Venezuela prepares for recall vote

international | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday August 11, 2004 22:16 by venez

On the 9th of August as many as 1 million Chavez supporters filled the streets of Caracas in a huge show of opposition to Sunday’s schedualed recall referendum.

Clad in red—the colour that has come to represent the movement that supports Chavez—supporters bore t-shirts, hats, berets, placards, puppets, and inventive home-made signs all uniformly declaring “No!” to the recall on Chávez’ mandate scheduled for next Sunday, August 15th
Chavez is a left populist who, with pressure from below, has implemented many reforms that have increased the living standards for the Venezuelan masses. Huge spending has gone into education, health care and housing programmes. As much as 80% of the profits from the state owned oil company PVDSA has been spent on these projects. In the past week Chavez has announced a further $500 million for housing.
These reforms, which have eaten into the profits of the ruling class and acted as a catalyst for a huge social movement has brought him into conflict with the rulling class and with US imperialism. Since his election in 1998 Venezuela’s opposition has tried ousting Chavez with a failed coup, a series of economically devastating general strikes and lockouts, and violent street protests and paramilitary activity. It is only since those efforts proved unsuccessful in defeating Chávez that the opposition has put its weight behind a constitutional effort in the form of the recall referendum.
With all credible polls showing Chavez winning the referendum by a margin of 8 to 31%, it is widely rumoured that the right wing opposition, backed up by US imperialism, will try to destabilise the country in the lead up to the vote. Recently Chavez’s Interior Minister Lucas Rincon alerted about possible terrorist acts that sectors of the opposition could be preparing to trigger a "Madrid effect" that could alter the outcome of the referendum.
As well as uncovering a plot to overthrow Chavez by an opposition group with the aid of Colombian paramilitaries, an arms cache valued at US$53 million was discovered in Brazil last month, which seems to have been destined for radical Venezuelan opposition groups seeking to sabotage the recall referendum. A large quantity of explosives and detonators have also been stolen from military bases.
Also recently Venezuelan opposition leader, and two time president Carlos Andres Perez, made a series of statements calling for violence and hinting at an eventual dictatorial period that the Venezuelan opposition must implement if current President Hugo Chavez is to be removed from office, opposition parties have been reluctant to distance themselves from these statements.
It is clear that the opposition and US imperialism want to see Chavez ousted from power. It seems likely that regardless of the result of Sunday’s poll the right wing will attempt to bring down Chavez by force. This highlights need for Chavez to take on the opposition head on. In order to defend the gains made and further increase the living standards of the Venezuelan masses Chavez and the movement which he represents must now organise, arm the people and nationalise the economy under democratic control.