
In his final public speech, ChĂĄvez reiterated his views on the construction of socialism in Venezuela. (PSUV)

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In his final public speech, ChĂĄvez reiterated his views on the construction of socialism in Venezuela. (PSUV)
Seven years ago, ChĂĄvez delivered his final major speech, laying out his vision of Venezuelaâs socialist transition.
A conference dedicated to the seventh anniversary of former President Hugo ChĂĄvezâs last public address, known as âStrike at the Helmâ (Golpe de TimĂłn) was held in Caracas last Saturday, October 19.
The event was organized by the “Encuentro de Lucha Popular” platform, which looks to bring together grassroots movements throughout the country, and drew a crowd of around 200 people to the “Cinemateca Nacional” auditorium.
âStrike at the Helmâ was ChĂĄvezâs political testament, his final speech in which he lays out his vision of the Venezuelan road to socialism.
âWhere is the commune?â, ChĂĄvez demanded of his ministers as they presented reports on the governmentâs accomplishments. Although Chavismo was fresh off a resounding victory in the 2012 presidential elections, ChĂĄvez was aware that not everyone around him was clear about the path forward.
The three-hour long TV broadcast was full of important debates that remain relevant to this day, from ChĂĄvezâs warning about small âislandsâ of socialism being swallowed by the capitalist sea to his ridiculing of those who believe socialism is a matter of renaming everything with a âsocialistâ prefix.
Everyone has their own takeaway from âStrike at the Helm,â as the different speeches at this event showed. Nevertheless, the common denominator for popular movements was an ardent repetition of ChĂĄvezâs now famous slogan, âCommune or Nothing!â.
The first speaker was Ăngel Prado, spokesperson from El Maizal Commune. He explained how âStrike at the Helmâ was celebrated by communards, who felt ChĂĄvez was on their side in scolding his ministers, not to mention the clear message about the role communes should play.
âWe took it as a âgreen lightâ to no longer depend on the ministry [of communes]. Popular power was going to build its commune as long as it embraced the task,â he said.
Throughout its ten-year history, and especially in the recent crisis, El Maizal Commune has taken strides in crafting its own policies on the ground. This has meant a constant dispute with large landowners as well as state entities in order to recover idle land and means of production.
RELATED CONTENT: The What, the How and Why of the âStrike at the Helmâ
Prado insisted that taking over means of production has to be a priority for popular power. The commune is currently moving forward with a small scale industrialization endeavor to process corn, so as to avoid selling it to the state at a very low price.
He wrapped up by stressing that âStrike at the Helmâ remains more relevant than ever. âWe are the ones responsible for changing reality, for building popular power. We must radicalize to move forward,â he concluded.
The second speaker was Reinaldo Iturriza, Venezuelan writer and intellectual who served as minister of communes and later of culture between 2013 and 2015. In recent years he has dedicated himself to analyzing the internal dynamics in the Bolivarian camp, particularly through a series of texts called âAn Affective Picture of Chavismo.â Translated “Chavismo, a Sentimental X-ray” by Orinoco Tribune.
In his talk, Iturriza highlighted the historical importance of âStrike at the Helmâ as a document where the need to overcome the capitalist model of exploitation is explicitly laid out. He underscored the speechâs relevance at a time when the Bolivarian projectâs horizon is blurred.
âIt is essential to recognize diversity and overcome differences, while also establishing a fluid relationship with âhardcoreâ Chavismo, the grassroots,â Iturriza explained, stressing the need to rebuild the âdemocratic hegemonyâ of the project.
Iturriza also called for maintaining an interaction with the Chavismo that is organized in popular movements and communes, as well as reach out to the âdisaffiliatedâ Chavismo. In his opinion, this is an ever growing group that does not necessarily identify with Chavismo nowadays but still believes in participatory and protagonist democracy and retains ChĂĄvez as a referent.
Iturriza closed by emphasizing the importance of communicational work, which he said must be done with intellectual and political integrity, if the goal is to convince the popular majority. As a final reflection, he told the audience that âwe must make revolution in order to win elections, not win elections in order to make revolution.â

The speaker who followed was Luis Salas, former vice president for economy and editor a the “15 y Ăltimo” left economics website.
He stressed that an important aspect of ChĂĄvezâs final speech is the idea of a âpoint of no return,â namely how to render the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution âirreversible.â
RELATED CONTENT: Rebuilding the Hegemony of Chavismo: A Conversation with Gerardo Rojas (Part I)
Salas focused his presentation on the drastic fall of Venezuelan GDP since 2014, the collapse of the countryâs oil industry and the crisis of the electric grid. He pointed out that in the present context, a âstrike at the helmâ would mean the recovery of the oil industry, since it is the only one that can generate income in the short term in order to boost the development of other sectors.
He likewise emphasized that overcoming the electricity crisis is a prerequisite for any future economic recovery, since the grid currently has no capacity to sustain the (re)activation of major industries, for example. However, he argued that first and foremost the government must set its economic priorities in order.
The last talk was left to ElĂas Jaua, former minister and vice president, and central figure of the “Encuentro de Lucha Popular” platform.
In his opinion, a âstrike at the helmâ today means retaking the spaces of revolutionary construction and rebuilding the legitimacy of the Bolivarian process.
âThe model worked. We need to regain trust in what we did,â he insisted. Jaua also referencedâStrike at the Helmâ in arguing for strengthening the role of the state in the economy, contrasting it to the growing tendency towards privatization witnessed over the past several years.
Continuing along those lines, he affirmed that restoring the technical, managerial and productive capabilities of the strategic state companies needs to be a priority. Jaua likewise stressed that the context of imperialist aggression demands unity among all patriots, but without diluting the Bolivarian project.
âLet us be free of this morass, of fear. Let us dare to fight for the revolution,â he said in closing.
âStrike at the Helmâ does not contain a recipe that the government can simply put into practice. Not only that, it was produced in a very different context, with an economy worlds apart from the current one.
Getting out of this dramatic crisis requires a profound reorientation of state policy. But it will also entail making concessions that need to be debated, not imposed without transparency and presented as another step in the construction of socialism.
Nevertheless, âStrike at the Helmâ does present a clear view of the socialist horizon and a vision of how to reach it. This is essential in the struggle for hegemony within the Chavista camp. It is not that ChĂĄvezâs word is the gospel, but rather that the communal project, even amidst a devastating crisis, still stands as the most promising initiative around which the hegemony of Chavismo can be rebuilt. Commune or nothing!
Featured image:In his final public speech, ChĂĄvez reiterated his views on the construction of socialism in Venezuela. (PSUV)
Source URL: Venezuelanalysis.com
Edited by OT/JRE
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