Referendum and revolution in Venezuela

Derrick O'Keefe interviews Michael Lebowitz, Seven Oaks Magazine, July 5, 2004

I think a lot of the criticisms by the ‘New Left’ and by the old, abstract Left, don’t amount to much. You have to concretely look at what is happening in Venezuela; it doesn’t fit any models that we’ve seen before. I think the best way to get a sense of what Venezuela’s about is to look at the constitution. It’s an incredible constitution. The first thing I said when I read it was: ‘who wrote this?’ It basically talks about the need for focus on human development, developing human potential. It’s basically a focus on a profound democracy and struggles and activity from below. And social movements were key in doing that, and I understand that especially the women’s movement and the indigenous movement were most active in sort of shaping the character of that constitution. You look at that constitution, and you say ‘that’s different from any model that I know.’