Hugo Chavez: A Bolivarian Socialist at the United Nations

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At the United Nation’s Chavez mentioned the achievements of his seven year old government. In a country of 25 million, 1.4 million learned to read and write within a year and a half, while three million Venezuelans previously excluded from education due to poverty enrolled in the education system. Seventy percent of the population now enjoys access to free health care while 45 percent of the people receive subsidized food via cooperatives, special food programs and government distribution centers. These successes make the UN-backed Millennium Summit goal of reducing global poverty by fifty percent by 2015 and of providing primary education for all by the same year seem paultry. As Chavez noted, at the actual pace of change realized in the years since the summit, world hunger will not be halved until 2215 while universal primary education will not be realized until 2100.

The Bush administration lambastes Chavez for trying to establish “another Cuba” in Venezuela. This is hardly the case. Marta Harnecker, who also served as a participant and interpreter of the Cuban revolution, notes there are “few similarities between Cuba and Venezuela.” Each country has a charismatic leader, but the analogies end there. Harnecker states: “Fidel Castro used a central party apparatus to build socialism in Cuba, while Venezuela has no such structure.” If anything, Chavez is distrustful of political parties, given his military heritage, the crisis of the parties of the old regime and the constant squabbling among the parties and participants in the pro-Chavez Fifth Republic Movement, a political organization that predominates in the country’s National Assembly.

What this means for some on the left is that Chavez is a populist at best or a nineteenth century caudillo at worst. In fact there are many vestiges of Chavez´ rule that mark him as a combination of both and more. A unique system is being forged in Venezuela. It combines pre-modern forms in that Chavez is indeed harking back to nineteenth century caudillos and independence heroes like Simon Bolivar. At the same time, a “democratic postmodern revolution” is unfolding in Venezuela as hundreds of thousands of local organizations and movements are taking root among the multitude, enabling them to take control of their lives and their destinies. During Chavez’ seven year rule eight elections and referendums have been held with an election for the National Assembly scheduled for later this year, making Venezuela an example of an authentic participatory democracy.

Beginning with what are called ¨Misiones” or Missions in 1999, Chavez has fomented an incredible number of grass roots activities among the 80 percent of Venezuela’s population that has been historically marginalized. The early and most important missions focused on education and medical help. The medical missions are generally comprised of two doctors, most of them from Cuba. The doctors are sent to rural communities and shanty towns to provide health care and to help people organize around their health needs. The educational missions, part of broader “barrio adentro” programs are comprised of both national and locally trained teams that work to establish programs to deal with illiteracy as well as getting adults and younger people back into schooling programs to advance their careers. Neither the health nor the educational programs are run by the Ministries of Health or Education. They as well as additional missions involved in rural land reform, job training, etc. are funded and guided directly by national policy teams that are accountable to Hugo Chavez.
http://venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1569