I think that Bolivia is more of a flawed democracy than a full democracy? Bolivia isn’t yet socialist, and elements of the far-right government are still in power.
I don’t know about Bolivia, but Venezuela ironically has zero pretensions of being a socialist country; there are no mentions of Marx or Marxism in their constitution. It’s just that they pissed off the US really hard by daring to be a sucdem country while operation condor was in full effect and while they wanted to force neoliberalism into latin america. They also reverted the US backed coup almost instantly.
Hugo Chavez and Maduro have praised Marxism and Marx IIRC, but they’ve also both said I think that they aren’t absolutely committed to Marxism, but that socialism is a long-term goal.
By “socialism” they mean something very different from what marxists mean. This isnt a dig at them or anything, but Venezuela inst really a communist project like China, the USSR or even Chile under Allende.
Pretty much but this is to be expected with government run by Democratic Socialists. They still believe in electoralism and dealing with the far-right in your government is par the course for them.
Despite their pronouncements, I’m not sure if Chavez or Maduro actually believe in Democratic Socialism, or that their productive and militarized forces aren’t sufficient enough to challenge the Venezuelan bourgeoisie and criminal elements.
I think that Bolivia is more of a flawed democracy than a full democracy? Bolivia isn’t yet socialist, and elements of the far-right government are still in power.
Edit: Same for Venezuela
I don’t know about Bolivia, but Venezuela ironically has zero pretensions of being a socialist country; there are no mentions of Marx or Marxism in their constitution. It’s just that they pissed off the US really hard by daring to be a sucdem country while operation condor was in full effect and while they wanted to force neoliberalism into latin america. They also reverted the US backed coup almost instantly.
Hugo Chavez and Maduro have praised Marxism and Marx IIRC, but they’ve also both said I think that they aren’t absolutely committed to Marxism, but that socialism is a long-term goal.
By “socialism” they mean something very different from what marxists mean. This isnt a dig at them or anything, but Venezuela inst really a communist project like China, the USSR or even Chile under Allende.
I understand what you are getting at, but I don’t think Venezuela eschews Marxism or class struggle, at least.
Pretty much but this is to be expected with government run by Democratic Socialists. They still believe in electoralism and dealing with the far-right in your government is par the course for them.
Despite their pronouncements, I’m not sure if Chavez or Maduro actually believe in Democratic Socialism, or that their productive and militarized forces aren’t sufficient enough to challenge the Venezuelan bourgeoisie and criminal elements.