"Bolivarian" Venezuela - an instructive example
with respect to the question of anti-capitalism
and anti-imperialism

This text has been written in December 2013. It does not deal explicitly with the consequences which possibly would derive from Hugo Chavez' death in march 2013; nevertheless it had as an objective, amongst others, to make a point about the fundamental elements which could not but lead to the failure of the projects sustained by the "Bolivarian" regime.

The aggravation of the situation in Venezuela in the course of the two following years does not at all stem from a modification in orientation, supposedly initiated by Chávez' successors, nor from any deficiency on their behalf. The roots of the course of events since 1999 lie in the character of the political project defined and carried out by Chávez with the support, at different levels, of other individual collaborators as well as certain organized political forces.

Summarizing, two aspects merit being underlined. On the one hand, in Europe, the information concerning the deployment of the "Bolivarian" regime considerably nourished the imaginary representations set up by political militants who found themselves encouraged in their hopes by seeing ‑ illusionary impression ‑ an anti-imperialist Venezuela confronting capitalist world having the US "empire" at its head. But on the other hand, among the victims of this illusion ranks a considerable part of the workers and the popular masses in Venezuela itself. And from the workers movement's point of view, this in the first place is altogether deplorable.

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