|
|
|
| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Nicaragua and the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America by Jayatilleke de Silva
In the early years of the 19th Century Simon Bolivar, the legendary General took up arms against the Spanish colonialists. He was actually able to liberate Columbia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia from Spanish rule and declare independence. However, he could not conclude his mission of liberating entire Latin America and form a unified Republic. Now three centuries later Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela has launched a plan to liberate the countries of Latin America from the dominance of the United States. Unlike in the case of Simon Bolivar his method is not to wage war with the United States. Instead Hugo Chavez is trying to win over Latin American countries to an independent path of development through political and economic solidarity. His battle is more on the ideological and economic fronts. For this purpose he has unveiled a plan called ALBA or the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean. This is in contrast to the FTAA or the Free Trade Area of the Americas proposed by the United States. At the recent Summit of the Americas President George Bush failed to win the support of the Latin American countries for FTAA. Instead many countries favoured regional integration of a different kind as proposed by ALBA. Only few countries like Mexico were ready to go the entire way with the USA.
This Agreement has resulted in a cost reduction for oil for its oil importing member countries. Besides low cost fuel, Venezuela, world's fifth largest oil exporter is offering its infrastructure, technological expertise to member states. It has also capitalised an initial fund of $ 50 million for the PetroCaribe Project. In order to pursue Latin American integration Venezuela has started together with Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay a Latin American television network TeleSur (Television of the South) to counter imperialist TV networks like CNN and Univision. It is shown in 15 countries through 53 cable services as well as five free stations. The Bolivarian Alternative should not be understood as a call for a single Latin American revolution. It is more likely to be in the nature of a period of transition in which countries of Latin and Central America will undergo profound revolutionary socio-economic transformations. These transformations would be both indigenous and anti-capitalist. Obviously a key factor of these changes would be the de-linking of the economies of these countries from the servile relation with the US and enhancement of a truly cooperative Latin American economic and political integration. As in the case of Cuba they will open an indigenous path towards socialism in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba and Nicaragua stand in the forefront of this continental revolution. While the Cuban Revolution has consolidated despite the collapse of the Soviet Union and the system of socialist states in Europe, the Nicaraguan revolution is still unfolding. The organic unity of the two revolutions has relaxed the isolation of Cuba and given an impetus to the liberation of Latin America. Oligarchy The Nicaraguan revolutionary process is unique. It is not a repetition of the Cuban revolution. The entire process has been unfolding in a legal and constitutional framework. It all started with the victory of Hugo Chavez in the Presidential elections in 1998. After assuming power his first task was to reform the Constitution that entrenched power in the hands of the ultra right oligarchy aligned with US imperialism. The new Constitution written and adopted by the National Assembly and the Constituent Assembly expanded civic rights, guaranteed the rights of the indigenous people, broadened workers' rights and democracy. The new Constitution also provided for free education and health services to the poor. Chavez was again re-elected under elections held under the new Constitution in 1999 with 60 percent of the popular vote. In the 2004 Recall Referendum on his Presidency, a new feature provided for the first time, Chavez won 6 out of 10 million votes cast. Today his popularity stands at an all time high of 70 percent. Venezuela under Chavez has taken great strides in uplifting the living standards of the masses, especially the rural and urban poor. It has also taken steps to reform the oil sector and carry out land reforms advantageous to the people. Unique unity The orientation of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela could be best judged by the following missions the government had undertaken during the last six years. Venezuela is the second country in Latin America, which has been declared illiteracy free by the United Nations Educational and Scientific Council (UNESCO). The other country is Cuba. With Cuban assistance Venezuela carried out a special program called the Robinson Mission to teach 1.5 million Venezuelans how to read. Free public schools and universities have been built throughout the country and plans are afoot to bring in 90, 000 new teachers into the education system. Scholarships have been given to half a million to study in the Universities. In the sphere of health care Venezuela has been lagging behind. The few medical facilities were only for those who could afford to pay. The Chavez administration has developed the public health sector through innovative programs. It had to get down Cuban doctors to treat the poor. Mission Barrio Adentro (inside-the-neighbourhood) has opened people's hospitals especially for the poor. As a result infant mortality rate has dropped below 25 percent. These efforts were complemented by the "Mercal Mission" that guarantees low priced food to 10 million persons in state shops. A network of free food centres has also been developed in the fight against malnutrition. In the sphere of industry workers the government has been successful in opening factories abandoned by the capitalists and running them with the help of the workers. New methods of management are being put into practice to revive both agriculture and industry on an endogenous basis.The success of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela is a result of strong leadership, mass mobilisation of workers and peasants and the development of international solidarity. All these could not have guaranteed success if not for the unique unity of the Venezuelan armed forces and the people. It was the unity of the armed forces and the people that thwarted the US aided coup d'etat in April 2002 in which the reactionaries imposed a business leader as President for a day. Threats to the Bolivarian revolution are not over. The Venezuelan government says its intelligence services have discovered plans for a direct invasion of the country by the United States. Though the latter has denied the allegations, it cannot be dismissed as fiction due to the continued interference of the United States in the internal affairs of Venezuela including the funding of internal opposition groups. It is also necessary to recall here the open call of the Evangelical leader Pat Robinson to assassinate President Hugo Chavez. Interference The irritation of the United States could be understood given its longstanding policy of considering Latin America as its backyard open for exploitation. This is a policy dating from the infamous Monroe Declaration, which later became known as the Monroe doctrine. On December 2, 1823 President James Monroe in his annual address to the Congress declared that European powers should not colonize or interfere in the affairs of states in America. Later President Theodore Roosevelt added a corollary to the effect that the United States has a right to intervene in Latin America. The US does not hesitate to use the Monroe Doctrine and its Roosevelt Corollary whenever it suits its interests. Venezuela, just like Cuba is countering this aggression by promoting internationalism. It is using its oil resources to this end quite effectively. For example, it is giving fuel at low cost to the poor in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast regions of the US. It is also helping Caribbean nations with subsidised fuel. The Bolivarian Alternative is developing as an alternative to the path of development hitherto pursued under the Washington Consensus with disastrous consequences. Its success would have an impact far beyond the borders of the American continent. It is an experiment worth watching, studying and emulating by other regions in the developing world. Besides Cuba and Venezuela several countries in Latin America have elected Left-leaning governments, which are pursuing independent policies. They are Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Similar governments are likely to emerge in several other countries in which elections are scheduled for 2006. The writing on the wall is clear for the proponents of the Monroe Doctrine. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
ALBA is still in the embryonic stage. PetroCaribe or the energy agreement
between Caribbean countries is the core of ALBA. Participants to the
Agreement are Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Suriname, Antigua and
Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Belize, Bahamas, St. Vincent and
Grenadines, Guyana, Dominica, Cuba, Venezuela and Barbados. 
