21st century socialism? Justification for the establishment of communist regimes.

(Translated from cubanet.org)- The term Socialism of the 21st century acquired worldwide diffusion from its mention by the then president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, on January 30, 2005 during the V World Social Forum.

Then, during a speech delivered in mid-2006, the former president said: “We have assumed the commitment to lead the Bolivarian Revolution towards socialism and contribute to the path of socialism, a 21st century socialism based on solidarity, in fraternity, in love, in freedom and in equality (…) We must transform the mode of capital and move towards a new socialism that must be built every day. ”

However, the origin of the term and its conceptual bases, have been formulated since the end of the last century, from the contributions of the German sociologist and political analyst Heinz Dieterich Steffan (1943). Dieterich has dedicated himself to the study and revision of Marxist postulates with the perspective of presenting them updated, incorporating the advances of knowledge, the experiences of socialist attempts, describing their limitations, and offering theoretical proposals both in political economy and in democratic participation. of citizens to build a society free of exploitation, respecting the main axes of Karl Marx's vision of social dynamics and class struggle.

This new ideological current arises in response to the social needs of certain Latin American countries.

However, despite the statements made by the heads of state defending this trend or sympathetic theorists such as Dieterich, who intend to establish new guidelines from traditional and classical Marxist ideas, the new model has nothing new since the beginning. conceptual point of view.

From what Deiterich theorized to what has really happened in countries whose governments have assumed positions of a socialist nature there is an abyss. Paradoxically, Venezuela, which accumulates one of the world's largest oil reserves, has surprised everyone after having condemned its citizens to the shortage of the most basic products, to total inflation and to a misery never seen before.

The land of Bolivar is under the threat of a military dictatorship that exerts a strong repression against any possible event of opposition to the regime imposed by its former president Chávez and continued by Maduro.

The proposal of 21st century socialism in Venezuela and Ecuador is presented as something diffuse, lacking true and reasonable theoretical bases; with the exception of certain aspects that, for convenience, leaders and leaders have established. Thus, respect for private property, although with strong state regulation, the preservation of political democracy with important conditions and its differentiation with the socialist experiences of the past are mixed with reality or what really happens in the practical order.

In the case of Venezuela, with whose regime Hugo Chavez extended his influence throughout the continent, it has turned out to be a power structure by power. Chavez also went to religious education - taking advantage of the eminently religious character of the peoples of Latin America and their emotional sense that supplies the poor intellectual development - to convince the crowds. In this sense, he said: “For me, Christianity is either socialist or not Christianity. Christianity is eminently socialist (...) The true kingdom of Christ is none other than socialism; the true ideal of Christ is none other than socialism. ”

Going to the gospel had its connotations in the psychological and emotional order. The peoples of Latin America, of this, "Our America", love Christ even without understanding Him. Thus the Venezuelan played in the hearts of his followers and reached them, because he knew that he could not reach their minds. Presenting a socialist Christ was his strategy, and trying to unify these concepts with Marxist ideas was another of his projects. Remember that he referred to a "dialectic of the democracy of the revolution", and insisted on "vices of the past" and the need for the total elimination of all vestiges of other times, which recalls the fearsome actions of Fidel Castro and Ernesto Guevara

Now, for the specific case of Ecuador, the following idea of ​​theorists Juan J. Paz and Miño Cepeda deserves to be cited:

"The 'socialism of the 21st century' (at least for Ecuador) is a system that combines social capitalism and popular or citizen state, therefore, this" socialism "is relatively different from the Marxist (although it is not anti-Marxist, since it recognizes and validates Marx's theory as a historical foundation), but also different from other models of social capitalism, such as European, Nordic or Canadian (...) also, is based on the capture of the State, to displace the interests of the bourgeoisie / oligarchies and impose the hegemony of the power of citizens and popular sectors, which with organization and grassroots mobilization, support the building of a new society. ”

What is new about the peculiarity of Ecuador with its ratification of Socialism of the 21st century? Do you know the true meaning of the idea of ​​imposing the hegemony of citizens' power over the bourgeoisie / oligarchies? Everything that can be studied or theorized about what socialism is, can never show you its true face. Where it can be reached you will only know when it has been lived and you have been attacked by that "new class" and that "new man". Nothing better to know what will be the fate of the countries that have echoed the proposals of Chavez - behind which is the thinking of Dr. F. Castro - that the study and knowledge of the facts led him to the destruction of the system, so idealized in the countries of Eastern Europe and in Cuba, where there is still the astral shadow of what was socialism.

How can you believe in a model that has brought Cuba and Venezuela to total chaos, not only in their economies, but from every point of view, ethical and moral, intellectual and spiritual? Why cling to bring new proposals from Marxist conceptions after having gone through the experience of the destruction of European communism of the twentieth century? There is nothing to review to propose new socialist modes. The so-called 21st Century Socialism is nothing more than a justification for the establishment of totalitarian communist systems and a possibility of perpetuating itself in power so that a small minority can exercise its arrogance and enrich itself.

Source: Cubanet.org