Paraphrasing Che, Oscar Figueroa, General Secretary of the PCV, declared that "you learn more from the defeats than the victories." In this way, in the weekly press conference, the first analysis was made of the results of the consultative Referendum on Constitutional Reform presented to the country by the President of the Republic, Hugo Chavez Frias.
Figueroa stated that the results and experiences of the Venezuelan people in recent days must lead to conclusions that strengthen the Venezuelan revolutionary process. He explained that "that which was lived through yesterday is a new episode in the class struggle, the intense ideological combat developing in our country about its transformation, the advance of the revolution, and the interests of our people." He added that "the revolution has lost a battle, but not the war against imperialism." The PCV stated that the run-up to the vote is a clear showing of the confrontation in Venezuelan society of contrasting visions of the country. "That was what yesterday was all about."
On one hand, the national oligarchy has the objective of maintaining its capitalist regime and to exploit and manipulate. In a merciless, lying media offensive, it manipulates ancient fears and historical prejudices" he emphasized.
He added that "a proposal to deepen democracy, and make it ever more popular, to transform the state, to reorganize the country, to raise the standard of living of our people, that very proposal confronted a whole campaign claiming an alleged risk to property, family, and religion, three ancient values of capitalist society."
"One of the outcomes that fill the PCV with satisfaction is that half of the participating electorate did so with a deep awareness of the advance towards socialism. Measured by the results of the referendum, we have taken an immense qualitative step forward in popular consciousness. It is not to be underestimated that 4 million Venezuelans opted for socialism in the midst of this hellish campaign," said Figueroa. He recalled that 8 years ago this level of development of the collective consciousness did not exist. In the PCV analysis, those 3 million of voters that did not vote yesterday were the difference from the result obtained in 2006. "They continue having confidence in Chavez, because they did not vote against Chavez. Only, they were not convinced about the Reform and they were neutralized by fear," he said.
The PCV drew certain conclusions from its first reflections: "Communists will concentrate on deepening the ideological battle that stems from disruptive historical fears. He added, "We have a duty to demolish the easy slogans. We have a duty to go into ideological battle in the name of our people." Other experience showed the Venezuelan Communists that "in all revolutionary processes, the existence of a revolutionary and political instrument, a unified collective leadership that directs the revolution, is necessary and indispensable." The PCV "will carry on its work, because history shows that, facing the dominant classes, it is necessary and indispensable to construct the political instrument of the revolution," he stated. A third element of the experience is that, finally, the opposition remembered and made theirs the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, "this is an advance, after what they faced in 1999, and the years afterwards, to come to remember that this constitution is the jost advanced in the world."
But the PCV warns that this defense apparently was merely an excuse to undo the advances and the deepening of reform. Already Baduel’s ( the opposition military leader) words speak of of a new "Constitutent Assembly." "It leaves us puzzled that, if they defend the Constitution of 1999 and they accept it as part of the country’s future, today it doesn’t work forthem." He added that "apparently this launches a sloganto maintain the destabilization."
