04) VIVA VENEZUELA AND MADURO!

People's Voice Editorial

     When is a majority not a majority? Apparently, when Uncle Sam and his toadies say so. That seems to be the lesson from Venezuela, where PSUV candidate Nicolas Maduro received 50.7% of the votes in the April 14 election to succeed the late President Hugo Chavez. Despite the fact that opposition candidate Henrique Capriles received just 49.0% of the total, the numbers don't seem to matter in Washington, which continues to whine about the results.

     To remove any doubts, President Maduro agreed to expand the audit of the ballot boxes to a full 100%. The North American corporate media has remained silent on the fact that on election night, after the end of the electronic voting, at least half of the ballot boxes at each polling station were opened and counted in the presence of both Maduro and Capriles supporters. This process matched the initial electronic results, as will the audit of the remaining 46% of ballot boxes. But the pro-Yankee opposition don't care about the real numbers. Their aim is to spread confusion, setting the stage for further attempts to destabilize Venezuela, even a U.S.-backed coup. Canadians who care about democracy and social justice need to mobilize against this threat.

     Yes, the April 14 result was closer than the revolutionary forces in Venezuela would have preferred, and clearly they face challenges in the coming years. But the PSUV and its allies do have majority support for their policies - unlike Stephen Harper's Tories, who have never received 40% backing in a Canadian election.      Instead of attacking Venezuela, our federal government should look at borrowing some chavista policies. Public ownership of energy, for example, could help expand social programs, and put many of Canada's 2 million jobless back to work. Sadly, Mr. Harper speaks only for the corporations, not the people - the opposite of President Maduro.

(The above article is from the May 1-15, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)