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The Presidential election in Venezuela was a battle against fascism and imperialism

By Editor-in-Chief on August 27, 2024

*^{“Crear poder popular” — “Building people’s power.”}*

E. Cañizalez | Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela (PCMLV) | Aug. 18, 2024 | Translated for the Red Phoenix by Camilo Lazo–

Election day in Venezuela, July 28 of this year, has a before and after.

It is important to be objective and self-critical. We had the perception in particular that the behavior of the proletariat before the elections was perceived as an attitude of annoyance, with discontent in one sector and in others the search for a mechanism to resolve their economic situation, while always maintaining their expectation that the situation can change by demanding critical support. We saw abstention as the prevailing one, even when the marches and rallies demonstrated the opposite.

Between both factors, we cannot fail to mention that the media war through social networks, in the style of the Nazi fascist propaganda machine, had its impact among a sector of the masses that includes immigrant families impacted by social networks and by their own relatives, through a deceptive offer that, if the right won, it would generate favorable conditions for the return of their relatives. This propaganda also aroused a neurotic attitude (in the aggressive sense) among a sector of the opposition against Chavismo (ideology based on policies of former President Hugo Chávez –Ed.). This occurred, as a preamble to the elections, in which there was a quantitative change, with respect to the percentage of abstention, leaving aside the preparation of barricades, with the formation of commandos by the extreme right.

We have to recognize, due to the development and experience that the Venezuelan proletariat underwent during this electoral process, as it was clear that what was at stake if the extreme right, led by María Corina Machado and the briefcase candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, triumphed. During election day, there were doubts about the trend regarding electoral results, due to small groups of members of the CLAPs (Local Committees for Supply and Production, a government ministry –Ed.) and the UBCh (Units of Battle Hugo Chávez –Ed.), who during the electoral process turned in favor of the opposition, which began to generate that doubt. And it became even more acute with the sabotage of the CNE page (National Electoral Council –Ed.), when the first bulletin was announced by the president of the CNE, with 80% of the votes counted proclaiming President Nicolás Maduro the winner with 51.2% of those votes, compared to 44.2% of Edmundo González, without the publication on the CNE webpage, due to the aforementioned sabotage and the extreme right who were in the electoral centers. They abrogated their victory, claiming fraud, and from the early hours of the morning on July 29 they assumed control of the streets and generated violence and the deaths of 25 people. The stateless people and pro-Yankee lackeys cannot be allowed to go unpunished for the damage caused during July 29 and 30, both to our class brothers and institutions.

This victory was announced in the second bulletin. With 97% of the votes counted, the CNE reported that President Nicolás Maduro obtained 51.95% of the votes compared to 43.18% for the opposition candidate Edmundo González, demonstrating that the proletariat is determined to build socialism. That is why we cannot lose sight of those sectors that remain detached from the proletariat, and that believe in and continue to trust the palliative policy, emanated by the government of President Maduro such as the social protection system (“homeland system”), and the “1×10 of Good Living” (VENAPP).

Its anti-imperialist discourse, among others, continues to allow our working class organized in unions and federations, and the poor peasants and the organized and active communes, to continue their support. They were the ones who ensured the triumph of President Nicolás Maduro. For this reason, the demands on the Bolivarian government must be deepened, making the slogan of the “Worker, Peasant and Communal Government” his own, specifically giving power to the working class to control the means of production, and to farmers the resources and lands for production, thus guaranteeing food sovereignty; and to the communes allowing the control of resources for the development and control of the territories and constituent communal cities.

For a Workers, Peasants, and Communal State!

Our battle on July 28 was against Fascism and imperialism, and for the construction of Socialism!