1 June, 2009

Chavez’s lines: Bolivar and “the Mysterious Enigma”

Economy & Politics, International, Opinion & Interviews Comments (0)

Comunicas.- The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, every sunday publish his opinion articles called "Chavez's Lines".rnrnBolivar and “the Mysterious Enigma”.-rnrnIt is amazing how deep our father Bolivar poked around in the search of the revolutionary essence; just as he said in “the finding of the mysterious enigma of the free man.” In this huge task he put forward his thoughts before those of the great intellectuals and philosophers of the last two centuries. It is really amazing how his most advanced ideas form a great slope, whose waters disembogue in that wonderful river called socialism.rnrnThis is exactly what happens with the equality issue. Let’s make a tour of two hundred years ago in order to confirm it.rnrnBrazilian thinker Theotonio Dos Santos, in his book Concepto de clases sociales (Concept of social classes, printed by El Perro y la Rana editorial), says “The representation of the bourgeois society as a basic group of individuals who can differentiate in groups has to be part of the bourgeois ideology (…) This way of representation expresses exactly the essential interest of the bourgeoisie in hiding the nature of the class of its society and nominate its society like offering equal opportunities to all the individuals.”rnrnEquality of opportunities, that’s true; but more and more based on the growing inequality of economic and legal power, as well as material privileges that excessively reproduce the inequality of conditions.rnrnOne hundred and twenty years ago, Carlos Marx said it in the Critic of the Gotha Programme, written in 1875: “Paradoxically, what appears as the end of socialism is, precisely, the integral development of inequality among men, inequality of their aspirations and capacities, the inequality of its personalities. But this personal inequality will no longer mean a difference of economic power or inequality of material rights or privileges. It can only be extended in an atmosphere of material and economic equality.”rnrnAnd our Bolivar, fifty six years before Marx, pointed out with meridian clearness in Angostura, in 1819: “In my opinion, Legislators, the fundamental principle of our system depends immediately and exclusively on equality established and exercised in Venezuela. The fact that men are all born with equal rights to over the goods of society is sanctioned by wise men; but it has also been sanctioned that not all men are equally capable of attaining every distinction; since all should practice virtue and not all do practice it; all of them must be courageous and all are not courageous; all should possess talents and not all of them are courageous. Hence the real distinction existing among individuals of the most liberally established society. If the principle of political equality is generally acknowledged, the one of physical or moral inequality is also recognized. Nature makes men unequal regarding their genius, temperament, strength and characteristics. The laws correct that difference by giving man a place in society so that education, industry, service, virtue may give him a fictitious equality, properly called political and social equality. The fact of gathering all classes in a State is an eminently beneficent inspiration, where diversity multiples in proportion to the propagation of the species. By this single step, cruel discord has been torn out by the roots. How much jealousy, rivalry and hatred have been thus avoided!”rnrnThis is the reason why, the more we study the history of ideas, the more we deepen and understand the great thinkers of and for humanity, starting from (Jesus) Christ up to Fidel. This is why, every day, with more strength and obligation, our revolution is more Bolivarian than ever!rnrnChrist, as I have said, was a real socialist thinker. And even more important, he was a consistent socialist fighter up to his last song: “Everything is consummated.”rnrnFrom an encyclopedia I carry with me since my days of tenant of the Armored Battalion Bravos de Apure, during those days when a small group of young official patriots of the Army (including me) started to create the first cells of the Bolivarian Movement, I draw out the following passage:rnrn“In times of great internal and external severity, in view of the growing misery of the poor people and the greatest concentration of wealth in few hands, the great prophets appeared and urged to the revision of this situation. In 765 BC, Amos, the most ancient and probably the greatest of those prophets, appeared and launched on behalf of Jehovah his curse against the rich people: But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem… because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek, (Amós, 2, 5/7)”.rnrnAfterwards it reads as follows:rnrn“We have found identical tones in Oseas and, especially in Isaiah: ‘Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! (Is., 5, 8)”rnrnAnd the Jesus arrived to condemn the rich people. Here you have the Sermon of the Mount:rnrn“Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. (Luke, 6, 20-25).”rnrnYou compatriot, man, woman, youth who read my Sunday lines, the last day of May I tell you: Let he who has eyes see, and he who has ears, hear!rnrnCapitalism proclaims to the four winds the non existence of classes or inequality; since there is an alleged equality of opportunities that guarantees all the enjoyment, privileges and rights to all the persons on earth: But we know that all its perversity is precisely based on breaking every possible balance between legality and justice. In crisis times, even more, when masks fall disclosing many capitalists as real lords, an expensive propaganda campaign has been launched by all the media outlets in order to make believe that our Bolivarian Revolution will deprive you of your car, your apartment, warehouse, arepera1 and everything you own thanks to your effort and work. But the truth is that, those who proclaim it are the same ones who have literally achieved to hoard lots vehicles and speculate barefacedly with the sale and rent of real state properties.rnrnIf during the last ten years, these oligarchs living in our country have dared to attempt against the sacred right of our people to food, education and health; it is not surprising that they will likewise attempt against Venezuelans rights to have real states. While we struggle for pulling out the cruel conflict, as Bolivar said, the media outlets at the service of the empire and the most corrupted oligarch sector of the country promote it in order to, precisely, hide their felony.rnrnThis is why I urge people to be on the revolutionary alert and surveillance, even those compatriots who –even not being part of our Revolution – suffer because of the overflowing perversity of those who boast about being their defenders and representatives. It is up to us to keep working to establish and practice equality, getting it under the following principle: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need,” Christian principle that sins its roots in the most distant, but the living primitive Christianity.rnrnTime and the pass away of history has demonstrated that there is maturing process of the peoples; that the current political, organizational and ideological maturity is not the same one of ten years ago. Today, there is a common, popular and Venezuelan sense that never existed before; as well as an eternal solidarity and a way of organizing and understanding its street, parish, slum, barrio and history.rnrnThe events “en pleno desarrollo” (events in the middle of development), like Walter Martinez would say, show that the governments must always adapt to the maturity and level of the people they work for. Learning is permanent, and we have had hard but valuable lessons. Venezuela has constructed a history of dignity and fight, in spite of so many difficulties. And facts have demonstrated the maturity degree of this people; the maturity to rule and decide in the name of the people. We are confirming that the creative powers that the big Aquiles Nazoa recognized in us.rnrnIt’s time to give essence, strength and movement to the communal democracy, the joint owner of land of Kléber Ramírez. The new phase that starts now in Venezuela, by developing a strategy focused on “producing food, science and dignity” and reinforcing the dynamism of the participative and socialist democracy. It’s time for the community to start its transit towards a full exercise of power and political responsibility. We have walked a lot, but there is still path left to walk, let’s go creating, as Mészaros would say in El Desafío (The Challenge) and the charge of historic time: “The creation of a really equal society demands the radical destitution of the exploiter structural hierarchies established during thousand of years.”rnrnThe communal model must be ours; it must emerge from the popular wisdom, from the clear understanding of their territory; of their connection with their history and country. From everything that makes us be called Venezuelan people.rnrnWe must quick the structure of communal councils, the technical tables, which increases its participative power and transform the community into a state reason, that’s the way; always together with Simón Rodríguez and Bolivar.rnrn“If we do not get a dynamic history from history, there is no reason to suppose that we will find it in other place,” says the great master and Bolivarian August Mijares: it is all about raise people's consciousness “the Venezuelan positive aspect.”rnrnIn history, we have great examples that must be useful as objective reference. The Commune of Paris, the experience of the agrarian commune in China; the indigenous Venezuelan, Colombian, Paraguayan joint owners are all models that offer keys for us to do what we have to; being original, as the socialist Master of America, Simón Rodríguez, who proposed an original Toparquía (small dominion) for our America. As Lenin said in a short article called En Memoria de la Comuna (In the memory of the commune): “The cause of the Commune is the cause of the social revolution; it is the cause of the complete political and economical emancipation of workers; it is the cause of the world proletariat. And in this sense it is immortal.”rnrnBolivarian and socialist joint owners: let’s continue clearing up “The Mysterious Enigma…”rnrnWith Christ, with Bolivar, with Fidel:rnrn¡We will win!rnrnHugo Chávez FríasrnPresident of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuelarnrn1- Arepera: sort of restaurant where you can buy Arepa. The word 'arepa' may originate from the language of the Caracas natives (north coast of Venezuela) that means 'maize.' An arepa is a bread made of corn originating from the northern Andes in South America, and which has now spread to other areas in Latin America.rnrnTranslation by MinCIrnrnrnrnrnABNrnrnrnrnrnFoto: Evri