‘A strategic defeat was delivered to
imperialism.
We need to continue to gain strength’
We Need a Critical Reading of the Election Results
Analysis by the Communist Party of Venezuela
The Venezuelan people and international forces for peace
and progress have been celebrating, first of all, because the presidential
election process played out peacefully and in an orderly fashion, which shows a
strengthening over almost 14 years of peaceful mechanisms of conflict
resolution.
Secondly, they welcomed the margin by which decisive
victory was gained.
It left no room for doubts regarding the political option
sought by the immense majority of the people in turning back tiny ultra-right
groups that for months had gambled on creating destabilizing conditions.
The third cause for celebration is the clear fact that
the road for preparing socialism continues to open up, and even the content and
scope of socialism are being clarified.
Venezuela has a population of 29,718,357 inhabitants, of
whom 18,903,143 were registered to vote, and in excess of 15 million actually
did so. There were six candidates but it was clear from the beginning that
there were two distinct groupings in contention for the electorate – one
represented by Hugo Chavez, and the other by the figure of Henrique Capriles
Radonski.
The remaining options added up to no more than 0.6
percent of the vote
Chavez in his usual style articulated the necessity of
continuing with the Bolivarian Revolution and construction of Bolivarian
Socialism of the 21st Century, while Capriles, determinedly utilizing abstract
talk of “progress” to cover things up, outlined a laughable kind of capitalism,
one in which private enterprise and the bourgeoisie love the people and is so
good as to generate employment.
Evaluating the electoral event of October 7, the
political bureau of the central committee of the Venezuelan Communist Party
(PCV) underscored that, with the decisive people’s victory led by President
Chavez, now re-elected, people and revolutionary forces administered a
strategic defeat to imperialism and Zionism.
Oscar Figueroa, secretary general of the PCV, pointed out
that, “As we have said many times, not only was the presidency of Hugo Chavez
at stake on October 7, but also the destiny of the Venezuelan, Latin American
homeland was being decided. Also at stake was whether or not advance of
national and international forces in the interest of peoples of our continent
would continue.”
Speaking for the PCV, the Communist leader sent greetings
to all the Venezuelan people, all men and women who showed up to cast their
vote, whatever political position they took.
“We want to send a greeting to all Venezuelan people
without exception who took part massively as protagonists in an exercise that
was practical and of the people. The process by which they exercised their
right in order to decide who has to lead the national executive helped build
their protagonist role,” emphasized Figueroa.
The greeting and acknowledgement that the PCV offered
goes out to the peoples of the world who expressed their solidarity with the
Bolivarian process. Within that context, “We can affirm that we have obtained a
decisive people’s victory and that, at the same time, we have achieved a
strategic defeat to forces of imperialism allied with international Zionism.
They tried to turn back the wheel of history,” he declared.
A Critical Reading of the Results
The PCV declared itself satisfied with the victory gained
in President Chavez’ re-election for the next presidential period, but added
further, “All is not OK.”
The leader added: “It’s a popular victory with an edge,
because from our perspective these results while conveying a message of support
and commitment for the process, demonstrate a critical message stemming from
the way votes by the anti-imperialist alliance were distributed.”
Figueroa called upon political and social forces within
the process to undertake a profoundly critical evaluation allowing us not only
to determine where our successes are so we can harness and expand on them –
they are many and large – but also to identify where errors are.
On being identified, these errors “merit” being corrected
with the active participation of workers, of communities and indigenous people,
along with popular Christian currents identified with the change process. This
means correcting them through proposals emanating from the working class and
the general workers’ movement. They
feature a demand that talking about proposals to construct a socialist society
correspond with forms, ways, and styles not only of producing but also of
directing centers of production,” the Communist leader stated.
One more message that these election results saddle us
with is the oft-spoken necessity to proceed in constructing a collective
leadership of the Bolivarian process that, together with President Chavez, will
guide the advanced stage that has to come. “That’s another message that the
presidential election left for us,” Figueroa said.
He added that not only must there be collective
leadership in order to determine the basic guidelines of the process, but that
also that must be the case in ministries, in state-run companies, etc. “We have
to break with the concept of unilateral leadership, of vertical command that is
a method of leadership imposed by capitalism and imperialism. The purpose is to
advance in the direction of new social relations of production. Qualitatively, we will be inserting something
new in the Venezuelan political process, Figueroa emphasized.
PCV Committed to the Venezuelan Revolution
The PCV reaffirmed its historic commitment with the
Venezuelan, continental, and world revolution, one consistent with
anti-imperialist struggle and through socialism. “And, at the same time being a
revolutionary political organization, Marxist – Leninist and Bolivarian, we are
obliged to maintain a relevant, critical, and totally autonomous profile,”
Figueroa stressed.
“We have been and we’ll keep on being a force committed
to revolutionary changes in Venezuela, on the continent, and in the World, in
solidarity and as Communists. And we are inclined to deliver everything within
our power in order to advance the revolution. This requires of us the
obligation to maintain collective, far-reaching construction of our political
line and its expression, in a sovereign, autonomous, and purposeful way,” he
declared.
This political line is part of a politics of the broadest
possible anti-imperialist unity that presently finds its expression in the
Grand Patriotic Pole (GPP) and in construction of a more advanced Popular
Revolutionary Bloc that allows struggle for the construction of socialism to
move ahead.
Red Rooster: Qualitatively Superior Voting
The PCV evaluated the electoral leap forward obtained in
voting for Chavez on the Party’s electoral card that registered a 37 percent
increase over the year 2006.
As evaluated by the Communist leader: “We recognize,
value, and thank workers, the working class, small farmers, revolutionary
intellectuals, rebel youth, progressive religious sectors associated with
liberation theology, and, in general, organized communities that acted on their
decision to support President Chavez with a vote on the Red Rooster Card,
qualitative in nature.
The Communist Party of Venezuela obtained 486,503 votes
from throughout the country, almost half a million. That represents 3.3 percent
of the total. That result [comes] from our correct policy of an alliance, of
broad, anti-imperialist people’s unity which must continue moving us toward
strengthening the Party of the working class,” he indicated.
Assessing votes “through the Communist Party,” the PCV
recognizes that that voting attained in these elections, apart from votes for
the Party itself, is the result of varying currents within the workers’
movement and the people’s movement that in this election have been expressed
qualitatively. “We want recognize that and we want to say that this was not just
about the October 7 elections, but is part of the project of a political line
that has to keep on building, a project of revolutionary unity,” Figueroa
asserted.
In an analysis the PCV undertook of previous presidential
elections, in the year 2000 the PCV contributed toward Chavez’ candidacy one of
every 67 votes the alliance gained and in 2012, through the PCV card,
contributed one of every 17 votes.
“It’s recognition by broad sectors that see the PCV
epitomizing a direction of revolutionary consistency, of revolutionary loyalty
in struggle. That’s a reliability that says where things have to be corrected
and where errors are, because revolutionary loyalty is not saying yes to
everything unconditionally. Whoever is loyal is critical and self-critical in a
revolutionary way,” he concluded.
Caracas, October 11, 2012
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