Revolutionary youth in Venezuela

by Fred Fuentes
The first revolution of the 21st century is occurring in Venezuela. With the election of Hugo Chavez as president in 1998, a process of political empowerment and social mobilisation has meant the country’s poor are beginning to take back control of their lives. Young people are playing a vital role in this process, particularly through the Frente Francisco de Miranda.

Set up in 2003, the FFM has around 15,000 young members, who work in the poor communities and help to facilitate many of the social missions that have taken free education and health to areas where many could not read or had never visited a doctor. Most importantly, the FFM is playing a critical role in stimulating discussion on how Venezuela can move forward in the project of creating a new socialism of the 21st century.

Maria Rosa, one of the national leaders of the FFM, explained to Resistance that “now that the issue of socialism is being discussed openly, the debate we need to have is how we make sure that the socialism we are talking about is not just a simple slogan but becomes a reality”.

Beginning with the goal of creating a new society based on humanist values, solidarity and cooperation — where people come before profits — many Venezuelans have now come to the conclusion that such a society is only possible through socialism.

According to Rosa, the FFM believes that “the revolution needs to continue to move forward, to deepen towards the construction of socialism. We believe that within this revolution there needs to be a vanguard that takes this discussion forward with that aim. We see that Commandante Chavez is playing a vanguard role, but there needs to be social actors, organisations and individuals that push this discussion forward inside the revolution. The FFM aims to be a part of that.

“We have a battle on two fronts, imperialism on the one hand and poverty and hunger, which are the consequences of that system, on the other.”

Rosa explained that the social programs — such as Mission Robinson, which has eradicated illiteracy in Venezuela by teaching 1.4 million people to read and write; Mission Barrio Adentro, which has provided free health care and medicine with the assistance of 20,000 Cuban medics; and the food houses that give free food to the most needy — are part of this struggle. Rosa herself is involved in the national coordination of Mission Ribas, the high school-level education program.

Explaining that much can be learnt from the writings of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin and “of course Che Guevara”, Rosa said: “The theory from which we can learn is very rich, as are the practical experiences we have already had. “Sometimes it is a process of slow construction, and we are undoubtedly in the middle of a hurricane of contradictions as we build this new society. It is important to learn the lessons of previous attempts to construct socialism. One of the key lessons that the Bolivarian revolution has taken up is the need for socialism to be internationalist.

“We see in Latin America a process of rising consciousness and popular organisation. We believe that the Venezuelan revolution cannot remain solely focused within its own borders — we need to spread what we are constructing here to other countries because it is not possible for one country on its own to defeat the monster that is imperialism.”

Resistance is in full solidarity with the people of Venezuela in their attempts to build a new society in the face of US imperialist aggression. We will be organising for Rosa to come to Australia in July, to participate in the Resistance national conference in Sydney, in order to spread the discussion about the new socialism of the 21st century and discuss how revolutionary youth in Venezuela and Australia can work together in this same struggle.