Socialist logic signifies Cuba's and Venezuela's government plans

When enrolling in the National Electoral Council (CNE), Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez introduced his government plan with a slogan that defines his proposal: "We need to transcend the non-return barrier, making irreversible the transit to socialism."

Interestingly, in the plan contents there are some items consistent with the "Guidelines of the economic and social policy of the party and the revolution," agreed in Cuba for Raúl Castro's administration. Common subject matters and even similar expressions read in both papers.

In the Cuban document, for instance, it is said that the island economic policy will be in line with the principle under which socialism only is able to overcome troubles and preserve the conquests of the revolution. And the following objective is added: "Ensuring continuity and irreversibility of socialism."

Little by little

In 2004, President Chávez wondered: "Is socialism the alternative?" And he answered: "No. It has not been planned at this moment (...) We do not mean to eliminate private property, (as in) the communist proposal, no (...) Nobody knows what will happen in the future (...) Right now, unless we would like to fall into an utopia, we need to set the establishment of a new economic system. This cannot be done in two or five years; that would be a lie."

In keeping with this goal, the 2007-2013 plan already proposes less weight for the private sector and this has materialized by means of regulations, tax charges and nationalizations.

In 2003-2019, the objective is "moving towards the socialist economic production model, based on development of productive forces."  This entails strengthening of clusters, small and medium-sized enterprises, communal enterprises "as driving forces of the direct location of goods and services, far away from the channels of capital logic." Big enterprises are not even mentioned in this new model.

Translated by Conchita Delgado