Vol. 80/No. 43 November 14, 2016
Caracas, pro-imperialist parties start talks amid crisis
Seeking to avert violent clashes, the government has held negotiations with some opposition parties in recent months, the latest session initiated by the Vatican and the Union of South American Nations (Unasur). The talks have been encouraged by the Barack Obama administration, which prefers a transition to a more pro-Washington government without the breakdown of stability.
Protests organized by the Democracy Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition, the latest drawing several hundred thousand people Oct. 26, have demanded the government allow a presidential recall referendum this year. Venezuela’s electoral authority Oct. 20 suspended opposition efforts to put the recall on the ballot, after courts declared large numbers of signatures fraudulent.
MUD also called for workers to stay home two days later for a general strike, but support for the stoppage was “patchy,” according to press reports. Many workers expressed frustration with the shortages and economic crisis, and think that “something must be done.” At the same time, they distrust the bosses’ aims and fear the confrontational course pressed by sections of the opposition could spiral into economic and political chaos.
Concerned that MUD’s “general strike” would recall the failed 2002 bosses’ “strike” that attempted to oust the late President Hugo Chávez, Fedecamaras, the country’s main employers’ association, didn’t call on factory and business owners to shut down operations as they did in 2002. The association’s vice president, Carlos Larrazabal, told Reuters that companies were staying open and letting workers decide whether to come in or not.
Thousands of supporters of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela rallied outside the presidential palace that day to declare the stoppage a failure.
Divisions among opposition parties
Representatives of some MUD affiliates, including the social democratic Democratic Action, A New Era, and Justice First led by Henrique Capriles, attended Oct. 30 negotiations with government officials. The Popular Will party, whose leader Leopoldo López is in prison, did not participate.Former presidents Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic, Martín Torríjos of Panama and Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain have promoted the Unasur-sponsored talks. “We need to prevent this politically and economically important ally from plunging into conflict and make sure there is a process of dialog and stability,” said Zapatero Oct. 28.
After discussion with U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon Nov. 1, the opposition called off a Nov. 3 protest at the presidential palace and put proceedings in congress to remove Maduro on hold until Nov. 12.
The dire economic situation faced by Venezuelan toilers is the product of the world contraction of capitalist production and trade and related decline of the price of oil, the country’s main export and source of revenue. While the government of Maduro and his predecessor Chávez have used oil revenues to fund expanded access to education, health and housing, boost employment and raise living standards for many workers and peasants, the predominance of capitalist property relations guarantees the weight of the economic and social crisis is shifted onto the backs of workers and poor farmers.
The day before the stoppage, the government raised the minimum wage and food subsidy by 40 percent, the fourth such increase this year.
Scarcity of basic food products at government-subsidized stores has forced workers to spend long hours in line. Government troops policing the lines have at times clashed with workers.
In July the president placed distribution of food basics in the hands of Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino López. Many government measures have given the military greater control of economic activity. The Maduro government has also created neighborhood Committees for Supply and Production, led by PSUV supporters, to distribute subsidized food products — with limited results due to the government’s failure to mobilize working people in city and countryside to confront the consequences of the capitalist crisis.
Meanwhile, imperialist banks and investors have continued their plunder of the wealth produced by the Venezuelan people. The government oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, hard hit by low prices, recently negotiated a bond swap to postpone debt repayment until 2020, increasing its debt but buying time to try to increase production, while hoping for an upturn in prices.
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