On Sunday, August 15th, a national referendum is scheduled to take place in Venezuela to decide whether democratically-elected president Hugo Chávez should remain in office. The outcome of this referendum, while significant, is only a fragment of a much larger and longer tale of class struggle in Venezuela, where 80% of the population lives in poverty and the richest 20% control the majority of country's natural and human-produced resources.

Chavez was first voted to office by an overwhelming majority after leading a coup attempt against the corrupt leader Carlos Andres Cardenas, who among other atrocities, brought the nation under the rule of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 'austerity measures.' The popular movements of Venezuela view Chavez as a symbol of self-determination and hope, and the opposition's attempt to oust him as an attempt by the capitalist classes to reassert fascist rule over the country. This confrontation will not be decided solely by ballots, but by popular struggle in the streets and the countryside.

[ Venezuela Analysis [en] I Apporea.org [es] I UK-IMC [en] ]