A call from Venezuela to the anarchists of Latin America and the world: Solidarity is much more than a written word (in English)

Editorial Collective of the anarchist newspaper El Libertario

We address all the expressions of the libertarian movement, particularly those of this continent, not only to draw their attention to the situation we are living in Venezuela since April 2017, but by what we understand as urgency for the international anarchism expresses more emphatically on these dramatic circumstances, with positions and actions consistent with what has been the preaching and practice of the anti-hierarchic (actual word used here is “Ácrata”.^N.delT.) ideal in its historical walk.

It is deplorable that, while on the one hand the Chavista government -today headed by Maduro- together with its sounding boards from the outside and, on the other, the opponents from the right and the social-democracy, are in disgusting campaigns for selling to world opinion their equally biased visions and charged with interests of power, many anarchist voices outside of Venezuela have maintained a mutism that is in some way tacit acceptance of what one or other of the hungry contenders for state power want to impose as "truth." We know that sympathetic voices do not have the access to most media, as it sits ready at the order of statists, and that comrades face complex realities where there are issues and problems that, due to their proximity, demand their immediate concerns, but we understand that this difficulty should not be an obstacle so that, in some modest way, attention, interest and solidarity are expressed both for what happens in Venezuela and for what the anarchism in this region divulges.

In a rundown of what local anarchism says today, the present juncture shows the fascist nature of the Chávez regime -and its sequence with Maduro-, reactionary militarist governments that we have denounced forever in El Libertario. It has been a regime linked to crime, drug trafficking, looting, corruption, imprisonment of opponents, torture, disappearances, apart from the disastrous economic, social, cultural and ethical management. Chávez managed to impact with his messianic and charismatic leadership, financed by the rise of the price of oil, however after his death and with the end of the bonanza, the so-called Bolivarian process deflated, being supported by weak bases. This "revolution" followed the historical rentist tradition initiated at the beginning of the 20th century with the dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, continued by the militarist Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and did not cease in the later representative democratic scheme.

There are those at the international level (Noam Chomsky, the best example), that rectified their initial support for Venezuelan authoritarianism and today they denounce it in a clear way. However, we note with great concern the silence of many anarchists of this and other continents about the events in Venezuela. It says an adage: "the one who is silent grants", which is perfectly fulfilled when people are starved and criminally repressed and who should protest for it say little or nothing. We call on those who embrace the libertarian banners to pronounce, if they have not, on our tragedy. For indifference, there is no justification if one has an anti-hierarchic (actual word used here is “Ácrata”.^N.delT.) vision of the world. The opposite is to cover up the government farce, forgetting what the anarchists of all time have said about the degradation of authoritarian socialism in power. Perhaps in the past the "progressive" mirage of chavismo might have deceived even some libertarian people, but being consistent with our ideal it is impossible today to continue to hold that belief.

We are in the presence of an agonizing, delegitimized and repressive government that seeks to perpetuate itself in power, repudiated by the vast majority of the population, who murder through their repressive and paramilitary forces, which also promote looting. A corrupt government that blackmails with boxes of food, sold at black market dollar price, that participates in all kinds of capitalist business negotiations, a government of “bolibourgeois” (a portmanteau of the Bolivarian and bourgeois words.^N.delT.) and militarists enriched by the oil rent and ecocide mining. A government that kills with starvation and murders, while applying a brutal economic adjustment agreed with the transnational capitalism, to which punctually pays a criminal external debt.

It is time to dismantle the pseudo-informative maneuvers of those who pretend to use it at an international level for those who control, and those who aspire to control, the Venezuelan State, and in this we hope to count on the active support of individualities and libertarian groups in both Latin America and the rest of the world. Any sign of anarchist solidarity will be welcomed by the Venezuelan anti-hierarchic movement (actual word used here is “Ácrata”.^N. del T.), certainly small and moving among many difficulties, but at the present juncture will be grateful to know that we somehow have the support of people from the rest of the globe, either by reproducing and spreading the information disseminated by the anarchists of Venezuela, generating opinions and reflections that dismantle the visions in this issue that try to be imposed by authoritarians from the right and left, and -which would be much better- promoting or supporting action initiatives in your respective countries that denounce the circumstances of hunger and repression that are now present in Venezuela. Now more than ever it is necessary your presence and voice in all the possible scenarios where the tragedy in which the Venezuelan people is submerged gets denounced.

El Libertario's final note: More comprehensive and detailed analyzes and information on what is happening in Venezuela, on the blog of El Libertario. In particular, we recommend these posts which briefly outline our vision and position regarding the recent and current Venezuelan conjuncture (all in Spanish.^N.delT.):

- Buenos Aires: Radio interview with El Libertario http://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/01/buenos-aires-interview-radial-el.html

- Cartography of chavomadurista failure: A tour of the current map of Venezuela http://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/02/cartografia-del-fracaso-chavomadurista.html

- Crisis in the “critical thinking”, or jumping off a sinking ship http://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/02/crisis-en-el-pensamiento-critico-o.html

- Outcome of the Venezuelan crisis http://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/04/desenlace-de-la-crisis-venezolana.html

- Declaration of El Libertario: Surpassing the political parties to face the crisis and build a new Venezuela http://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/04/declaracion-de-el-libertario-sobrepasar.html

- Venezuela Today: The dictatorial errors http://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/04/venezuela-hoy-los-errores-dictatoriales.html

- A slogan of 2014 to resume today: IMMEDIATE DISSOLUTION OF THE GUARDIA NACIONAL BOLIVARIANA http://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/04/una-consigna-de-2014-retomar-disolucion.html

- The constituent fraud http://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/05/The-fraud-constituent.html

Original post in Spanish on their blog: https://periodicoellibertario.blogspot.com/2017/05/llamado-desde-venezuela-ls-anarquistas.html

[Nota de El Libertario: Muchas gracias a l@s compas de Insurrection News por esta traducción al inglés. El original de la misma está en https://raddit.me/f/anarchism/281.]