Billy Wharton in Socialist Webzine: A Socialist Victory in the Venezuelan Elections
Long before Occupy Wall Street, long before the radical elements in Europe coalesced after the 2008 economic crisis and long before the electoral rise of mass democratic socialist parties in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, a serious crack was made into the global capitalist system. Not surprisingly, the new political space for socialism came from Latin America, more specifically from Venezuela where former military officer Hugo Chavez was democratically elected as President in 1999. Chavez represented more than just a protest against the worst features of capitalism. The Bolivarian Revolution promised to transform Venezuela and provide a direct challenge to Global Capitalism. Tonight’s re-election of Hugo Chavez allows this project to continue – it demonstrates that millions of voters in Venezuela continue to support the ideals of a democratic socialism for the 21st century.
The accomplishments of the Chavez regime over the past 13 years are undeniable. When he entered office, Chavez took command of an economy that had been ravaged by IMF structural adjustment plans that had devastated most of the welfare subsidies and social guarantees that had been built up by the progressive nationalist regimes of the 1970s. This process reached a critical head in 1989 as the rumor of more IMF cutbacks set off mass riots in poor and working class communities that came to be known as “El Caracazo.” Chavez’s leadership emerged out of this rebellion.
Using conservative sources, we still find that since Chavez was elected President in 1999, unemployment has been cut in half – declining from 14% to 7%. Increased access to medical care, particularly through community clinics staffed by Cuban physicians, has led to a decline in infant mortality from 20 deaths per 1,000 live births to 13 deaths per 1,000. Per capita GDP has increased from $4,000 in 1999 to $10,000 today. And extreme poverty has declined from 23% of the population when Chavez entered office in 1999 to 8.5% today.