It is said that Venezuela is engaged in socialist reforms. Is this true?

Interpretation: Chávez’s 21st Century Socialism

February 1, 2007 13:28 Xinhuanet

Xinhuanet Special Article: Venezuelan President Cha At the end of 2004, Weiss proposed building a "21st century socialist" society in Venezuela. The United States is quite disgusted with this anti-capitalist idea because it is incompatible with its values. However, this proposition has attracted great attention from international academic circles, including Chinese scholars. What exactly is the connotation of Chávez’s “21st century socialism”? Some people explain that it is a mixture of Bolivarian, Christian and Marxist ideas, and its manifestations are: developing "people's power and democracy" internally politically, implementing nationalization economically, promoting "people's economy", and pursuing social To promote fairness; externally, we resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and oppose U.S. hegemonism. Chavez's new theory is highly controversial and is being discussed in academic circles. Scholars from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Xinhua News Agency reporters in Venezuela have also conducted some exploration and investigation on this issue.

A valuable attempt

President Castro of Cuba’s Council of State often said, “If you don’t want socialism, you’d rather die”! Since Chávez proposed "21st century socialism", he has often shouted "No socialism or death" on various occasions! It can be seen that his determination to lead the Venezuelan people on the road of socialism is very strong.

Chávez has reiterated many times that he will not make "21st century socialism" Soviet-style socialism. He also often said that his socialist ideas came from Marx and Jesus. However, if Marxist principles are used as a criterion, Chávez’s “21st century socialism” is far from scientific socialism. Some of his slogans lack a solid theoretical basis, and Chavez's "think tanks" and "think tanks" failed to provide detailed explanations. The international community's understanding of the "Bolivarian revolution" and "21st century socialism" only relies on Chavez's words.

Since Chavez proposed the "Bolivarian Revolution" and "21st Century Socialism", Venezuela's domestic and foreign affairs have indeed undergone very noticeable changes. For example, in terms of domestic affairs, through nationalization and other measures, Venezuela has strengthened its control over the energy sector; through the implementation of a series of social relief programs, the situation of lack of medical care and backward education in remote and poor areas of Venezuela has been improved. In diplomacy, Chavez firmly defended national sovereignty and resisted U.S. hegemonic policies. In addition, Chavez also provided billions of dollars in aid to Cuba and some other Latin American countries with petrodollars as "backed".

However, Chavez’s drastic reform measures and aggressive diplomatic offensive have also aroused various comments from the international community. For example, some people believe that Chavez's ideas such as abolishing the independence of the central bank and "everything that can be nationalized must be nationalized" are incompatible with the laws of market economy in the era of globalization, and international investors have begun to hesitate and wait and see.

It is true that the socialist system is inherently superior to the capitalist system, but whether the socialist system is suitable for Venezuela’s national conditions is an issue that remains to be discussed. President Chavez apparently has yet to give a clear answer.

Venezuela will face extremely difficult difficulties and challenges on the road to "21st century socialism": domestically, the political opposition is closely connected with big bourgeois interest groups, which has great influence on Venezuela's political stability. Posing a huge threat; internationally, the United States regards Chavez as "Castro No. 2" and will never allow another socialist country to emerge in its "backyard".

Equally important is that the historical process of the international communist movement shows that the socialist cause must be led by a strong Marxist-Leninist party. However, on the one hand, the political influence of the Venezuelan Communist Party is very limited. On the other hand, it is still unknown whether the Socialist Unity Party that Chavez hopes to establish can develop into a Marxist-Leninist party.

In any case, Chavez’s “21st century socialism” is a valuable attempt by developing countries to explore new development paths. In recent years, the Latin American left has made a comeback, and Chavez has played an important role in this process.

Although the picture he painted for "21st century socialism" is still vague, there is someone in America's "backyard" who dares to propose a socialist path, and this person can be regarded as a great man. (Jiang Shi, Institute of Latin America, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Slogan? theory? It’s hard to see the true face of Mount Lu

“Motherland, I swear, either socialism or death!” Venezuela’s re-elected President Chávez pressed the constitution with his left hand and his right hand in front of the National Congress Chairman Flores on January 10 He held it high and solemnly swore in office, officially starting the "new era" of building "21st century socialism".

In fact, since he was first elected as President of Venezuela in 1998, Chavez has implemented a series of reform measures called the "Bolivarian Revolution." However, Chavez believed that social improvement measures were still not enough to completely eliminate poverty and "save" Venezuela. Therefore, after a long period of deliberation, Chavez proposed building "21st century socialism" in late 2004 and early 2005. He believes that the ongoing "Bolivarian Revolution" in Venezuela should aim at socialism, otherwise it cannot be called a revolution.

"Capitalism cannot achieve our development goals, and we cannot seek a middle path. I invite all Venezuelan people *** to join us in embarking on this socialist path in the new century." In Chavez It seems that capitalism is the root of all evil and can only cause "poverty for the majority of the people." Chavez believes that the people's economy under collective ownership has changed the barbarism and exploitation of capitalism, is people-oriented, and advocates unity, equality, justice, and mutual development.

Chávez stated that "21st century socialism" is by no means a copy of the previous socialist model. It is a brand-new socialism with Venezuelan characteristics: "Our socialism is native socialism, Indians "The most influential person on Chavez's thoughts is Bolivar, the founding father of Venezuela and the hero of the South American War of Independence." Bolivar's social ideas on education, land ownership, health care, etc. were put into practice after Chavez came to power. Chavez considered Bolivar a "socialist". When defining "21st century socialism", Chavez drew a lot of nutrients from Bolivar's thoughts. He said that building socialism is to "realize Bolivar's dream."

In addition, Chavez believed that Christianity has a socialist flavor and said that Jesus was "the greatest socialist in history." In Chavez's own words, part of his theory of socialism came from the Bible. Of course, the influence of Cuban leader Castro on Chavez cannot be underestimated.

Chávez’s “21st Century Socialism” is still just a new thing and does not have a complete theoretical system. However, the reform measures announced by Chavez at the beginning of his new term are “21st Century Socialism” The blueprint outlines a rough outline. In short, politically, "people's power" will be developed, grassroots power agencies "community committees" will be established, and "ownership-style, revolutionary, socialist democracy" will be realized; economically, the state's control over energy and electricity will be Nationalize industries such as telecommunications and telecommunications, compress the profit margins of private enterprises, and vigorously develop collective ownership

and the "people's economy"; socially, narrow the gap between rich and poor, and protect low-income groups and marginalized groups. , promote social equity.

In his inauguration speech, Chavez proposed 5 "boosters" to build the "Bolivarian Socialist Revolution": First, ask Congress to grant the president "commissioned legislative power" so that the government can promulgate Regulations with legal effect; second, amend the constitution, cancel the independence of the central bank, cancel the limit on the number of presidential terms, etc.; third, carry out universal education, completely eliminate illiteracy, and establish socialist values; fourth, further build the grassroots The power body "community committee" should reform the national political institutions; fifth, reform the administrative divisions and redistribute local power.

Support? be opposed to? One stone stirs up a thousand waves

“You know? When President Chavez’s televised speech is broadcast on Sunday, our family has no food to eat because my wife is a more fanatical Chavez fanatic than me. A Weiss supporter, she could listen to the speech from beginning to end, which lasted for six or seven hours, and she had no intention of cooking," Domingo, a taxi driver in his 50s, said quickly.

As he was driving, he quickly glanced out the window at the large socialist construction slogan with Chavez's face that was flying past, and said: "Maybe some people don't like Chavez, but I think he is the most important person in Venezuelan history." What a great president, I dare say, other than him, there will be no other president who can think about the poor as much as he does."

The "Venezuela Progressive Cooperative" is located in the suburbs of Caracas. A garment factory with more than 100 people. Delia Moriva is a mother of two children in her 30s. Because she has sewing experience, she also does some training in the cooperative, and now she can get a monthly salary of more than 200 US dollars. Living in a slum, she told reporters with a smile: "We are about to get a salary increase. The price of affordable food provided to us by the government is one-third of the market price. We really can't ask for more."

The elderly who received free cataract surgery from the government, the housewives in their 30s who returned to school for secondary school courses, the electronic engineers who went to university with government funding... The public voted for Chacha with more than 7 million votes Weiss and the "21st century socialism" he advocated.

However, from the speech at the inauguration ceremony of the new cabinet on January 8 to the presidential inauguration speech on January 10, the series of radical measures to build socialism described by Chavez were like heavyweights. The bomb caused violent reactions from all parties.

On January 8, Chavez announced the nationalization of part or all of the energy, electricity and telecommunications industries. This news caused panic among domestic and foreign investors. The stock market plummeted 18.66% the next day. The stocks of Venezuela's National Telephone Company and Caracas Electric Company, which were involved in Weiss's speech, had to announce a 48-hour trading halt after falling 20% ??to 30% that day. Although the government has since repeatedly explained that nationalization does not mean confiscation of the above-mentioned companies, the stock index has continued to fall, shrinking by nearly one-third in more than 10 days.

Economists believe that as the first step to promote socialist construction, there is nothing novel in realizing the forced nationalization of strategic industries, but it may make these companies that were just privatized in the 1990s A return to the inefficient and corrupt conditions of the past. The business community has also expressed "concern" because the measures announced by the government go further than the platform of Chávez during the election campaign. The Venezuelan Industrialists Association issued a communiqué stating that the organization does not oppose the government's social reforms within the scope of the law, but hopes that private property and the basic rights of citizens can be protected, and reminds the government of any excessive interference with private business activities. Many interventions will lead to a reduction in foreign and domestic investment.

President Chavez’s ideas of constitutional amendments such as allowing the president to be re-elected indefinitely have also been criticized. Although the government has repeatedly stated that various reforms to build socialism will be carried out in an "absolutely democratic manner" within the legal framework, and constitutional reform will be approved by a unanimous vote of the whole people. The opposition still launched an intensive attack on Chavez. Rosales, a former presidential candidate and opposition leader, accused Chavez of being a "tyrant" who wanted to turn Venezuela into a totalitarian, militarized government wrapped in democracy. Opposition leader Teodoro Petkov believes that the socialism promoted by Chavez has nothing to do with the modern concept of socialism, and its purpose is only to increase the power of the president. The so-called adjustment of regional administrative planning, It was also intended to strengthen Chavez's personal power and lead Venezuela toward Cuban-style socialism.

Rojas, Chavez’s senior adviser, said that it is unrealistic to find a perfect social form. According to the new socialist thinking, cultural differences and diversity should be recognized and respected. It is impossible for capitalism to spread around the world. Just considering the environmental crisis caused by unrestricted industrialization of capitalism should be enough reason to have hope for the new socialist system. “One of the purposes of new socialism is to recognize the differences between people and break various imbalances through legislation.” He said Venezuela should not copy the socialist model of the last century, because the old model is not conducive to policy adjustments according to new changes.

However, Venezuelan market economist Emetrio Gomez poured cold water on it. He affirmed: "Besides the market economy, there is no other way to organize society, except for an absolute totalitarian society." He believed that all enterprises should meet three basic requirements: profitability, competitiveness and the ability to accumulate capital, otherwise they can only Survive on subsidies or go bankrupt. Precisely because of these market economic theories, he is not optimistic about Chavez's "21st century socialism."

Although Chavez’s “21st century socialism” has been controversial since its launch, according to a recent survey report published by Venezuelan media, more than 70% of Venezuelan citizens can accept a “moderate society”. ism".

Chávez promised voters to build "21st century socialism" as early as during the presidential campaign, and won more than 60% support in the subsequent general election. This shows that most Venezuelans accept Chavez's ideas. Social reform ideas. In addition, Congress also supports Chavez 100%. Perhaps these two most critical items are enough to support Chavez to continue moving in the direction of socialism.

Currently, Chavez’s various reform measures are in the process of rapid advancement. The bill entrusting legislative power has passed the first review at the National Congress, with all 167 supporters of Chavez The parliament, composed of members, gave the green light for the proposal to be passed. (Xinhua News Agency reporters in Caracas Zhang Xiaoran Yin Nan)