WHY VENEZUELANS WILL VOTE TO KEEP CHAVEZ

The division of power that followed the coronation of Pedro Carmona as president after the April 11 coup against the democratically-elected Hugo Chavez left no doubt that the policy of social inclusion of the Chavez government would be ended, writes Samuel Moncada, an historian and member of the 12-person team headed by President Chavez to conduct the ruling party campaign for the August 15 referendum. The Bolivarian Constitution that the people approved by referendum in 1999 along with the laws on land, fishing, and hydrocarbon policy, among others, were rescinded, making it clear that the dictatorship installed by the opposition would be unyielding with the poor. All rights and social programmes implemented by Chavez were cancelled. Everything that favoured the poor or recognised them as participants in Venezuelan society was attacked without reflection. The accusations levelled against the National Electoral Council by the spokesmen of the opposition are part of a preexisting script which requires them to echo the continuous threats issued by Bush administration spokesmen, with the object of discrediting and rejecting the results of the referendum once it becomes evident that, yet again, the majority of Venezuelans back the process of change begun in 1999. Since more has been achieved in these last five years than in the preceding four decades, we say: no to the privatisation of oil, social exclusion, and the usury of the banking industry, no to the elimination of literacy programmes and medical assistance, no to involvement in the Columbian conflict, and no to the FTAA.