Venezuela’s Revolution is Alive in Popular “Heartbeat” Campaign
From collectives of young artists in the barrios of Caracas to communes of farmers and fishers, Venezuelan activists from all walks of life have joined together to launch an innovative campaign leading up to the decisive National Assembly election this December 6th.
The campaign takes a strong stand for Venezuelan socialism. Its model, in itself, is reflective of the participatory and communal values of the Bolivarian revolution started by the late President Hugo Chávez. Over fifty Venezuelan organizations took part in the process to develop the campaign, joined by organizations from Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Colombia – the fruition of Chávez’ mission to unite Latin America. More groups get involved each day, as the campaign encourages the people of Venezuelan and those in solidarity around the world to freely use the campaign’s graphic designs, its spirit and message, and the hashtags, #late or “heartbeat” and #cadalatidocuenta – “every heartbeat counts” – to create their own unique materials to share, whether on social media platforms or tagged across the walls of their communities.
Active in the campaign’s development, Comando Creativo is a collective that creates art and communications campaigns committed to Venezuela’s revolution. Oscar Coraspe, a member of Comando Creativo, spoke about the campaign:
“ ‘Cada latido cuenta’ isn’t a slogan – it’s a methodology. The campaign is designed to invite people to produce it, in the same spirit of a commune. The deal with this campaign isn’t that you look at it and you believe it. The objective is for you to produce your own content and circulate it, for you to think about the need for a National Assembly that’s committed to your needs and projects and demands as a collective or as a person, and then you launch your own content. That’s why we say the campaign is open source.”
The campaign, to date, has made its way across social media, graffiti murals, screen-printed t-shirts, and state TV and radio stations.
The December 6th election for Venezuela’s National Assembly will be particularly decisive in the context of the ongoing economic warfare waged against the people of Venezuela by the right-wing and their international allies, creating inflation, scarcity, and hardship for the population at large.
Independent human rights groups have called Venezuela’s electoral process one of the most fair and democratic in the world. However, the Venezuelan right wing has refused to sign an agreement stating that they will peacefully accept the outcome of the December 6th election – an agreement that President Maduro has already willingly signed on behalf of his party and allies. In the fifteen years since the first election of President Hugo Chávez, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the allied parties of the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) have won eighteen out of nineteen elections held. The last three elections in Venezuela – victories for the left wing – were met with outbursts of extreme right wing violence, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and the terrorist destruction of numerous government facilities including public clinics, subsidized supermarkets, and public transportation.
Despite the crisis resulting from ongoing economic warfare, the right wing offers no solutions to the problems facing Venezuelan workers. Only the continued advancement of the Bolivarian process can improve the country’s economic situation and continue creating a better life for millions of Venezuelans.
“We’re working for victory December 6th, all day every day,” according to Coraspe. “The only guarantee of the sustainability of the social advances is deepening and radicalization. Our struggle isn’t the struggle of one country, but rather of all the oppressed people in the world. This struggle won’t be won in Venezuela alone, nor will it be lost in Venezuela alone. Struggle in your country, in your trenches. The workers of the world should be an indomitable force, standing tall with our fists held high.”