Hugo Chávez's electoral victory brought to power important political actors who had been "outsiders" over a considerable period of time. Few of them have been around as long as Luis Miquilena. As a student disguised as worker, Miquilena was jailed for leading a bus drivers strike in 1944. He belonged to a dissident Communist faction known as the "Machamiquis" (named after veteran Communist Eduardo Machado and the youthful Miquilena) which challenged U.S. Communist chief Earl Browder several years before he fell into disgrace at the international level. After initially extending qualified support to military dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez in 1948, Miquilena was jailed in Ciudad Bolívar. Subsequently, he renounced Communism but remained identified with leftist politics and was an influential supporter of the presidential candidacy of socialist José Vicente Rangel (the current Foreign Minister) in 1983. In the latter part of the decade, Miquilena joined a group of prominent citizens who called for the convocation of a constituent assembly - Chávez's main banner in the attempted coup of 1992. Miquilena became Chávez's financial manager for the 1998 presidential campaign and after the elections was appointed Minister of the Interior. In July 1999, he was elected delegate to the Constituent Assembly and then chosen its president. Presidential candidate Francisco Arias Cárdenas has raised the cry of corruption against a major contributor to Chávez's 1998 campaign for receiving numerous contracts in the public sector as a result of his connections with Miquilena, a former business associate. Miquilena, who currently presides over the interim congressional body known as the "Congresillo," was interviewed in his office in the presidential wing of the Capitol.

S.E.: Chávez has retained popular support since his election, but the middle class has become increasingly alienated. Why?
L.M.: The principal alliance of our political project is a social one. Our message has to represent the economic interests of the middle class, including the productive sectors, which have historically struggled to assert their independence. Nevertheless, we lack an effective communications approach toward these sectors. The failure to reach the middle class has been our movement's Achilles' Heel.

S.E.: MVR leaders talk of the need to undergo an internal reflection to define the party ideologically and create a more solid internal structure. What ideas do you have on this?
L.M.: That is correct. The successive electoral contests have not provided us with time to dedicate ourselves to party reorganization. This structure must be furnished with basic tools, which include a definition of the country we want to create. We need to purge the organization of those who do not share this ideological vision. Party members need to have a sense of discipline to accept the majority's decisions since those who fail to do so desert the organization whenever their personal ambitions are thwarted, and that is precisely what is happening now.

S.E.: Do you support the system of primaries?
L.M.: Yes and that is spelled out in the Constitution. Democracy must originate from within political parties. Not everyone in our party supported the idea, since authoritarian tendencies exist in all organizations, but the vast majority did.

S.E.: Do you believe that Arias Cárdenas chose [Foreign Minister] José Vicente Rangel and yourself as targets because they believe the two of you exercise a leftist influence on President Chávez?
L.M.: What happened is that the previously established objectives that these gentlemen were beginning to push within the ranks of our movement did not coincide with those embraced by Hugo Chávez. They attempted to gain positions and represented a Trojan Horse within the movement, but their actions were frustrated some time ago and now their exit fortifies the movement. Since separating they have embraced a discourse in which they raise practically the same banners as did our adversaries during the past [presidential] elections. Their positions differed in fundamental ways from ours from the very beginning. They have targeted Rangel and myself because being civilians with years of political participation we are perceived as vulnerable.

S.E.: The Constituent Assembly ended up modifying certain articles from their original form, for instance those dealing with abortion and social security. Did you have definite positions on these issues?
L.M.: We favored eliminating the term "from the time of conception" because we consider that abortion is an acceptable option under certain circumstances, such as those of a social nature and the defense of life itself. With regard to the social security system, there was considerable debate over whether private management could have some input in the system and we left open that possibility, but insisted on the fundamental guidance of the state. Here we were influenced by the example of the mixed system of Uruguay, which demonstrated that people are increasingly convinced of the central role of the state in the system.

S.E.: You have dedicated 60 years of your life to political struggle. What has been your achievements?
L.M.: I have always been a man of ideals, in a certain sense a dreamer. Politics, as [José Carlos] Mariátegui says, is the great creative activity of man. The most important achievement in my political life is the possibility that some of those dreams will materialize through a government like the one presently in power. The challenge Venezuelans of this generation are facing is transcendental, since our victory or failure will determine whether these ideals of mine are satisfied or whether a new frustration will result.

Steve Ellner is the author of scores of articles on Venezuelan politics and history and is co-editor of The Latin American Left: From the Fall of Allende to Perestroika (Westview). He has taught economic history at the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela since 1977.