Red berets and Nike shoes…(aka – Caracus, Conferences and Chavistas- part 2)

NSI Senior Researcher Pablo Heidrich recently travelled to Venezuela for the Annual Conference of the Latin American Association of Political Economy which took place in Caracus from October 7^th – 11^th. The conference theme for this year was very timely: “Southern Solutions for a Global Crisis”. These writings contain impressions on some of the presentations heard during the conference, discussions with some of the participants and what was seen, heard or smelled while in Venezuela.

Day 1

Staying at the Hotel ALBA, named in honour of the regional block Venezuela is building and now already includes Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras and some of the smaller Caribbean island-nations. ALBA (which stands for Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America) was chosen as the name for this recently “nationalized” Hilton hotel. In fact, it was a government-built hotel being managed by Hilton, whose lease Chavez chose not to renew. However, there was a referendum late last year and so, the non-renewal of the Hilton’s lease was repackaged as a “nationalization”. A cheap one, indeed, since some of the other have cost billions of dollars.

The conference does not begin in its pre-arranged location but in a different one, the auditorium of the new National Academy for Economic Planning. The reason, we are told, is that our conference has already created a lot of interest and many of the students want to attend.So, we are taken by bus to that institution’s campus. Once there, a rumour provides the real reason, Chavez himself will likely attend and the university auditorium is a more “appropriate” venue than a conference room for 50 at the top of some high-rise.

Besides rumour, however, nothing is ever formally confirmed. After some 3 hours waiting and polite but persistent strategic seating changes among the intelligentsia in attendance, we assume Chavez is ready to appear. First, some 300 students come in and fill the back of the auditorium, a couple hundred more are bused in just in case and told to take the day off and picnic in the park nearby. Secondly, a chorus of some 20 people takes-up position on one side of the auditorium and starts testing their harmonies. They are dressed in Venezuelan flags, Chavistas red berets and fluorescent-blue Nike shoes (specially made for them, I am told). Thirdly, some very large guys come in jeeps and take positions around the auditorium, while two stunningly beautiful young women in very tight military uniforms stand by the platform, next to the chair where Chavez is likely to sit.

The conference begins suddenly and just five minutes into it, as the People’s Minister for Economic Planning is giving us the opening speech, he picks up a cellphone call in front of the microphone and evidently talks to Hugo Chavez. He hangs up and tells us that the President is coming to listen in and participate in our discussions. An uproar of happiness and enthusiasm comes from the crowd and the Minister struggles to continue his formal speech.

Just 10 minutes later, Hugo Chavez does arrive with a rather average entourage of bodyguards and secretaries. He greets every person in the opening panel of the conference, thanks them for coming to Venezuela, and is sincerely polite with each and every one there. He then looks straight at the public calling his name, clapping strenuously, and smiles slightly, almost shy in the face of the multitude’s visible affection for him. The chorus comes in singing the national anthem. Right after, some people in the audience ask to sign the International Socialist, a request that Chavez fatherly ignores.

After thanking and expressing his interest in listening to addresses of the conference participants, he proceeds to talk for 2 hours and 18 minutes. It is a political speech on the virtues of progressing towards socialism, while capitalism is facing its ultimate fate: crisis, chaos and dissolution. While very heavy on Marxist theory, his discourse is anchored on material benchmarks, nationalizations of various industries, building of this or that hospital, very specific measures to reduce capital flight, prevent internet shopping, and channel credit away from consumption, etc. He can’t hide two contradictory thoughts through his speech. One is his visible joy at the Wall Street tumble taking place, and the other, his obvious worry about what this might mean for Venezuela’s economy.

So, Chavez ably uses one to give strength to the other, converting contradiction into logical cohesion. Chavez believes that this crisis is the most powerful endorsement of his route to socialism, as capitalism has shown that it can’t deliver. For example, nationalizations have made utility and productive enterprises stronger in Venezuela than they are in the rest of the region, where they depend on banks and stock markets for credit and function. Therefore, the more nationalized the economy is, the more insulated from global crises. His diversification away from US and towards China, Iran and Russia will also lower the vulnerability of Venezuela. Even having moved the national reserves from New York to Switzerland a couple of years ago is proving to have been a good, even profitable, decision.

After such long speech, punctuated by his attractive aids bringing him note cards with Bloomberg or Reuters cables he reads the news dispatches aloud to illustrate the depth of the crisis, sidetracks to tell of conversations with Fidel Castro, and crescendoes his discourse with new slogans (i.e. “a socialist country is the only defence against the crisis”), Chavez announces he must leave for another meeting and soon after, we are taken back to our hotel, too. After all, 5pm is a good time to perhaps have some lunch. No more speeches or presentations for that day.

-siempre Pablo