Luis Tascon is a leading Venezuelan parliamentarian and a founding member of the Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR). The MVR is the main parliamentary party supporting socialist President Hugo Chavez and the revolutionary process he is leading, dubbed the "Bolivarian revolution". In July, Green Left Weekly's Coral Wynter & Jim McIlroy spoke to Tascon.
Tascon told GLW about some of the difference between Venezuela's revolution and the 1979-90 Sandinista-led revolution in Nicaragua, which Washington successfully defeated through funding the Contras' bloody insurgency. As with Nicaragua, Venezuela's revolution has faced stiff opposition from the US ruling elite. This has included a Washington-backed military coup in April 2002 and a devastating lockout by Venezuelan bosses in December the same year.
Tascon explained that Venezuela and Nicaragua had significant differences that have helped the former from so far falling victim to the latter's fate. "Nicaragua is a very poor country, with very few resources. Venezuela is a rich country, with very substantial resources of oil. We have 12.5% of the internal petroleum market in the US. We are owners of [the state-run oil industry] PDVSA. We could cause a lot of damage to the US economy if our oil was cut off — more than any war.
"This is the context in which President Chavez has entered world politics. Oil has given Venezuela a little power. At present, the US is involved in the Middle East, which is more of a priority than Venezuela right now. The US also has North Korea on its agenda. Because of this, they are using Colombia as a platform against Venezuela, rather than direct intervention. Venezuela cannot be tackled head-on for the time being.
"The price of petrol has risen to close to [US]$76 per barrel. When we began the revolution, oil was at $25 per barrel. Venezuela has the biggest reserves of oil in the world. Inflation is under control. We have managed our strong economy, thanks to the price of petrol. So, it is very different to the situation of Nicaragua [in the 1980s].
Tascon told GLW that the US "must take care". "Nicaragua only had bananas [to export]. The effect of a war with Venezuela would seriously de-stabilise the world oil market. If this happened, the price of Venezuelan oil could rise to over $100 per barrel, and this would undermine the US economy. The US will do everything it can to bring down Chavez, but under these conditions, Venezuela is a very difficult target for them."
GLW asked Tascon about the importance of international solidarity for Venezuela's revolution. Tascon recounted how, when he was in Switzerland in 2002, "I spoke at a forum to explain the Venezuelan situation, and to see the perception of Europeans. Initially, Chavez was ignored by the international left. The left thought that Chavez was just a military populist who had taken over a Latin American country."
But Chavez demonstrated that the Bolivarian revolutionary project "wasn't like that". "It was a popular democracy. Precisely because it was a strengthened democracy, the US was unable to carry out the [April 2002] coup successfully. The president and the parliament were democratically elected. The president was legitimised by a vote of more than double that received by any other president in our history. We have not defeated the opposition in a bloody war, but by votes.
"But the European left perceived Chavez — until the failed coup against him — as a dictator, another [Juan] Peron [Argentina's former president] and never a revolutionary. But, after the coup, when Venezuela began to be analysed, it was found that the reality was different. The Venezuelan FAN [National Armed Forces] is quite different to the other armed forces of Latin America. Our FAN is of a popular origin. The military officers are not a product of the social elite, but come from the ordinary people.
"Here in Venezuela, it was not prestigious to be in the military. It was more prestigious to be a businessman, an artist or anything else. So there were many popular officers, like Chavez [who was an officer in the parachute division], who do things differently [to the traditional Latin American officer class].
"The FAN also included left currents. The Venezuelan military is not the same as the Chilean army [which overthrew the left-wing government of Salvadore Allende in 1973 in a coup]. The Chilean armed forces were created by the ruling elite." Tascon said that in Venezuela, there is "an identification between the ordinary people and the FAN".
'Socialism of the 21st century'
He told GLW that Venezuela's revolution "is a very particular process, initially defined as Bolivarian, and later as a socialist process. It is still not clear what 'socialism of the 21st century' is — the exact form that socialism will take is being worked out in practice.
"Out of [the clarification of the nature of the process], came the projection of Chavez on the world stage, not as a military, but as a revolutionary democratic leader — totally different from the original picture of him.
This was underlined at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Caracas last August and the World Social Forum here in January this year. "These forums provided an international platform to project the democratic character of the new laws, which allowed the different social sectors to act together within a legal framework in Venezuela. [The left] now understands that Venezuela could be a model for other countries, or at least underdeveloped countries — a model that is seeking liberty and a revolution in social equality.
"Right now, we are searching for a further definition of the Bolivarian process — not only the left, but the right as well who remain within the process. In the discussion of 'socialism of the 21st century', there will undoubtedly be a confrontation between different Chavistas. I am sure there will be a conflict of particular interests between the left and the right [within the process]. But it will not be the traditional right [who are in opposition to Chavez], but a Chavista right-wing.
"It is important for Venezuela to receive international solidarity because of the actions Chavez has taken to increase social investment of the country's wealth for the benefit of the poor. Chavez has taken measures to provide a degree of social justice for the people, and the population has responded in support. And these actions will serve as a platform to expand onto the world stage, such as with the literacy campaign in Bolivia."
Latin American integration
GLW asked about moves by Venezuela to develop the economic and political integration of Latin America, in opposition to traditional US domination of the region. Tascon explained: "We have a platform [for action], one linked with the people [of Latin America]. We have a deep relationship with the movement for independence of Puerto Rico; with the progressive movement in Colombia; and other movements." Another aspect, he said, is the development of economic and political relations with other governments in the region.
"Our strategy for economic development includes close relations with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Our strategy certainly involves President Evo Morales of Bolivia and Cuba in a close alliance. The Cubans have helped us enormously, above all with the social missions. They provided the people, the doctors, the literacy teachers, and the overall plan. It is a political strategy, with the support and help of the people."
"The other type of relationship", Tascon told GLW, "is that of economics, using oil". "For example, the platform provided by Petrocaribe [an agreement to provide cheap oil to 13 Caribbean nations], Petrosur [which aims to create a united energy company across South America] and the relations of PDVSA with Ecuador and Nicaragua. I fully support the use of petroleum as a platform for unity, principally as a means of changing the [structure] of the world's energy [distribution and use]. Venezuela is the richest in energy in the world."
Venezuela left the Community of Andean Nations (CAN), the trading bloc that includes Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, after Colombia and Peru signed free trade agreements with the US. However it entered MERCOSUR, a bloc with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. "This generates an international bloc, with other governments, some of them friends, even some enemies. This is fundamental to developing a platform of international protection for Venezuela, even with Colombia. This seems illogical, but we have undertaken business with Colombia over the gas pipeline, highways, and bridges. We have established a relationship with Colombia that we cannot afford to lose.
"We now see the possibility of Venezuela obtaining a seat on the United Nations Security Council, against the wishes of the US."
The corporate media vs Bolivarianism
Tascon told GLW that the corporate media of the world "has tried to stigmatise Chavez and Venezuela". "FOX, CNN, CBS, and the mass newspapers are a fundamental arm of imperialism. They use the mass media of communication against their enemies, even before their army."
He said, however, that there is "very little credible said against Venezuela — just that we are 'terrorists' or 'narco-traffickers'. It's a war [played out] primarily through the media. The principal enemy we face [at this stage] is the international mass media.
"We have challenged them, but only through politics. [In Venezuela], we didn't close down any newspaper or TV channel. In Venezuela, the only channel that ever got closed down was the government Channel 8, [during the April 2002 coup by the coup leaders]. We have not attacked any enemy with arms, or repression, but with politics. After the [2004 recall] referendum [which attempted to remove Chavez but was defeated by a vote of nearly 60% in his favour], we achieved a major defeat of the old dominant class, historically allied to the US.
"But now we have to defeat the [corporate media] on a world level. The TV and newspapers always lie. They always respond to their own interests. These interests are those of the big multinationals". Tascon said that to find the truth, "people must read, listen carefully, come to Venezuela — it s a most interesting experience. All revolutions are different, special. But Venezuela is a great political revolution — now we must complete the social and economic revolution."