The adverse electoral result obtained in Barinas is undoubtedly painful. However, as any defeat, it is also sobering.
We know that this spirit of changes within the revolution, of updating within what President Maduro has called the new beginning, will allow a deep reflection on what happened in Barinas, which is, to some extent, an expression of a reality present in a good part of the country.
There is no doubt that the social and economic consequences and the collective mood that the sanctions have created in spite of the enormous effort made by the revolution to mitigate them and to guarantee the basic needs of the people have a lot of weight in this result. Achievements in the midst of a brutal siege that the Venezuelan people and the Venezuelan government have been subjected to are no mean feat. Therein lies, undoubtedly, part of the explanation why a segment of the population, in this case the majority of the people of Barinas, has not supported the revolutionary option in this opportunity. But something that has as much weight as the blockade is also true, absolutely, and this is what comrade Nicolás Maduro has said: the practices and methods of doing politics that are not aligned with the postulates and commandments of the Chavista transforming project, which goes brutally against the example of Comandante Chávez.
We refer to a part, not all, of the leadership, which practices an autocratic way of doing politics, distanced from the bases, without ideological content, merely assistentialist, which considers the people as a reservoir of gifts and has forgotten that the people are wise and patient as Alí Primera sings.
We lost in Barinas, but we have what we need, we have the means to return to Chávez’s paths. Let no one there be discouraged, let no one feel defeated. For the Chavistas, defeat is a word that we resignify in rectification, in learning, in greater will to fight, in the certainty that we will return as millions because, in spite of the mistakes and errors of some, only in Chavismo there is hope for the people of Barinas and for all of Venezuela.
In this sense, we recognize comrade Jorge Arreaza who gave his all in this campaign for the people of Barinas, and who knew how to embody the need for rectification and change in his behavior and speech. Likewise, we express our deep recognition to the militancy that gave their all and put their effort and work in this complex battle, in a convincing demonstration of political maturity, commitment and loyalty. It is crucial that what was stated in discursive terms during the campaign becomes a guideline for the political work of the revolution, not only in Barinas but in all of Venezuela.
For now we must return to our roots. Commander Chávez taught us to be radical, that is to say, to go to the root of the problems. Let’s evaluate, let’s take stock, with a unitary spirit, looking for the root causes and not the superficial ones, in order to assign the responsibilities of the electoral setback to this and that.
We insist: the root causes are to be found in the methods and ways of doing politics that have been installed in a part of the leadership. Then, we must think about how to combat this way of doing politics. Political formation, renewal of leaderships, to have permanent meetings with the bases of the PSUV and the people in general, criticism and healthy and unitary autocracy. These are the keys to the new beginning in Barinas so that hope may indeed return and we may dawn in unity and rectification for a government with the people.
National Coordination of the Revolutionary Current Bolivar and Zamora
INTERNATIONALIST 360° 