Australian ISO's response to New Zealand SW on Venezuela

The Socialist Worker group in New Zealand sent out a call for a broad discussion about the Venezuelan Revolution both within and outside the International Socialist Tendency. In response there has been a few other items posted to their blog -- one from the British SWP and another from a Dutch socialist. Today on their Unity blog the NZ SW group has published a response from the Australian IST affiliate , the Internationl Socialist Organisation.

The ISO disagrees with NZ SW's assessment and writes:

One of most important lessons we can learn from two centuries of working class struggle is the need for sharp intellectual clarity on questions such as the revolutionary role of the working class, reform or revolution, the role of capitalist state, and the need for a revolutionary party. Your May Day statement obfuscates these critical issues.Our starting point needs to be socialism from below—the revolutionary activity of the working class and the application of Marxist ideas to aid that struggle. Unfortunately, and no matter what Chavez himself may say or do, his government remains held back by capitalist relations both economically and politically. The only way out of this impasse is for the further development of mass struggle from below, with a crucial role for the working class in developing democratic organs capable of challenging state power. One role of socialists is to prioritise the development of such a strategy in comradely collaboration with all supporters of revolution in Latin America. Unfortunately your document does not mention such an orientation.

Read full text here.