Anti-capitalist offensive delivers Bolivarian victory in Venezuelan

municipal elections
The December 8th municipal elections in Venezuela gave yet another victory to the
Bolivarian revolution, with the Socialist United Party (PSUV) and its allies in the
Great Patriotic Pole receiving 5.1 million votes (49.24% of the total) for 4.4 million
votes the opposition got (42.72%). If you count the votes for Bolivarian candidates
outside of the main GPP alliance, the total for the revolution adds up over 54%.
The turnout was 58.92%, much higher than in most European countries for similar
type of elections and higher than in the regional elections of a year ago when it was
just under 54%.
The opposition had presented these elections as a plebiscite on Maduro's
presidency. They promised to win the overall vote and get 100 mayors elected. If
that was the case, then the result is clear: not only they lost the vote, but the
advantage of the Bolivarian revolution over the opposition significantly increased,
from only 1.49 percentage points in the April 14 presidential election to 6.52 now.
As for the number of mayors, with most results already in, the PSUV and allies
elected 234, for the opposition's 67.
The Caracas Libertador municipality in the capital was won by PSUV candidate Jorge
Rodrguez with 474.227 votes (54,55%), winning even in 4 parishes which had voted
for the opposition in April.
The Caracas Metropolitan race resulted in a very close win for the opposition, with
incumbent Antonio Ledezma winning with 50,81% of the vote, a reduced margin
from his previous win with 52.4% in 2008.
The PSUV and its allies won in 14 out of the countrys 24 state capitals, and in 30
out of the countrys 40 most populated cities. However, the opposition won in
important state capitals like in Valencia and Barquisimeto (which previously had
Bolivarian mayors) as well as mantaining Barinas, Maracaibo, Mrida y San
Cristobal.
The PSUV won solid victories in the state capitals of Apure, Aragua, Vargas,
Anzoategui, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Portuguesa, Trujillo and even in the state
capital of Miranda which is ruled by opposition leader Capriles. Significantly it
defeated the opposition in Heres, the capital of the industrial state of Bolivar. The
defeat of the PSUV in Valencia, Carabobo, can be explained by the fact that the
party had expelled the previous mayor on corruption charges. However, the PSUV
won in the state of Carabobo as a whole, where the opposition had a lead of
108,000 votes in the April presidential elections and now lost by 59,000.
In celebrating the election results, president Maduro pledged to intensify the
offensive against the "economic war", the campaign of hoarding, speculation and

sabotage of the economy launched by the "parasitic bourgeoisie", as well as to take

harsh measures against corruption.
This was the issue that had dominated the whole election campaign. Inflation and
scarcity of basic products was one of the main factors eating away at the social
base of support for the Bolivarian revolution. This is caused by a combination of
factors. On the one hand, there is definitely a deliberate campaign of politically
motivated sabotage of the economy on the part of the ruling class. This is the same
strategy used against the Allende government in Chile when US president Nixon
ordered Kissinger to make the economy scream.
On the other hand, there is the rebellion of the productive forces against the
regulations introduced by the Bolivarian revolution since 2003 to defend access to
basic food products for working people (through price controls) and prevent the
flight of capital (through foreign exchange controls). The last 10 years have proven
that the capitalist economy cannot be regulated. The capitalists have found many
ways of going around these controls, legal and illegal.
Another factor is the increased living standards of the population, as a result of the
government social programs, a massive program of state investment in
infrastructure which has created jobs, etc. which have not been matched by
increased production of good. This necessarily leads to inflation and an increased
pressure to import consumer goods. The fixed exchange rate also acts as a
disincentive to national production.
The last 10 years, since the defeat of the oil lockout of 2002/03 have seen the
government use large amounts of money from the oil rent to invest in social
programs and infrastructure development. Train lines, roads, bridges, underground
systems, public transportation, etc have been built. In the past the oil revenue
created an extremely parasitical oligarchy which was happy to live off state
subsidies and corruption. The oil rent was being appropriated by the ruling class.
Now, the same money was being used for public works and social programs. Not
only the ruling class is extremely unhappy about this state of affairs, but also, as we
mentioned before, since this investment is not matched by increased production, it
leads to inflation.
Finally, the capital strike which has been going on for 10 years is also due to the
fact that the Bolivarian revolution has emboldened the workers, led them to occupy
factories, demand workers control, and in many cases their claims have forced the
government to back them. This is not a business friendly environment. How are
capitalists to invest if they do not know if tomorrow workers will demand higher
wages and better conditions and in the course of the struggle set up a socialist
workers council and then occupy the premises. And the bosses cant even trust the
government and the state to be fully on their side in such a conflict!

This economic war is not new. It can be traced back to 2001 when Hugo Chavez
introduced a series of Enabling Laws which proved to the ruling class that he could
not be bought nor domesticated and that he was serious about implementing his
program of social progress. It was at that time that the Venezuelan ruling class, and
its masters in Washington, started a campaign to overthrow Chavez and destroy the
Bolivarian revolution. The campaign continues, and has adopted different forms
over the years: open military coup, media lies and distortions, assassination
attempts, diplomatic bullying, imperialist aggression, sabotage of the economy, etc.
After each victory of the revolution against these attempts, there would be another
offer of conciliation, an open hand would be offered to the opposition. Every single
time the oligarchy retreated temporarily, but not in order to accept its defeat, but
rather to regroup its forces and wait for another suitable opportunity to lurch
forward.
After the narrow victory in the presidential election on April 14, 2013, Maduro
appealed on businessmen to stay away from politics and destabilisation and
concentrate on production. He offered the creation of Special Economic Zones
modelled on those in China, to ease the foreign exchange controls, etc. There was
even talk of reforming some of the articles of the Labour Law. A number of
prominent radical Bolivarian talk hosts and radio presenters were removed from
state TV and radio stations.
None of that worked, of course. On the one hand the capitalist class is in
fundamental contradiction with the Bolivarian revolution. In order to operate
normally and make profits they need to smash it, so that they can recover control of
the state apparatus and push the masses out of the political arena.
Back in September, the government was against the ropes and all opinion polls
were showing a steady loss of support. What changed the situation were the harsh
measures against the capitalists taken from the beginning of November. Plans to
liberalise foreign exchange were scrapped. The authorities seized warehouses full of
goods (starting with electronics and white goods chain Daka) and forced businesses
to sell them at fair prices. One of the mechanisms of speculation on the part of
the capitalists was to import goods using dollars obtained from the state body
CADIVI at the regulated exchange rate of 6.3 and then sell them at prices calculated
using the black market rate of 40 to 1. In this way they had commercial margins of
over 1,000%. Dozens of businessmen and capitalists were arrested in the process.
The government measures, introduced with widespread publicity, had a two-fold
impact. On the one hand they managed to make products available to people which
were previously scarce or too expensive. On the other hand they rekindled the
revolutionary spirit of the rank and file. Here was a government clearly identifying
the enemy (Maduro mentioned the three main bosses organisations Fedecamaras,

Consecomercio and Venamcham as responsible for the economic war) and then
taking harsh measures against them.
This is what the revolutionary people wanted to see. This offensive against the
economic war was not only limited to the police and state functionaries, but there
was a concerted effort, particularly on the part of INDEPABIS to involve workers and
the revolutionary people. Indepabis is the body in charge of defence of consumer
rights and struggle against speculation and is led by Eduardo Samn, one of the
most popular figures in the left wing of the Bolivarian leadership.
Clearly, it was this offensive which allowed the Bolivarian movement not only to win
these elections but even to increase its lead over the opposition.
The conclusion from this is obvious. Capitalism cannot be regulated. The oligarchy
will not stop conspiring against the revolution. In order to prevent further
dislocation and sabotage of the economy, the means of production, the banks and
the big landed states should be expropriated and run under workers control, so that
they can be incorporated into a democratic plan of the economy. This will mean a
head on clash with the bourgeoisie and imperialism which can only be won by the
widest mobilisation of the revolutionary masses with the working class at its head.
For this to be possible there should be a thorough purge of right wing, corrupt and
infiltrated elements within the Bolivarian movement and the whole movement
should be put under the control and be accountable to the revolutionary rank and
file. This is the only way forward. Any attempts to conciliate with the ruling class will
only lead to more sabotage and counter-revolutionary offensives. This is the choice
which lies ahead after this election victory.