5 Days Before the Elections...

Hi all - another very busy day! The British delegation has already posted part of our activities, and Shane from HOV in Rhode Island is writting as well, so I'll focus on a few observations and some additional photos.

First of all, it really hit home today that for all the talk and enthusiasm for "deepening the revolution" after the elections, there are no really concrete proposals for doing so. Everyone is talking about it, but there is nothing solid, no plan of action to put it into effect. The general mood is one of yearning for real change, but no one in the leadership is offering a path forward. Unless the light at the end of the tunnel gets closer and brighter, pessimism can set in...

This only further highlights the importance of the occupied factory movement - it is the key to the situation!

Capitalism is a system in which there is social production, but private appropriation of the surplus wealth produced the working class - a minority enjoys the riches produced by others. Under socialism, we will have social appropriation of that surplus wealth produced by social production - in the interests of all. So far in Venezuela, despite all the marvellous advances and the beginnings of a redistribution of wealth, the system's fundamentals remain the same. Despite all the quantitatively important reforms and the magnificent rise in consciousness and participation of the masses, that qualitative change from private to social appropriation has yet to take place.

The poor are patiently waiting for things to continue to get better - but they cannot wait forever. So far the revolution has navigated a "middle course" - and due to a peculiar concactenation of circumstances it has been able to maintain this slow rhythm for an extended period of time. But the developing tensions and extreme social polarization cannot remain in this limbo for much longer - something has to break. For the masses, the elections represent that breaking point.

This is where struggles like Sanitarios de Maracay come in - it can be the "tipping point" that marks the qualitative change, unleashing a flood of similar actions that can truly set the revolution on an invincible course. We will give a full report on our visit to Sanitarios when we go there in a few days' time...

A few more pictures of interest:

Former PDVSA "Nerve Center" - After the bosses' lockout, it was converted into the Bolivarian University

With the Reservas on the streets of Caracas "10 Million Votes!"

Stay tuned for a report on our visit to Venezuelan State Television (the famous "Channel 8" of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised") - three of us and HOV in general were featured on an hour long show at 9 pm - peak viewing time!

A preview pic:


All the best,

John P.