Coordination Simon Bolivar and FBL-EL call for arming of the people
In the last period the conflict between the anti-imperialist government of Hugo Chavez and the popular forces on one side and US imperialism and the Venezuelan oligarchy on the other side has intensified. The recent occasion were the oligarchy´s attempt for a referendum to bring down Chavez and the massive US backing for it.
Two popular revolutionary organisations form Venezuela co-operation with the Anti-imperialist Camp have released statements. We publish extracts:
Co-ordination Simon Bolivar:
Facing the imminence of a new attempts to strangle the Bolivarian revolution, the we calls for:
* The unity of all revolutionary forces to close the ranks in a civil-military unity. Only in this way the people and the armed forces can defend the revolution.
* The construction and strengthening of new organisations which allow for the participation of the ample popular masses in order to build their sovereignty and to defend the revolution.
* The creation of popular militias against the inference of the empire targeting the revolutionary process.
* The massive incorporation of the people in the reserve battalions thus preparing them for combat.
Bolivarian Liberation Forces – Liberation Army (FBL-EL):
At the horizon the sharpening of the crisis and confrontation between the empire and the forces of the popular camp is looming. Therefore we have to accelerate the politico-military education as the only guarantee of resistance against an invasion. The patriotic and nationalist armed forces will not be sufficient. The approaching war will not be regular and we are preparing ourselves starting from this point of view. This is also the lesson of the Iraqi resistance which prepared themselves for months or even years in order to mount today the most fierce guerrilla war against the imperial occupation forces. Therefore we call upon the government, the army, the different social and political organisations, the patriotic, nationalist and progressive sectors to commit themselves to our nation:
* The broadest possible unity of the people against imperial interventionism. We have to be on alert and permanently mobilized.
* Enlarge the armed forces reserve contingent by conscription.
* Convert the pre-military education into preparation for the youth and the students to defend the national sovereignty and our right to self-determination as a people.
* Build people´s militias.
* Form irregular battalions as part of the strategy of the war of the entire people.
* Nationalisation of the banks as the initial stage of a process of accumulation of internal sovereignty and independence. As the state in Venezuela is the biggest creator of capital it is not logic that capital is mainly controlled by private banks at the service of those you prepare for a coup d´etat as well as of the transnationals.
* Confiscation of the wealth and the enterprises of the oligarchy having perpetrated the aborted coup d´etat – the traitors of the nation.
* Confiscation of the land of the big landowners behind the coup and the Venezuelan paramilitaries.
* Fight against the corruption of certain parts of the government who misuse their offices for personal enrichment.
* More autonomy for the popular media and de-bureaucratisation of the access to radio frequencies as part of an overall policy to break the monopoly of information of the oligarchy.
As we keep saying for more than five years the viability of the Bolivarian revolution passes by the confrontation with the empire. Therefore the forces of resistance must be broadened and deepened, a task which the FBL-EL have made their cause.
Full declaration of the Co-ordination Simon Bolivar in Spanish
Full declaration of the Bolivarian Liberation Forces – Liberation Army in Spanish