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La revolución social y económica de Venezuela, en lugar de un retroceso al pasado, puede que sea el futuro.
Nadie puede a creerse lo que ve. Después de más de 15 años del colapso de la Unión Soviética, el presidente de Venezuela ha dejado bien claro que su país está embarcado en una revolución socialista.
Por sí mismo, el anuncio de que los sectores estratégicos industriales y el banco central del país serán sometidos a control estatal - como las políticas de redistribución de la renta en favor de los pobres y la expansión de la provisión de salud y educación gratuita, existentes en Venezuela – asombra, sobre todo, por el contexto neoliberal de las últimas décadas.
El gobierno británico de Clement Atlee tomó medidas similares tras las consecuencias de la de la II Guerra Mundial, al igual que muchos otros países capitalistas durante el período que abarca desde el comienzo a la mitad de la Guerra Fría, al tiempo que los aliados anticomunistas de los EEUU se mantenían leales a estos. Incluso los propios EEUU, durante la época del New Deal, a través del que sobrevivió la depresión de los años 30, y las políticas de la Gran Sociedad de los años 50 y 60, demostraron que se podía priorizar el estado de bienestar y la economía, en su conjunto, por encima de la actuación basada en la obtención de beneficios a cualquier precio.
Pero la revolución en Venezuela no tiene que ver simplemente con economía y estado de bienestar. Las estructuras emergentes de participación popular y la unificación que se está produciendo del partido socialista están diseñadas para asegurar una transferencia del poder de los ricos hacia las clases trabajadoras y los pobres.
Translation - Spanish Socialism makes a comeback
Venezuela's social and economic revolution may be the way forward, not a step back into the past.
Nobody can quite believe their eyes and ears. More than 15 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the president of Venezuela has made it abundantly clear that his country is embarked on a socialist revolution.
On its own, the announcement that the strategic sectors of industry and the country's central bank will be brought under state control - like Venezuela's existing policies of income re-distribution in favour of the poor and expanding free health and education provision - is only astonishing because of the neo-liberal context of recent decades.
Clement Atlee's British government took similar measures in the aftermath of the second world war, as did many other capitalist countries during the early-to-mid Cold War, while remaining loyal anti-communist allies of the USA. Even the USA itself, during the New Deal through which it survived the 1930s depression and the Great Society policies of the 1950s and 1960s, showed that it could prioritise welfare and the economy as a whole over the drive for profits at any cost.
But the revolution in Venezuela is not just about economics and welfare. The structures of popular participation which are developing, and the united socialist party which is being formed, are designed to secure a transfer of power from the rich to the working class and the poor.
Spanish to English: Interview President Bolivia
Source text - Spanish AMY GOODMAN: Bienvenido a Democracy Now! y a los Estados Unidos, Presidente Evo Morales. ¿Por qué llevó una hoja de coca a Naciones Unidas?
PRESIDENTE EVO MORALES: Bueno, muchísimas gracias. Agradecerles esta invitación. Yo vine por primera vez a esta tierra... de los Estados Unidos y, como permanentemente se acusaba que la coca es cocaína, que la coca es droga, y para demostrar que la coca no es cocaína, no es droga... La hoja de coca es verde; no es la blanca.
La blanca es la cocaína. Les vine a demostrar desde las Naciones Unidas, a los Estados Unidos y al mundo entero que la hoja de coca es un producto natural y agrícola que es benéfico para la humanidad. Por esa razón yo me presenté en la reunión ordinaria de las Naciones Unidas con la hoja de coca. Si hubiera sido droga, cocaína, me hubieran detenido. Empezamos con la campaña para dignificar, para revalorizar la hoja de coca orientada a cómo despenalizar a nivel internacional.
AMY GOODMAN: ¿Cómo se utiliza para usos benéficos? ¿Por qué es tan importante para usted en Bolivia?
PRESIDENTE EVO MORALES: Bien, la hoja de coca es parte de la cultura. El consumo legal, tradicional. Es el piccheo en Bolivia, chaccheo en Perú, el mambeo en Colombia. Además de eso, este consumo legal está respaldado con investigaciones científicas; por las Universidades de Europa y los Estados Unidos.
Hace cuatro o cinco años, por ejemplo, la Harvard de Estados Unidos nos informa públicamente que la hoja de coca es el mejor alimento del mundo y nos recomienda, no solamente masticar y chupar, sino comer. La última investigación de la OMS demuestra que la hoja de coca en su estado natural no hace daño a la salud humana.
Y otros usos en el rito. Eh... inclusive en la cultura de los Aimaras y los Quechuas, por ejemplo, la hoja de coca es un producto importante para pedir la mano de una compañera. Podemos hablar de muchos productos farmacéuticos que vienen de la hoja de coca. Los primeros anestésicos locales para cualquier cirugía u operación han sido industrializados por la hoja de coca. Hace cinco, seis o siete años atrás, la empresa Agua Exports, de Chapare en Cochabambino, nos compró coca diciendo que era para la Coca-Cola. Y... podemos hablar de muchos productos industrializados de la hoja de coca que hacen benéficos para la humanidad.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Sr. PRESIDENTE, aquí en los Estados Unidos, los votantes estamos muy acostumbrados a que los líderes prometan mucho pero que aporten poco una vez llegan al poder. Desde que usted se convirtió en PRESIDENTE de Bolivia, se ha movido rápidamente para realizar cambios. Se ha reducido su propio salario, ha aumentado el sueldo mínimo en un 50%. ¿Qué mensaje trata de enviar a su propio pueblo y a los líderes Latinoamericanos en general?
PRESIDENTE EVO MORALES: Mira, yo no quería ser político, porque el político de mi país se ve, o se mira, que es un farsante, un ladrón, prepotente y soberbio. En el ´97 intentaron llevarme como candidato a la presidencia. Rechacé, aunque tuve problemas con la organización de base, que son los cocaleros del Chapare, y me obligaron a ser diputado, que tampoco quería ser diputado.
Prefería ser cabeza de ratón que cola de caballo. (El Intérprete pide al presidente que explique esa expresión and Evo lo hace como sigue). Sí, claro, quería, desde mi sindicato y con transparencia, seguir luchando por los Derechos Humanos, por las reivindicaciones sociales; y no meterme en temas políticos, partidarios, electorales, tal vez para no hacer nada, para no cumplir los compromisos, como usted dice.
Translation - English AMY GOODMAN: Welcome to Democracy Now! and the United States, President Evo Morales. Why did you bring a coca leaf to the United Nations?
PRESIDENT EVO MORALES: [translated] First of all, thanks very much for the invitation to speak with you today. It’s the first time I’ve been in these lands, the United States. And as the coca leaf has been permanently accused of being a drug, so I brought the leaf to demonstrate that the coca leaf is not a drug. The coca leaf is green. It’s not white.
So I came to show that the coca leaf is not a drug and it can be beneficial to humanity. So that’s why I was there at the first ordinary session at the United Nations with a coca leaf. Had it been a drug, I would have been detained certainly. We’re starting the campaign to bring dignity back to the coca leaf, starting with the decriminalization of the coca leaf.
AMY GOODMAN: How is it used for beneficial purposes? Why is it so important to you in Bolivia?
PRESIDENT EVO MORALES: [translated] The coca leaf is part of culture. There is legal consumption, traditional consumption, which is called the piccheo in Bolivia, the chaccheo in Peru, el mambeo in Colombia, which is the traditional chewing of coca.
Moreover, this traditional consumption is backed up by scientific research done in universities in Europe and the United States. Not long ago a study came out of Harvard University that said it’s a very nutritious – it’s a good source of nutrition, that it can not only be used through chewing, but could also be consumed through eating. The last study done by the World Health Organization has demonstrated clearly that the coca leaf does no harm to people.
And there’s also ritual uses, including in the Aymara culture, for example, when you ask for someone’s hand in marriage, the coca leaf plays an important part in that ritual. We could also talk about a number of pharmaceutical products that come or derive from the coca leaf.
The first local anesthetics that were used in modern medicine were derived from the coca leaf. Up to some five, six, seven years ago, there was a company from the United States that used to come to the Chapare to buy coca to be exported to the United States for the use in making Coca-Cola. And we can think of a lot of products, industrial products, that could be derived from the coca leaf that would be beneficial to humanity.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Mr. President, in the United States voters here are accustomed to leaders promising much, but when they get into office delivering very little. Since you have become president in Bolivia, you have moved rapidly to make changes. You’ve cut your own salary.
You’ve raised the minimum wage by 50%. What is the message you are trying to send to your own people and to Latin American leaders in general?
PRESIDENT EVO MORALES: [translated] I never wanted to be a politician. In my country, politicians are seen as liars, thieves, arrogant people. In 1997 they tried to get me to run for president. I rejected that idea, even though that brought me problems with my own grassroots organizations. Then I was later obligated to become a member of the lower house of parliament. I didn’t want to do that at the time, either.
I preferred to be the head of a rat than the tail of a horse. I preferred to be the head of my own organizations fighting for human rights and fighting for the rights of the members, and not getting involved in electoral political processes and wind up not fulfilling promises.
I am a highly professional, experienced, reliable and affordable London-based Spanish freelance translator and proofreader. I translate English, Spanish and Galician into all three of their combinations. All three are my mother tongues, as I've spoken them since childhood.
Languages are a very good way of enabling people to understand each other, as well as helping people understand business. This is what motivated me to pursue a career in languages. I went on to gain a degree in Political Sciences and International Relations, which only served to strengthen this belief.
My areas of expertise in Translation are: Law, Business, Marketing, Tourism, Finance, Gaming, Politics and Current Affairs. Although I love challenges and enjoy nothing more than working in fields other than those mentioned. I'm always keen to learn and I strive to establish an open and fluid communication with my clients, as experience has shown me that this allows the smooth running of any project, and is the best way to fully understand a client's needs.
