The Latin American Left Today

[polly7]

By Marta Harnecker and Eleonora de Lucena


Source: lo-de-alla.org

Saturday, September 22, 2012

http://www.zcommunications.org/the-latin-american-left-today-by-marta-harnecker

[Translation of an interview from Folha de São Paulo for August 28. See original here.]

She defines herself as a Marxist-Leninist “popular educator.” A Chilean, she was a student of philosopher Louis Althusser, a Catholic student leader and a member of the socialist government of Salvador Allende. She married one of the commanders of the Cuban revolution, Manuel Piñeiro or “Barba Roja,” and in the 2000s she became an adviser to Hugo Chávez.

Marta Harnecker says she has written more than 80 books. The best known, Conceptos Elementales del Materialismo Histórico (The Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism), from the 1960s, has sold more than a million copies and is in its 67th edition. At 75, she travels throughout Latin America and says she is optimistic; the United States no longer does what it wants in the region and the concept of sovereignty has spread.

Living now in Vancouver, Canada, she considers Chávez “an essential revolutionary leader” but a “contradictory person.” “He is a soldier who believes in popular participation. The important thing is to see the fruits of this thing.” Venezuela is the least unequal country on the continent.

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Folha – How do you evaluate the political situation in Latin America?

Marta Harnecker – I am very optimistic.

When Chávez won he was alone and now the scenario has changed a lot. I consider the most advanced situations to be in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. My last book was on Ecuador and is called Ecuador: Una Nueva Izquierda en Busca de la Vida en Plenitud. The concept of these governments is that of an alternative to capitalism, in which the human person has full development....

[Judi Lynn]

1. Partway through the material, will finish this evening. Very useful reading. Thank you. n/t

[sabrina 1]

2. 'When Chavez won he was alone'. That is true, and people on the Left in the US

were thrilled airc. Something happened in this country to the Left since around 2004. But before that, Chavez was super popular here. The Propaganda they paid for works I guess.

I think he led Latin America out of the clutches of the Western powers which is why they hate him so much. It's outrageous really how we think we have a right to determine the destinies of other nations, especially since we cause them so much suffering.

But I agree with the woman in the article who said that she is very hopeful for Latin America. The US got tied up in the ME, destroying that region of the world, which Latin American countries time to strengthen themselves against any more interference from the Western Powers.

I would love to go there, it's really been a very exciting period, and is the only region of the world I feel hopeful about right now, unless we start destroying what they are building again. I hope not.