We read, with great interest, that both our comrades, the Zapatistas, and the Bolivarians of Venezuela seek to amplify their struggles against neoliberalism and for humanity.
On the one hand, the EZLN/FZLN conducts a consultation, and, as a result, adopts the “Sixth Declaration of the Lacondon Forest.”
On the other hand, Hugo Chavez, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, concludes after many years of struggle, that socialism is the only way to combat neoliberalism. He also agrees with Leon Trotsky that socialism cannot succeed in a single country, but must always challenge capitalism whenever and wherever possible. It seems that his bases of support, the MVR, the Bolivarian Circles, and the UNT, along with the majority of the Venezuelan people, agree with him.
However, mindful of the failures of past efforts to construct socialism, President Chavez seeks to construct a new, 21st Century socialism, conserving the rights already enjoyed by all Venezuelans while expanding those rights which capitalism denied.
Considering that President Chavez and the Bolivarians are seeking to construct a new socialist path, we Villistas put the following questions to the EZLN, EPR-PDPR, EPR-PDPR-TDR, ERPI, FARC-EP, ELN, and to all insurgents struggling against neoliberalism and for humanity:
What would socialism have to be in order to be capable of fulfilling your legitimate, authentic demands?
For our part, we Villistas reply that socialism would have to be economic democracy, which, unlike capitalist democracy, in which democratic forms are empty of real content, integrate the political and economic systems of the states of our jurisdiction. We have been reminded by research, consultations, etc. that socialism in the transitional period would have to both compete successfully against capitalism, and build communism. We are also mindful that the socialist path will be different in our different countries, yet success or failure in each country will have profound effects on the efforts of our comrades in other countries.
President Chavez has learned that the illogical logic of capitalist development imposes the socialist path upon those who seek “a world in which many worlds fit:” once again, we challenge our fellow insurgents in Mexico, Colombia, and elsewhere to think deeply about what socialism would have to be in order to meet each of our legitimate, authentic demands.
Liberty! Justice! Democracy! Human Rights!
From the Mexican Northwest, Insurgent Subcommander Angeles, Branch of Liaison, Communications, and Investigations, Clandestine Commando "Division of the North" (Villista National Liberation Front).
© 1997 villista@iname.com
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