For The International Magazine, PSUV is the Party that Represents the Venezuelan Struggle (Interview)

Caracas, August 8, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—This Friday, August 5, Orinoco Tribune had the chance to interview the executive editor of The International Magazine, Adèle Cain, and she expressed her opinion that the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is the “political party that rightfully represents the Venezuelan struggle.” Cain confirmed that the magazine’s editorial line is not influenced by the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV).

Adèle Cain is a Sweden-based researcher and anti-imperialist activist who have as written about resource sovereignty and the rise of the “pink tide” in Latin America. As the India-based website and news outlet reaches its second anniversary, Orinoco Tribune’s editor, Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza, invited Cain to be interviewed. Orinoco Tribune republished an incisive International Magazine piece last March on the Ukrainian conflict, and Carlos Garrido from Midwestern Marx (a contributor to Orinoco Tribune) has interacted also with the outlet.

The magazine is published by Subhasree Adhikary, Debojit Banerjee, and Shuvam Banerjee. Every article published is carefully curated by an editorial team which consists of 35 communists, including Roman Kokonenko, Central Committee member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF); Robin Talbot, chairman of the Young Communist League (YCL) of Britain; Darrell Rankin, a Marxist intellectual from Canada; Sonja Beier, international officer of Austria’s KJO; Mariana Ruiz, a PCV central leader; Dloze Matooane, a leader from South Africa; and many more, according to India Today.

In response to our first question about the intentions of the project, Adèle Cain explained to us that The International Magazine was created as a Marxist-Leninist media publication in the English language that would not be monopolized by Western imperialist discourse. The editorial board is made up of Marxist commentators and members of Communist Parties of various countries, with the objective of addressing the crisis of leftist publishing.

Due to Orinoco Tribune’s concern about The International Magazine publishing a piece from a PCV perspective which—in the opinion of members of Orinoco Tribune’s editorial panel—was overly critical of President Maduro and Chavismo, we asked Cain if the outlet’s editorial line was driven by the PCV.

“The line of the magazine on Venezuela is not driven by the Communist Party of Venezuela,” responded Cain. “They have contributed in the past with articles for the magazine, and we have an original editor from the party. It is not a position I would approve myself. I think I speak for the majority of Marxist-Leninists globally, and those involved with the magazine, when I say that the party that rightfully represents the Venezuelan struggle, the gains and the extraordinary achievements of Venezuela, combatting US imperialism, and building and supporting mass movements, and developing world-leading social policies, national and resource sovereignty, and infrastructure development, is of course the PSUV; and under the leadership of Nicolás Maduro, that actually honors the incredible legacy that Hugo Chávez left behind.”

Cain added that “within the context of such successful national struggle, a communist party driven into opposition by their own dogmatism could be understood as sabotage, playing into the hands of imperialism’s interests, which is exactly the role played by the PCB in Brazil in opposing Dilma Rouseff, [and] in Ecuador by PCMLE in opposing Rafael Correa. The Communist Party of Venezuela have no doubt taken a much more balanced position historically, and I hope they do so again… In the interim I can only reiterate that the worker’s party of Venezuela is the PSUV.” Cain went on to invite PSUV supporters and representatives to contribute and play an editorial role in The International Magazine in the future.

Orinoco Tribune’s third question concerned The International Magazine’s position on the inter-imperialism debate, raised mostly by leftists in the North, that categorizes China and Russia as imperialist powers alongside the US and Europe.

Cain noted that China is a socialist state while Russia is capitalist. However, she said, the notion that Russia is an inter-imperialist rival to the US is unrealistic. Russia is in no position to rival the US, and knows it. Therefore, the interpretation of Russia as an imperialist power equivalent to the US is not useful for the any analysis of Russian foreign policy. The inter-imperialist debate, added Cain, creates confusion in the Global South. One must recall that the Global South is mostly composed of capitalist countries, and it would appear absurd if Global South nations were accused of being imperialist, or participating in an inter-imperialist rivalry, each time they confronted Western imperialism.

Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza added some comments about how he considers this “debate” to be a distraction and a deviation from Marxist-Leninist teachings, particularly Lenin’s approach towards imperialism. For Rodríguez-Espinoza, mixing geostrategic analysis with the definition of imperialism provided by Lenin is incorrect, despite the fact that some decisions made by China, Russia, or any other of those countries incorporated in the “debate” may occasionally appear similar to decisions taken by imperialist powers, according to a geostrategic interpretation alone.

The last question concerned The International Magazine’s funding: how does it survive financially, and how can it afford to have a paid staff? Cain informed us that, at the beginning, the magazine received start-up funding from a small number of activists. Currently, the operating costs of the magazine are completely covered by the monthly subscriptions. In addition, the magazine employs a significant number of volunteer contributors and editors, while maintaining a small paid staff. She clarified that there are no external funding sources, either from corporate or political parties, and that it relies completely on paid subscriptions. As the project is run and produced from India, she added, the operational costs are reduced.

Orinoco Tribune special by staff

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