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Venezuela: The Building Of A People’s Democracy

Written by Greg Rosenthal
Wednesday, 26 October 2005
Pro-Chavez CrowdFollowing the example of Cuba’s humanist approach to guaranteeing its people the right to quality education and healthcare, Venezuela has embarked upon a historical mission to eliminate poverty in a country where nearly 70% of the population is poor. As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez consistently reiterates, the only way to end poverty is to empower the poor and marginalized.

Any country in the Global South, with the interest to actively fight poverty by defying the interests of multinational corporations, wealthy elites, and neo-liberal capitalism, are certain to have many enemies, both domestic and international. Yet the Chavez government, despite persistent threats from the ‘Bolivarian revolution’s’ powerful opponents, continues to make progress in redistributing the country’s oil wealth to provide much-needed services to the poorest communities.

The collection of articles in the book, The Venezuela Reader: The Building Of A People’s Democracy, edited by Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, has successfully grasped and articulated the complexity of life in Venezuela. Most notably, The Venezuela Reader highlights the substantial accomplishments of the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ through its new Constitution and social ‘Missions’ that serve the poor. In addition, this book has captured the enormity of the opposition to Chavez and the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’. The articles bring to life the opposition who privately control nearly all of the media, have high positions within Venezuela’s oil company, and are receiving support and collaboration from the United States government. The value of the book is its ability to critically incorporate these two opposing elements and how they play out in today’s Venezuela.

The first section of this book sets out to highlight how the Bolivarian Constitutionâ€â€