We reprint below an article from Earle Gilman to the Argentine Solidarity e-mail group. This group has extensive contacts throughout Central and South America. Currently in Australia there are illusions in the Venezuelan Revolution and its leadership. These have been sown by the Democratic Socialist Perspectives which is part of the Socialist Alliance. DSP claims to be a Marxist current within the Alliance. The statements by Chavez, quoted by Gilman, clearly expose his abandonment of Marxism. This is a blow to the Venezuelan Revolution. Without a Marxist method, consciously applied, the revolution will be deformed, if not defeated.The failings of the Russian Revolution lie not in its proclaimed adherence to Marxism but in its betrayal of Marxism. Yes, Marxism is as relevant today as it is in the nineteenth century. And even if the practice of Chavez is better than his rhetoric, his anti-Marxist statements are a blow to the Venezuelan revolution. Marxism must not only be practiced it must be consciously understood.
We will not answer the challenges which Chavez poses except to point out that they have been raised by more sophisticated theoreticians such as Andre Gorz and have been answered. No! Marx did not have a �deterministic vision of socialism�. Chavez either doesn�t understand Marxism or is being dishonest. We challenge all apologists of Chavez to confront the letter. We have limited access to Chavez�s speeches and understanding of Spanish. We will happily apologise if E. Gilman misrepresents or is guilty of selective quoting.
By e-mail to Argintine solidarity:
Chavez is quoted in Aporrea (7/29/07) that in recent speehes he has said the new party, the PSUV, will not be Marxist-Leninist because Marxism is a dogmatic thesis that is now over and is not in accord with today's reality. In addition, the working class, he says, is not the motor of socialism. Chavez says: "Work today is something else, it is different, it is information and it is televised by Carlos. Marx couldn't dream about such things." He added: "I am a socialist, Bolviariano, revolutionary. In respect to the Marxist road, I am not a Marxist. I do not share this thesis because it is a deterministic vision of socialism." He then attacked Marx for supporting the invasion of Mexico by the US and India by Britain. (I believe Marx later modified his position [E.G.])
One day after Chavez's speeh, the Minister of Peoples' Power and Planning and Development, Jorge Giordani, stated that: "There does not exist any contradiction between private enterprise and Venezuelan socialism." Apparently, he doesn't see the contradiction between being a "Minister"
and Peoples' Power..people who never chose him to lead them. Apparently, Chavez is taking a turn to the right.If the working class is not the motor of revolution, then apparently the officer corp are that motor. Though he may make justified criticisms of Marx, by rejecting the marxist method he is
following the footsteps of such figures of General Velasco of Peru and General Juan Peron of Argentina.
EARL GILMAN