As it becomes clear that the Trump administration will not recognize the democratic process in Venezuela, and seeks to overthrow the Maduro government by violent means, the many revolutionary organizations of the Bolivarian Revolution are discussing what must happen to defend their national sovereignty. The Gayones Movement, a Marxist-Leninist labor group, put out this statement in February to elaborate their position on the current crisis, and why they will be supporting Nicolás Maduro in the April presidential elections. This statement was published in Voz Proletaria and was translated by Fight Back! staff.

THE GAYONES MOVEMENT ON IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION AND THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The effects of the General Capitalist Crisis, the economic recession and depression have impacted the global economy and all countries, whether they are imperialist or dependent. The effects are different as the former have control over important sectors of the global economy and as such can manipulate them to meet their own needs, while the latter are subordinate to the decisions of the great imperialist powers and are limited in what they can do in the interests of their own peoples.

Our country does not escape this reality. It has been significantly impacted by this situation, and is further aggravated by the concerted action of the U.S.-E.U. imperialist bloc and all their regional and international lackeys. It has also been harmed by the internal weaknesses and acts of sabotage carried out by enemies embedded within the national government and our own revolutionary forces, who act against the people’s interests and are now timidly discovering the cases of the former attorney general, ex-ministers and other high functionaries, who are being investigated for running huge networks of corruption that certainly will continue to be revealed as resources do not reach nests of corruption and squander.

The sabotage of production, the international blockade and the economic boycott promoted by the United States express themselves in multiple forms, including the flight of mercenaries to neighboring countries, the outflow of currency to generate contraband of extraction, the outflow of capital and the outflow of the labor force, all of which has a direct impact on the economy and living conditions for the population.

We understand that multiple enemies threaten us with a catastrophe of grand dimensions in order to bring us despair, social disintegration and to facilitate the delivery of our resources to the imperialist powers. In the face of this we as revolutionaries cannot confuse ourselves. We must be clear who our principal enemy is, who our allies can be, and who reserve and auxiliary forces can be in a resistance scenario where unity and organization between the popular forces must be promoted, not ignoring the internal contradictions but placing them in the correct dimension.

In this complex scenario our organization does not have any doubts. The principal enemy is U.S. imperialism and its lackeys, the pro-Yankee forces that serve their interests. We also understand that secondary enemies exist that must be confronted in an order of struggle that does not allow errors nor falls into the web of right-wing politics.

Certainly, the situation in Venezuela is complex, as complex as the reality in any country that is moving close to a definitive rupture with its reality. The result must be revolutionary advance or a right-wing offensive, and will be determined by the actions of the most advanced classes in society and their most critical fighters. It is in these moments that the true revolutionary quality of classes and their organizations are revealed, when their programs are brought to task and their leaders must work to express all of their potential with their analysis and actions in order to bring about the popular revolutionary triumph.

Our analysis concludes that U.S. imperialism continues to be the principal enemy, not as an abstract definition but as a concrete reality. Already their direct and indirect spokespeople are speaking in favor of hostile action against the people of Venezuela, and without any doubt each economic, social, political, or media attack from them has an impact on the people as a whole, not just on the government. As revolutionaries we believe that we have an obligation to reject both external interference and weakness in firmly attacking the exploiting monopolies, thieves, the corrupt and the saboteurs, as this lack of firmness only feeds the actions of our enemies.

Applying the Marxist-Leninist method, global historic experiences and the development of struggle in our country we orient ourselves and can channel the popular forces towards combative positions without generating doubts about our goal of confronting reactionary forces in a reality that requires sacrifices. For this reason, we must prepare ourselves to realize that Venezuela, as a dependent country, must struggle for its own sovereignty and not permit any foreign interference.

The workers and the people, along with the combative organizations, are clear that only the strength of the true producers — the working class and campesinos — can overcome these great difficulties. This requires a state that overcomes the capitalist one and raises the workers to power, building a Worker, Campesino and Communal State as a means of leaving behind disastrous counter-revolutionary and reformist practices.

In this crucial stage of the long Venezuelan revolutionary process, the working class, the campesinos and the people, in general the oppressed, we must seize on every moment to take a step forward and demonstrate clear objectives. For this we keep in mind the regional and international reality, the complex internal situations require unity of action with those that, in one way or another, position themselves to struggle against our common enemy and are willing to join forces with Marxist-Leninists and the people.

We reaffirm our commitment to struggle alongside the proletariat, the popular forces and the left to replace fragmentation and division with the building of popular, revolutionary, anti-imperialist unity, to unite forces and prepare the conditions for resistance and popular advance. For this reason we call on our members and friends to support the candidacy of Nicolás Maduro as President of the Republic, viewing it as a step forward in the complex struggle of self-determination for the people, where we as proletarian revolutionaries are fighting to build socialism with its particular dialectical development.

We must take advantage of these conditions in order to consolidate popular organization and use this stellar moment in the history of Venezuela as a concrete opportunity to build popular spaces and advance towards the construction of a firm, tempered and disciplined Proletarian Voice.

For a Worker, Campesino and Communal State!

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