Chavéz, Chevron and Microsoft

Chavez hasn't yet rejected capitalism or capitalist corporations; he is just carrying out social democratic policies. He is beginningb to talk about turning away from capitalism, but is this just rhetoric?
It shows how much the British Labour Party have moved when they join the US Republicans in branding Chavez an extremist for his redistributive, social democracy. Sharing out the wealth of a country is now universally considered revolutionary and a threat to capitalist governments, when once it was only the US.
I think Brazil is right to say the popular and social movements must influence the course the 'Bolivian revolution'.

>Despite all the expectations to deepen the Bolivarian process, the president Hugo Chavés Frias, made 2 partnership with the multinational companies Chevron-Texaco and Microsoft.

this really is a most outrageously misleading opening line. "Despite ... expectations ... (he) made ... (deals)." well, as 'brazil' admits in the next sentence, the deals were actually made before the referendum, so the only 'news' here is that "Chavés" (sic, it's actually spelled "Chávez" - 'brazil' is obviously really clued-up on the subject) hasn't cancelled the deals after winning! but the first line doesn't say that, in fact it deliberately gives the impression that the deals are new - bad form.

>Both agreements were signed before the referedum took place, but were as deliberately mugged by the progressive media and ignored by the conservative media.

so, this so-called news is about two old business deals chávez made with some corporations, that up until now have been "mugged", whatever that means. so what? why not title it "chávez still making deals with capitalists"? it's true, as president of a huge oil-producing country, he is going to have to make deals with global corporations - big shock! i guess you'd rather he only sell the oil to anarchists!

>One of them is a binacional gasoduto, sponsor by the Venezuela government and the Colombia government and coordinated by the American multinational Chevron-Texaco. Acording to Chavéz it´s a “direct way out of this giant asian market”. To construct the gasoduto, Venezuela volunteer to enter in the Plan Pueblo Panamá, a collection of infrastructure with the objective to respond to the American multinationals needs.

ok, so venezuela wants to sell its natural gas (its a big exporter) to the asian market (instead, perhaps, to up north) and the easiest way to go that is to pipe it through colombia. also, it's an opportunity to buy a little peace along the treacherous border. so far, so good, but Venezuela has absolutely nothing to do with Plan Pueblo Panama and its "collection of infrastructure" - the route is from panama to mexico - venezuela is the other side of colombia. again, more smears.

>Parallel to that, the Venezuela´s government, via the education ministry, signed with Microsoft a contract to provide software to the schools across the country, contradicting the incentive policy of free software, which the government had adopted until Felipe Péres left the Planification and Development Ministry. According to Richard Stallman, the founder of the GNU movement (free software): “The Venezuela´s government just made a critical error, which consequences will give control of computing to a global corporation: make a contract with Microsoft to use the program in the schools.”

when did stallman say this? and do u have any reference of it, there's nothing on his site or the GNU. also, it doesn't sound right, the words in quotes above, "which consequences", stuff like that. maybe it's just been translated back and forth, maybe he really did say it, maybe venezuela really is back-tracking from its open-source policy. but if 'brazil' wants us to take this claim seriously, it better provide references or links.

>The silence and the non-resistence of the popular movements just amplified this situation, disarticulated by the expectations of the left government speech. In case Chavéz continue with immune posture before popular movements, we will see those movements fight against the local bourgeoisie just to let a free way to the global bourgeoisie, which has no problem to negotiate with the “bolivarian revolution”.

well i dont really understand the the last sentence, but to get to the gist of it: the "global bourgeoisie" obviously have big problems with the "bolivarian revolution" because they've been investing much time, energy, resources and risk into destroying it, as anyone who's not been living under a rock for the past few years would know. "Chavéz" (sic, closer this time, the accent is on the "a", though) is just playing it smart by giving them a smaller slice of the pie, keeping some of them occupied and buying a little more time for the movement. of course there is pressure coming at him from all sides, but it is the pressure from below, from the grass-roots, that moves him, that is clear from everything he's done so far. so what if he's still selling the oil to the US, only now the rents get spent on the people instead of stolen by the oiligarchy (and the poorer countries get the oil cheaper)? who else is he supposed to sell the oil to?! and by the way he needs that money to pay for the new houses, schools, hospitals, universities, farms co-ops, media centres, &c.

what u don't understand is that the majority of venezuelans are not interested in 'smashing the capitalist system' or whatever - they want the things we take for granted: food, clothes, shelter, proper health-care and clean running water. and that's what the revolution is about for them (and billions around the world). as 'anarchists' we have a choice, we can support them in their struggle against oppression, offering solidarity and celebrating their victories (against the same enemies we have, by the way), or we say that because it is not a mass anarchist movement (whatever that is) and that they've chosen to have a leader to defend them (which is working out pretty well, all things considered) then they deserve no support from us, because their revolution is not good enough for us, and of course we know far better than them anyway. the fact that we even have to debate this shows how little confidence we have as a movement here, either that or how ignorant we are.

8 months ago! this is news?! what a smear job, this is the best 'brazil' can do? and so what if they're teaching M$ word or whatever in schools, it's probably best they've got some understanding of that as well as their linux boxes (for travel, or just to have the same kind of knowledge we do - who are we to say they don't have that right?)

whoever wrote this, and that's probably an interesting story in itself (seeing as it was vetoed by IMC-brazil) obviously has an anti-bolivarian personal vendetta, the kind of thing we should be vigilant for, remember...