Posted August 2, 2016
In 1994, there were two significant events. First, there was the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, which marked the first internationally-known protest of the neoliberal project of the global powers. Secondly, Hugo Chávez, a military officer who had led a failed coup d’état in 1992, was released from prison in response to popular demand. The goal of the coup had been to take power and immediately convoke a constitutional assembly, in order that the Venezuelan peoples could develop a constitutional order more protective of the rights and needs of the people and the sovereignty of the nation. Upon his release from prison, Chávez continued to work for a new constitution, and to this end, he established the Bolivarian Fifth Republic Movement. Chávez would become President of Venezuela and would lead the nation and the region of Latin America and the Caribbean toward the overthrowing of the neoliberal project.
Accordingly, the year 1994 marks the beginning of the renewal of the Third World project, during which the peoples and nations of the Third World retook the radical Third World agenda that had been formulated by the charismatic leaders, social movements and revolutions of the Third World during the period 1948 to 1979 (see “The Third World Project, 1948-79” 7/20/2016). The renewal was born in rejection of the neoliberal project by the people, who experienced the negative consequences of neoliberal policies, such as: the devaluation of their currencies; increases in the costs of water, electricity, natural gas, and buses; reduction in government programs and services; the undermining of local agricultural production; and higher levels of unemployment, crime and violence. Drawing upon decades of anti-colonial, anti-neocolonial and anti-imperialist movements, leaders emerged that were able to reformulate the concrete demands of the people with respect to specific grievances into a broader political and social critique of neoliberalism, imperialist policies, and the neocolonial world-system. Thus there emerged a popular movement across Latin America, the Movement for an Alternative World, proclaiming that “A Better World is Possible.”
The Alternative World Movement spawned new political parties that sought to take power away from the traditional political parties that had cooperated with the global powers and transnational corporations in the imposition of the neoliberal project. The movement had such a wide following that the new popular parties were able to win presidential and/or parliamentary elections in the number of Latin American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Paraguay. In addition, led by the Leftist and progressive states, Latin America and the Caribbean developed new regional organizations of economic, political and cultural cooperation, challenging US imperialist policies and seeking to develop alternatives to the structures of neocolonial domination. The charismatic leaders of four of these nations (Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua) proclaimed the process of change as one that sought to build “Socialism for the Twenty-First Century,” and leaders from throughout the region proclaimed their admiration for Cuba as a “model of Latin American dignity.”
The new political reality in Latin America affected the Third World as a whole, as can be seen in the dynamics of the G-77 and the Non-Aligned Movement as well as in the emergence of BRICS, an international organization formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The nations of BRICS have been deepening relations with Latin America and its progressive governments, thereby seeking to sidestep the structures of the neocolonial world-system dominated by the Western powers.
Since 1994, then, there has occurred a renewal of the Third World project and a retaking of the radical Third World agenda of the period 1948 to 1979. The following fourteen posts in the series of twenty-three posts on the Third World project will be devoted to the post-1994 renewal of the Third World project, according to the following plan:
“The neocolonial era in Venezuela;”
“Hugo Chávez Frías;
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;”
“The Chávist presidency of Nicolás Maduro;
“The Movement toward Socialism in Bolivia;”
“The Citizen Revolution in Ecuador;”
“The Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua;”
“Latin America and Caribbean unity;”
“The renewal of South-South cooperation;”
“The spirit of Bandung lives;”
“The new counterrevolution of the Right;”
“The subtle Eurocentrism of the Left;”
“Beyond Eurocentrism;” and
“The possible and necessary popular coalition.”
Key words: Third World, neoliberalism, Alternative World Movement
In 1994, there were two significant events. First, there was the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, which marked the first internationally-known protest of the neoliberal project of the global powers. Secondly, Hugo Chávez, a military officer who had led a failed coup d’état in 1992, was released from prison in response to popular demand. The goal of the coup had been to take power and immediately convoke a constitutional assembly, in order that the Venezuelan peoples could develop a constitutional order more protective of the rights and needs of the people and the sovereignty of the nation. Upon his release from prison, Chávez continued to work for a new constitution, and to this end, he established the Bolivarian Fifth Republic Movement. Chávez would become President of Venezuela and would lead the nation and the region of Latin America and the Caribbean toward the overthrowing of the neoliberal project.
Accordingly, the year 1994 marks the beginning of the renewal of the Third World project, during which the peoples and nations of the Third World retook the radical Third World agenda that had been formulated by the charismatic leaders, social movements and revolutions of the Third World during the period 1948 to 1979 (see “The Third World Project, 1948-79” 7/20/2016). The renewal was born in rejection of the neoliberal project by the people, who experienced the negative consequences of neoliberal policies, such as: the devaluation of their currencies; increases in the costs of water, electricity, natural gas, and buses; reduction in government programs and services; the undermining of local agricultural production; and higher levels of unemployment, crime and violence. Drawing upon decades of anti-colonial, anti-neocolonial and anti-imperialist movements, leaders emerged that were able to reformulate the concrete demands of the people with respect to specific grievances into a broader political and social critique of neoliberalism, imperialist policies, and the neocolonial world-system. Thus there emerged a popular movement across Latin America, the Movement for an Alternative World, proclaiming that “A Better World is Possible.”
The Alternative World Movement spawned new political parties that sought to take power away from the traditional political parties that had cooperated with the global powers and transnational corporations in the imposition of the neoliberal project. The movement had such a wide following that the new popular parties were able to win presidential and/or parliamentary elections in the number of Latin American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Paraguay. In addition, led by the Leftist and progressive states, Latin America and the Caribbean developed new regional organizations of economic, political and cultural cooperation, challenging US imperialist policies and seeking to develop alternatives to the structures of neocolonial domination. The charismatic leaders of four of these nations (Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua) proclaimed the process of change as one that sought to build “Socialism for the Twenty-First Century,” and leaders from throughout the region proclaimed their admiration for Cuba as a “model of Latin American dignity.”
The new political reality in Latin America affected the Third World as a whole, as can be seen in the dynamics of the G-77 and the Non-Aligned Movement as well as in the emergence of BRICS, an international organization formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The nations of BRICS have been deepening relations with Latin America and its progressive governments, thereby seeking to sidestep the structures of the neocolonial world-system dominated by the Western powers.
Since 1994, then, there has occurred a renewal of the Third World project and a retaking of the radical Third World agenda of the period 1948 to 1979. The following fourteen posts in the series of twenty-three posts on the Third World project will be devoted to the post-1994 renewal of the Third World project, according to the following plan:
“The neocolonial era in Venezuela;”
“Hugo Chávez Frías;
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;”
“The Chávist presidency of Nicolás Maduro;
“The Movement toward Socialism in Bolivia;”
“The Citizen Revolution in Ecuador;”
“The Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua;”
“Latin America and Caribbean unity;”
“The renewal of South-South cooperation;”
“The spirit of Bandung lives;”
“The new counterrevolution of the Right;”
“The subtle Eurocentrism of the Left;”
“Beyond Eurocentrism;” and
“The possible and necessary popular coalition.”
Key words: Third World, neoliberalism, Alternative World Movement
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