Merida, 1st October 2013 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – The recent national congress of the Communist Youth of Venezuela (JCV) declared the need for more “revolutionary measures” to combat the “economic sabotage” that Venezuela is facing.

The congress, held last week from 19 to 22 September in Caracas coincided with the 66th anniversary of the JCV. Its slogan was “With rebelliousness and organisation we deepen the revolution” and 200 delegates attended. Each delegate represented one youth collective.

The last communist youth congress was held in Guarico in 2009.

The congress discussed and approved two key projects; Platform of Struggle and Internal Life, which will guide the work of the JCV in the coming period. It also elected a new central committee with 21 members and re-elected Hector Rodriguez as general secretary. He shares the same name as the head of the JPSUV (the Venezuelan United Socialist Party Youth), but is not the same person.

On the new central committee, seven members are students, ten are workers, fourteen are professionals, and five are women. The average age of the committee is 24.9.

The main tasks the organisation set itself for the coming period are: developing a unique national organisation of Venezuelan revolutionary youth, developing fronts in each sector, deepening their relationships with the working youth, promoting the fight against economic sabotage, and promoting revolutionary economic measures.

Rodriguez said that since the last congress the youth had “worked hard in recovering communist identity, strengthening the Leninist character of organisation, fighting for a new work law and the transformation of the education model”.

In the opening speech of the congress, Rodriguez argued that “Venezuela needs to apply revolutionary measures to defeat the economic sabotage of the bourgeoisie...who are aiming to recover all the power they had in the past”.

“We should trust in the organisational force of the workers and the people...[and] to confront the problem of speculation with the dollar we should say, ‘Not one more dollar for the parasitic bourgeoisie’ and develop a state monopoly on imports,” said the communist youth leader.

Further, Rodriguez argued that, “We should impose a general price control on all goods, which united with the import measures, would mean we could fix prices according to real current values”.

Rodriguez also said the Added Value Tax (IVA) should be eliminated, the Tax on Profits (ISLR) should be increased, and all banks nationalised.

Jairo Calderon, a delegate to the conference from Merida state told Venezuelanalysis.com that the congress was historically significant due to the impact of the recent death of Hugo Chavez, as well as the 66th anniversary and the upcoming 18th World Festival of Youth and Students, to be held soon in Ecuador.

“The communist youth were able to have a deep discussion of the capitalist crisis, which needs wars, hunger and colonisation to maintain its dominance...the congress itself was very well organised, we had a range of international guests including the ambassadors from Syria and Vietnam, communist youth from various countries, comrades from Ecuador, and we cemented a strategy to apply and develop over the next three to four years,” Calderon said.

President Nicolas Maduro sent greetings to the congress, stating that, “We know that we count on you all to carry out the titanic task that [Hugo Chavez] entrusted us with: protecting and deepening the socialist revolution”.

The JCV is affiliated to the World Federation of Democratic Youth. It was formed on 16 September 1947 as an organisation of cadre training for the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV). It held its second congress in 1953 underground and there decided on the urgency of uniting youth organisations against the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez. From there, the First National Festival of Venezuelan Youth was held, involving 30,000 people. The JCV is a Marxist-Leninist organisation.