“We are not in opposition, as before, but are constituent power” The question [of why I have not protested] has an implicit false premise. Why say the Bolivarians do not protest? Yes I protest a lot. The way this question is worded reveals the Guardian’s assumptions about the revolution in Venezuela. It is a bit of a leading question. Great Britain does not have problems? Approaching our revolution from the hegemonic narrative prevents those who do not live here to understand what is happening in Venezuela. You think from your own reality without realising that today, the popular (poor) sectors have direct access to the government. We are not in opposition, as before, but are constituent power. Probably when you read my answer you are going to say that I have been ‘co-opted’, but for the first time in my long life my opinion is heard by those in government. When we have something to protest against, individually or collectively, we look for a popular channel to express a policy change but, additionally, we are making proposals. The political framework of Venezuela is a participatory democracy, not only representative. Unless we change the way we think we are destined and doomed to repeat the reality and we cannot transform our country. Venezuela needs to go through an educational process that allows the entire country to have the cognitive tools to carry out the cultural revolution that we need to exit the contemporary framework of global capitalism and build a socialism linking humans with their own power. I want an eco-socialist, feminist revolution that informs answers from our history and desires to depatriarchalise and decolonise us. Sandra Angeleri, ethnic studies professor, Central University of Venezuela
Posted on: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 01:45:10 +0000