Bruce Marlowe
Dr Carolus Wimmer, international secretary of the Communist Party of Venezuela and member of the Latin American parliament, finished his Australian speaking tour with a March 5 meeting in Newcastle. He also spoke in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Geelong and Melbourne.
Wimmer's talk, along with meetings with university students, trade unionists, and state and federal parliamentarians, helped thousands become more informed and inspired about Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution.
At each meeting Wimmer gave a short outline of the unfolding revolution, then invited his audiences to engage in a "conversation" about Venezuela's achievements and problems. This led to absorbing and informative exchanges that covered many issues confronting Venezuela.
A constant theme was the need for the revolution to arm itself. In Sydney, Wimmer explained: "After having so many attacks and threats from the US, we have decided that although we do not support wars, we will not be naive and will be prepared to fight for our sovereignty in the case of a US invasion."
Many were curious about Venezuela as "a revolution with money". Would a change in the world oil market jeopardise the gains of the revolution, a Geelong audience member asked. Wimmer stressed that the government of President Hugo Chavez was intent on reducing the country's oil dependence in the medium term: it was using its petrodollars not only to fund social programs, but for research and development in new, ecologically sustainable industries.
Wimmer stressed that the revolution's social gains, driven by the various "missions" in health and education, not only underpin Chavez's continuing popularity (more than 60% in the polls), but are essential to involving people in the revolution. He told his Adelaide audience: "You can't carry through a revolution unless the people are educated and fed, which is why the exploitation of the oil resources is so vital right now. Our programs of social change have to happen as fast as possible to enable the people to continue the process of political and social change and defend those gains from the attacks that are coming."
The social programs are breaking new ground. Wimmer told of the Venezuelan parliament's recent decision to provide homemakers with a salary close to the minimum wage, in recognition that the burden of domestic labour falls overwhelmingly on women.
Many wanted to know what the Venezuelans mean by "socialism of the 21st century" and how this differs from the experience of the former Soviet Union. Wimmer stressed the democracy at the heart of the revolution — from the massive popular consultation that produced Venezuela's constitution to today's drive to develop people's power structures from the neighbourhood level up.
And the main problems?
- Bureaucracy and corruption: "The social missions had to be set up because the existing state bureaucracy is incompetent and corrupt, and a battleground between Chavista and anti-Chavista forces."
- Popular distrust of politics: "While supporting the revolution and Chavez, many people do not trust any political parties, even if the party supports the revolution. This is due to the largely corrupt practices of the major political parties that ruled in Venezeula for the previous four decades."
- Disunity of the revolutionary forces: "Everyone recognises the need for a single party of the revolution, but the conditions for a revolutionary unity don't yet exist."
Wimmer's tour was organised by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network, and sponsored by the Socialist Alliance, Communist Party of Australia, Green Left Weekly, Ocean Press and various Latin America solidarity organisations.
[Luisa Ara, Adam Baker, Lara Pullin, Lesley Richmond, Camilo Jorquera and Roberto Jorquera contributed to this report.]
From Green Left Weekly, March 8, 2006.
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