After 4 days home from almost a month in Venezuela I find myself having more difficulty re-orienting to life in Toronto than I did to my brief time in the Venezuelan barrios. The first thing I notice is the relative quiet, it seems almost sedate.
Even after a 6 week strike by City Workers in Toronto the physical and emotional environment here seems pristine and subdued. There is quiet everywhere-too much quiet. Absent is the vibrant energy, laughter and warmth of the people of the barrios. The rapid speech , the quick smiles and never failing morning salutation "buena" even to the only gringos visible in the streets.
I am sure I will blog for weeks on my time there, as memories return and questions come to mind. My heart is full and I miss the Venezuelan people of the barrio and the farms. Fortunately I spent only about 8 hours overall in the middle class areas and only saw the really rich area for 3 dreadful hours while checking out airline reservations.
My last night before attending a raucous farewell party for the first contingent of our group, the Frente Norman Bethune, I stood on the rooftop of a hostel looking at the barrio lights from the hills knowing I would probably never be here again and missing it already. There is literally no way to express the warmth and enthusiasm and with no exaggeration the love we received from the workers, students, community activists, campesinos and revolutionaries of all stripes. Despite differences in ideology and practice, the majority of struggling Venezuelans share a passionate goal-transformation, the political and economic transformation of their society into one where workers and poor will control their destiny and own the wealth of this nation to serve not the rich, but the real producers of wealth, workers and farmers.
I saw determination and hard work, incredible strength and commitment and so much joy and enthusiasm. Music, expressed in song and dance surrounded us, on the packed local buses, in the street and in the homes and alleys.
There is little evidence of passive hope among the activists and fighters, whether in the communal councils, among the students in the Bolivarian universities, in the newly forming communes, in the farm areas where land has been taken and redistributed . Instead there was energy and fight to embody the hope ,in the organizing that goes on everywhere.
The thirst for revolutionary change cannot be denied. Competing ideas on how to bring about a revolution are evident - and there are contradictions everywhere.But even in the formal interviews and meetings , casual conversations and cultural events , communal councils and communes, there was most often an openness to discuss and to hear and listen to what we thought about the processes taking place everywhere.
Among members of our group there was always a form of political debate and expression of diverse ideas about the " revolutionary " process , at the same time an openness and willingness to see contradictory processes at play and the potential pitfalls inherent.
I will not presume to have in the brief 4 weeks spent in this beautiful country with these beautiful people any definitive answers. There are huge gaps in my knowledge and what with my pitiful lack of Spanish and my limited time there I would be a fool pretend to have answers rather than questions and openess to discussion and debate. In the days to come though I will blog about my observations on the many "revolutionary" ideas and organizations and formations I heard and observed at work. I have many questions and will discuss and read and debate for months to come. I have questions about the communal councils and decentralization, and the problems that can arise in the absence of central planning and strategy especially give the urgency and depths of the needs of the people. I wonder about the model of participation and "endogenous" economies. - about the prevalence of co-operatives and the ideology of "participative democracy" that seem to exist in the absence of links and involvement of the trade unions in the communal councils and emerging communes. It seems that the trade unions are not unified in a program , strategy and demands that can work with and guide the work of the communal councils and emerging communes. Their is an overwhelming faith in the constitution and a the ability to bring about a revolution within it. But everywhere people are organizing and organized. I have never seen anything like it.
There are many trade unions conflicts and factions. There are often tensions between communal councils and municipal councils as power , authority and resources are handed over to the communal councils. Decentralization has often resulted in projects being very limited and very local often started and sometimes completed in the absence of strategic and comprehensive long term planning . There are divisions and debate about the formation of workers councils outside/alongside trade unions and many different spins and takes on this.
In a sense though one cannot deny that the "spirit" of revolution and fight against neo-liberalism is pervasive and strong and dynamic.
Right now though ,on early reflection, I want only to share the deep commitment, energy and "revolutionary" spirit, the thirst and desire for change and the willingness to devote their lives on a daily basis to change for the struggling workers, farmers, students and people of the barrios.
It will be a tragedy if contradictions and a lack of cohesion among the various forces for revolutionary change, result in insufficient unity among the workers and the struggling peasants and people of the barrios to achieve a genuine socialist revolution for the people of Venezuela. -they are a striking example of the strength and dignity, the resolve and willingness of working and poor people to fight for a society and a world where we own the means of production, and plan our economic affairs to benefit us ,the real producers of wealth.
I can only say this has been an invaluable opportunity -one to build on -and i am grateful to the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty , Barrio Nuevo and the Frente Norman Bethune .
So as I sign out of this blog the memory of 40 wonderful Venezuelans at 4 AM in the morning singing a song for us about friendship, love and solidarity as we were leaving, crying and laughing kissing and hugging is bringing tears to my eyes as I write.
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