The capitalists were betrayed by their own class arrogance. They thought they could pull off a "clean" coup and make their lies stick. They declared that Chávez had resigned and that the coup was not a coup; that more than a dozen opposition demonstrators had been shot dead by pro-Chávez snipers; that the top military brass decided to take over the government because they were outraged by this bloodshed. All these lies were repeated over and over by the capitalist press. But the wealthy coup plotters had left one actor out of their careful plans--the working class. Sensing that the coup against the Chávez government was fundamentally aimed at them, workers from the vast shantytowns of Caracas showed up to oppose it. The capitalist media turned off the cameras, trying to black out the facts. But with the demonstrations, rifts in the military, and growing criticism by other Latin American governments, the coup crumbled and some of the truth began to come out.

The failure of the coup has brought recriminations in Washington and exposed a little of the role of U.S. imperialism, which has tried to portray itself as an innocent spectator. Newspapers now report that top U.S. government officials had met with coup plotters beforehand, and were giving friendly advice to newly installed "president" Pedro Carmona as the events unfolded--and this, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg of Washington's actual role.

These events are a reminder that behind the imperialists' much-touted democracy is always the mailed fist of a CIA-backed coup if the exploiters feel their profit interests threatened by the struggles of workers and farmers.

The coup shows that as long as the capitalists remain the ruling class--with their control of the armed forces, police, and the rest of the capitalist state--they will never accept reconciliation with the needs of working people and the gains they have won. The mass working-class mobilizations against the coup show the potential--and the necessity--of workers and farmers organizing themselves to defend their class interests and to make a revolution that takes power out of the hands of the capitalist minority. Above all, a communist working-class leadership is needed that can organize such a successful movement.

Venezuela is an example of the economic and social disaster that capitalism offers the workers and farmers of the world, especially in the semicolonial nations. Despite the country's vast oil wealth, 80 percent of the population lives below the official poverty line, while imperialist investors and domestic capitalists rake in massive profits.

This acute crisis has generated growing social instability and the discrediting of the traditional capitalist parties. The impasse led to the rise of Hugo Chávez as a figure viewed as outside the establishment, speaking in the name of the dispossessed, and promising to take strong executive action to address the crisis. His government has support among many workers and farmers because of his criticisms of the "oligarchy" and measures such as a modest land reform and higher oil exploration taxes to keep a little more of the national wealth in the country, together with taking some distance from Washington's imperialist foreign policy dictates. At the same time, the Chávez government has sought to convince working people to rely on the president's actions, not on their own mobilizations.

Meanwhile, the world capitalist economic crisis has worsened and the political polarization has sharpened. While they have no credible alternative to Chávez, dominant sections of capitalists are hostile to his government, fearful that his stance will raise the expectations of workers and farmers rather than stabilize capitalist rule. Even the most limited social measures have aroused the anger of the bosses in both Caracas and Washington.

The failed coup shows the weakness of the Venezuelan capitalists. But nothing is settled. The same opposing class forces remain in sharp conflict, the capitalist economic crisis keeps grinding away, and the political polarization continues. Washington today refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the Chávez government and, while put on the defensive, has not given up on its goal of overthrowing it.

There is only one force that can successfully stand up to imperialism and to the domestic exploiting classes--workers and farmers. The way forward is shown by the Cuban Revolution. April 19 marks the 41st anniversary of Cuba's crushing victory over a U.S.-organized mercenary invasion at the Bay of Pigs. That victory underscores how, by taking power and ending capitalist rule, Cuban workers and farmers have been able to defeat imperialist assaults and defend their sovereignty and social gains.
 
 
Related articles:
Workers in Venezuela foil U.S.-backed coup
U.S. rulers' role in Venezuela partly exposed
 
 
 
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