The idea of turning a revolutionary society into a socialistic society requiring the citizens’ involvement to create a strong government was at the core of discussion by the Latin America Solidarity Committee Thursday night.
Author Eugene Gogol, who wrote “The Concept of Other in Latin American Liberation” and currently resides in Mexico, spoke at the event, “Social Movements and Emancipatery Philosophy: Where are Latin American Freedom Struggles Heading Today?”, and provided information about several Latin American countries that went through revolutions or coups and are now restructuring and reforming.
“(Gogol) blends together an intellectual look with an activist’s eye,” said Scott Miksch of the Latin America Solidarity Committee.
Gogol said that talking about what happens after a revolution takes place is something “we don’t always get to listen to, discuss and think about” but is interwoven with the debate on neo-liberalism and imperialism.
“The way governments form is very interesting to hear. It’s something you don’t always think about,” University freshman Tyler Coble said.
The two countries Gogol’s speech focused on were Venezuela and Bolivia. Both countries restructured in the last decade and are still in the process of finding a way to incorporate the masses into the governing process, Gogol said.
Bolivia’s revolution started between 2000 and 2005 when the citizens of Bolivia were opposed to the idea of privatizing water, Gogol said. After the five year struggle a neo-liberal regime was established.
“There is a tendency, even after the collapse of the regime, to call Bolivia socialist. But for there to be a single pathway, a single voice and not include the social movements is not beneficial to the Bolivian regime,” Gogol said. “I think it is absolutely necessary to support Bolivia and Bolivia’s independence.”
Gogol said that if you can involve masses and masses of people in the construction of a society and push them away when setting up new government, it will weaken the system.
For example, when it comes to Venezuela, the country is perceived as socialist, but even that can be an illusion, Gogol said.
Gogol said the Venezuelan government has a view of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and acted on this when they established ties with Iran, which raises the question of how to authentically build socialism for the 21st century.
The country heavily relies on imported goods; it therefore needs to form strong ties with other countries in order to receive these goods, Gogol said.
When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came into power, he inherited a distorted economy because the country had been solely reliant on its oil drilling for finances and had not been developing its agriculture and working class, Gogol said.
“Venezuela became a country, even more so, where people went to the city to survive,” Gogol said. “There are attempts to reverse that.”
While there is no clear vision of how to establish socialism in the 21st century, it does continue to be a discussion on both the local and the national level throughout Latin America, Gogol said.
The Latin America Solidarity Committee’s next event, about the Honduras coup of June 2009, will take place Thursday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. in 112 Lillis. Dana Frank will be a guest speaker at the event.
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