Heinz Dieterich

Heinz Dieterich Steffan (1943 – 18 July 2026) was a German sociologist and a political analyst who resided in Mexico. He was

Ideological contributions Steffan's contributions represent one of the most relevant references to analyse the theoretical and practical implications of the Marxist anticapitalist leftist movements that followed the fall of the USSR. His contributions suggest an alternative economic, political and social project, which the alter-globalistic movements lacked during the 1990s.

In his book The Socialism of the 21st century , Steffan explains the theoretical basis of the new socialism, which finds its most practical application in the revolutionary process of Venezuela, and to a lesser extent in Bolivia and Ecuador. Dieterich was an advisor of the Venezuelan government.

Some of his most important books are "Global Society" and "Latin America: From Colonization to Globalization", which he wrote in cooperation with Noam Chomsky.

His ideas have raised several controversies, especially in Venezuela. The Marxist theoretician Alan Woods has written a whole book against his allegedly reformist positions, Reformism or Revolution - A Reply to Heinz Dieterich. However, his relationship with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez deteriorated after he defended General Baduel, who led the "no" campaign in the 2007 constitutional referendum. On 15 August 2011, he submitted an article to the website kaosenlared.net where he explained the reasons over his break with Chávez.