Right-wingers and reactionaries often hold up Venezuela as an example of why “socialism never works” (notwithstanding the disastrous state of capitalism today). In fact, the Venezuelan Revolution was an inspiring episode in recent history, which showed the immense power of the masses and the potential of workers to run their workplaces without bosses. But it also demonstrated that you cannot have half a revolution: once the process has begun, it must end with the expropriation of capitalism and socialist reconstruction – as our comrade Luis Romero from Caracas explains!

The oppressed masses, rallying behind the figure of Hugo Chávez, mobilised to fight imperialism and oligarchy, who used the immense oil of the country for the betterment of the working class and the poor. When the bosses and oil barons tried to sabotage the revolution by halting production, the workers took over the companies and land themselves, and began running them under workers’ control. Luis talks all about these experiences.

Despite all his strengths, Chavez never fully broke with the state bureaucracy and did not help the workers manage the economy under a common, national plan. However, the ingenuity of the masses and the power of workers’ management were demonstrated in practice during the Bolivarian Revolution, which is full of lessons for class fighters today!

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For more on the Venezuelan Revolution, we recommend this selection of articles available on the In Defence of Marxism website: https://marxist.com/theory-venezuelan-revolution.htm

We also recommend this recent podcast by the US section of the Revolutionary Communist International: https://communistusa.org/audio-what-happened-in-the-venezuelan-revolution/

New episodes of the Spectre of Communism podcast are out every Tuesday! Subscribe and listen at your preferred platform, and find us on social media, here: https://linktr.ee/specom

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