Version imprimableThe defeat of Guaidó and his agenda lies in contempt for and infantilization of “the popular.” The Venezuelan bourgeoisie constructs a narrative that speaks of an imminent social outbreak on the part of the working class that would place them in power. They intend to invoke the epic of April 13, 2002, when the barrios came out to expel the self-proclaimed Carmona, restoring the constitutional order and rescuing Chávez from the jaws of imperialist terrorism. The difference is that Guaidó offers a neoliberal package of disembarkation of transnational capital that would imply destruction of the social agenda, unprecedented levels of labour exploitation and a privatization of the whole public sector. The people are not stupid, they are upset with many of the things that are happening, but they will never promote a neo-fascist government that opens the doors to the definitive transnationalization of capital in our country.
Guaidó and Leopoldo López failed, but that does not mean that they have abandoned their agenda. While the duo of the “Voluntad Popular” party activate its insurrectional agenda, other bourgeois factions work for an agenda of class conciliation, promoting a discourse and action that is oriented to a negotiated approach with sectors now in government. This agenda seems much more dangerous, because it implies generating a historical defeat in the imagination of resistance and class struggle in the country.
The deterioration of the current situation of the Venezuelan working class is dramatic and unsustainable. This May 1 announcement of a minimum wage anchored at 40,000 bolivars generates outrage when a single box of eggs costs half of that. President Maduro had announced that the minimum wage would be equivalent and adjustable, at fifty percent of the nominal value of the petro; from this reference, 40,000 bolivars is a third, which indicates the reference price. But even with half a petro, a family composed of four members, will barely be able to eat for two or three days.
The working class and the people can support this and much more if it is really about confronting the imperialist nations. But this cannot be a pretext for continuing to feed the formation of a new political and economic caste. It is insulting that while the workers cannot buy the basics to live, a small “revolutionary” lodge has a rhythm of life full of opulence and consumer self-assurance. That is inadmissible and counterrevolutionary.
In this time of definitions, the members of the political leadership and the ministers should go to live with the people, eating and assuming the daily life of the humblest sectors. It’s time to remodel or the people will explode on either side.
It is time to face the fascist right, but also the parasitic bureaucracy. The majority of revolutionary and insurgent Chavismo continues to support the Bolivarian process while becoming the driving force behind the allegations of corruption, bureaucratization and loss of direction. Therefore, today we say that this minimum wage decree is insufficient and insulting with the situation that the working class experiences today.
– A sliding scale of wages now to face inflation!
National Secretariat of LUCHAS
1 May 2019
Translated by International Viewpoint from “LUCHAS: condenamos el golpe fascista y denuncia sobre la precariedad salarial este 1 de mayo de 2019 ”.
