Excerpt of interview about corruption in Venezuela (on VHEADLINE NEWSHOUR)

Corruption is a transhistoric labor product of master-servant relationships in all class societies around the globe. Even Jahweh, on Mount Sinai, had to beg his religious sheep by commandment not to thieve.

Corruption is not a Chavez exception to the golden rule of democracy, in fact, Venezuela is the eating, is the proof of the corrupt pudding of global capitalism.

In reality, it has been estimated that during the 40 years reign of "democratic" puntofijista governments in Venezuela, the equivalent of about three "Marshall Plans" were thieved by the Adecos and Copeyanos, by the current opposition. In fact, they should be very silent about corruption, and not become green with envy, seeing the billions of Venezuelan petro-euros flowing safely to Switzerland.

Now, firstly, what is political corruption in Venezuela and elsewhere?

It is a lack of political integrity or honesty. of being susceptible to bribery, to the use of a position of trust for personal gains.

This includes moral perversion; impairment of scientific human behavior, that is, of revolutionary praxis, and of philosophic moral principles, that is, of emancipatory theory.

For example, United States upper class corruption is causing progressive moral decay which is being followed by intellectual degeneration; the production of brothels, of torture chambers, opium parlors. of falling into moral putrefaction.

Until now all forms of capitalist government, including their "socialist" caricatures, in practice are susceptible to political corruption.

They range from minor uses of influence and patronage to do and return favors, to clientalism, to institutionalised bribery and beyond. In fact, over the last centuries, we did not have capitalist democracies, on the contrary imperialist kleptocracies, that is, the rule by thieves, in the United States case of the corrupt energy enterprise Enron, even the external pretence of honesty was abandoned.

But, logically we also have social corruption, the disintegration of revolutionary fire, of corrupting workers ideals and struggles, of joining in the eternal "communist witch-hunt", of disfiguring socialism and Marxism, of slandering Marxists as terrorists. In this way, socialist praxis and theory are being converted into capitalist practice and ideology.

This corruption of the best, of the fiery Bolivarians of yesteryear is the worst form of corruption. There is nothing more dangerous than an erstwhile fake Marxist or revolutionary, who now has joined the terrorist death squads against real, true, incorruptible emancipators. A typical example in Venezuela is Bandera Roja or even the ex-guerrilla Petkoff himself. We are lucky to have dedicated, wise and principled revolutionaries in Miraflores, who for the first time in Venezuelan history really try to represent the class interests of the lower social classes, of the unemployed, informal and formal workers and peasants. The popular government is fully aware of the corrupt inherited cancerous outgrowth in Venezuela and elsewhere, and is doing everything possible to eradicate this pestilence.