Continuing, after Marx's Letter, which we have largely cited in the previous appendix, as we have said above, the CEPAL document on the subject documents our assertion that this "modern sector" (directly from the imperialist companies or from their agents of the big native bourgeoisie) does not serve the development of the national economy, because its exchange with the other sectors of the economy is minimal, because its machinery and equipment, knowledge, comes from the imperialist countries and only employs 1.5% of the EAP, which is 16 million. Most of its super profits are exported and its new investments are largely to import its machinery and equipment from its own parent companies in the imperialist countries. In other words, it does not have a great "multiplier factor in the economy" or, as is also often said, it does not rain either up or down. In a word, as Mariátegui has written, imperialism only allows for an industrialism that serves its interests, and that bureaucratic capitalism only serves imperialist interests.
What we have just said shows us the thread that continues from our comments on the ECLAC IED-2024 report, where reference is made to “stagnation, and even decline, in productivity. (…) the reprimarization of the 1990s and 2000s”, as in another report of the same (,(Economic Study of Latin America and the Caribbean • 2024) and also in the part of the “Economic Profile…”, the “enclave economy” is spoken of, this is how we have come to expose the data on the economic relations of production that characterize our country and the other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, all this has not led to presenting the greater part of the letter of the founder of Marxism (see annex of the previous delivery). Following that thread, before returning to the subject of FDI in future deliveries, we are dealing with another ECLAC report on MSMEs, which is concomitant with all the previous studies.
The ECLAC study on MSMEs documents that the large company of imperialism or of the great native bourgeoisie, at its service, which is the one that dominates primary exports, plus medium-sized or national companies constitute the so-called modern sector of the economy, the rest belongs to the The vast majority belong to the pre-capitalist economy (semi-feudalism).
What is referred to in the previous paragraph is similar to how Chairman Mao described the Chinese economy in 1948 (see volume IV of his Selected Works), which according to him had 10% of modern companies made up of companies of imperialism and the big bourgeoisie and the rest, 90% made up of those belonging to crafts and agriculture, which were like in ancient times (pre-capitalist).
Continuing, to better understand reality, because only by understanding reality can we solve problems, the study on MSMEs, further on, says:
“C. MSMEs in Latin America
Considering the formal economy, MSMEs represent 99.5% of the companies in the region and the vast majority are micro-enterprises (88.4% of the total).
This distribution has remained relatively stable over the last decade, although there has been a relative increase in small and medium-sized enterprises and a slight reduction in micro-enterprises.
Microenterprises are present in the majority in all sectors of the economy and in some cases exceed 90% of all companies: for example, in commerce and in the sector of “other community, social and personal activities”. In particular, commerce is a sector in which the largest number of formal microenterprises are concentrated (...) the proliferation of very small companies (...) respond more to strategies of self-employment and economic survival than to a true process of business development.
In commerce there is also a significant number of SMEs; however, in the case of these companies, industry, particularly in the case of medium-sized companies, and “real estate, business and rental activities” concentrate a significant number of productive units.
(Mipymes en América Latina: un recuperación y nuevos desafíos…, Cepal)”
Thus, the great company of imperialism or of the great native bourgeoisie, at its service, controls the entire Peruvian economic process: our natural resources, export products, industry, banking and finance, etc.
We hammer home this incontestable truth: bureaucratic capitalism is the capitalism that imperialism generates in backward countries, tied to feudalism that is obsolete and subject to imperialism that is the last phase of capitalism, which does not serve the majority but the imperialists, the great bourgeoisie and the landowners. Because the capitalism that develops is a late process and does not allow for anything other than an economy for its imperialist interests. It is a capitalism that represents the great bourgeoisie, the landowners and the rich peasantry of the old type, classes that constitute a minority and exploit and oppress the great majority, the masses.
Once again, the report shows that the large monopolistic company with its subsidiaries in the country and its economic agents from the big bourgeoisie, plus the medium-sized or national companies constitute the so-called modern sector of the economy, the rest belongs in its vast majority to the pre-capitalist economy (semi-feudalism). This is what the cited reports call "heterogeneous economy", "heterogeneous productive structure", "heterogeneous employment structure", etc. to refer to the social relations of production in our countries contrary to their true scientific characterization.
Chairman Gonzalo, referring to the problem we are dealing with, says that the semi-feudal base of society will generate, due to the critical worsening in which it finds itself, migration of the peasantry towards the cities who, not finding work in the factories, due to unemployment, will swell the service sector and the informal sector which is where the lack of jobs drains; This is how micro and small production is formed, which, as we have seen, is very broad and works in the hardest and most difficult conditions. Added to this is the fact that the proletariat decreases in proportion. (II Plenary Session of the CC of the PCP)
Here, it is necessary to clarify that the ECLAC study refers only to a part of the companies and employment, that is, to formal companies and formal employment, but it does not consider that informality in micro, small businesses and employment affects the largest number of workers, the majority as self-employed, as can be read in the following note:
“In 2022, 4 thousand large companies concentrated 57% of the total formal jobs in the country, according to a study by Apoyo Consultoría. In total, 2.2 million workers were counted in these businesses.
It should be remembered that at the end of last year, 4.1 million formal workers were registered, according to the Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion. Likewise, informality stood at 75.5%, while the remaining 24.5% of employees belong to the formal sector.”
And this report explains the above diagram as follows:
“Bolivia and Colombia are two of the Latin American countries with the highest percentage of independent workers out of the total employed population, according to estimates by the International Labour Organization (ILO). As this graph from Statista shows, approximately half of the people who have a job in these countries are self-employed. In Mexico, the proportion rises to less than three out of ten workers (27.5%), while Chile has one of the lowest percentages in the region, with only 25.9% of self-employed workers out of the total number of employed people. The average in Latin America and the Caribbean is 34% of self-employed workers out of the working population.
The most common way of exercising self-employment in Latin America is through a sole proprietorship. Nearly nine out of ten self-employed workers in the region are dedicated to developing their own company or venture without having employees. Only a minority of them have dependent collaborators. These figures do not take into account family workers who contribute to the business and are not registered as direct employees.
A high percentage of self-employed workers is often associated with higher levels of informal employment, especially in developing regions. In addition, according to the ILO, national social security laws focus on meeting the needs of employees, which places the self-employed at a disadvantage in terms of retirement and pensions. Many self-employed workers are excluded from receiving social security benefits for not meeting certain eligibility criteria, for example, minimum income (How common is self-employment in Latin America?
SELF-EMPLOYED WORKERS, Marina Pasquali, Apr 25, 2023, Statista).
It is necessary to continue with this sub-topic in relation to the underlying theme of FDI-CEPAL-2024, in order to show through the different studies the differences between the social relations of production in our country and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean with the imperialist or oppressive countries, where the development of capitalism led them to the phase of monopoly capitalism or imperialism, to its highest and last phase.
To be continued soon...