Hugo Chávez og den »bolivarianske revolution« i Venezuela

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Venezuelas overklasse har tre gange, støttet af Bush-regeringen, forsøgt at skaffe sig af med Hugo Chávez, folkevalgt præsident siden 1998.

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Indhold

• Forord
• Leksika
• Artikler og sites på dansk
• Web sites / Collections of articles in English
• Articles in English, incl. Chavez speech in UN
• Books

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Se også på Socialistisk Bibliotek:

• Linkboxen Hugo Chávez (1954-2013) – links og nekrologer
• Tidslinjen 6. december 2015 om tiden efter Hugo Chavez (under afløseren Nicolas Maduro’s styre).
• Personlisten Simon Bolivar (1783-1830)

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Forord

Venezuelas overklasse har tre gange, støttet af Bush-regeringen, forsøgt at skaffe sig af med Hugo Chávez, folkevalgt præsident siden 1998. Og de har hver gang lidt knusende nederlag pga. masse-mobiliseringen bag præsidenten og hans reformpolitik.

Vi har her samlet en række sites og artikler med baggrund, analyser og diskussion af udviklingen i Venezuela, Hugo Chávez’ politik og den ‘bolivariske revolutions’ karakter.

 

Bjarne A. Frandsen
Opstart marts 2006; revideret 2014.

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Leksika

• Venezuela (Leksikon.org)
• Hugo Chávez (Wikipedia.dk)
• Venezuela (Wikipedia.dk)

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Artikler og sites på dansk

Fingrene væk fra Venezuela!: I solidaritet med den venezuelanske revolution
Site med nyheder og analyser (sidst opdateret marts 2011; online på Internet Archive).

Gaia

Hillary Wainright: Tid tIl refleksion i Venezuela (pdf) (nr.58, december 2007, s.8-11). Scroll ned.
“Så mens jeg begyndte mit besøg som en international observatør af demokratiet i valgprocessen og fandt det på mange måder mere demokratisk end der hvor jeg kommer fra, så endte jeg op med at observere det interne demokrati i den chavistiske bevægelse og fandt den meget inspirerende, præget af pluralisme, kritisk debat og deltagelse – som vi
kan lære meget af.”

Ulrik S. Kohl: Hugo Chávez’ lange march (nr.48, forår 2005)
“Venezuelas præsident læser Mao og Biblen og overdrager arbejderne kontrollen over landets største papirfabrik. Hvor ender vejen for den bolivarianske revolution?” P.t. ikke online

Søren Henriksen: Kampen om jorden (nr.47, vinter 2004)
“Ejerskabet af Venezuelas jord har stået centralt under hele perioden med Chavez som præsident. Men mange sten lægger sig i vejen for en reel omfordeling.” P.t. ikke online.

Gnist/Rødt!

Michael A. Lebowitz: Det fæle og det gode venstre (nr. 3, 2007)
“Hvordan kan vi kjenne igjen et angrep på kapitalismen som sådan? Bygger de nye venstreregjeringene i Latin-Amerika et alternativ til kapitalismen?

Gnisten

Kampen etter valget (nr.1, feb. 2007)
“I den siste testen for president Hugo Chavez, stemte venezuelanerne i et presidentvalg som vil avgjøre framtida til landets radikale reform-regjering. Michael Lebowitz snakket i desember 2006 med magasinet Socialist Review (SR) om den ‘bolivarianske revolusjonens’ natur.”

Leksikon for det 21. århundrede

Venezuela
Med landedata, historie + masser af statistik.

Boli­var, Simón

Modkraft.dk

Andreas Bülow: Venezuela under belejring (Kontradoxa, 18. nov. 2015)
“Økonomisk sabotage dræner chavismens bagland for entusiasme, og oppositionen er ved at finpudse sin strategi for at generobre magten. Imens diskuteres der i den revolutionære bevægelse om akutte forslag om statskontrol med fødevaresektoren.”

Hands Off Venezuela: Mytetjek af den bolivariske revolution (Kontradoxa, 9. april 2015)
“Venezuelas venstreorienterede regering udsættes for en hård kritik i de vestlige medier. Solidaritetskampagnen Hands Off Venezuela i Danmark giver her svar på ti myter om landet og dets styre.”

Ulrik S. Kohl: Derfor elsker de Chávez (Modkraft Synspunkt, 9. okt. 2012)
“Venezuela har genoplivet den socialistiske idé og omformet den til praktiseret velfærd og frigørelse. Og valg er en god ting for en revolution.”

Rune Eltard-Sørensen: Hugo Chavez alene om støtte til Libyens regime (4. marts 2011)
“Oprørsbevægelsen i Libyen afviser Venezuelas præsident Hugo Chavez’ forslag om at mægle mellem befolkningen og Gadaffi’s regime i det borgerkrigshærgede land. Chavez’ opbakning til Gaddafi kritiseres også i Danmark.”

Ole Wugge Christiansen: Venezuela: Idømt syv års fængsel for strejke (3. marts 2011)
” Venstreorienteret fagforening anklager Venezuelas retssystem for at dømme arbejdere og fagforeningsfolk, men give straffrihed til voldelige arbejdsgivere.”

Pelle Dragsted: Ciao, Ciao Chavez (Blog, 2. marts 2011)
“Men tvivlen på udviklingen i den såkaldt bolivarianske revolution har naget mere og mere i de seneste år.”

Andreas Bülow: Venezuela: Revolutionen fanget mellem to vinde (22. juni 2009)
“Den økonomiske krise sætter Chavez-regeringen og dens politik under stærkt pres.”

Søren Henriksen: Arbejderklasse og socialisme i Venezuela (20. juli 2007)
“Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez stækker arbejderklassen og den demokratiske debat, mener Orlando Chirino, der er en af lederne i landsorganisationen UNT og formand for C-Cura (Den forenede autonome klassebevægelse) indenfor landsorganisationen.”

Andreas Bülow: Arbejderkontrol og fabriksbesættelser i Venezuela (6. feb. 2007)
“Arbejderstyre eller medbestemmelse? Kampen om indholdsbestemmelse af demokratiet på besatte og statslige virksomheder raser i Venezuela.”

Pelle Dragsted: Venezuela på vej mod socialisme? (6. sept. 2006)
“Rejsbrev fra den komplekse politiske proces på vej mod ‘det 21.århundredes socialisme’.”

Bjørn Hansen: Venezuelas paradokser (14. aug. 2006)
“Venezuelas præsident Hugo Chávez’ socialisme-projekt skaber voldsom polarisering i landet.”

Andreas Bülow: Venezuela og Chavez : Bush’s ultimative hade-ikoner (31. maj 2006)
“USA’s frustration over den bolivarianske revolution i Venezuela vokser.”

Andreas Bülow: Venezuela: revolutionen ved en korsvej (21. dec. 2005)
“Mens arbejderkontrol og nationaliseringer breder sig, starter Chavez en diskussion om socialisme.”

Socialistisk Arbejderavis

Chris Harman: Venezuela, Hugo Chavez og den permanente revolution (nr.265, 14. februar 2007)
“Hugo Chavez taler om ‘permanent revolution’ i Venezuela. Men der foregår en kamp om fremtiden for revolutionen og for forandringer nedefra.”

Kampen efter valget (nr.265, 14. februar 2007)
“Michael Lebowitz, der er interviewet her, er en fremtrædende marxistisk forfatter, som for tiden bor i Venezuelas hovedstad Caracas. Lebowitz har lige udgivet en bog med titlen ‘Build It Now’, som undersøger, hvilket potentiale udviklingen i Venezuela har til at skabe en ny ‘socialisme for det 21. århundrede’.”

Steve Marther: Demokrati på gulvplan (nr.265, 14. februar 2007)
“Hvad vil Hugo Chavez? Højrefløjen kalder ham diktator. Hans vælgere elsker ham. Selv taler han om at opbygge en ‘socialisme for det 21. århundrede’. Vi ser nærmere på den proces af forandring, der er sat i gang i Venezuela.”

Socialistisk Information

Den aktuelle debat handler om, hvordan man stopper offensiven fra den neoliberale højrefløj (7. juni 2014)
“Venezuela er splittet mellem højrefløjens forsøg på destabilisering, grænserne for den bolivariske proces og arbejderklassen og de folkelige bevægelsers mulighed for at fremme det revolutionære projekt. Latinamerika-eksperten Franck Gaudichaud diskuterer udfordringer og modsætninger i Venezuelas vej til socialisme.”

Kan et land have en revolutionær stat og en kapitalistisk økonomi? (26. maj 2014)
“Professor Steve Ellner diskuterer, med udgangspunkt i Poulantzas teorier, forholdet mellem staten, den kapitalistiske økonomi og socialismen i Venezuela.”

Federico Fuentes: Topmøde i Venezuela starten på ‘ny historisk fase’ (30. januar 2012)
“Et topmøde af meget stor betydning blev afholdt i Venezuela den 2-3. december. 200 år efter at Latinamerikas frihedskæmpere første gang rejste kampråbet for et samlet Latinamerika, mødtes 33 statsledere fra hele regionen for at danne Sammenslutningen af Latinamerikanske og Caribiske Stater (CELAC). ”

Ataulfo Riera: Falliterklæring for Chavez?: Latinamerika og den arabiske revolution (5. marts 2011)
“Hvis Castro og Chavez blev taget fuldstændig på sengen af det arabiske oprør, så lader de i øjeblikket til at være ude af stand til at forstå karakteren, omfanget og sammenhængen i den revolutionære proces, som nu ruller hen over hele regionen.”

Revolutionens udfordringer (3. oktober 2010)
“I midten af juni 2010 interviewede Jeffery R Webber og Susan Spronk fra tidsskriftet Against The Current … tre revolutionære socialister om modsætninger og muligheder i den bolivariske proces.”

Leif Mikkelsen: Tiltrængt demokratisering af medierne (27. september 2009)
” De sidste par måneder har der været en del artikler i den danske og internationale presse omkring presse- og ytringsfrihedeni Venezuela.”

Rolf Bergkvist: Nationaliseringer og klassekamp (17. juni 2009)
” Hugo Chávez har igangsat endnu en kampagne for at mindske frem for alt de udenlandske mulitinationale firmaers indflydelse på den venezuelanske økonomi.”

Kiraz Janicke & Federico Fuentes: Venezuelas arbejderbevægelse ved en skillevej (18. juni 2008)
“Nylige begivenheder har endnu en gang sat spørgsmålet om arbejderklassen i Venezuelas bolivariske revolution på dagsordenen – med dens målsætning om en ‘socialisme for det 21. århundrede’, men med den organiserede arbejderklasse i bedste fald som en sporadisk deltager.”

Stuart Piper: Udfordringen for socialismen i det 21. århundrede (pdf) (nr.222, oktober 2007, s.22-26). ”Denne artikel ser nærmere på, hvor langt revolutionen er kommet målet om at skabe en ‘socialisme for det 21. århundrede’, og hvilke udfordringer man står overfor.” Scroll ned.

Støtte til Hugo Chavez? – eller til Venezuelas arbejdere og en uafhængig venstrefløj? (nr.216, marts 2007; online på Internet Archive)
“… [der er] grund til at advare mod den til dels uhæmmede begejstring, der præger mange af hans støtter i ind- og udland. I løbet af det forrige århundrede har vi desværre set det klassiske mønster igen og igen, hvor folkekære og venstrepopulistiske statsledere efter en årrække slår om til sin modsætning.”

Chavez vil vinde i Venezuela (nr.191, november 2004)
“Tariq Ali, pakistaner, bosat i London, socialist, forfatter, historiker og debattør, var i Venezuela i august. Her blev han, kort før folkeafstemningen om præsident Chavez, interviewet til websitet Venezuelanalysis.com om inspirationen fra Venezuela og den latinamerikanske modstand mod USA’s nyliberalisme.”

Revolution

Andreas Bülow: “Introduktion til Den venezuelanske revolution” (30. august 2010)
“Her bringer vi forfatterens introduktion til bogen ‘Den venezuelanske revolution’. Forfatteren gør rede for sine overvejelser omkring revolutionen og dens baggrund, og ikke mindst gør han opmærksom på nødvendigheden af et modspil til både de borgerliges manipulation og visse folks ukritiske beundring af revolutionen.” P.t. ikke online.
Kapitel 1: Første indtryk fra revolutionens Venezuela (8. september 2010)
Kapitel 2: Essentielle elementer af Venezuelas historie 1989-2002 (10. september 2010)

Alan Woods: Venezuela – Hvorfor blev det til et ‘nej’ i folkeafstemningen? (5. december 2007)
“Hovedelementet i ligningen var undladelse: et stort antal Chavistaer undlod at stemme. Spørgsmålet må stilles: hvorfor stemte de ikke?”

Andreas Bülow: Venezuela: 3 løgne og 3 svar (3. december 2007)
“I de danske dagblade og nyhedsmedier, fremstilles Chávez styre i Venezuela som et totalitært styre, på vej imod diktatur … I dene artikel ser vi på de hyppigst brugte løgne og besvarer dem, skridt for skridt.”

Alan Woods: Teser om revolution og kontrarevolution i Venezuela, 1. del (22. juni 2006) + 2. del (27. juni 2004) + 3.del (20. august 2004)
“Artikelserie om den venezuelanske revolutions aktuelle problemer.”

Solidaritet

Justin Podur: Venezuela: mellem to vinde (nr.2, maj 2004, s.21-26)
“Om Venezuelas strategiske betydning for USA’s planer og for det andet, de sociale og politiske ændringer som finder sted i selve Venezuela. Begge aspekter har gjort landet til mål for angreb, men også til et sted, der rummer vigtige erfaringer for sociale bevægelser. Derfor er der god grund til at være meget opmærksom på udviklingen i Venezuela.”

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Web sites / Collections of articles in English

Hands off Venezuela!
“The basic principles of the Campaign are: Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution – Opposition to imperialist intervention in Venezuela – Building direct links with the revolutionary and trade union movement in Venezuela.”

In Defence of Marxism

Section: Venezuela
General analysis + Solidarity activities.

International Viewpoint

Index: Venezuela (articles 2002- ).

Marxsite

Section: Venezuela’s Boliviarian Revolution

Third World Traveler

U.S. Foreign Policy: Venezuela page

Venezuelanalysis.com: Venezuelan Views, News and Analysis
“The site’s aim is to provide on-going news about developments in Venezuela, as well as to contextualize this news with in-depth analysis and background information. The site is targeted towards academics, journalists, intellectuals, investors, government officials from different countries, and the general public.”

ZNet

Places: Venezuela

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Articles in English (incl. Chavez speech in UN)

Against the Current

Venezuela: Voices on the struggle (No.148, September/October 2010)
“In mid-June 2010, Jeffery R. Webber and Susan Spronk interviewed three revolutionary socialist activists in Venezuela to discuss their views on the contradictions and prospects of the Bolivarian process.” The article in Danish: Revolutionens udfordringer (Socialistisk Information, 3. oktober 2010)

Jeffery R. Webber: Where Is Venezuela going? (No.144, January/February 2010). Review of Steve Ellner, Rethinking Venezuelan Politics: Class, Conflict, and the Chávez Phenomenon (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008)
“Steve Ellner’s latest book is an important contribution to our understanding of Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.”

Greg Albo: The meaning of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution (No.113, November/December 2004)
“The still to be conquered state power – and thus economic power – will be resolved neither by Chavez’s own personal role nor by appeals to community-based power structures alone.The social fracturing over state power has typically been the critical point in the class struggle of ‘political rupture’ where the old ways of doing things are no longer sustainable if the new ways are to be given life and allowed to develop their independent course.”

Counterfire

Chavez, Venezuela, and the ‘Bolivarian revolution’ (18 November 2013)
“The radical reforms of Hugo Chavez are gains to be defended and a platform for further advance towards a revolutionary transformation of society argues Neil Faulkner.”

Fifth International

Simon Hardy: Hugo Chavez: leading a socialist revolution? (Vol.2, No.2, Winter 2007)
“Since being re-elected as president in December 2006, Hugo Chávez has outlined his plans for a transition towards ‘socialism’, and for a new united socialist party. He has even claimed his support for Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution. Simon Hardy takes a critical look at Chávez’ policies and and outlines the tasks of revolutionaries.”

Hugo Chávez: a new leader for the anticapitalist movement? (2004)
“Chavez is neither an anticapitalist nor a consistent democrat. And for this reason his achievements and his own rule remain precarious.”

Focus on the Global South

Walden Bello: Military radicalism in Venezuela: how relevant for other developing countries?: how relevant for other developing countries? (3 March 2006)
“Venezuela is undergoing, if not a revolution, a process of radical change, and the military is right in the center of it. How could this been happening, many skeptics ask, when the military, especially in Latin America, is usually an agent of the status quo? Others, less skeptical, ask: is Venezuela the exception, or is it the wave of the future?”

International Socialism

Luke Stobart: Venezuela at the crossroads: Voices from inside the revolution (Issue 126, Spring 2010, p.19-28)
“While recently living and working in Venezuela, I interviewed some respected revolutionaries to discover their visions of the achievements and contradictions of the Bolivarian revolution and the tasks ahead for revolutionaries.”

Mike Gonzalez: Chavez ten years on (Issue 121, Winter 2009, 49-64)
“Hugo Chavez is an extraordinary individual. But revolutions are the expression of collective liberation, of the moment when vast numbers of the excluded become the conscious shapers of their own destiny. How to achieve that, how to accelerate the redistribution of wealth and how to create the long promised democracy from below are the critical issues.”

Interview: Venezuela – tensions within the process (Issue 116, Autumn 2007)
“Mike Gonzalez has written on Venezuela in this journal and elsewhere. Following his recent visit he answered questions about the latest developments.”

The battle over Venezuela’s union (Issue 111, Summer 2006, p.18-22)
“The new union federation, formed by the workers’ organisations that resisted the bosses’ lockout of 2002-2003 (breaking with the scab CTV federation) met to hold its second congress in Caracas.”

Venezuela: the popular movement and the government (Issue 110, Spring 2006, p.29-35)
“Roland Denis is active in the Venezuelan Movement of 13 April. Chris Harman and Maina van der Zwan interviewed him in Caracas at the end of January 2006. We began by asking him about the development of the movement at the base of society.”

Dossier: Reform and revolution in Venezuela (Issue 109, Winter 2006, p.31-52)
“Here we present the views of some of the protagonists. On the one hand there are interviews with Chavez’s vice-president, Vincente Rangel, and with Marta Harnecker, often described as an important adviser to Chavez. On the other there is an interview with one of the country’s new left wing union leaders, a statement by certain social movements, and a text from two members of the recently formed Party of Revolution and Socialism.”

Venezuela : inside the Bolivarian revolution (Issue 106, Spring 2005, p.135-143)
“Hugo Chávez has become a symbol of defiance to imperialism, drawing enthusiastic crowds in places as far apart as Porto Alegre and Calcutta. But what really is happening on the ground in Venezuela? Roland Denis, a Venezuelan revolutionary and former deputy minister, tells of some of the contradictions in the’Bolivarian’ process.”

Mike Gonzalez: Venezuela: many steps to come (Issue 104, Autumn 2004, p.65-94)
“Venezuela’s upper classes have tried three times to overthrow the government of Hugo Chávez. On each occasion mobilizations of the country’s lower classes defeated their schemes. Mike Gonzalez looks at where Chávez came from, what his movement represents and the mobilisations in support of it. He argues that the reforms made so far can only be defended by further, revolutionary, developments.”

International Socialist Review

Lee Sustar: Where is Venezuela going? (Issue 54, July–August 2007)
“This article … will (1) analyze 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.”

Trade unions and socialism in Venezuela (Issue 54, July–August 2007)
“The following interview was conducted with Orlando Chirino, national organizer of Venezuela’s National Workers’ Union (UNT) federation and leader of C-CURA (the United Autonomous Revolutionary Class Current) within the UNT. The interview was conducted after President Hugo Chávez proposed the formation of a new unified Venezuelan Socialist Party (PSUV).”

Américo Tabata: An unconscious socialist revolution (Issue 46, March–April 2006)
“Américo Tabata is a member of the national committee of the Party of Revolution and Socialism (PRS) in Venezuela. He is an activist in the trade-union movement and a regional leader of the National Workers Union (UNT).”

Bridget Broderick: Venezuela: another bosses’ strike (Issue 27, January–February 2003)
“What the private mainstream media have failed to report is the significant mobilizations of thousands of workers, volunteers and Chávez supporters who have organized against the opposition’s shutdown of the economy.”

Bridget Broderick: Venezuela: coup and countercoup (Issue 23, May-June 2002)
“The Bush administration applauded the April 12 ouster of elected President Hugo Chávez Frías in Venezuela as a victory for democracy. Chávez ‘provoked the crisis,’ said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, because he called in the military to suppress a peaceful demonstration of the people. Clearly not all Venezuelans (or other Latin Americans) agreed with this interpretation of events – they recognized it for what it was, a coup. But with mass support from the poor and from middle-ranking military officers, Chávez returned to the presidential palace in less than 48 hours.”

International Viewpoint

Voices from Venezuela (Issue 428, September 2010)
“In mid-June 2010, Jeffery R. Webber and Susan Spronk interviewed three revolutionary socialist activists in Venezuela to discuss their views on the contradictions and prospects of the Bolivarian process.”

Roland Denis: The revolution seen from the left: Chavismo’s original sin (Issue 380, July-August 2006)
“Neither ‘Chavismo’ nor the ‘Bolivarian revolution’ are political phenomena originating from the traditional left, and this is their original sin. They emerged from revolt in the streets and uprisings in barracks, not the rational decision of a vanguard or a left political bloc directing a revolutionary process to victory. We are dealing then with a strange and extremely complex phenomenon, informed by the most libertarian and radical elements of society and the popular movement, now bearing the flags of anti-capitalism and socialism.”

Index: Venezuela (articles 2002- ).

Jacobin: reason in Revolt

Steve Ellner: Setting the record straight on Venezuela (4 December 2015)
“The Bolivarian Revolution hasn’t been perfect, but it’s improved the lives of millions in the face of violent opposition.”

George Ciccariello-Maher: Venezuelan Jacobins (13 March 2014)
“Only the Venezuelan sansculottes can save the Bolivarian Revolution.”

Monthly Review

Michael A. Lebowitz: The only road is practice (Vol.60, No.2, June 2008)
“This talk was presented to members of communal councils, oil workers, and state legislators, among others, at the Legislative Assembly building in Barcelona, Venezuela on December 15, 2007, shortly after the defeat of the referendum on constitutional reform in Venezuela.”

Michael A. Lebowitz: Venezuela: a good example of the bad left of Latin America (Vol.59, No.3, July-August 2007)
“How can we identify an attack on capitalism as such? Is an alternative to capitalism being built in the new left governments of Latin America?”

Hugo Chavez on the failed coup (Vol.57, No.4, September 2005)
“Hugo Chávez interviewed by Marta Harnecker.”

Marta Harnecker: After the referendum: Venezuela faces new challenges (Vol.56, No.6, November 2004)
“With President Hugo Chávez’s victory in the August 15 referendum, the Venezuelan opposition suffered the third great defeat in its struggle to end his government … A new stage of the Bolivarian revolutionary process has begun. The opposition has been defeated in this battle, but the war has not yet been won.”

Mother Jones

Hugo Chavez and his Bolivarian revolution (October 4, 2005)
Richard Gott interviewed by Julian Brookes: “A veteran Latin America correspondent on the past, present, and possible future of Venezuela’s president.”

MR Online

Éric Toussaint: Venezuela: In transition towards socialism?: nationalization and workers’ control: achievements and limitations (September 26, 2010)
“The struggle for workers’ control of company management is essential. Its outcome is decisive for the ongoing process in Venezuela.”

The Nation

Forum on Venezuela (December 7, 2007)
“What forces drove the opposition to Chávez’s reforms? What does the referendum’s defeat mean for the future of the Bolivarian revolution? And what did the majority of the US press get wrong (or right) about the vote in Venezuela? Our forum contributors, representing a range of perspectives, tackle these and other questions.”

New Internationalist

Theme: The Venezuelan Revolution (No.390, June 2006)
“The NI reports from a country where ordinary people are living through far from ordinary times.”

New Left Review

Eduardo Galeano: Nothingland – or Venezuela? (Issue 29, September-October 2004)
“Reviled by Venezuela’s TV channels, survivor of a US-backed coup attempt and a two-month employers’ strike, Hugo Chávez has been given yet another popular mandate – to the ill-concealed dismay of the financial press. Eduardo Galeano’s miniature snapshot of a flourishing Latin American democracy.”

Gregory Wilpert: Collision in Venezuela (Issue 21, May-June 2003)
“What has lain behind the massive social conflicts that have unfurled round the Chávez regime? The spurious and real reasons for the rampage of Venezuelan managers, media and middle class against the country’s elected President. Oil, land and urban rights as the stakes in a social war of colour and class.”

New Politics

Jeffrey R. Webber and Susan Spronk: February traumas: The third insurrectionary moment of the Venezuelan right (February 25, 2014)
“For seasoned observers of Venezuelan politics, the events of the past week are a disheartening repetition of opposition-led resistance efforts that have yet again sought to undermine political stability in the country.”

OpenDemocracy

Ivan Briscoe: Venezuela: is Hugo Chávez in control? (9 August 2007)
“Ivan Briscoe plunges into the maelstrom of the ‘Bolivarian revolution’ and emerges with a forensic assesssment – both panoramic and ground-level – of a major political experiment.”

Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century

Mike Gonzalez: Second letter from Caracas (March 10, 2014)
“The issue is: What are the leaders of the Chavista process offering? … It is a moment to address, without rhetoric, the real problems that the majority of Venezuelans are facing, their causes and radical solutions.”

Mike Gonzalez: Is Venezuela burning? A letter from Caracas (22 February 2014)
“Caracas is seeing an uprising of the middle classes and the rich. The working class neighbourhoods remain loyal to the government, but also deeply cynical about the extraordinary corruption of the heirs of Chavez.”

Federico Fuentes replies to Mike Gonzalez’s ‘Is Venezuela burning?’ (Links: International Journal of Socialist Renewal, February 26, 2014)

Socialism Today

Tony Saunois: Venezuela after the death of Hugo Chávez (Issue 167, April 2013)
“After a long battle with cancer, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez died on 5 March 2013. His radical, populist policies and anti-imperialism helped transform the political situation both domestically and on the international stage.”

Alejandro Rojas: Venezuela: new phase, new dangers (Issue 134, Dec-Jan 2009)
“The coming to power of Hugo Chávez in 1998 represented an important positive change in the world situation. This was the first government which did not embrace the ruthless neo-liberalism pushed by every ruling elite in the 1980s and 1990s. It enacted popular reforms, enthusiastically supported by workers in Venezuela … But there are ominous signs that creeping bureaucracy and repression are taking hold.”

Socialist Project/The Bullet

The path for Venezuela cannot be Neoliberalism or Stalinism (April 21, 2011)
Interview with Edgardo Lander: “The Venezuelan process is caught between a fundamental contradiction: popular demands for democratic participation against tendencies toward hierarchical decision-making and concentration of power.”

Socialist Review

Mike Gonzalez: Shaping the future in Venezuela (Issue 318, October 2007)
“As town square debates on Hugo Chavez’s constitutional amendments rage in Venezuela, Mike Gonzalez considers whether they will deepen democracy or further centralise power.”

Michael Lebowitz: Venezuela: the struggle after the vote (Issue 312, December 2006)
“In the latest test for President Hugo Chavez, Venezuelans are voting in a presidential election that will decide the future of the country’s radical reforming government. Michael Lebowitz talks to SR about the nature of the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’.”

‘Workers control in Venezuela cannot be implemented by decree’ (Issue 312, December 2006)
“Steve Mather talks to Venezuelan workers and activists who are attempting to shape the unfolding revolutionary process and looks at those who are determined to stop them.”

Chris Harman: Revolution in the revolution (Issue 303, February 2006; online at Internet Archive)
“For the last four years Venezuela has been the political centre of the radicalisation of Latin America. Now those who started a revolutionary process are debating how to take the process further. Chris Harman reports from Caracas.”

Socialist Studies

Jeffery R. Webber: Venezuela under Chávez: The prospects and limitations of twenty-first century socialism, 1999-2009 (Vol.6, No.1, Spring 2010, p.11-44)
“This article takes stock of major developments in the political economy of contemporary Venezuela after ten years under Hugo Chávez. It is argued that the Bolivarian process has done a great deal to rejuvenate the international critique of neoliberalism and to bring discussion of socialism back on the agenda of the Left. At the same time, there has been no socialist revolution in Venezuela, and Chavismo is ridden with profound and abiding contradictions.”

Socialist Worker (UK)

Which way now in Latin America? (Issue 2213, 7 August 2010)
“Mike Gonzalez looks at the fate of the Bolivarian revolutions.”

Venezuela: revolution stalled (Issue 2170, 26 September 2009)
“The election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela gave hope to millions who want a better world. Mike Gonzalez looks at what has been achieved and where the country is heading.”

Defeat on constitutional reforms: is it all over for Hugo Chavez? (Issue 2080, 8 December 2007)
“Mike Gonzalez reports from Venezuela on the reasons behind the recent vote against president Hugo Chavez’s constitutional reforms.”

Questions for the Venezuelan revolution (Issue 2060, 21 July 2007)
“Mike Gonzalez spoke to Marco Antonio Garci­a, a member of the UNT trade union federation, about workers’ struggle and the fight for socialism in the 21st century.”

Chris Harman: Venezuela, Hugo Chavez and permanent revolution (Issue 2035, 27 January 2007)
“Chavez is talking of ‘permanent revolution’ in Venezuela. But, argues Chris Harman, there is a fight for the future of the revolution and for change from below.”

SocialistWorker.org

Lance Selfa: Chávez and the Arab dictators (May 17, 2011)
“Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez is respected as a left opponent of U.S. imperialism – but he is lending support to Middle East despots who are trying to suppress popular uprisings.”

Chávez’s referendum victory (February 25, 2009)
“Chris Carlson, a journalist formerly based in Venezuela, looks at the results of the country’s referendum on presidential term limits in the context of a worsening economy.”

Solidarity (UK)

Paul Hampton: Bonapartism or social democracy in Venezuela? (1 January, 2006)
“The substance of my disagreement with Nick Rogers over Venezuela is that I characterise the Chávez government as Bonapartist, whereas he believes it is social democratic. My view leads to independent working class politics – Rogers’ leads to its dissolution.”

Paul Hampton: Bonapartism in Venezuela (3/83, 3 November 2005)
“For all the rhetoric against neoliberalism and about ‘twenty first century socialism’, Chávez has established a Bonapartist form of rule and set about sinking roots in Venezuelan society. This process is unfinished – unlike similar Latin American populists Chávez does not have fully institutionalised party or structures such as dependent trade unions to prop up his role. But he continues to rule in favour of capital – mainly Venezuelan national capital without being completely hostile to multinational capital.”

Solidarity (US)

Venezuela: the Referendum and the Revolution (December 2007)
“The following contributions reflect a partial cross-section of the rich and complex discussion taking place in the Venezuelan and international left just before and immediately after the narrow defeat of the Constitutional referendum.”

Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines

The big blowup over Venezuela
A Dig led by Marc Cooper (December 14, 2005)
“What’s all the fuss over Hugo Chavez? Marc Cooper examines the mercurial leader and his contentious relations with the Bush administration.”
Debate:

Gilles d’Aymery: Marc Cooper’s progressive’ rhetoric (February 13, 2006)
“In 4,000-plus digging words, Mr. Cooper goes about the examination of whether Mr. Chávez is a genuine leader walking the socialist path for the betterment of the Venezuelan people or a populist authoritarian who’s consolidating his power on the model of the dictator, Fidel Castro, or Juan Peron.”

The Unrepentant Marxist

Louis Proyect: Hugo Chavez, Monthly Review, and the Syrian torture state (May 26, 2011)
“The Venezuela Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Syria that appears on MRZine today. All of it is garbage but this is particularly offensive.”
See also the linkbox: Opstanden i Libyen: Venstrefløjen og Gaddafi (Socialistisk Bibliotek)

Venezuelanalysis.com

Jake Johnston and Sara Kozameh: Venezuelan economic and social performance under Hugo Chávez, in graphs (March 10, 2013)
“Below is a series of graphs that illustrate the economic and social changes that have taken place in Venezuela during this time period [after 14 years in office].”

Chris Carlson: What the statistics tell us about Venezuela in the Chavez era (November 30, 2012)
“As the statistics show, the reality in Venezuela is far from the picture painted by the media in recent years. The nation’s poor have made important gains, and have significantly improved their standard of living. The social changes have been so rapid, in fact, that despite impressive increases in local production, the national economy has not been capable of meeting the growing demand.”

Mark Weisbrot, Rebecca Ray and Luis Sandoval: The Chávez administration at 10 years: the economy and social indicators (February 6, 2009)
“This paper looks at some of the most important economic and social indicators during the 10 years of the Chávez administration in Venezuela, as well as the current economic expansion. It also looks at the current situation and challenges.”

Gregory Wilpert: The meaning of 21st century socialism for Venezuela (July 11th 2006)
“In what appeared to be a surprise to almost everyone, on January 30, 2005, in a speech to the 5th World Social Forum, President Hugo Chavez announced that he supported the creation of socialism of the 21st century in Venezuela … Given this rather vague explanation and the concrete policies the Chavez government has pursued in the past seven years, is Venezuela really heading towards something that could be called ‘Socialism of the 21st century’?”

Weekly Worker

Nick Rogers: Chávez strengthens his grip (Issue 759, March 5, 2009)
“After last month’s referendum working class power is as far away as ever.”

Chávez suffers major constitutional setback (Issue 701, December 13, 2007)
“While the defeat of the Venezuelan referendum has re-energised the right, Chávez’s constitutional proposals were, despite his claims to the contrary, not designed to empower workers, writes Nick Rogers.”

All power to Chávez? (Issue 684, August 2, 2007)
“Nick Rogers analyses the sharpening contradictions within the process known as the ‘Bolivarian revolution’.”

Chávez landslide (Issue 652, December 7, 2006)
“After Chávez’s victory in the presidential election, Venezuela is at the crossroads, writes Nick Rogers. The working class must assert its political independence.”

Take control of the Bolivarian revolution (Issue 607, January 12, 2006)
“Nick Rogers disputes Paul Hampton’s assertion that the Chávez regime is Bonapartist and calls for a radical transfer of power to the working class.”

Bonapartism or social democracy? (Issue 606, January 5, 2006)
“Paul Hampton of the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty replies to Nick Rogers and upholds what he calls ‘independent working class politics’.”

Working class project for Spanish America (Issue 603, December 1, 2005)
“Nick Rogers looks at the contradictions in the Bolivarian revolution and calls for the building of workers’ unity across the continent to defend and extend the gains won in Venezuela.”

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Bolivarian Revolution
• Hugo Chávez
  Both articles with a lot of References.

Workers’ Liberty

Theme: Mexico and Venezuela (Vol.3, No.10, March 2007)
“What Trotsky on Mexico can tell us about Venezuela and Chavez … Like Chávez, Cárdenas undertook radical nationalisations, turned over industries to workers’ administration and redistributed land … Leon Trotsky lived in Mexico and observed first-hand the Cárdenas’ government [1934-40] and its relationship to Mexican workers. Trotsky’s analysis is rich with lessons. Looking at his assessment can help anchor our own analysis of Venezuela today.”

ZNet

Michael Albert: Which way Venezuela? (July 24, 2008)
“Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution is exciting and exemplary, yet few people know much about where Venezuela is headed. Misrepresentations abound. Data is limited and people interpret it in quite contrary ways. Information deficit plus skewed interpretations cause many people who ought to support the Bolivarian Revolution to instead doubt or even reject it. Useful lessons from Venezuela go largely unreported and thus have less than their widest possible effect.”

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