Jim McIlroy and Coral Wynter, Caracas
"I think it is possible to build socialism. We are demonstrating it already", Lilibet Sira Torres, Caracas director of the Frente de Francisco Miranda, told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly. The FFM is a revolutionary youth group organising young people to actively support the Venezuelan revolution.
Sira Torres spoke with GLW about the goal proclaimed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of building "socialism in the 21st century". Since Chavez's election in 1998, he has led a popular process known as the Bolivarian revolution, which aims to radically change Venezuelan society, using the country's substantial oil wealth to address the needs of the poor majority and establishing popular participation in the running of the country.
"We have gone through seven years of struggle", Sira Torres said. "But this struggle has a long history of more than 500 years. The indigenous people in Venezuela were the first to resist the colonisers on this continent. So Chavez was not the first one in this struggle.
"In Venezuela in the 1960s, a whole generation died trying to build Bolivarian socialism. This meant there were no other leaders that could continue the fight, until Hugo Chavez appeared in 1992. Chavez began to organise the masses, and the people gained consciousness. Chavez represented the accumulation of this history of the popular struggle over many years.
"Chavez put into the mind of the Venezuelan people the possibility of Bolivarianism once again", Sira Torres said, adding that "Bolivarian socialism is our own distinctive brand. It has a different structure to European socialism."
Sira Torres believes that constructing "socialism in the 21st century" will take time. "The reality is that we are learning to stand up, and the rest of Latin America is standing up as well."
According to Sira Torres, "There cannot be only one revolution — there has to be a continental revolution. If there is no revolution in the rest of the world, the revolution in Venezuela cannot survive in the end ... The world will be saved only if we move towards peace." She added: "We are internationalists. We are fighting together with Fidel Castro in Cuba."
Sira Torres explained the role of the FFM. "The Frente has created a space for the youth to participate in this revolution. The Frente offers an opportunity to make a revolution for the youth. We realise we are not the entire vanguard, but we are part of this vanguard. We are part of the forces that will construct socialism. It's a space that allows the youth to participate in all these processes. It is a space that allows us to organise the people, to develop ourselves and to mobilise other forces.
"We are still growing, but we have the support of the youth. We are building consciousness and supporting the revolutionary government. Today, it's an opportunity for this generation to participate in the construction of the new socialism. We are the generation that is going to inherit the revolution. The Frente represents the support of the youth in this process with president Chavez."
Sira Torres emphasised the importance of international solidarity with Venezuela, in the face of attacks and threats from the US government. "The world is already demonstrating this solidarity, from the rest of the Latin American continent and from Europe ... Without the support of the international community, we cannot complete this revolution."
"Firstly, there is already support for our achievements so far. And secondly, there is support for the values we are defending. We are living through a strategic period of the revolution", Sira Torres said, referring to the April 2002 failed coup attempt and the subsequent oil industry shut-down that aimed to destabilise the Chavez government.
"In the defence of this process, many foreigners have come here to support us. And with this experience, we know that the rest of the world — like yourselves from Australia — will act to defend our achievements so far."
Sira Torres said that a large proportion of Venezuela's young people "believe in this process and will defend it. The youth want to construct a different Latin America. The youth are in the forefront of the resistance, not only in Venezuela, but in many parts of the world, such as the struggles in El Salvador, in Nicaragua and Guatemala."
"We want to see the possibility of fulfilling the hopes of youth, and concretely of building a 'Patria Grande' [Grand Homeland]. Fidel Castro said that it is the commitment of the youth of Latin America that will achieve this goal.
"I am 44 years old, and I have been a member of the Frente for three years [as a founding member]. I am more convinced than ever that the fight is necessary. You're from another part of the world, but we are sharing this dream with you. With your support and with the experience you have in your country, and as observers in this country, we think of you as companeros, and as part of the army to defend this revolution."
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, April 12, 2006.
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