Evo Morales Reelected in Bolivia

President Evo Morales of Bolivia, the first indigenous president elected in the post-Columbus Western Hemisphere, has been reelected to a second term. His MAS (Movement Towards Socialism) party also captured a two-thirds majority in the Bolivian congress, according to the Los Angeles Times. In light of the turmoil caused by the para-military resistance by the Bolivian elite minority, and forces of international capitalism, this election is a true victory for democracy and the people of Bolivia, Latin America, and the world.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez congratulated his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales for his landslide electoral victory on Sunday saying it was a victory for all of Latin America.

“Yesterday there was jubilation throughout the continent,” Chavez said Monday during his speech at the First International Conference celebrating 10 years since the adoption of the Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela.

Chavez said he was sure Morales would continue “fighting without rest to diminish poverty” and improve the welfare of his people, “based on indigenous philosophy.”

Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, was re-elected with 63% of the vote, 35% ahead of his nearest rival Manfred Reyes Villa.

8-Dec-2009. Janicke, Kiraz. Chavez: Morales’ Electoral Victory in Bolivia, a Victory for Latin America. VenezuelaAnalysis.com

Viva Che!

Remembering Che Guevara on the anniversary of his death as a true hero. Che had a deep love of the masses coupled with hatred for those who callously exploit them. In Latin America, now as then, the class divide is markedly visible. It is no wonder that this is the terrain where 21st socialism is gaining ground.

A previous post on this blog from 2005 titled Che's Ride offers a review of the Motorcycle Diaries, a semi-biographical film about Che.

Following is an edited excerpt from an article by Peter Taaffe on Socialistworld.net this month, October 2007.

[...]

Like millions throughout the world, we [Marxists] hailed his heroic efforts in combating capitalism and imperialism. Che Guevara was and remains an enduring symbol of implacable resistance to a destructive and wasteful system, and the inevitability of a revolt against it by its victims. What a contrast between Che Guevara and the politically bankrupt and cowardly misleaders of the labour movement today!

As Tony Saunois's analysis published recently on socialistworld.net demonstrates, Che Guevara was not a 'plaster saint'; he made mistakes. But he was also capable of reassessing his actions and learning from them.

[...]

Che Guevara, at the time of his death, was an increasingly vocal critic of Stalinism, which he began to reject after he had visited the 'Eastern bloc'. He read Trotsky and had a book by Trotsky in his belongings when he was murdered. Moreover, the charge of 'wanting a nuclear holocaust' because he supported nuclear missiles being installed in Cuba is false to the core. Does every capitalist government that supports nuclear weapons for 'defence' do this because they want to unleash a nuclear holocaust? Merely to pose the question shows how absurd is the charge that [some] has levelled against Guevara.

The Cuban revolution from the outset was besieged by imperialism. It had just experienced the CIA-sponsored 'Bay of Pigs' invasion. It was, therefore, entirely understandable for Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to seek to defend, through the acquisition of arms, the gains of the revolution.

There is a discussion to be had as to whether it was tactically wise for Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to support the installation of nuclear weapons in Cuba. They honestly believed it was necessary for the defence of Cuba but the real ultimate defence of the Cuban revolution was in the mass support in Latin America and worldwide.

[...]

The tragedy of Che Guevara is that he was assassinated while he was still developing his ideas. We supported this heroic figure in his combat against imperialism. But, at the same time, we pointed to some of the deficiencies in his 'guerrillaist' strategy, counter-posing to this the social role of the mass working class of Latin America.

The reprinted article below shows the consistent attitude of Marxism towards Che Guevara, not ex-post facto, but at the time of his death and since.

Taaffe, Peter. Latin America - Marxism or Guerrillaism? Socialistworld.net, 2007 (reprinted article c. 1968).

New Socialism: Partners Not Wage Slaves

Venezuela's popular president Hugo Chavez announced on Sunday that his government's sweeping reforms towards the new socialism will include the creation of cooperatives owned by the workers.

Vowing to undermine capitalism's continued influence in Venezuela during his television and radio program "Hello President," brother Hugo Chavez said state-financed cooperatives would operate under a new concept in which workers would share profits.

This is another step toward the implementation of The Green Book principle "Partners not wage slaves".

Full story

Cuba and Venezuela Adopt Open Source

Cuba and Venezuela have joined a growing list of nations concerned about the tight relationship between Microsoft and the United States intelligence establishment. Both countries are considering moving to open source for public and government computers in an effort to save money and bolster national security.

From iTWire:

Given the ongoing hostility between Cuba and the US, you can see why the Cuban government might have been concerned to hear that Microsoft had some help from the NSA with Vista's security features. At least with open source software you can review the code.

[...]

It makes a lot of sense for Cuba to avoid commercially imported software. Apart from the cost factor, using open source provides its government with a way of further nurturing local development expertise that's not possible where COTS (commercial off the shelf) dominates.1

And from the Guardian (Australia):

Both governments say they are trying to wean state agencies from Microsoft Windows to the open-source Linux operating system, which is developed by a global community of programmers who freely share their code.

"It’s basically a problem of technological sovereignty, a problem of ideology", said Hector Rodriguez, who oversees a Cuban university department of 1,000 students dedicated to developing open-source programs.

[...]

Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes raised suspicions about Microsoft’s cooperation with US military and intelligence agencies.

He called the world’s information systems a "battlefield" where Cuba is fighting against imperialism. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates once described copyright reformers, including people who want to do away with proprietary software, as "some new modern-day sort of communists" — a badge of honour from the Cuban perspective.

[...]

Cuba’s Cabinet also has urged a shift from proprietary software. The customs service has gone to Linux and the ministries of culture, higher education and communications are planning to do so, Rodriguez said. Students in his own department are cooking up a version of Linux called Nova.

Rodriguez’s department accounts for 1,000 of the 10,000 students within the University of Information Sciences, a five-year-old school that tries to combine software development with education. Cuba is also training tens of thousands of other software and hardware engineers across the country.

[...]

"Two years ago, the Cuban free-software community did not number more than 600 people ... In the last two years, that number has gone well beyond 3,000 users of free software and it’s a figure that is growing exponentially."2

Global Socialist Opposition Haunts the Empire

From the Red Pepper Venezuela blog:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday vowed to revive a global socialist opposition to the U.S. while continuing his Latin American tour aimed at upstaging President George W. Bush's own visit to the region.

Full post

Chavez reportedly went on to say:

"The [US] Empire is in counterattack, with the head of the empire himself leading the attack," Chavez said. "And why? Because they realize that the popular Latin American offensive is for real. Fifteen years ago, the American empire thought they had won the final battle when the Soviet Union fell. They let out their triumphant cry: 'Here is Superman!'"

He said now is the time for Latin America to fight back.

"We have resisted for a long time. But no one wins a battle always staying on the defensive," he said. "Let loose the charging cavalry!"1

Interestingly, a search on one of the contributors to this AP article reveals some interesting facts. Alvaro Zuazo is the journalist cited as a contributor who actually was in La Paz at the time. There are several Indymedia articles which call Zuazo's objectivity into question. And of course, an actual transcript of the speech is no where to be found, nor is the speech mentioned in any official Venezuelan media. Zuazo and his compatriots peppered their story with "go home gringo" and other provocatively creative phraseology.

Nevertheless, if the Bush visit to Latin America was designed to raise the profile of the US it has to be considered an utter failure. Instead, Chavez and left leaders and movements across Latin America took center stage and presented the socialist alternative to the world press. Emboldened by the weakness of the Bush regime, the less-compromised press was more than happy to show some degree of independence and backbone in covering these exciting trends.

Viva la Socialista, la bonita libertad!

Hugo Chavéz Wins Hearts and Minds

This week, Hugo Chavéz stole the thunder from US president George W Bush's visit to Latin America. Two op-ed pieces from this week about Venezuelan President Chavéz show that he is increasingly and surely wining hearts and minds despite all the propaganda designed to discredit him:

Luisa Valenzuela, New York Times, March 17, 2007

I’m no political analyst; I have delved into politics only as a fiction writer. But I’m an optimist by nature, and the feeling of empowerment that President Chávez instills, and that various South American governments are endorsing, strikes me as a good engine for further progress — a means of upgrading ourselves from the status of someone’s backyard into that of a truly autonomous region.

Harry Alford, Louisiana Weekly, March 19, 2007

One of the most impressive things President Chavez has done is wean South American nations from the influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He views the IMF as an agent in the service of the US. He has persuaded South American nations to pay off their debts to the IMF and use Venezuela as the preferred friendly lender. IMF lending in the region has fallen to $50 million, or less than 1 percent of its global portfolio, compared with 80 percent in 2005. Meanwhile, Chavez has used his oil wealth to lend $2.5 billion to Argentina, offer $1.5 billion to Bolivia and $500 million to Ecuador. He says he is promoting a "socialist" alternative to the Fund and its biggest shareholder, the US Treasury. The global clout of the IMF is now diminishing.

Alford is the President of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Valenzuela is an internationally acclaimed Argentinian fiction writer. Both see hope in Chavéz, a hope for a better future world in which all can prosper. Isn't that what socialism is all about?

Mr. Popularity

George "Dubya" Bush is making the rounds in Latin America, visiting his favorite puppet states like Guatemala, Colombia, Uruguay and Mexico. Mr Bush also visited Brazil where he met a less than warm welcome:

"It's nothing more than to say we want to be your friends," Bush told Colombian television before he set out.

However, more than 6,000 anti-Bush protesters of all ages marched down Sao Paulo's famed Avenida Paulista, the business heart of South America, police said.

To the beat of Afro-Brazilian drums, they demanded an end to the Iraq war and what they called state-sponsored torture, U.S. imperialism and growing economic inequality.

"No. 1 Enemy of Humanity" and "Get out Bush!" read signs carried by workers, students, peasants and other activists.

"We're fighting against imperialism and Bush, who's interested in dominating countries in this region," said student Artour Barbosa de Queiroz, 29.1

And then the 'punks' got in on the act:

Trouble broke out when a small group, most of them punks, threw rocks at the police. They responded by spraying tear gas, firing rubber bullets and clubbing them, witnesses said.

A Reuters photographer, Caetano Barreira, was hit in the face by a chunk of wood thrown by protesters. At least two police officers were also hurt, the witnesses said.2

What a crock. The 'punks'!? This classification is not even qualified - what is meant by 'punks'? Frankly this makes me think that the reporter was not even on the scene but took the propaganda content directly from a government party line press release.

Hmmm, too bad for the Reuters fella, I wonder though how many protesters were hurt? Reports are sketchy, as usual, but it must be pretty damned bloody if the AP is reporting this:

Riot police fired tear gas at protesters and beat them with batons in Sao Paulo after more than 6,000 people held a largely peaceful march, sending hundreds of demonstrators fleeing and ducking into businesses to avoid the gas.

Authorities did not immediately report any injuries, but Brazilian media said at least six people were hurt after marching two miles through the financial heart of South America's largest city just hours before Bush was scheduled to arrive.3

Mr Bush was able to set the record straight on CNN En Espanol:

"The trip is to remind people that we care," Mr. Bush said in an interview Wednesday with CNN En Espanol. "I do worry about the fact that some say, 'Well, the United States hasn't paid enough attention to us,' or 'The United States really isn't anything more than worried about terrorism.' And when, in fact, the record has been a strong record."4

Still there are lingering doubts, and Hugo Chavez and millions of workers, students activists and others dedicated to creating another world stood side by side, staging anti-Bush protests all across Latin America, thereby dooming the Bush agenda.

Bush’s trip to Latin America is a calculated effort to counter Hugo Chavez’s growing influence in the region and to separate the “bad left” from the “good left”, namely Uruguay and to some extent Brazil. He hopes to add them to the dwindling bloc of pro-US nations, including Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico which he is visiting.

[...]

[Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador] are [all] raising the banner of socialism. In Venezuela Hugo Chavez is intent on leading the country to a “new socialism for the twenty-first century.” In Bolivia Evo Morales governing party is called Movement Towards Socialism, a “party of a new type” comprised largely of social movements. And in Ecuador, Rafael Correa in his inaugural address in January called for an opening to the “new socialism for the twenty-first century” and declared that Ecuador has to end “the perverse system that has destroyed our democracy, our economy and our society.”5

At the same time that Bush is preaching peace in Latin America, he has appointed hardliner John Negroponte as director of US Latin American policy. We can expect a concerted effort of the same failed policies of lies, subversion and aggression that are the hallmark and legacy of the Bush Administration; and are unfortunately the signature of the balance of US foreign policy in Latin America and the world.