Vol.64/No.4 January 31, 2000
Catastrophe in Venezuela
{editorial}
In response to the massive mud slide that devastated densely populated sections of Venezuela, the U.S. rulers offered body bags and more troops. In contrast, the revolutionary government in Cuba immediately sent 400 doctors and hospital workers who promised to stay as long as is necessary. The rains led to the deaths of some 50,000 people and left another half million homeless. This social disaster cannot be blamed on the forces of nature.
The tens of thousands of working people who lost their lives, homes, and livelihoods were among 3 million people forced to live in impoverished conditions on the side of deforested mountain slopes near the capital city of Caracas. Unable to make a living elsewhere, they migrated from the countryside in the hope of finding jobs and a better life. That it was a disaster waiting to happen—as with similar situations throughout Latin America—was well known to the capitalist rulers of Venezuela and the imperialist exploiters in the United States.
Venezuela is an oil-rich country. It is the third largest exporter of crude oil into the United States, after Saudi Arabia and Mexico. Yet nearly 80 percent of its 23 million people live below the poverty line, and its debt to imperialist banks stands at more than $23 billion. This situation is a result of imperialist plunder imposed through monopoly control, unequal terms of trade, and forced underdevelopment.
The everyday nightmare of working people can strike home with horrendous consequences when a natural disaster arises. This is true whether it's a mud slide in Venezuela or the effects of Hurricane Mitch a year earlier in Nicaragua and Honduras.
At the end of December, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez turned down Washington's offer of "aid," saying he would welcome the sending of some bulldozers, tractors, and other heavy equipment, but not the hundreds of U.S. troops being sent along with it. Washington already has about 120 U.S. soldiers stationed in the country, and is boosting its military aid to nearby Columbia to the tune of $1.6 billion over the next two years.
Washington is concerned first and foremost with protecting the investments and profits of U.S. corporations, and ensuring that the interest payments on the debt keep flowing into the hands of the wealthy coupon-clippers and bankers. That's why its response to social disasters like in Venezuela is to deepen its military involvement.
Working people should demand that the Clinton administration send massive, unconditional aid to Venezuela with no strings attached. We should also call for the cancellation of the foreign debt of all countries in Latin America and throughout the Third World.
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