Menu

03/14/13 - Axis of Logic (Toronto) - President Chávez: A 21st Century Renaissance Man  

James Petras. Axis of Logic Axis of Logic Thursday, Mar 14, 2013

Editor's Comment: Over the years I have read hundreds of articles on the
life and work of Hugo Chávez Frias and written a few myself. I've also read
many honest, informed articles written by other authors since his death and
we've published a few of them. But James Petras' treatise on President
Chávez is by far the most profound and comprehensive understanding of the
man and his work that I have encountered. Quotes are installed from his
text in the column for emphasis but if the reader allows these to serve as
an understanding of what this author has written the loss will be great ...
i.e. read well, respecting the author ... respecting President Chávez.

- Les Blough in Venezuela

 

Introduction

President Hugo Chávez was unique in multiple areas of political, social and
economic life. He made significant contributions to the advancement of
humanity. The depth, scope and popularity of his accomplishments mark
President Chávez as the 'Renaissance President of the 21st Century'.

Many writers have noted one or another of his historic contributions
highlighting his anti-poverty legislation, his success in winning popular
elections with resounding majorities and his promotion of universal free
public education and health coverage for all Venezuelans.

In this essay we will highlight the unique world-historic contributions
that President Chávez made in the spheres of political economy, ethics and
international law and in redefining relations between political leaders and
citizens. We shall start with his enduring contribution to the development
of civic culture in Venezuela and beyond.

Hugo Chávez: The Great Teacher of Civic Values

"He invited comments and criticism - his style was to engage in constant
dialogue, especially with the poor, the unemployed and the workers."From
his first days in office, Chávez was engaged in transforming the
constitutional order so that political leaders and institutions would be
more responsive to the popular electorate. Through his speeches Chávez
clearly and carefully informed the electorate of the measures and
legislation to improve their livelihood. He invited comments and criticism
- his style was to engage in constant dialogue, especially with the poor,
the unemployed and the workers. Chávez was so successful in teaching civic
responsibilities to the Venezuelan electorate that millions of citizens
from the slums of Caracas rose up spontaneously to oust the US backed
business-military junta which had kidnapped their president and closed the
legislature. Within seventy-two hours - record time - the civic-minded
citizens restored the democratic order and the rule of law in Venezuela,
thoroughly rejecting the mass media's defense of the coup-plotters and
their brief authoritarian regime.

Chávez, as all great educators, learned from this democratic intervention
of the mass of citizens, that democracy's most effective defenders were to
be found among the working people - and that its worst enemies were found
in the business elites and military officials linked to Miami and
Washington.

 
Chávez civic pedagogy emphasized the importance of the historical teachings
and examples of founding fathers, like Simon Bolivar, in establishing a
national and Latin American identity. His speeches raised the cultural
level of millions of Venezuelans who had been raised in the alienating and
servile culture of imperial Washington and the consumerist obsessions of
Miami shopping malls.

Chávez succeeded in instilling a culture of solidarity and mutual support
among the exploited, emphasizing 'horizontal' ties over vertical
clientelistic dependency on the rich and powerful. His success in creating
collective consciousness decisively shifted the balance of political power
away from the wealthy rulers and corrupt political party and trade union
leaders toward new socialist movements and class oriented trade unions.
More than anything else Chávez' political education of the popular majority
regarding their social rights to free health care and higher education,
living wages and full employment drew the hysterical ire of the wealthy
Venezuelans and their undying hatred of a president who had created a sense
of autonomy, dignity and 'class empowerment' through public education
ending centuries of elite privilege and omnipotence.

Above all Chávez speeches, drawing as much from Bolivar as from Karl Marx,
created a deep, generous sense of patriotism and nationalism and a profound
rejection of a prostrate elite groveling before their Washington overlord,
Wall Street bankers and oil company executives. Chávez' anti-imperial
speeches resonated because he spoke in the language of the people and
expanded their national consciousness to identification with Latin America,
especially Cuba's fight against imperial interventions and wars.

International Relations: The Chávez Doctrine

At the beginning of the previous decade, after 9/11/01, Washington declared
a 'War on Terror'. This was a public declaration of unilateral military
intervention and wars against sovereign nations, movements and individuals
deemed as adversaries, in violation of international law.

Almost all countries submitted to this flagrant violation of the Geneva
Accords, except President Chávez, who made the most profound and simple
refutation against Washington: 'You don't fight terrorism with state
terrorism'. In his defense of the sovereignty of nations and international
jurisprudence, Chávez underlined the importance of political and economic
solutions to social problems and conflicts - repudiating the use of bombs,
torture and mayhem. The Chávez Doctrine emphasized south-south trade and
investments and diplomatic over military resolution of disputes. He upheld
the Geneva Accords against colonial and imperial aggression while rejecting
the imperial doctrine of 'the war on terror', defining western state
terrorism as a pernicious equivalent to Al Qaeda terrorism.

Political Theory and Practice: The Grand Synthesizer

One of the most profound and influential aspects of Chávez' legacy is his
original synthesis of three grand strands of political thought: popular
Christianity, Bolivarian nationalist and regional integration and Marxist
political, social and economic thought. Chávez' Christianity informed his
deep belief in justice and the equality of Chávez demonstrated a deep
belief in redemption and forgiveness.people, as well as his generosity and
forgiveness of adversaries even as they engaged in a violent coup, a
crippling lockout, or openly collaborated and received financing from enemy
intelligence agencies. Whereas anywhere else in the world, armed assaults
against the state and coup d'états would result in long prison sentences or
even executions, under Chávez most of his violent adversaries escaped
prosecution and even rejoined their subversive organizations. Chávez
demonstrated a deep belief in redemption and forgiveness. Chávez's
Christianity informed his 'option for the poor', the depth and breadth of
his commitment to eradicating poverty and his solidarity with the poor
against the rich.

Chávez deep-seated aversion and effective opposition to US and European
imperialism and brutal Israeli colonialism were profoundly rooted in his
reading of the writings and history of Simon Bolivar, the founding father
of the Venezuelan nation. Bolivarian ideas on national liberation long
preceded any exposure to Marx, Lenin or more contemporary leftist writings
on imperialism. His powerful and unwavering support for regional
integration and internationalism was deeply influenced by Simon Bolivar's
proposed 'United States of Latin America' and his internationalist activity
in support of anti-colonial movements.

Chávez' incorporation of Marxist ideas into his world view was adapted to
his longstanding popular Christian and Bolivarian internationalist
philosophy. Chávez' option for the poor was deepened by his recognition of
the centrality of the class struggle and the reconstruction of the
Bolivarian nation through the socialization of the 'commanding heights of
the economy'. The socialist concept of self-managed factories and popular
empowerment via community councils was given moral legitimacy by Chávez'
Christian faith in an egalitarian moral order.

"Unfortunately, as is frequently the case, some leftist academics have, in
their self-indulgent posturing, presumed to be Chávez' 'teacher' and
advisor on all matters of 'Marxist theory' ..." (more)While Chávez was
respectful and carefully listened to the views of visiting leftist
academics and frequently praised their writings, many failed to recognize
or, worse, deliberately ignored the President's own more original synthesis
of history, religion and Marxism. Unfortunately, as is frequently the case,
some leftist academics have, in their self-indulgent posturing, presumed to
be Chávez' 'teacher' and advisor on all matters of 'Marxist theory': This
represents a style of leftist cultural colonialism, which snidely
criticized Chávez for not following their ready-made prescriptions,
published in their political literary journals in London, New York and
Paris.

Fortunately, Chávez took what was useful from the overseas academics and
NGO-funded political strategists while discarding ideas that failed to take
account of the cultural-historical, class and rentier specificities of
Venezuela.

Chávez has bequeathed to the intellectuals and activists of the world a
method of thinking which is global and specific, historical and
theoretical, material and ethical and which encompasses class analysis,
democracy and a spiritual transcendence resonating with the great mass of
humanity in a language every person can understand. Chávez' philosophy and
practice (more than any 'discourse' narrated by the social forum-hopping
experts) demonstrated that the art of formulating complex ideas in simple
language can move millions of people to 'make history, and not only to
study it'..

Toward Practical Alternatives to Neoliberalism and Imperialism

Perhaps Chávez greatest contribution in the contemporary period was to
demonstrate, through practical measures and political initiatives, that
many of the most challenging contemporary political and economic problems
can be successfully resolved.

Radical Reform of a Rentier State

"The Chávez Administration first began with constitutional and
institutional changes to create a new political framework..."Nothing is
more difficult than changing the social structure, institutions and
attitudes of a rentier petro-state, with deeply entrenched clientelistic
politics, endemic party-state corruption and a deeply-rooted mass
psychology based on consumerism. Yet Chávez largely succeeded where other
petro-regimes failed. The Chávez Administration first began with
constitutional and institutional changes to create a new political
framework; then he implemented social impact programs, which deepened
political commitments among an active majority, which, in turn, bravely
defended the regime from a violent US backed business-military coup d'état.
Mass mobilization and popular support, in turn, radicalized the Chávez
government and made way for a deeper socialization of the economy and the
implementation of radical agrarian reform. The petrol industry was
socialized; royalty and tax payments were raised to provide funds for
massively expanded social expenditures benefiting the majority of
Venezuelans.

"Overseas leftist theorists, who criticize Venezuela ... have profoundly
ignored the enormous difficulties of transitioning from a rentier state to
a socialized economy and the enormous progress achieved by Chávez."Almost
every day Chávez prepared clearly understandable educational speeches on
social, ethical and political topics related to his regime's redistributive
policies by emphasizing social solidarity over individualistic acquisitive
consumerism. Mass organizations and community and trade union movements
flourished - a new social consciousness emerged ready and willing to
advance social change and confront the wealthy and powerful. Chávez' defeat
of the US-backed coup and bosses' lockout and his affirmation of the
Bolivarian tradition and sovereign identity of Venezuela created a powerful
nationalist consciousness which eroded the rentier mentality and
strengthened the pursuit of a diversified 'balanced economy'. This new
political will and national productive consciousness was a great leap
forward, even as the main features of a rentier-oil dependent economy
persist. This extremely difficult transition has begun and is an ongoing
process. Overseas leftist theorists, who criticize Venezuela ('corruption',
'bureaucracy') have profoundly ignored the enormous difficulties of
transitioning from a rentier state to a socialized economy and the enormous
progress achieved by Chávez.

Economic Crisis Without Capitalist Austerity

"Chávez demonstrated that mass impoverishment was a product of the specific
capitalist 'formula' for recovery."Throughout the crisis-wracked capitalist
world, ruling labor, social democratic, liberal and conservative regimes
have imposed regressive 'austerity programs' involving brutal reductions of
social welfare, health and education expenditures and mass layoffs of
workers and employees while handing our generous state subsidies and
bailouts to failing banks and capitalist enterprises. Chanting their
Thacherite slogan, 'there is no alternative', capitalist economists justify
imposing the burden of 'capitalist recovery' onto the working class while
allowing capital to recover its profits in order to invest.

Chávez' policy was the direct opposite: In the midst of crisis, he retained
all the social programs, rejected mass firings and increased social
spending. The Venezuelan economy rode out of the worldwide crisis and
recovered with a healthy 5.8% growth rate in 2012. In other words, Chávez
demonstrated that mass impoverishment was a product of the specific
capitalist 'formula' for recovery. He showed another, positive alternative
approach to economic crisis, which taxed the rich, promoted public
investments and maintained social expenditures.

Social Transformation in a 'Globalized Economy'

 
Many commentators, left, right and center, have argued that the advent of a
'globalized economy' ruled out a radical social transformation. Yet
Venezuela, which is profoundly globalized and integrated into the world
market via trade and investments, has made major advances in social reform.
What really matters in relation to a globalized economy is the nature of
the political economic regime and its policies, which dictate how the gains
and costs of international trade and investment are distributed. In a word,
what is decisive is the 'class character of the regime' managing its place
in the world economy. Chávez certainly did not 'de-link' from the world
economy; rather he has re-linked Venezuela in a new way. He shifted
Venezuelan trade and investment toward Latin America, Asia and the Middle
East - especially to countries which do not intervene or impose reactionary
conditions on economic transactions.

Anti-Imperialism in a Time of an Imperialist Offensive

In a time of a virulent US-EU imperialist offensive involving 'pre-emptive'
military invasions, mercenary interventions, torture, assassinations and
drone warfare in Iraq, Mali, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Afghanistan and
brutal economic sanctions and sabotage against Iran; Israeli colonial
expulsions of thousands of Palestinians financed by the US; US-backed
military coups in Honduras and Paraguay and aborted revolutions via puppets
in Egypt and Tunisia, President Chávez, alone, stood as the principled
defender of anti-imperialist politics.

"The 'populist' Chávez had articulated a far more profound and principled
understanding of Marxist practice, certainly than his self-appointed
overseas Marxist 'tutors'."Chávez deep commitment to anti-imperialism
stands in marked contrast to the capitulation of Western self-styled
'Marxist' intellectuals who mouthed crude justifications for their support
of NATO bombing Yugoslavia and Libya, the French invasion of Mali and the
Saudi-French ('Monarcho-Socialist') funding and arming of Islamist
mercenaries against Syria. These same London, New York and Paris-based
'intellectuals' who patronized Chávez as a mere 'populist' or 'nationalist'
and claimed he should have listened to their lectures and read their books,
had crassly capitulated under the pressure of the capitalist state and mass
media into supporting 'humanitarian interventions' (aka NATO bombing). and
justified their opportunism in the language of obscure leftists sects.
Chávez confronted NATO pressures and threats, as well as the destabilizing
subversion of his domestic opponents and courageously articulated the most
profound and significant principles of 20th and 21st Marxism: the inviolate
right to self-determination of oppressed nations and unconditional
opposition to imperial wars. While Chávez spoke and acted in defense of
anti-imperialist principles, many in the European and US left acquiesced in
imperial wars: There were virtually no mass protests, the 'anti-war'
movements were co-opted or moribund, the British 'Socialist' Workers Party
defended the massive NATO bombing of Libya, the French 'Socialists' invaded
Mali- with the support of the 'Anti-Capitalist' Party. Meanwhile, the
'populist' Chávez had articulated a far more profound and principled
understanding of Marxist practice, certainly than his self-appointed
overseas Marxist 'tutors'.

No other political leader or for that matter, leftist academic, developed,
deepened and extended the central tenets of anti-imperialist politics in
the era of global imperialist warfare with greater acuity than Hugo Chávez.

Transition from a Failed Neo-Liberal to a Dynamic Welfare State

Chávez' programmatic and comprehensive reconfiguration of Venezuela from a
disastrous and failed neo-liberal regime to a dynamic welfare state stands
as a landmark in 20th and 21st century political economy. Chávez'
successful reversal of neo-liberal institutions and policies, as well as
his re-nationalization of the 'commanding heights of the economy'
demolished the reigning neo-liberal dogma derived from the Thatcher-Reagan
era enshrined in the slogan: 'There is no alternative' to brutal
neo-liberal policies, or TINA.

"In Latin America, Chávez led the way in defining with greater depth and
with more comprehensive social changes, the post neo-liberal era."Chávez
rejected privatization - he re-nationalized key oil related industries,
socialized hundreds of capitalist firms and carried out a vast agrarian
reform program, including land distribution to 300,000 families. He
encouraged trade union organizations and worker control of factories - even
bucking public managers and even his own cabinet ministers. In Latin
America, Chávez led the way in defining with greater depth and with more
comprehensive social changes, the post neo-liberal era. Chávez envisioned
the transition from neo-liberalism to a new socialized welfare state as an
international process and provided financing and political support for new
regional organizations like ALBA, PetroCaribe, and UNASUR. He rejected the
idea of building a welfare state in one country and formulated a theory of
post-neo-liberal transitions based on international solidarity. Chávez'
original ideas and policies regarding the post-neo-liberal transition
escaped the armchair Marxists and the globetrotting Social Forum NGO
pundits whose inconsequential 'global alternatives' succeeded primarily in
securing imperial foundation funding.

Chávez demonstrated through theory and practice that neo-liberalism was
indeed reversible - a major political breakthrough of the 21st
century.Beyond Social Liberalism:

The Radical Definition of Post-Neo-Liberalism

The US-EU promoted neo-liberal regimes have collapsed under the weight of
the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Massive
unemployment led to popular uprisings, new elections and the advent of
center-left regimes in most of Latin America, which rejected or at least
claimed to repudiate 'neo-liberalism'. Most of "He nationalized resource
industries, excluded Wall Street speculators and limited the role of the
agro-mineral elites."these regimes promulgated legislation and executive
directives to fund poverty programs, implement financial controls and make
productive investments, while raising minimum wages and stimulating
employment. However few lucrative enterprises were actually
re-nationalized. Addressing inequalities and the concentration of wealth
were not part of their agenda. They formulated their strategy of working
with Wall Street investors, local agro-mineral exporters and co-opted trade
unions.

Chávez posed a profoundly different alternative to this form of
'post-neoliberalism'. He nationalized resource industries, excluded Wall
Street speculators and limited the role of the agro-mineral elites. He
posed a socialized welfare state as an alternative to the reigning
social-liberal orthodoxy of the center-left regimes, even as he worked with
these regimes in promoting Latin American integration and opposing US
backed coups.

Chávez was both a leader defining a more socialized alternative to social
liberation and the conscience pressuring his allies to advance further.

Socialism and Democracy

Chávez opened a new and extraordinarily original and complex path to
socialism based on free elections, re-educating the military to uphold
democratic and constitutional principals, and the development of mass and
community media. He ended the capitalist mass media monopolies and
strengthened civil society as a counter-weight to US-sponsored
para-military and fifth column elites intent on destabilizing the
democratic state.

"Chávez implemented radical social impact programs that ensured the loyalty
and active allegiance of popular majorities and weakened the economic
levers of political power long held by the capitalist class."No other
democratic-socialist president had successfully resisted imperial
destabilization campaigns - neither Jagan in Guyana, Manley in Jamaica, nor
Allende in Chile. From the very outset Chávez saw the importance of
creating a solid legal-political framework to facilitate executive
leadership, promote popular civil society organizations and end US
penetration of the state apparatus (military and police). Chávez
implemented radical social impact programs that ensured the loyalty and
active allegiance of popular majorities and weakened the economic levers of
political power long held by the capitalist class. As a result Venezuela's
political leaders, soldiers and officers loyal to its constitution and the
popular masses crushed a bloody rightwing coup, a crippling bosses' lockout
and a US-financed referendum and proceeded to implement further radical
socio-economic reforms in a prolonged process of cumulative socialization.

"More than any previous socialist leader, Chávez traveled, spoke and
listened to Venezuela's popular classes on questions of everyday
life."Chávez's originality, in part the result of trial and error, was his
'experimental method': His profound understanding and response to popular
attitudes and behavior was deeply rooted in Venezuela's history of racial
and class injustice and popular rebelliousness. More than any previous
socialist leader, Chávez traveled, spoke and listened to Venezuela's
popular classes on questions of everyday life. His 'method' was to
translate micro based knowledge into macro programed changes. In practice
he was the anti-thesis of the overseas and local intellectual know-it-alls
who literally spoke down to the people and who saw themselves as the
'masters of the world' .at least, in the micro-world of left academia,
ingrown socialist conferences and self-centered monologues. The death of
Hugo Chávez was profoundly mourned by millions in Venezuela and hundreds of
million around the world because his transition to socialism was their
path; he listened to their demands and he acted upon them effectively.

Social Democracy and National Security

 
Chávez was a socialist president for over 13 years in the face of
large-scale, long-term violent opposition and financial sabotage from
Washington, the local economic elite and mass media moguls. Chávez created
the political consciousness that motivated millions of workers and secured
the constitutional loyalty of the military to defeat a bloody US-backed
business-military coup in 2002. Chávez tempered social changes in
accordance with a realistic assessment of what the political and legal
order could support. First and foremost, Chávez secured the loyalty of the
military by ending US 'advisory' missions and overseas imperial
indoctrination while substituting intensive courses on Venezuelan history,
civic responsibility and the critical link between the popular classes and
the military in a common national mission..

Chávez' national security policies were based on democratic principles as
well as a clear recognition of the serious threats to Venezuelan
sovereignty. He successfully safeguarded both national security and the
democratic rights and political freedoms of its citizens, a feat which has
earned Venezuela the admiration and envy of constitutional lawyers and
citizens of the US and the EU.

"Chávez never assumed those powers and never assassinated or tortured a
single Venezuelan."In stark contrast, US President Obama has assumed the
power to assassinate US citizens based on secret information and without
trial both in and out of the US. His Administration has murdered 'targeted'
US citizens and their children, jailed others without trial and maintains
secret 'files' on over 40 million Americans. Chávez never assumed those
powers and never assassinated or tortured a single Venezuelan. In
Venezuela, the dozen or so prisoners convicted of violent acts of
subversion after open trials in Venezuelan courts, stand in sharp contrast
to the tens of thousands of jailed and secretly framed Muslims and Latin
American immigrants in the US. Chávez rejected state terror; while Obama
has special assassination teams on the ground in over 70 countries. Obama
supports arbitrary police invasions of 'suspect' homes and workplaces based
on 'secret evidence' while Chávez even tolerated the activities of known
foreign (CIA)-funded opposition parties. In a word, Obama uses 'national
security' to destroy democratic freedoms while Chávez upheld democratic
freedoms and imposed constitutional limits on the national security
apparatus.

Chávez sought peaceful diplomatic resolution of conflicts with hostile
neighbors, such as Colombia which hosts seven US military bases - potential
springboards for US intervention. On the other hand, Obama has engaged in
open war with at least seven countries and has been pursuing covert hostile
action against dozens of others.

Conclusion

Chávez's legacy is multi-faceted. His contributions are original,
theoretical and practical and universally relevant. He demonstrated in
'theory and practice' how a small country can defend itself against
imperialism, maintain democratic principles and implement advanced social
programs. His pursuit of regional integration and promotion of ethical
standards in the governance of a nation - provide examples profoundly
relevant in a capitalist world awash in corrupt politicians slashing living
standards while enriching the plutocrats.

Chávez' rejection of the Bush-Obama doctrine of using 'state terror to
fight terror', his affirmation that the roots of violence are social
injustice, economic pillage and political oppression and his belief that
resolving these underlying issues is the road to peace, stands as the
ethical-political guide for humanity's survival.

Faced with a violent world of imperial counter-revolution, and resolved to
stand with the oppressed of the world, Hugo Chávez enters world history as
a complete political leader, with the stature of the most humane and
multi-faceted leader of our epoch: the Renaissance figure for the 21st
century.

READ THE BIO AND MORE ARTICLES BY JAMES PETRAS ON AXIS OF LOGIC

 














© Copyright 2013 by AxisofLogic.com

This material is available for republication as long as reprints include
verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, respecting its integrity.
Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source
including a "live link" to the article. Thank you!