The Revolution is Here to Stay

[polly7]

By Eva Golinger

Source: Postcards From the Revolution

February 21, 2014

For those of you unfamiliar with Venezuelan issues, don’t let the title of this article fool you. The revolution referred to is not what most media outlets are showing taking place today in Caracas, with protestors calling for the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The revolution that is here to stay is the Bolivarian Revolution, which began in 1998 when Hugo Chavez was first elected president and has subsequently transformed the mega oil producing nation into a socially-focused, progressive country with a grassroots government. Demonstrations taking place over the past few days in Venezuela are attempts to undermine and destroy that transformation in order to return power to the hands of the elite who ruled the nation previously for over 40 years.

Those protesting do not represent Venezuela’s vast working class majority that struggled to overcome the oppressive exclusion they were subjected to during administrations before Chavez. The youth taking to the streets today in Caracas and other cities throughout the country, hiding their faces behind masks and balaclavas, destroying public buildings, vehicles, burning garbage, violently blocking transit and throwing rocks and molotov cocktails at security forces are being driven by extremist right-wing interests from Venezuela’s wealthiest sector. Led by hardline neoconservatives, Leopoldo Lopez, Henrique Capriles and Maria Corina Machado – who come from three of the wealthiest families in Venezuela, the 1% of the 1% – the protesters seek not to revindicate their basic fundamental rights, or gain access to free healthcare or education, all of which are guaranteed by the state, thanks to Chavez, but rather are attempting to spiral the country into a state of ungovernability that would justify an international intervention leading to regime change.

Before Chavez was elected in 1998, Venezuela was in a very dark, difficult period with a dangerously eroded democracy. During the early 1990s, poverty swelled at around 80%, the economy was in a sinkhole, the nation’s vast middle class was disappearing with millions falling into economic dispair, constitutional rights were suspended, a national curfew was imposed and corruption was rampant. Those who protested the actions of the government were brutally repressed and often killed. In fact, during the period of so-called “representative democracy” in Venezuela from 1958-1998, before the nation’s transformation into a participatory democracy under Chavez, thousands of Venezuelans were disappeared, tortured, persecuted and assassinated by state security forces. None of their rights were guaranteed and no one, except the majority excluded poor, seemed to care. International Human Rights organizations showed little interest in Venezuela during that time, despite clear and systematic violations taking place against the people.

Those in power during that period, also referred to in Venezuela as the “Fourth Republic”, represented an elite minority – families that held the nation’s wealth and profited heavily from the lucrative oil reserves. Millions of dollars from oil profits belonging to the state (oil was nationalized in Venezuela in 1976) were embezzled out of the country into the bloated bank accounts of wealthy Venezuelans and corrupt public officials who had homes in Miami, New York and the Dominican Republic and lived the high life off the backs of an impoverished majority.

Full article: http://zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-revolution-is-here-to-stay/

[Bacchus4.0]

1. Eva Golinger, Venezuela's whore (edit)

to whom it may concern: No gender bias in identifying Eva/s job title, Mark W is a chavista whore too.

[sabrina 1]

5. Referring to women on this forum as 'whores' is against the rules. You have a chance to

edit your disgusting, anti-women comment before it is alerted on by someone less tolerant of such abuse of women than I am.

[Demeter]

2. We in the US will degrade all the way to the equivalent 4th Republic

we are almost there, and then pray for a Chavez.....or Occupy!

[MADem]

3. That doesn't explain why Chavez's supporters are rioting in the street against the government,

though, does it?

The inconvenient truth is that Maduro is incompetent, and he is being challenged in the streets by, among others, people who supported Chavez.

Inconvenient truths you won't hear from Maduro shills.

[joshcryer]

8. MADem, you gotta understand the paternalistic attitude.

Those people protesting who once supported Chavez are "misled" and "on the wrong track" and "are being manipulated."

They have zero agency of their own, their own emotions, feelings, and desires are completely irrelevant.

They are, basically, de-humanized. They are nothing. Anyone who questions the authority is wrong, bad, a threat.

And this, btw, is why Chavismo has largely failed. Rather than ousting corruption, rather than getting rid of all the bad aspects of Chavismo, they just hid it under the rug. Oh, so some crony chavistas got a friend to leech some Fonden money? Well, that's just the revolution in practice! Who cares about accounting, who cares about justice, just fuck it, right?

[MADem]

15. I can't help but observe that when these very same people were out in the streets in support of

Hugo, we were assured that they were empowered, self-actualized, and taking control of their own destiny!

Now they've morphed into dumb-ass morons who don't know what they want!

I guess sixty percent inflation, a shortage of very basic consumer goods, unrelenting violence in the streets, and a sense of absolute, shit-things-will-never-get-better despair will do that to folks!

The Boligarchs aren't even subtle, either--they're stealing the country blind, hand over fist.

I don't blame people for wanting change. Even with the challenges of a one-sector economy, VZ should be doing much better than they are doing these days. They need to stop the thieving, reduce the violence, get basic goods back on the shelves, repair their oil infrastructure, and put the damn country back to work. Maduro just doesn't have the skills to do these basic things. The people want someone who can do this.

[Flatulo]

4. I think one thing that history shows us is that the students know what is really going on.

Students in the USA got the most massive military adventure in history, the Vietnam War, ended with their persistent protests.

These kids sure seem to know what the fuck is going on, and it sure ain't about free health care or education. It's about freedom from fear, and a wish for a safe, civil society, something that's been lost under the Chavistas.

What the fuck good are straight teeth if you can't go out at night?

[sabrina 1]

6. We all know what is going on in Venezuela. The old Right Wing oligarchs hate the fact

that they can no longer, since Chavez, steal the country's resources, put the population back into the kind of extreme poverty it was in before Chavez, live their luxurious lives without contributing a thing to the country, stealing its land and resources for themselves and their foreign backers.

It's clear they saw Chavez's death as an opportunity to try to destabilize the country so their Western Imperial allies can get their hands, once again, on the country's resources for their own benefit.

I think Chavez did enough to ensure that they will not succeed this time.

It's a shame we cannot stay out of other people's business, we don't do such a good job of taking care of our own business right here in the US.

How many coups have we attempted over the past decade or so in that region of the world? Chavez and Honduras and now Maduro. And all for profit, while we proclaim ourselves to be a democracy.

Yes, people know what is going on there. The world has seen this movie before.

[joshcryer]

9. This is true, but some neglect to acknowldege that the students exist.

Nor are they willing to accept that the students have minds of their own and are able to act without some outside influences brain washing them or misleading them.

See, when students protest against a rape? They're being misled by foreign oligarchs. They see, "an opportunity to try to destabilize the country so their Western Imperial allies can get their hands, once again, on the country's resources for their own benefit."

Yeah, that's the sort of mind numbingly out of touch crap we have to deal with here. The sad part is that the chavistas probably believe this crap, so there's no chance that the students get dialog extended to them, no chance whatsoever. They're going to be crushed, just as they were crushed at Kent State. And no one will go to jail over it.

[joshcryer]

7. Eva Golinger. Millionaire Chavista.

And people wonder why I don't consider zcomm credible.

[polly7]

10. LMAO!!

Getting desperate, heh?

[joshcryer]

11. Nah.

My dad used to say if he wanted to get rich he'd become a preacher.

If he was still alive I'd tell him "become a preacher, or a demagogue revolutionary getting paid to spout propaganda, while living in a million dollar NYC apartment."

Eva is right about one thing, though, this will be over in a week or two and things will be back to the way they were. San Cristobal is currently under massive attack.

[polly7]

12. Zzzzzz .......... nt.

[joshcryer]

13. Yawn is right.

[sabrina 1]

16. She tells the truth, and we all know how they attempt to smear ANYONE who tells

the truth. It never fails so it's expected at this point.

Love her courage and dedication to telling the world what our Corporate Media never will.

[polly7]

17. Yes, she does ...

I just laugh at joshcryer's thread derailments now though every time I post a thread. As you can see, it's been going on for years. He really seems to have a problem with letting others provide information he doesn't agree with.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1108&pid=25827

But I do understand that shutting down opposing views is definitely a sign of desperation.

[sabrina 1]

18. It's strange what has happened regarding the so-called 'left' wrt to Venezuela

I was around when the Bush attempted coup of Chavez, which failed, thanks to the people of Venezuela. There was not a single Democrat who did not support Venezuela's right to be free of the evils of Right Wing oligarchs who had impoverished that country and who didn't know the history of the entire region and of the Reagan crimes committed there.

But around 2004 I began to observe a right wing infiltration of Democratic forums regarding Latin America. Up 'til then, of course, FR, Faux et al, who have zero credibility with anyone who has a brain, were the only places where you would see support for a return to those dark days.

I could not understand it at first, but when hundreds of thousands of people signed a petition to send to the Dem candidates that year for support for Chavez, we got zero response, just an eerie silence. Bush returned to the WH so Dems continued to believe that HE was responsible for US policies towards Latin America, but now we know, US policy towards oil producing countries will not change until we get a truly Progressive Congress. Until then the best thing to do is to continue to tell the truth regardless of the Western Media's paid for talking points.

[polly7]

19. I know, sabrina. It saddens and scares me.

and it's not just US policy, it's Canada's, too - anyone with oil, mining interests in Latin America seems to be getting much more accepting of what we wouldn't have even considered a decade ago. All of these resources are running out, and those in LA that depend on them, are waking up to just how badly they need to fight off once more being owned by outside corporate interests that guarantee suffering and returning to a life they've worked so hard to escape. The corporate masters are becoming desperate, inciting violence, pumping money into it and spreading propaganda on a global scale - short of all out war - is what they're left with whenever a democratic gov't smart enough to refuse outside ownership is put in place. I guess I really shouldn't say 'becoming desperate', as it's been policy for decades - ie. the overthrow of Iran's democratic gov't. and so many more ... it just seems now that they've got it down to a science, all over the world. People need to wake up.

[Judi Lynn]

21. They definity DO have it down to a science. They've had enough practice, by now.

They've destroyed so many lives to get so slick at it, too. Suffering among those people in their way has never been a problem for the right-wing, until they are much older and finding out their consciences are driving them mad.

[sabrina 1]

22. True polly. Chavez stopped them for a while and we can only hope that all the work he did

to strengthen Latin American nations against what he surely knew would happen again, will make it a lot more difficult this time.

They certainly are stepping up their 'revolutions' using the Corporate Media almost as a Hollywood filming crew to send out the images THEY are directing across the world. But sometimes people like this get TOO greedy, TOO arrogant and history shows that when that happens, there can be unintended consequences FOR THEM.

People generally are a lot more informed today than we were ten years ago. So I am hoping these latest tactics will suffer the same backlash that last attempted coup in Venezuela suffered.

[Judi Lynn]

20. You're right in saying we are going to have to overthrow the fascists

in our own legislatures through getting the truth out, get it past the professional liars in the corporate media, and on the internet, continue to post the truth, and encourage people of conscience to start their own searches for the truth.

We all know in time, good WILL win over the dirty, racist, unprincipled lying right-wing.

[Judi Lynn]

14. Well written, factual information. Anyone with a question about any part of it

should make the heroic sacrifice, and break down, humble him/herself and spend some time researching like the real DU'ers here.

It was in no way shocking to read this completely relevant statement sent to the State Department from the US Embassy in Caracas. When I read it, I realized this is an article I absolutely will be saving for later reference:

As a State Department cable from the US Embassy in Caracas, published by Wikileaks, explained in March 2009, “Without our continued assistance, it is possible that the organizations we helped create…could be forced to close…Our funding will provide those organizations a much-needed lifeline”.

The truth hurts no one but the fascists.

US Democratic Americans have known this has been going on for years and years and years.

To those I admire who care about the truth, who are human above all else, you know the truth is there, even when our corporate media spares no effort to conceal it, an ancient practice by now.

It has always been up to the people of conscience to find the news, in spite of it, just as the people of Caracas did during the news blackout by the print, and electronic media in 2002, during the dirty coup. The people did find out. The people overthrew it.

No doubt were the same thing to happen again, the media would do everything exactly as it did then, as the same 3 US-supported brat spawn of the wealthiest families in Venezuela, Capriles, Lopez and Maria Corina Machado played out more bogus theatrics, using the new strategies given them.

Real democracy will come to pass. We all know it. The morbid, dirty right-wingers are counting on taking over just long enough to live in repellant, squishy self-indulgence as long as they live, then pray they will die in their sleep. They will awaken in hell, even if they think they can pull it off!

There's no where in the universe people like them are actually loved and trusted other than among their own morally degenerate friends, families, acquaintances.

[sabrina 1]

23. I get the feeling they are getting desperate. Everywhere people are rising up against them.

So far they have managed to tamp down the most successful uprisings, in Egypt eg, and here in the US with OWS. But these public expressions against their greed and corruption has scared them badly and they are reacting violently, flailing wildly to try to hang on to the money and power they have accumulated over decades of abuse and corruption.

The Wikileaks cables revealed so much about them, confirming suspicions we've had for years. Eg, the cables regarding the dictator of Uzbekistan who we support with money and protection. An evil man, who did not hesitate to commit genocide against his own people or to torture those who dared to oppose him. I was naive regarding things like this, our support for such a tyrant. Wondering if they KNEW how bad he was. Guessing, sadly, they probably did. And then the Wikileaks cables proved that they KNEW but chose to support him anyhow, 'because he lets us keep our base in Uzbekistan'.

What kind of morally bereft human being could support such an evil person?

I guess THIS is what they call 'pragmatism'.

[Judi Lynn]

24. You probably remember your reaction when you learned how Uzbek Pres. Karmov

treats his political prisoners when he boils them alive. It was hideous. I've never heard _{George W. Bush} had a problem with that habit of Karminov's, either. It certainly didn't present a problem large enough to keep _Bush from bestowing boatloads of U.S. taxpayers' hard-earned tax dollars into his coffers.

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