Transcripts
"Venezuela's Mudanza (metamorphosis)"
by Thierry Brunet, France
A radical reform movement is taking place in Venezuela instigated by its new visionary leader
The political and social situation in Venezuela four years after Hugo Chavez acceded to the presidency of the Bolivarian Republic has not been very widely covered by political analysts in Europe. But when it is analysed by the Western media, journalists more often than not refer to the position of the Venezuelan press, which is almost unanimously hostile to the Bolivarian experience.
The major political event of the year in 2002 which concerned the rest of the world was the failed coup on the 11th of April when the world was led to believe that power had changed hands following exactly 47 hours of “wavering” government. This event is a reminder of all the past overthrows in Central and Latin America, in Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Santo Domingo and Argentina, not to mention Paraguay and Uruguay.
"Land of black gold"
The event was typical of a political environment dominated by the powermongers of an economy in thrall to the petrol cartel and to its interconnected trade in products and services derived from “black gold”. For one should never forget when considering Venezuela that this country of 24 million inhabitants, perceived by its elite (less than 10% of the population) as paradise on a largely fallow globe, is the third largest oil- producing country. This raw material is still used as a benchmark to measure development in Northern countries and imposed, in every meaning of the word, on all the countries in the Southern Hemisphere.
But in a country where 80% of the population stays below the poverty line decades after the discovery and intensive exploitation of the oil manna, the itch today is to carve up those immense underground riches. As is true everywhere, a minority, readily described as an oligarchy by the partisans of the current “Proceso”, profits from the carve-up. However the situation is unique and lays bare fascinating geographic and historical dimensions as the 21st century begins.
"Rational government"
Historically, the long-standing importance of the conquering liberator Simon Bolivar, especially to the uneducated classes, sets the scene for a legitimate government based on a republic descended from Enlightenment ideals. This republic is founded on a dictum which crowns the French institutional edifice, as well as on participative methods taken from the concrete progress made at Porto Allegre.
Logically, those responsible for the change of power also promote the thinking and virtuous personality of Simon Rodriguez , mentor of the great liberator, a born teacher quietly edified through his travels in the old radiant Europe of the 18th century.
To illustrate this influence, take the meetings held every Friday evening in an administrative building of the Caracas municipality, where militants of the “Bolivarian Revolution” from several barrios of the town take part in lessons on the teachings of Simon Rodriguez.
"International collaboration"
Geographically, Hugo Chavez has put in place a series of South-South exchanges unprecedented in the history of international economic relations through his journeys all over the world - beyond the OPEP zone where his primary sphere of influence lies. The example of the bilateral talks with Cuba is a case in point: numerous opponents of president Chavez blame him for having established an agreement to supply Castro’s island with oil in exchange for several hundred doctors posted in Venezuelan hospitals. The parties concerned have found a common language. Their leaders have challenged each other to matches of baseball as shuddering university academics look on.
I would like to report on this shifting or even metamorphosing structure, if I may thus translate the word Mudanza its most positive sense, a word which reveals the will to transform the country which I witnessed while researching and recording the main character traits of the current government last July in the Andes. To do so, I will put the spotlight on the legislative changes launched by the Venezuelan government concerning property ownership.
"Property ownership reform"
Quite apart from the agricultural reforms already seen in other parts of Latin America, the ownership of urban land and buildings – with Caracas the most notable example – has been under scrutiny for several months by a popular stakeholder forum attracting ordinary people to educational institutions or administrative buildings late at night and even on Sundays. In the hope of a genuine judicial revolution, the famous “usucapion” derived from the French Civil Code allowing property to change hands after thirty years of continuous and non-contested possession will be reduced to ten years when the reform has been adopted. The authorities’ efforts, which follow earlier educational and public health reforms, are explained by the urban classes’ unwillingness to contemplate an end to the “Proceso” started by a head of state whose likeness has yet to be found in public places.
"Charisma"
Only the private media relays the vigorous voice of the contemptuous opposition against this leader whose charisma is heightened by a legitimacy or even authenticity which would make politicians in our developed economies go green with envy. Despite first impressions to the contrary during my stay in Venezuela, there is an absence of hero worship which allows one to ask a real political question: even taking into account the thoroughly democratic character of the metamorphosis taking place, will the “Proceso” outlive Hugo Chavez? Whatever might happen on a domestic level, recent elections in Brazil and on the Equator are likely to make this man less isolated on the international stage.
Thierry Brunet is founder of the alternative television channel Protis TV in Marseille
Translated by Dominique Berland/Elisabeth Jeffries
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