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어제 제가 거주하는 곳 모처에서 베네수엘라에서 온 분들을 모시고 베네수엘라 대통령 선거에 대한 중간보고를 들었습니다. 뭐 다들 아시는 바처럼 차베스의 지지율은 50%, 혹은 60%까지도 바라보고 있다고 하고, 상대편 후보의 경우 25% 정도 바라보고 있는데 "그것도 많은 것 아니냐"는 질문에, "이미 opposition의 경우 쿠데타 이후 시기를 놓쳤다"고 하더군요.

부르주아에서 장악하고 있는 미디어는 무슨 opposition 쪽을 지지하는 세력이 카라카스 역사상 최대 규모의 집회를 열었다 운운하는데, 그건 다 헛소리고, 차베스가 나타나기만 하면 수백만명 씩 사람들이 운집하는 중이랍니다. 도로는 너무 좁아서 고속도로를 폐쇄해놓고 집회해야 된다고 하네요. 사실 이런 '동원'이 문제가 아니라, 민중들의 각성 수준이 중요한 것인데, opposition 쪽에서 무슨 헛소리를 하더라도 끄덕도 하지 않고 있는 민중들 수준이 발제자는 매우 자랑스럽다고 하더라구요. 제국주의적 질서와 국내적 상황에 대해서도 매우 잘 알고 있고, 차베스와 스스로를 동일시하는 의식의 수준이 매우 높다고 합니다.

사실 베네수엘라 대통령 선거는 아주 극단적인 상황이 일어나지 않는 이상 별 이변없이 끝날 것 같고, 세계 사람들의 관심은 오히려 베네수엘라 민중들이 이후의 사회주의 혁명 (일국이든 세계적 수준이든) 에 대해 어떤 복안들을 가지고 있나 하는 점일 듯 합니다.

1. 도전들

다들 아시는 바처럼 베네수엘라는 내외적인 도전에 직면해 있는 중입니다. 그중 가장 큰 것이, 특히 콜럼비아 등에서 건너와 있는 paramilitary들, 그리고 혁명을 위해서가 아니라 개인의 안위를 위해서 (공무원 월급과 복지수준이 꽤 좋다고 하네요) 정부에 들어와서 혁명을 방해하는 사람들, 뭐 이런 점들이라고 합니다. 역사적으로 베네수엘라 내에 콜럼비아 국적을 가진 사람들이 꽤나 거주해왔고 해서, 이들이 어떤 반혁명적 조직에 가담해서 어떤 활동을 하고 있는 것인지를 알아내는 것이 매우 힘든 상황이랍니다.

외부적으로는, 차베스의 국제적 행보에 박수를 보내는 이들이 많지만, 45년 반둥회의의 주역들 수준의 그런 저개발국 중심의 카리스마들이 결집되지는 못하고 있는 것 아니냐 하는 우려를 하는 분들이 있더군요. 아시아에서는 네팔을 지금 주목을 좀 해봐야한다고 하고. 어쨋든 이번에 산디니스타도 돌아오고 했으니 라틴 아메리카에서 어떤 일들이 일어날 지 지켜보는 것은 여전히 의미가 있을 듯 합니다. (여담이지만, 발제자분이 Che, Fidel, Chavez, Evo라고 적힌 빨간 티셔츠를 입고 오셨던데, 매우 탐나더군요. ㅎㅎㅎ)

2. 질서재편의 계획들

인민위원회

7만 개 이상의 협동조합(co-operatives)들이 생겨나고 노동자 자주관리가 현실적 쟁점으로 떠오르고 있는 상황입니다. 아시겠지만 책도 한권 나왔지요. 우리나라 말로 번역하면 인민위원회같은 것이 각지에서 꾸려지고 있는데, 중요한 점은 이 인민위원회 수준에서 '생산'을 책임진다는 것이예요. 그러니까 허울만 좋은 지방자치제 뭐 이런 것과는 수준이 다르다는 점. 예를 들어줬는데 뭐 그런 식이라고 하네요. 마을 주민들이 모여서 올해는 상황이 이러저러하니까 나랑 너랑 쟤랑 셋이서 옥수수 농사를 지을께, 너는 그걸 매니지를 하고, 걔는 다른 사람 하나랑 판로를 좀 모색해보고... 이런 인민위원회들을 포괄하는 상급단체가 있고, 이것이 대통령 산하 기관으로 바로 보고하는 방식이라고 합니다. 이런 위원회들이 얼마나 만들어져있는 지는 주 정부의 성향이 어떤 지에 따라 좀 다르긴 하다네요.

장기적으로는 이들이 현재의 부르주아 국가를 외부에서 둘러싸고 국가를 대체하거나 하는 이런 전략적 관점이 필요할 텐데, 이에 대해서는 논의를 시작하려는 참이랍니다. 4월에 나온 법안이 이런 내용들과 특히 국가에 대한 논의를 포괄하고 있답니다. 볼리바리안들을 혹시 보신 분들을 알겠지만, 볼리바리안 헌법을 조그만 책으로 해서 항시 소지하고 다니잖아요? 이 4월의 법안도 요즘 그런 유행을 타고 있나 봅니다. 번역을 좀 해야 할텐데...

토지개혁

토지를 몰수해서 빈농이나 소작농들에게 평등하게 분배하는 토지개혁에 대해서 질문이 나왔는데, 이게 정부수준에서는 어떻게 되고 있는 지 모르겠고 농민들 수준의 투쟁이 일어나고 있는 듯 합니다. 그러다가 살해도 당하고 그런다네요. 베네수엘라도 수도 근처 (전체 토지의 5%) 에 전 국민의 40%가 몰려 사는 등 인구의 집중율이 높아서, 농촌으로 농사를 짓겠다고 낙향하는 사람이 거의 없고, 그런 점도 토지개혁의 걸림돌이라고 합니다.

전위당 건설

워낙 혁명 조직들 사이에 정치적 경쟁이 심하여 차베스가 요즘 제기하고 있는 것이 혁명을 위한 단일 정당 건설인데, 이에 대한 논의가 잠시 있었습니다. 현재 존재하는 정당들은 다 10-20년 정도 된 신생정당들이고, 공산당의 역사가 60년 정도 되었는데, 공산당도 단일정당 건설에 큰 이의가 없다는 입장이라고 하네요. 생각을 해보시면 이게 정말 단순한 문제가 아닐 것을 아시겠지만, 아무튼 이런 문제들이 선거 후, 내년 1월 이후로 미뤄져있다고 합니다.

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President Hugo Chavez - United Nations - Sept. 2006

출처: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caLt8P5gp9U

폭스뉴스 버전 (좀 더 김): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_fcABIpm4c

부시 연설: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Tep4xtEgU

(잘 듣다보면, 청중들 비웃는 *-_-* 소리를 들을 수 있음)

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공식 번역문입니다.

TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL SPANISH TRANSCRIPTION FROM THE
HEADQUARTERS FO THE UNITED NATIONS
Caracas, September 20, 2006

Hugo Chávez Frías
President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Message to the UN and the people of the world.

President Chávez: Madame President, Excellencies, Heads of State,
Heads of Governments, and high ranking government representatives
from around the world. A very good day to you all.

First of all, with much respect, I would like to invite all of
those, who have not had a chance, to read this book that we have
read: Noam Chomsky, one of the most prestigious intellectuals of
America and the world. One of Chomsky's most recent works: Hegemony
or Survival? America's Quest for Global Dominance. An excellent
piece to help us understand what happened in the world during the
20th century, what is going on now and the greatest threat looming
over our planet: the hegemonic pretension of US Imperialism that
puts at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to
warn about this danger and call on the people of the US and the
world to halt this threat that is like the sword of Damocles.

I intended to read a chapter, but for the sake of time, I will leave
it as a recommendation. It's a fast read. It's really good Madame
President, surely you are familiar with it. It is published in
English, German, Russian, and Arabic (applause). Look, I think our
brothers and sisters of the United States should be the first
citizens to read this book because the threat is in their own house.
The Devil is in their home. The Devil, the Devil himself is in their
home.

The Devil came here yesterday (laughter and applause). Yesterday the
Devil was here, in this very place. This table from where I speak
still smells like sulfur. Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, in this
same hall the President of the United States, who I call "The
Devil," came here talking as if he owned the world. It would take a
psychiatrist to analyze the US president's speech from yesterday.

As the spokesperson for Imperialism he came to give us his recipes
for maintaining the current scheme of domination, exploitation and
pillage of the world's people. It would make a good Alfred Hitchcock
movie. I could even suggest a title: "TheDevil's Recipe." That is to
say, US Imperialism, and here Chomsky says it with profound and
crystalline clarity, is making desperate efforts to consolidate its
hegemonic system of domination. We cannot allow this to occur, we
cannot permit them to install a world dictatorship, to consolidate a
world dictatorship.

The speech of the tyrannical president of the world was full of
cynicism, full of hypocrisy. It is this imperial hypocrisy with
which he attempts to control everything. They want to impose upon us
the democratic model they devised, the false democracy of elites.
And moreover, a very original democratic model imposed with
explosions, bombings, invasions, and cannon shot. That's some
democracy! One would have to review the thesis of Aristotle and of
the first Greeks who spoke of democracy to see what kind of model of
democracy is imposed by marines, invasions, aggressions and bombs.

The US president said the following yesterday in this same hall, I
quote: "everywhere you turn, you hear extremists who tell you that
you can escape your misery and regain your dignity through violence
and terror and martyrdom." Wherever he looks he sees extremists. I
am sure he sees you, brother, with your skin color, and thinks you
are an extremist. With his color, the dignified President of Bolivia
Evo Morales, who was here yesterday, is an extremist. The
imperialists see extremists all around. No, its not that we are
extremists. What is happening is that the world is waking up and
people everywhere are rising up. I have the impression Mr.
Imperialist dictator that you will live the rest of your days as if
in a nightmare, because no matter where you look we will be rising
up against US imperialism. Yes, they call us extremists, we who
demand complete freedom in the world, equality among peoples and
respect for national sovereignty. We are rising up against the
Empire, against the model of domination.

Later, the president said, "Today I'd like to speak directly to the
people across the broader Middle East: My country desires peace."
That is certain. If we walk the streets of the Bronx, if we walk
through the streets of New York, Washington, San Diego, California,
any city, San Antonio, San Francisco and we ask the people on the
street: the people of the US want peace. The difference is that the
government of this country, of the US, does not want peace; it wants
to impose its model of exploitation and plundering and its hegemony
upon us under threat of war. That is the little difference.

The people want peace and, what is happening in Iraq? And what
happened in Lebanon and Palestine? And what has happened over the
last 100 years in Latin America and the world and now the threats
against Venezuela, new threats against Iran? He spoke to the people
of Lebanon, "Many of you have seen your homes and communities caught
in crossfire." What cynicism! What capacity to blatantly lie before
the world! The bombs in Beirut launched with milimetric precision
are "crossfire"? I think that the president is thinking of those
western movies where they shoot from the hip and someone ends up
caught in the middle.

Imperialist fire! Fascist fire! Murderous fire! Genocidal fire
against the innocent people of Palestine and Lebanon by the Empire
and Israel. That is the truth. Now they say that they are upset to
see homes destroyed.

In the end, the US president came to speak to the people, and also
to say, "I brought some documents Madame President." This morning I
was watching some of the speeches while updating mine. He spoke to
the people of Afghanistan, to the people of Lebanon, to the people
of Iran. One has to wonder, when listening to the US president speak
to those people: what would those people say to him? If those people
could talk to him, what would they say? I think I have an idea
because I know the souls of the majority of those people, the people
of the South, the downtrodden peoples would say: Yankee imperialist
go home! That would be the shout that would echo around the world,
if these people of the world could speak with only one voice to the
US Empire.

Therefore, Madame President, colleagues, and friends, last year we
came to this same hall, as we have for the past eight years, and we
said something that today is completely confirmed. I believe that
almost no one in this room would stand up to defend the system of
the United Nations. Lets admit with honesty, the UN system that
emerged after WWII has collapsed, shattered, it doesn't work. Well,
ok. To come here and give speeches, and visit with one another once
a year, yes, it works for that. And to make long documents and
reflect and listen to good speeches like Evo's yesterday, and
Lula's, yes, for that it works. And many speeches, like the one we
just heard by the president of Sri Lanka and of the president of
Chile. But we have converted this Assembly into a mere deliberative
organ with no kind of power to impact in the slightest way the
terrible reality the world is experiencing. Therefore we again
propose here today, September 20, [2006] to re-found the United
Nations. Last year Madame President, we made four modest proposals
that we feel are in urgent need of being adopted by the Heads of
State, Heads of Government, ambassadors and representatives. And we
discussed these proposals.

First: expansion. Yesterday Lula said the same, the Security
Council, its permanent as well as its non- permanent seats, must
open up to new members from developed, underdeveloped and Third
World countries. That's the first priority.

Second: the application of effective methods of addressing and
resolving world conflicts. Transparent methods of debate and of
making decisions.

Third: the immediate suppression of the anti-democratic veto
mechanism, the veto power over Security Council decisions, seems
fundamental to us and is being called for by all. Here is a recent
example, the immoral veto by the US government that freely allowed
Israeli forces to destroy Lebanon, in front of us all, by blocking a
resolution in the UN Security Council.

Fourthly: as we always say, it is necessary to strengthen the role,
the powers of the general secretary of the United Nations. Yesterday
we heard the speech of the general secretary, who is nearing the end
of his term. He recalled that in these ten years the world has
become more complicated and that the serious problems of the world,
the hunger, poverty, violence, and violation of human rights have
been aggravated, this is a terrible consequence of the collapse of
the UN system and of US imperialist pretensions.

Madame President, recognizing our status as members, Venezuela
decided several years ago to wage this battle within the UN with our
voice, our modest reflections. We are an independent voice,
representing dignity and the search for peace, the formulation of an
international system to denounce persecution and hegemonic
aggression against people worldwide. In this way Venezuela has
presented its name. The homeland of Bolívar has presented its name
as a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council. Of
course you all know that the US government has begun an open attack,
an immoral global attack in an attempt to block Venezuela from being
freely elected to occupy the open seat on the Security Council. They
are afraid of the truth. The empire is afraid of the truth and of
independent voices. They accuse us of being extremists.
They are the extremists.

I want to thank all countries that have announced your support for
Venezuela, even when the vote is secret and it is not necessary for
anyone to reveal their vote. But I think that the open aggression of
the US Empire has reinforced the support of many countries, which in
turn morally strengthened Venezuela, our people, our government.

Our brothers and sisters of MERCOSUR, for example, as a block, have
announced their support for Venezuela. We are now a full member of
MERCOSUR along with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay. Many other
countries of Latin America, such as Bolivia and all the CARICOM
nations have pledged their support to Venezuela. The entire Arab
League has announced its support for Venezuela. I thank the Arab
world, our brothers of the Arab world and of the Caribbean. The
African Union, nearly all of the African Union countries have
pledged their support for Venezuela and other countries like Russia,
China and many others across the globe. I thank you all deeply in
the name of Venezuela, in the name of our people and in the name of
truth, because Venezuela, upon occupying a seat on the Security
Council will not only bring to it the voice of Venezuela, but also
the voice of the Third World, the voice of the peoples of the
planet. There we will defend dignity and truth.

Despite all this Madame President, I think there are reasons to be
optimistic.

Hopelessly optimistic, as a poet would say, because beyond the
threats, bombs, wars, aggressions, preventative wars, and the
destruction of entire peoples, one can see that a new era is
dawning. Like Silvio Rodríguez sings, "the era is giving birth to a
heart." Alternative tendencies, alternative thoughts, and youth with
distinct ideas are emerging. In barely a decade it has been
demonstrated that the End of History theory was totally false. The
establishment of the American Empire, the American peace, the
establishment of the capitalist, neoliberal model that generates
misery and poverty— all totally false. The thesis is totally false
and has been dumped. Now the future of the world must be defined.
There is a new dawning on this planet that can be seen everywhere:
in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania. I want to highlight
that vision of optimism to fortify our conscience and our will to
fight to save the world and construct a new world, a better world.

Venezuela has joined this struggle and for this we are threatened.
The US has already planned, financed and launched a coup in
Venezuela. And the US continues to support coup plotters in
Venezuela. And they continue supporting terrorism against Venezuela.
President Michel Bachellet recalled a few days ago… pardon, I mean a
few minutes ago… the terrible murder of the former Chilean Foreign
Minster Orlando Letelier. I would only add the following: the guilty
parties are free. Those responsible for that deed, in which a US
citizen was also killed, are North Americans of the CIA. Terrorists
of the CIA.

In addition, we here in this room must remember that in a few days
it will be the 30th anniversary of that murder and of the horrible
terrorist attack that blew up a Cubana de Aviación airplane in mid-
flight killing 73 innocent people. And where is the worst terrorist
of this continent, who admitted to being the intellectual author of
the airplane sabotage? He was in prison in Venezuela for some years,
but he escaped with the complicity of CIA officials and the
Venezuelan government of that time. Now he is here living in the US,
protected by the government even though he was convicted and he
confessed. The US government has a double standard and protects
terrorism.

These reflections are to demonstrate that Venezuela is committed to
the fight against terrorism, against violence and works togetherwith
all people who struggle for peace and for a just world.

I spoke of the Cuban airplane. Luis Posada Carriles is the name of
that terrorist. He is protected here just like the corrupt fugitives
who escaped Venezuela. A group of terrorists who planted bombs in
embassies of various countries, murdered innocent people during the
coup and kidnapped this humble servant. They were going to execute
me, but God reached out his hand, along with a group of good
soldiers, and the who people took to the streets. It's a miracle
that I'm here. The leaders of that coup and those terrorist acts are
here, protected by the US government. I accuse the US government of
protecting terrorism and of giving a completely cynical speech.
Speaking of Cuba, we went happily to Havana. We were there several
days. During the G-15 Summit and the NAM Summit the dawning of a new
era was evident with an historic resolution and final document.
Don't worry. I am not going to read it all. But here is a collection
of resolutions made in open discussion with transparency. With more
than 50 Heads of State, Havana was the capital of the South for a
week.

We have re-launched the Non-Aligned Movement. And if there is
anything I could ask of you all, my brothers and sisters, it is to
please lend your support to the strengthening of the NAM, which is
so important to the emergence of a new era, to preventing hegemony
and imperialism. Also, you all know that we have designated Fidel
Castro as President of the NAM for the next three years and we are
sure that compañero President Fidel Castro will fulfill the post
with much efficiency. Those who wanted Fidel to die, well, they
remain frustrated because Fidel is already back in his olive green
uniform and is now not only the President of Cuba but also the
President of NAM.

Madam President, dear colleagues, presidents, a very strong movement
of the South emerged there in Havana. We are men and women of the
South. We are bearers of these documents, these ideas, opinions, and
reflections. I have already closed by folder and the book that I
brought with me. Don't forget it. I really recommend it. With much
humility we try to contribute ideas for the salvation of the planet,
to save it from the threat of imperialism, and god willing soon.
Early in this century, god willing, so that we ourselves can see and
experience with our children and grandchildren a peaceful world,
under the fundamental principles of the UN, renewed and relocated. I
believe that the UN must be located in another country, in a city of
the South. We have proposed this from Venezuela. You all know that
my medical personnel had to stay locked up in the airplane. The
Chief of my security is locked on the plane. They would not let them
come to the UN. Another abuse and outrage, Madame President, that we
request to be registered personally to the sulfurous Devil. But God
is with us.

A warm embrace and may God bless us all.

Good day.

(Original)Translation by Dawn Gable

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김영길의 '남미리포트' <194> 세계적인 사회주의 세력 구축 선언  
2006-09-12 오전 9:59:11

"사회주의는 소멸되지 않았다. 다만 잠들어 있었을 뿐이다. 이제 사회주의가 부활할 때가 됐다. 나는 범세계적인 사회주의를 이끌 강력한 정치세력을 구축할 것임을 선언한다."
  
  유엔에서 미국을 역할을 약화시키기 위해 안전보장이사회 비상임이사국 진출을 노리고 있는 우고 차베스 베네수엘라 대통령이 전 세계 순방일정을 모두 마치고 오는 12월에 치러지는 대선유세를 시작하면서 외친 일성이다. 지난 10일 수도 카라카스 중심가인 볼리바르 대로에서 열린 대선유세장에서다.
  
  차베스는 이어 베네수엘라 내 정치세력의 단합을 촉구하고, 전세계 사회주의 정치세력을 이끌어갈 '볼리바리안 혁명당' 창당을 천명했다. 베네수엘라 집권 여당인 기존 제5사회혁명당과 친(親)여권으로 분류된 4개의 정당을 하나로 묶는 거대 여당을 탄생시켜 자신을 지지하는 전세계 사회주의 정치세력들을 이끌어 가겠다는 선언이다.
  
  이는 볼리바리안 혁명을 외치는 차베스가 이제 자신의 정치적인 꿈을 중남미통합에 한정시키지 않고 범세계적인 신사회주의 혁명으로 확대시키겠다는 포부를 밝힌 것이라는 평가를 받고 있다.  

  차베스는 이 같은 자신의 정치적인 포부를 실현하기 위해 오는 12월 대선 승리를 전제로 2010년 대통령 연임제한을 철폐하는 개헌을 추진하겠다고 공식화했다. 그동안 정치권에서 떠돌던 2030년까지의 집권계획을 사실상 시인한 셈이다.
  
  그러나 차베스는 "내 개인적으로는 개헌에 대한 특별한 계획을 세우지는 않았지만 현재 정치권에서 활발하게 추진되고 있는 대통령 무제한 연임제 개헌은 내가 아닌 국민들이 결정할 문제"라고 밝혔다.
  
  자신의 장기집권이 베네수엘라 국민들의 의사에 달려있다는 얘기 속에는 국민들이 원하지 않는다면 언제든지 물러나겠다는 자신감이 깔려 있기도 했다.
  
  차베스는 이날 자신의 차기 대권 도전은 28명에 이르는 야당후보들과의 싸움이 아닌 미 제국주의와의 전쟁이라고 선언했다. 실제로 선거불패 신화를 이어가고 있는 특수군 중령 출신의 차베스는 군 작전을 수행하듯 선거운동을 추진하고 있어 흥미를 끈다.
  
  이 자리에서 차베스는 자신을 지지하는 차베스주의자(Chavistas)들로 구성된 선거 운동원들의 조직은 군대와 유사한 편제를 띠고 있다고 자랑스럽게 말했다. 차베스가 밝힌 선거운동원들은 1만1358개 규모의 대대와 4만4698개로 세분된 소대 규모로 구성되어 있다는 것이다. 또한 이들 소대원들은 일인당 10명씩 차베스 지지표를 획득하는 것을 목표로 치열한 선거운동을 하고 있다고도 했다.
  
  군대조직을 본뜬 차베스 지지세력은 전체 1000만 표 득표를 위해 베네수엘라 전역의 가가호호를 방문해 차베스 지지를 호소하고 선거참여를 독려하고 있는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 이들이야말로 정치인 차베스가 선거불패 신화를 이룰 수 있게 해준 진정한 힘인 것이다.
  
  '차베스의 대선게임은 이미 끝'
  
  현지 정치평론가들이 차기 베네수엘라 대선에서 차베스에게 대적할 유일한 대항마로 꼽고 있는 인물은 주지사 출신인 민주행동당(Accion Democratica) 마누엘 로살레스 후보다.
  
  로살레스 후보는 자신은 미국의 괴뢰정권이 아니며 그렇다고 쿠바를 무작정 지원해 주는 차베스형 정부도 아닌 진정한 민주정부를 수립할 것이라며 지지를 호소하고 있다. 하지만 로살레스가 차베스를 압도하기에는 역부족이라는 평가다.
  
  베네수엘라 정부의 최근 발표에 따르면 현재 차베스의 지지율은 약 60%이며 로살레스가 30% 선의 지지를 얻고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 차베스는 사실상 대선 승리를 목전에 두고 있고 이제 사실상의 관심사는 어느 정도까지 지지세를 확보 하느냐는 것이다. 차베스의 대선게임은 이미 끝난 상태라는 얘기다.
  
  한편 차베스가 범세계적인 사회주의 주도세력이 될 것임을 자처한 건 최근 그가 중남미와 아시아, 중동, 아프리카 지역을 연달아 순방하면서 자신을 향한 지지세를 확인하고 폭넓게 퍼진 반미감정을 실감했다는 자신감의 표현이란 평가를 받고 있다.
  
  또한 최근 아랍연합국가들이 차베스 지지를 선언한 것도 이변으로 꼽힌다. 아랍연합은 전통적으로 친미파 국가들이 주도해 왔으나, 최근 중동사태가 악화되면서 사우디아라비아, 이집트, 쿠웨이트 등 22개국이 베네수엘라의 유엔 안보리 이사국 진출을 지지했다는 것이 차베스의 주장이다. 

  베네수엘라의 안보리 진출을 자신하고 있는 차베스는 "전세계 국가의 과반수 이상이 미국에 등을 돌리고 베네수엘라를 지지하고 있다"고 호언하기도 했다.
  
  "나는 전세계 개발도상국들과 인류의 존엄성을 지키기 위해 미 제국주의와 싸우고 있다"고 주장한 차베스는 "기필코 안보리에 진출해 제3세계 국가들의 입장을 대변하겠다" 고 목청을 높였다.
  
  차베스는 이어 "미국 국내에서조차 나를 지지하는 세력이 점점 늘어가고 있다"고 주장하면서 "제국주의의 종말이 얼마 남지 않았다"고 큰소리 치기도 했다.
  
  차베스가 대선을 앞두고 부쩍 미국과 베네수엘라의 외교적인 대결 구도로 판을 이끄는 것은 자신의 호언대로 유엔 안보리에 진출한다면 세계 최대강국 미국을 누른 외교적인 승리로 평가를 받게 될 것을 염두에 둔 행보라는 게 현지 언론들의 분석이다.
  
  만일 베네수엘라가 안보리 진출에 실패한다 해도 미국의 방해와 압력 때문이란 걸 부각시켜 반미감정을 더욱 부추길 수 있다는 복안도 갖고 있다. 결국 상황이 어떻게 변해도 차베스나 베네수엘라는 잃을 게 없다는 얘기다.

김영길/프레시안 기획위원

출처: 김영길의 남미리포트 (프레시안)

본문

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-chaplin9jul09,0,5822763.story

From the Los Angeles Times

The Little Tramp's Classic Labor Lesson

"The owners still value their machines more than their workers," said Roberto Maldonado, a 29-year-old minimum-wage worker at the Pollo Premium poultry plant, which processes 75,000 chickens a day. "Charlie Chaplin ends up crazy, and I feel that way too sometimes. When I go home, I'm too tired to pay attention to my wife or family."

Freddy Colmenari, a 35-year-old worker at a pasta factory here, said that just as Chaplin's bosses do in the film, his supervisors frequently speed up the assembly line to nerve-racking levels and zealously monitor workers' trips to the bathroom. "There is always pressure and stress," he said.

But the business community here is hardly applauding the film. In a formal complaint to Chavez last month, the four main employer associations in Venezuela said that showing a movie depicting the boss as a "vulgar exploiter of workers" was designed to "generate hate and resentment in the labor sector" and "demonize the employer."

An official at the Venezuelan Confederation of Industries, one of the four signatories, said that the new workplace laws were another example of Chavez punishing private industry, a process the groups say has been unrelenting since a failed 2002 coup led by businessman Pedro Carmona.

While insisting they don't oppose workplace safety improvements, business groups here say that they weren't consulted before the new laws were drafted and that now workers and their delegates have too much power to intervene in factory operations.

Jhonny Picone, a top Labor Ministry official, said employees needed all the power they could get. He noted that Venezuelan workers were more likely to describe their job as "a curse from God than as something positive."

The grim and dehumanizing factory conditions depicted in the Chaplin film are still the "norm," he said — more than 1,500 workers die and thousands are injured annually in industrial accidents.

Largely at Picone's insistence, the film has been shown 1,000 times in 14 states and has been effective in educating workers who usually have no clue about their health and safety rights. Labor Ministry officials say it's because the most recent workplace regulations, passed in 1986, were unobserved, a "dead letter."

Workers are told they have a right to demand safety and hygiene precautions, and, through an employee-elected delegate that represents each factory, even to shut down production if owners don't comply. Egregious and repeated safety violations can result in the government taking over a plant.

"With Charlie Chaplin, it's easier to catch the attention of workers who are often too tired or don't trust the government in the first place," said Picone, a doctor named by Chavez to head a new Labor Ministry agency that he compared to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The workplace laws are a facet of Chavez's often-mentioned goal of installing a new socialist economic model to replace the globalized free-market version that the president says has failed.

The "popular economy" model includes a return to state-controlled central planning that reminds many of the Soviet era. Bankrolled by the country's oil wealth, Chavez has financed a number of worker-owned cooperatives that run factories and farms that the government has built or taken over.

"It's by no means dominant yet. It's gradually being built up by a process of trial and error," said a Chavez administration official who asked not to be named. "But in the longer term, the popular economy model will be dominant."

But one industrial leader who asked not to be identified said that the business climate was abysmal, and that factory production, industrial jobs and private investment had plummeted since Chavez took power in 1999.

"How much of this policy is revolution and how much is castigation, I don't know," he said.

Critics say Chavez is merely recycling the failed protectionist economic policies that many South American nations tried to impose after World War II to keep out foreign capital and competition. The policies were largely jettisoned in the 1980s as countries began embracing free markets and foreign investment.

Business interests also cite Chavez's decision to pull Venezuela out of the Andean Community as another example of his bias against the private sector. The regional trade group, known as CAN, was too U.S.-dominated, the president said. But one member, Colombia, is Venezuela's second-largest trading partner, and businesspeople here are worried that they will lose tens of millions of dollars in trade as a result.

On Tuesday, Venezuela formally joined the Mercosur trade bloc, whose members include Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Chavez told delegates in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, that he made the switch to avoid being "devoured by imperialist strategies, as happened with CAN."

But Venezuelan producers will have a tougher time competing in the Mercosur arena, said Jose Luis Betancourt, president of Fedecamaras, Venezuela's largest business chamber.

He criticized the new workplace measures. "The law will only generate less efficiency, less [industrial] capacity and make the Venezuelan economy more dependent on high oil prices, which won't last all our lives."

Chavez's adversaries in the business sector scoff at the Chaplin film screenings as an example of the president's simplistic, outdated and decidedly business-unfriendly economic policies.

But for poultry plant worker Maldonado, Charlie Chaplin has made a difference at work.

Inspired by the film and the talk from Labor Ministry officials, he demanded gloves and soap from his employer — and got them. But the assembly line still goes too fast, he said.

Metalworker Miguel Moreno also has seen some improvement. "We have more power because we know more," he said. "They've given me earplugs for the noise, at least."

Film historian Schickel said, "Chaplin would just love that his film is still relevant to modern social conditions, that a modern-day leftist politician in Latin America would find this film to be a useful tool."