follows."
He explained that some of the ideas of Simon Bolivar — the early 19th century Venezuela-born revolutionary democrat who led the armed struggle for the national independence of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela against Spain's colonial empire in South America — have been taught in Venezuelan schools and universities for the last 30 years.
"In Venezuela, there is a course structure that begins as early as the second grade up to university level that is called Bolivarian studies, but it was study that was done at the level of visits to museums. It went through some of his speeches and writings and the idea of the liberation of five nations but his political views were never taught."
The conscious use of Bolivar as the symbol of the revolution has been led by President Chavez, said Guzman. "While he was at the military academy, Chavez started to learn more about the life of Bolivar. Chavez became a great admirer of the ideas of Bolivar. Bolivar who was a strong republican who had the vision to plan the integration of Latin America.
"From Bolivar, Chavez has inherited recognition of the need to combat corruption in all our social and political institutions, the capacity for individuals to act as political beings and the right to recognise political rights no matter which social sector the individual comes from. These are some of the fundamental pillars of Bolivarian ideology."
These ideas also sets the basis for the formation of what are called the "Bolivarian circles". With 2 million members, the Bolivarian circles have become the heart of popular self-organisation and empowerment.
Bolivarian circles
"The Bolivarian circles have been formed in response to the need to organise the people in the local communities", Guzman explained. "They are a response to the need to solve community problems. The aims of the Bolivarian circles are varied. They could form in all areas of the community such as among students, street kids, sports people, artists etc. The reason is that there are no other forms of social organisation. The only thing that exists is people's willingness to structurally begin to organise specific tasks in support of the revolutionary process that is unfolding in Venezuela."
The FBE unites youth and students from a broad range of political backgrounds but its goal is to defend and extend the gains of Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution.
"We are working with the youth sections of all the political parties in Venezuela together with the non-organised youth of the workers and peasant movements. Our aim is that no-one should be left alone or isolated. That is why we are working with the youth sections of the already established political parties, but particularly the youth section of the [Chavez's] Fifth Republic Party. We are also working closely with other regional groups and youth organisations throughout Latin America.
"The [FBE] reflects a direct response to the current political situation in Venezuela and in response to the attacks of neo-liberalism throughout Latin America".
United Latin America
Guzman said that the revolution in Venezuela should not be seen in isolation from the political developments that are unfolding throughout the continent. "We are trying to create a space that has its goal of creating an integrated and united Latin America. We want to harness support for the Latin American revolution. In this case, it is not just about the revolution in Venezuela. We are lucky that in Venezuela we have the conditions for this revolution but it could have happened any where else in Latin America — in Chile, Argentina or Brazil."
Guzman explained that a major aspect of the struggle in Venezuela is to undermine the power of the large land-owning oligarchy and to transfer land ownership to those who till it. Around 5 million of Venezuela's 24 million people live in rural areas. According to the agricultural census of 1988, only 6% of the landholders owned 70% of arable land.
The Chavez government has distributed a total of one million hectares to 41,000 families this year as part of a land reform program whose five-year goal is to settle 500,000 families on 10 million hectares. But the government's efforts have run up fierce opposition from agribusiness and large landholders, who have hired armed gangs to intimidate rural workers seeking land reform.
Chile coup
September 11, 2003, marked the 30th anniversary of the military coup that ousted left-wing Chilean president Salvador Allende. In April 2002, a similar coup was organised against President Chavez, but was defeated through a massive uprising of Venezuela's workers and urban poor. Commenting on these two coups, Guzman said: "The way in which the military coup unfolded in Venezuela was a textbook copy of the coup that happened in Chile. In other words, it is as if the coup plotters in Venezuela studied the coup in Chile.
"The preparation for the coup in Chile, which included intelligence gathering with the help of the United States and economic sabotage, was the same for Venezuela. The only difference is that the people came out in support of the President Chavez as the symbol of unity among the Venezuelan people.
"In Venezuela there is an attempt to show that there is a division. The only division is between the majority who favour the constitution and a tiny group that is against the sovereignty of the people that is guaranteed in the constitution. This group of coup plotters is being financed by international capital, transnational companies and a national oligarchy that is still very strong. But they never thought that the people would defend the constitution in the way that they did.
"In Venezuela there is a civil-military union that is clear that the defence of the constitution is a defence of sovereignty. Ours is a revolution with a participatory and just character. The Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela involves the masses — it should be extended so that in each country it should take the form that the people of that country want it to take.
"The situation existed in Venezuela [in April 2002] for it to end the same way it did in Chile. In Venezuela there are plots against the president — many of which have been stopped thanks to the security services.
"We are organising to make sure that the same thing that occurred in Chile 30 years ago does not occur in Venezuela."
In the wake of the April 2002 coup, more than half of the senior military officers have been "retired" by the Chavez government and replaced by junior officers who played key roles in defeating the coup.
In a recent interview, Chavez was asked about the nature of the revolution in Venezuela. He responded that he wasn't fighting for socialism or capitalism but for Bolivarianism.
Guzman said: "I can respond to this with another phrase which President Chavez said to [Cuban President] Fidel Castro. Just after Chavez left prison [in 1994], Fidel asked Chavez, you are developing something in Venezuela, what are you developing? Chavez said to Fidel, we are developing Bolivarianism. Fidel responded by saying, it doesn't matter what you are developing, you could call it Christianity, the important thing is that it is directed to social progress."
Guzman added: "That is what we are doing, Bolivarianism is an inclusive democracy — a democracy that recognises the human rights of the indigenous people who have been isolated and oppressed for over 500 years in Latin America; a democracy that recognises the political right of working people to actively participate and be part of the economic model. People should have the right to participate in the strategic decisions that have to be made in national economic production. That is what is meant by the Bolivarian revolution."
From Green Left Weekly, September 17, 2003.
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