Los Angeles, USA—“What’s happening in Venezuela?” a truck driver asked me, during a political discussion. He is part of a big family of several truck drivers and garment workers. A few years ago, 10 of them participated in an ICWP May Day Dinner.
“Venezuela is not communist; it is capitalist. And its crisis is the crisis of capitalism,” I answered. Then I explained about the role of oil, buying and selling, and the exploitation of the working class. And that Venezuela is in the midst of an inter-imperialist fight between the US on one side and China and Russia on the other.
Venezuela is the country with the most oil reserves. All the imperialists want to control this wealth. But to get that oil to the market you need multi-billion dollar investments, which the Venezuelan capitalist class doesn’t have. For this, they need the imperialists. In this case, President Maduro inclines to the Russian and Chinese imperialists. The US imperialists are not happy with this, since they have been the ones who controlled the wealth from the sale of this oil before.
During the rule of Hugo Chavez and his 21st Century Socialism the price of oil was over $100 a barrel. Chavez could give some reforms to the workers while his capitalist friends became millionaires. But the US and Saudi Arabia made a deal to lower the price of oil to attack Venezuela, Iran and Russia. Due to this, the crisis in Venezuela sharpened and the masses have been the ones most affected.
“And what about Cuba, Russia and China—are they communists?” he asked.
We got involved in a discussion about the basis of communism, where we will depend on collective production for the benefit of the workers themselves. Therefore we won’t need money, banks, bosses, or borders. Socialism (State capitalism) in those countries left the roots of capitalism: money, banks and exploitation, and that is what we see today. I said that it is not the first time that humanity could live like this. For thousands of years before class society, humans lived in a communist society where they shared everything.
Then he said, “It would be beautiful to live like that, but people don’t understand. Although, where I grew up, we grew corn, others grew other crops, and we shared them. But what would happen with people who don’t want to work?”
We talked about the collective struggle and some examples of China in that regard.
My friend was investigating, with many questions. His disagreements and doubts are still to come later.
“What makes you think like that?” I asked him.
“I don’t like what I see in life. I would like something different,” he answered. Then he asked me, “How many members do you have?”
“With you we will be one more,” I answered.
I invited him to participate with us in meetings and activities and to see the need for communism as primary. He smiled and answered, “Let me think about it.” He was leaving the door open to future discussions and a struggle in which he can become a leader within his family and the international working class. He took Red Flag and left new opportunities for the growth of ICWP.
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