25

The AA begin by assessing what exactly is in crisis. Mutinational capitalism, of course, but also our traditional political categories : communism, social-democracy, and populism. It is necessary for us to be critical and innovative. Do we really transform society by "taking power"? Who is the agent of this transformation? The oppressed rather than the proletariat. Doesn't the relationship between nationalism and socialism change depending on whether we follow José Carlos Mariatégui or Antonio Gramsci? We should think of national liberation as Bolivar did – on a continental scale. We should also give a new definition to the word "populism" –a populism of the oppressed.