Neither Chavez nor Carmona: Self-management is the way

Given the political crisis that Venezuela is going through and that was manifested in the events before, during and after April 11, we anarchists consider it necessary to state our position. In this regard, therefore:

1) Hugo Chavez's contradictory policies have not benefited the most disadvantaged sectors of the country, increasing in three years of management the rates of poverty, unemployment and social insecurity. In addition, his government repeats errors and vices characteristic of previous ones. But in no way do the sectors of the current opposition that tried to capitalize politically in their favor on the events of April 11 represent a different and satisfactory alternative.

2) We strongly condemn any coup d'état, regardless of the sector it may be from. We object to the predominant position that the armed forces currently have in solving problems that should be resolved by the active and direct participation of the whole of society.

3) We declare ourselves against the authoritarianism of the left and right as evidenced in the way of thinking and the actions carried out by both the representatives of the government and the opposition. These are based on the Manichean simplification of the country's problems, the political and social exclusion of their speeches, the agreements made behind closed doors, the manipulation of the information media at their disposal and the use of antidemocratic methods at their convenience.

4) We reject the human rights violations that occurred during the coup government led by businessman Pedro Carmona Estanga. The repression of popular protests, the raids on community media, the arbitrary arrests and the witch hunts undertaken, certify the dictatorial nature of the regime that wanted to establish itself in the country. Likewise, we do not forget the accomplices and opportunists who recognized and welcomed the establishment of a de facto government.

5) We demand that those responsible for the deaths that occurred in the events of April 11 in the city center be clarified, as well as for the victims of the following days in the south and west of Caracas. We support an impartial and non-governmental investigation, so that by clarifying the facts the murderers can be identified and held accountable for their actions before the community.

6) The citizen mobilizations that occurred during those days reiterate that the active, conscious and responsible participation of the people influences the decisions of those who hold power and is the seed of a direct and self-managed democracy. In this sense, we anarchists reiterate our commitment to horizontal, autonomous and cooperative processes that aim at the self-organization of society to resolve its own problems and that antagonize the inequality promoted by current globalized capitalism.