25 years in revolution: historical turn towards sovereignty and justice

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The Bolivarian revolution headed Venezuela along paths of independence, social resurgence and equity. The nation has remained on that path, avoiding all kinds of enemies and obstacles. Today it continues to represent the hope not only of the homeland of Bolivar and Chavez, but of all the peoples of the world who fight to eradicate injustice and coexist in peace and brotherhood.

The historical and political project of the Bolivarian Revolution reaches 25 years after its arrival to power. After the objectionable victory of Commander Hugo Chavez in the elections of December 6th, 1998, on February 2nd, 1999, a stage of transformations began for Venezuela with the objective of achieving social equality, inclusion and the vindication of the fundamental rights of the Venezuelan people.

Chavez was the protagonist and main promoter of these transformations, a task to which he devoted himself since February 4th, 1992 when he broke out against the state of things prevailing in the country, which was mired in moral breakdown after 40 years of the so-called democracy representative, whose leadership turned its back on the people and mortgaged the sovereignty of the country to the interests of transnational capital.

Chavez’s conviction struck firmly and deeply in the soul of Venezuela. Beyond party adhesion, the people identified in him a genuine leader, capable of promoting and leading the urgent process of changes that will rescue the ideals of freedom, justice and union inherited from Bolivar and also represented by other central figures in our history.

People protagonist

The rescue of popular protagonism in the full and authentic exercise of democracy was from the beginning a priority objective of the Bolivarian project. This determined that, from the moment he assumed the presidency, Chavez will promote the draft Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was approved by the people in the referendum of December 15, 1999.

With that mandate, the President activated the original constituent power and provided the nation with a constitutional text adapted to the new times, in which popular power and the recovery of independence and sovereignty laid the foundations for a historical, social transformation. and politics of global resonance, for its revolutionary content of humanity and justice.

Under the leadership of Chavez, the Bolivarian Revolution achieved in a few years unquestionable achievements in areas such as education, health, social benefits for workers, in addition to restoring self-determination and national independence, with concrete expressions such as the sovereign management of its wealth and the determined impulse to Latin American unity, in fulfillment of the Bolivarian dream of the Great Homeland.

These principles continue to guide the evolution of the Bolivarian process now under the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro. Thus the Bolivarian Revolution has managed to maintain its course despite the harassment, animosity and blackmail perpetrated by its enemies and detectors, both internal and foreign.

The full exercise of popular sovereignty is evident by adding, in these 25 years, 28 electoral and referendum processes in which the will of the people has prevailed.

Social and economic achievements

The recovery of sovereignty in the management of the country’s resources has made it possible to carry out plans and projects aimed at achieving the objectives of justice and social inclusion, which characterize the Bolivarian Revolution. The emphasis on policies aimed at the benefit of the population is evident in the fact that since 1999, nearly three-thirds of the National Budget is allocated directly or indirectly to social investment.

Thanks to this vision, the Bolivarian Missions have been developed, free social programs to attend to fundamental areas such as health. Preventive medicine plans carried out mainly within the framework of the Barrio Adentro Mission have saved millions of lives in these five lustrous.

The educational missions began in 2003 with the Robinson Mission, which managed to make 100% of the population literate through the “Yes, I can” method, with which more than three million people learned to read and write.

The Ribas Mission, focused on secondary education, has awarded bachelor’s degrees to more than a million students, while the Sucre Mission, corresponding to higher education, has graduated more than 600,000 new professionals.

The policy developed for basic education has made it possible to double school enrollment at that level, which today reaches an index of around 95% with nearly 86% of students attending public institutions.

The Bolivarian process recognizes housing as a human right. In less than two decades, the Bolivarian Revolution has tripled the number of homes built during the 40 years of so-called representative democracy. Since the beginning of the Housing Mission in 2011, the construction of homes for the people has not stopped, despite the limitations imposed by the Economic War against the country. Last December, the figure of 4,800,000 homes delivered was reached and the objective is to reach the milestone of 5,000,000 in the short term.

With the Revolution, more than five million people have received a pension, which means that 100% of women over 55 years of age and men over 60 years of age are recognized with this fundamental right. This contrasts with the IV Republic (1958-1998), when the number of pensioners did not exceed 380 thousand people.

The same principles that drove the social programs created by Chavez mark the initiatives to add new missions and refine existing ones. Ai, President Maduro has strengthened the assistance programs that have ensured the supply of food to the Venezuelan people in the face of the impact of the so-called “sanctions” imposed by the United States. Currently, the CLAP program delivers bags of food each month to more than 7.5 million families throughout the country.

As a result of this firm vacation to serve all sectors of the population – including the indigenous peoples – the Bolivarian Revolution today presented to the world an example of Resistance and will to overcome.

Venezuela in global geopolitics

Prioritized among the strategic objectives in the 2013-2018 and 2019-2024 Plans, Venezuela’s role on the world stage took a significant turn from subordination to hegemonic centers of power to playing a driving and leading role in the development of a new international geopolitics.

The Bolivarian Revolution postulates the necessary construction of a multicentric and pluripolar world, with a balance that guarantees harmonious development and peace among nations. With this premise, the Venezuela of Chavez and Maduro has been one of the main driving forces of initiatives that have allowed the emergence and evolution of an infrastructure to achieve a truly sovereign Latin American and global south community.

Examples of this new type of political and economic integration, based on the well-being of the people, are the union of South American Nations (Unasur), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America. People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Banco del Sur, Petrocaribe, TeleSur, among others.

This Bolivarian vocation was expressed by President Nicolas Maduro in March 2023, at the 52nd Period of Sessions of the UN Human Rights Council: “With our Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy, we assume with firm steps the construction of the New world of equals, of respect, solidarity and cooperation. It is time to strongly promote the union of the peoples and nations of the world. That’s the way!

Resistance against multiform war

Since 2014, the popular Resistance has been heroic in overcoming the serious effects of the multiform War against Venezuela. The economic and financial asphyxiation has been faced with the decision of the Government and the people not to surrender to the imperial attacks implemented through the illegal Unilateral Coercive Measures (MCU) imposed on the country.

Without ignoring the terrible economic damage inflicted by the sanctions, which reduced the nation’s income by 99%, Bolivarian Venezuela has moved forward with its own muscle, which is reflected in key economic indicators such as food supply, inflation control, recovery gradual decline in oil production, among others.

In this way, despite the MCU, Venezuela led the economic growth of Latin America in 2023 (4.5%) and is projected to lead the regional economic-productive expansion in 2024, with an index greater than 5%, according to the data and projections from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Challenges

Aware that it is vital to sustain progress towards economic recovery, in national union, President Maduro proposed, in his Annual Message to the nation, to promote seven essential transformations for the well-being of the nation.

Those transformations are:

1. Economy, through a complete transformation of the economic-productive model.
2. Full independence, with the updating and dissemination of the Bolivarian doctrine in its political, scientific, cultural, educational and technological dimensions.
3. Peace and citizen security, based on the improvement of the model of citizen coexistence, the enjoyment of human rights and the guarantee of defense of our rights over the Essequibo territory.
4. Social protection, recovery of the welfare state, its missions and great missions.
5. Repoliticization, promoting the consolidation of democracy and politics, understood as a public service to the community.
6. Ecology, preservation of the planet and mitigation of the climate crisis.
7. Geopolitics, through the insertion and leadership of Venezuela in the process of global reconfiguration.

With the will and decision to face these challenges, the Venezuelan revolutionary process continues the course begun in February 1999, aimed at consolidating definitive independence, leading democracy, the development of the productive force, true peace and the full exercise of sovereignty.

This is the historical mandate taken up by Commander Chavez to comply with the maxim of the liberator Simon Bolivar: “The most perfect system of Government is the one that produces the greatest possible amount of happiness, the greatest amount of social security, and the greatest amount of political stability.”