Venezuela has often been the stuff of frontpage news extravaganzas, especially since the death of Hugo Chávez. With predictable bias, mainstream media focus on violent clashes between opposition and government, coup attempts, hyperinflation, and massive emigration. What is less known, however, is the story of what the Venezuelan people--especially the Chavista masses--do and think in these times of social emergency. Denying us their stories comes at a high price to people everywhere, because the Chavista bases are the real motors of the Bolivarian revolution. This book, based on interviews, seeks to open a window on grassroots Chavismo in the wake of Chávez’s death, especially on the revolutionary movement that aspires to the communal path to socialism that Chávez refined in his last years. Feminist and housing activists, communards, organic intellectuals, and campesinos from around the country speak up in their own voices, defending the socialist project and pointing to what they see as revolutionary solutions to Venezuela’s current crisis. If the Venezuelan government has shown an impressive capacity to resist imperialism, it is the Chavista grassroots movement, as this book shows, that actually defends socialism as the only coherent project of national liberation.
Author(s): Cira Pascual Marquina, Chris Gilbert
Publisher: Monthly Review Press
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 376
City: New York
Tags: Venezuela, Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chavez
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Preface
Introduction
1 Communes and the Reorganization of Society
• The Commune Is the Supreme Expression of Participatory Democracy: A Conversation with Anacaona Marín
• The Commune and 21st Century Socialism: A Conversation with Robert Longa
• Grapes of Wrath in Rural Venezuela: A Conversation with Angel Prado
• Building Socialism from Below: A Conversation with Martha Lía Grajales
• Rebuilding the Hegemony of Chavismo: A Conversation with Gerardo Rojas
• The Urban Revolution: A Conversation with Hernan Vargas
• Notes
2 Oil, Privatizations, and the Economy
• The Past, Present, and Future of Venezuela’s Oil Industry: A Conversation with Carlos Mendoza Pottellá
• Social Inclusion Is Needed to Overcome the Crisis: A Conversation with Luis Salas
• Privatizing Oil in Venezuela? A Conversation with Victor Hugo Majano
• How to Get Venezuela’s Economy Going Again: A Conversation with Luis Enrique Gavazut
• The Orinoco Mining Arc’s Impact: A Conversation with Emiliano Teran Mantovani
• Heterodox and Orthodox Economics in Venezuela: A Conversation with Luis Salas
• Notes
3 Chávez, Politics, and Nuestra América
• Chávez and the Continent of Politics: A Conversation with Chris Gilbert
• Chávez, a Mirror of the People: A Conversation with Edgar Pérez
• What’s Been Learned Won’t Be Easily Forgotten: A Conversation with Antonio González Plessman
• Venezuela and Its Singularities: A Conversation with Reinaldo Iturriza
• Chávez and the Twilight of Capitalism: A Conversation with Eduardo Rothe
• Defending Chávez’s Project Today: A Conversation with Elias Jaua
• Everyday Life in Besieged Venezuela: A Conversation with Jessica Dos Santos
• Notes
4 Campesino and Working-Class Struggles
• Venezuela’s Campesino Struggle: A Conversation with Kevin Rangel
• Reconnecting Agriculture to Our Cultural Base: A Conversation with Ana Felicien
• Struggling Against the “Revolutionary Bourgeoisie” in Rural Venezuela: A Conversation with Gerardo Sieveres and Arbonio Ortega
• Building “Patria”: A Conversation with Sergio Requena
• Campesinos Defending Chávez’s Project: A Conversation with Andrés Alayo
• The Role of the Working Class in Venezuela’s Crisis: A Conversation with Pedro Eusse
• Notes
5 Imperialism, Fascism, and the Defense of Bolivarian Venezuela
• Venezuela’s Missile Crisis: A Conversation with Juan Contreras
• Either Washington or Venezuela, Savage Capitalism or Socialism: A Conversation with Luis Britto García
• Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly and the Rise of Fascism: A Conversation with Julio Escalona
• Venezuela in the Continental Labyrinth: A Conversation with Amílcar Figueroa
• The Worldwide Struggle Against Fascism and the Role of Marxism in the Struggle: A Conversation with Néstor Kohan
• Economic Downturns and State Violence: A Conversation with Andrés Antillano
• Solidarity Isn’t a Slogan, It’s a Process: A Conversation with Vijay Prashad
• Notes
6 Feminism, Gender, and Race
• Women and the Crisis in Venezuela: A Conversation with Gioconda Mota
• If Socialism Isn’t Feminist, It Won’t Be Emancipatory: A Conversation with Indhira Libertad Rodríguez
• A Crisis of Social Reproduction in Venezuela: A Conversation with Alba Carosio
• Afro-Venezuelan Culture and Resistance: A Conversation with Inés Pérez-Wilke
• Notes
Index
