Rank-and-file Committees to Be Building Blocks for New Organization

by John Riddell

When supporters of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez rallied in the Teresa Carrena theatre in Caracas to celebrate their presidential election victory on December 15, 2006, "there were cheers in the back half of the theatre," writes Michael Lebowitz, "but few in the high-priced seats."

This was not because Chávez spoke of going forward to socialism and combating corruption -- that wasn't new -- but because "it was all about the new party," which Chávez insisted must be built "from the base" by the popular committees that fought and won the election.