A-Infos (en) The crisis in Venezuela: understanding the causes, assigning blame and suggesting solutions (ca)

While we are still suffering from the impact of the problems which had intensified towards 
the end of 2009, such as the fraudulent ‘Bolibourgeois’ bankers and the ongoing malaise 
throughout public services, a host of measures recently undertaken by the government 
signal a bitter start to 2010 for Venezuela.  Firstly, there was the implementation of a 
bulky devaluation, sure to increase inflation and submerge a large sector of the 
population in misery.  Next came the announcement of electricity rationing throughout 
Greater Caracas - as had been the [i]de facto[/i] case in the rest of the country - only 
to subsequently be suspended due to the uproar and conflict it caused, but now pending its 
reintroduction when the conditions are more permissive.  Let us, therefore, start with a 
brief synopsis of the characteristics of the current crisis:

- The Bolibourgeois bankers’ fraud: the last decade has been an era of bonanza and great 
fortune for the financial sector, thanks to generous subsidy from the state, whose 
traditional monetary policy has done nothing but work for their benefit.  It is precisely 
because of this that the sector became the focus of rapacious speculation on the part of 
the Bolibourgeoisie (Fernández Berrueco, Zambrano, Arné Chacón, Pedro Torres Ciliberto and 
the rest of the gang), leading to its unabashed pillaging, with the public support of its 
official supervisors such as the Banking Superintendent and the National Values Commission 
(governmental organisation which oversees national capital, similar to the Department for 
Business, Innovation and Skills in the UK – translator), encouragement that eradicated any 
sort of nostalgia for Caldera’s (Chávez’ rightwing predecessor – trans.) government and 
the financial crisis of the 90s, not to mention the previous eras of speculation and con 
tricks within the banking sector.

- The macro-devaluation: this is a measure taken at the demand of the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF), who publically applauded it.  It’s a part of the classic neoliberal 
prescription that is administered by the IMF, who granted the Venezuelan state a loan in 
2009.  Through inflation, the devaluation will favour the financial sector and 
international investments in the country, while inevitably slashing workers’ salaries in 
real terms.  The President subsequently announced – as a palliative – an increase of the 
national minimum wage by 10% for 1 March and then 15% more for 1 September.  This 
decision, however, is derisory and ultimately debunks the myth that our minimum wage is 
the highest in Latin America: it will decrease by 62.3% with the fall of the Bolívar, due 
to the fact that 55% of all goods and services are acquired at the so called “petrol 
dollar” rate (4.3BsF/US$1).

The official excuse is that it will make the national economy more competitive, and 
therefore overcoming its ‘rentier’ history; the sort of foolish assertion that could only 
be accompanied by an unfettered capitalist agenda.  A media spectacle has been organised 
in order to provide a distraction, with the governmental institutions in charge of 
consumption attempting to convince us that what is happening is a spiral of speculation, 
rather than inflation.  At the same time, certain business sectors have accepted the 
devaluation but haven’t responded, either due to having an accumulation of goods, or 
merely being slow.  The opposition – in both its rightwing and social democratic forms – 
has restricted itself to characterising the measure as an attempt to increase liquidity 
for electoral purposes.  They are right in this, of course, but they fail to acknowledge 
its real motivation, being – as it is – a condition put in place in order to favour 
capital and the state.

There is also another pernicious event to consider, in relation to the manipulation of the 
exchange rate, administered by the Currency Administration Commission (Cadivi in its 
Spanish initials – trans.).  Cadivi has seen various cases of corruption, such as the 
example of the Micro Star business, in which Eligio Cedeño and Gustavo Arráez, both 
Bolibourgeois, ended up being embroiled.  These fraud cases are nothing but a continuation 
of a trajectory of clientelist democracy in this area, more so since Cadivi bears the 
legacy of the sadly-remembered Recadi (Cadivi’s predecessor – trans.) from the 80s.

- The electricity problem: the electricity crisis emerged as a sequel to the lack of 
maintenance of the production and distribution plants, as well as the failure to invest in 
the 29 thermoelectric plants required as a response to the increase in demand, of which 
five have been completed and only three are in operation (to partial capacity).  Moreover, 
the Planta Centro (the largest thermoelectric plant in the country) has been abandoned, 
and the proposed four dams in Alto Caroní – in the south of the country – were never 
built.  These projects have been fertile ground for corruption and idleness, yet the 
government attempts to excuse their problems with reference to the meteorological 
phenomenon of El Niño, a hypothesis that has been roundly dismissed by experts. 
Meanwhile, the country has to endure sacrifice in indefinite power cuts  (with the 
exception of Greater Caracas, for the moment), improvised suspension schedules, 
irreparable damage to the electrical equipment and the paralysation of other services 
(health, education, telecommunications, etc) and human loss, all generated by the 
negligence of the state.

 _The developmentalist, extractive and rentier capitalist model has failed!_

What is going on is a definitive demonstration of the inadequacy of the model implemented 
after 23 January, 1958 (the date of the uprising against military dictator Pérez Jiménez – 
trans.), continued by the current government despite its supposed objective of “breaking 
with the orientation towards 'puntofijismo'” (the practice of encouraging an oil-reliant 
economy, the staple of Venezuelan politics since Pérez Jiménez’ toppling – trans.).  The 
state has prioritised the export of fossil fuel energy; we have been desperately dependent 
on oil due to the demands of a globalising economy.  Of every US$100 exported in the last 
year, $93 have come from hydrocarbons.  PDVSA has become a financial collection centre, 
even with reduced production and more seriously, its partial compromise due to its 
enormous debts.  Coal extraction continues in Zulia state, despite being an environmental 
disaster, representing an aggression against the Wayuu, Barí and Yukpa peoples.  The 
integration of Venezuela into the IIRSA (Infrastructural Integration of the South American 
Region) is a test of the ability of "chavismo" to submit to the dictates of international 
power.  Equally, the permanent vacillations with Colombia over the Proyecto Mesoamérica 
(previously known as the Plan Puebla Panamá), in which gas from the two South American 
countries would be delivered to southern and western US via Mexico and Central America, 
demonstrates the current regime’s collaborationist intent as concerns international 
capital, and simultaneously, an offensive disinterest in preventing the planet’s destruction.

The productive sector is at its most limited due to unemployment, which is massaged in 
official figures thanks to the “labour flexibility” instrumented by the state, which 
contracts workers for a few, scarce months in order to give the impression of generating 
work.  Agriculture is bankrupt despite the stridency given to the redistribution of lands, 
the supposed endogenic development and dietary self-sufficiency promoted by official 
propaganda.  If we add to these vicissitudes the high crime levels, inflation, lack of 
housing, the deterioration of public health and the growing demand for private policies in 
public sector contracts, we can conclude that the government is absolutely incapable of 
resolving its most fundamental problems.

 _Faced with disaster, let’s construct alternatives from below!_

The continuation of democratic populism – installed with the fall of Pérez Jiménez – has 
been guaranteed by Hugo Chávez, who, with a charismatic and messianic leadership style, 
has tried to preserve himself with a symbiosis of populism, militarism and Stalinism. 
Following the decadence of the "adeco-copeyana" era (the 40 years between Pérez Jiménez 
and Chávez, in which two parties – the social democratic AD and the Christian democrats of 
COPEI – dominated national politics – trans.), starting with Black Friday in 1983, 
continuing with the "caracazo" of 1989 and the attempted coups of 4 February and 27 
November 1992, the military figure emerges like a ring to the finger of established power, 
for whom a military leader has been of use for more than a decade now.  However, we reckon 
that this particular "caudillo" is now on the descent owing to his woeful administration, 
bringing with it the subsequent loss of governability.  Just like what happened in the 
case of Carlos Andrés Pérez (who was sacrificed when there was a decline in his 
leadership), it’s possible that both national and international interests will prepare his 
successor, as has always been the case in Venezuelan politics.  Of course, this will be 
neither easy nor without conflict, for the political parties and other forms of portioning 
power that are offered by the social democrat and rightwing opposition only confront 
Chávez with a view to assuming control of Venezuela and the rent of its oil.  They have no 
positive responses to the needs and demands of the popular majority.

With ourselves at such a difficult juncture, the alternative is certainly not to be found 
within the electoral circus that will be offered to us this year (parliamentary elections 
are due to be held in November time – trans.), but in the development of popular social 
networks, self-organisation and the autonomy of society’s various sectors, with their own 
agendas and struggles.  We call for the organisation of manifestations of the genuine 
desire to be free and equal in every possible space, in solidarity with base-level, 
independent organisations of workers, women, peasants, indigenous, the young, the cultural 
sector and all who find themselves socially excluded, in order to begin the search for the 
emancipation of our society.

The Editorial Collective of El Libertario
www.nodo50.org/ellibertario    -    ellibertario@nodo50.org

[Translator: Alan J.]
======================
* The public pronouncement from the Editorial Collective of El Libertario in mid-January 
2010 on the current situation in Venezuela.
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