Old Articles | Tuesday, May 02 | · | Venezuelan Opposition Comes Under Fire from Mujica and Pope |
Wednesday, May 25 | · | Russia Denounces External Forces for Crisis in Venezuela |
Thursday, November 19 | · | Snowden Leak Reveals Obama Gov't Ordered NSA, CIA to Spy on Venezuela Oil |
Thursday, June 12 | · | Venezuelan Opposition's Plot to "Annihilate" Nicolas Maduro |
Saturday, April 26 | · | The Dirty Hand of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in Venezuela |
Wednesday, March 12 | · | Venezuela Is Not Occupy: U.S. Congress Got It Wrong |
Sunday, March 09 | · | |
Wednesday, February 26 | · | Venezuelan Government Allege Uribe and U.S. Role in Disturbances |
Sunday, February 23 | · | Obama's Arrogant Interference in Venezuela |
Monday, February 17 | · | What Violent Protests Mean for Venezuela |
Tuesday, December 03 | · | |
Thursday, November 21 | · | On the Warpath in Venezuela: Against the Bolivarian Revolution |
Tuesday, April 30 | · | |
Tuesday, April 23 | · | The United States shows its contempt for Venezuelan democracy |
Thursday, July 14 | · | Food in Venezuela is Now Guaranteed |
Saturday, May 28 | · | US Sanctions on PDVSA - Latest Imperialist Provocation |
Monday, April 11 | · | Sayonara, Japan: Is the capitalist game over now? |
Tuesday, March 01 | · | Could Venezuela see her future in the oily crystal ball of Libya? |
Saturday, February 19 | · | |
Friday, January 02 | · | |
Older Articles
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Latin America: Tuesday, March 19 @ 07:46:45 UTC | Jorge Martin takes recent Gabriel Hetland articles to task, questioning the liberal left's assessment of the current situation and the solutions proposed.
By Jorge Martin March 17, 2019 - In Defence of Marxism
There is a certain trend of opinion amongst the liberal left, particularly in the US, which never felt very comfortable with the Bolivarian revolution. Now, in the midst of a serious and well-organised attempt by Washington to remove Maduro’s government, they insist on equally blaming both sides for the crisis, one which in their view can be resolved through “negotiations between the government and the opposition”. A chief representative of this point of view is Gabriel Hetland, who has written several articles on Venezuela for The Nation, Jacobin and other left-wing publications.
His latest article, “Venezuela’s Deadly Blackout Highlights the Need for a Negotiated Resolution of the Crisis”, sums up this argument neatly, so it is useful to analyse it in some detail. The article is full of inaccuracies and half-truths, but its main flaw is a mistaken analysis of the situation in Venezuela, one that avoids a class approach to the different forces involved, from which Hetland derives a completely utopian solution.
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Latin America: U.S. Uses International Finance System to Strangle Venezuelan Economy Friday, March 15 @ 07:27:02 UTC | Regime Change Via Sanctions? U.S. Uses International Finance System to Strangle Venezuelan Economy
March 14, 2019 - democracynow.org
Venezuelan officials say power will be largely restored in the country today after a week-long blackout across much of the country. The cause of the blackout remains in dispute. The United States blamed it on years of neglect of the Venezuelan energy system, but Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused the U.S. military of launching a “cyberattack against the electrical, telecommunication and internet systems.” The blackout comes amid a growing political crisis in Venezuela as U.S.-backed opposition groups attempt to topple Maduro’s government. On Monday, the United States announced it was withdrawing remaining diplomatic staff from its embassy in Caracas. We speak with Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and president of Just Foreign Policy. His latest piece for The New Republic is headlined “The Reality Behind Trump’s Coalition for Regime Change in Venezuela.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Venezuelan officials are saying power will largely be restored by today, after a week-long blackout across much of the country. The cause of the blackout remains in dispute. The United States blamed it on years of neglect of the Venezuelan energy system, but Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused the U.S. military of launching a, quote, “cyberattack against the electrical, telecommunication and internet systems.” The blackout comes amid a growing political crisis in Venezuela as U.S.-backed opposition groups attempt to topple Maduro’s government. It’s been nearly two months since opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself to be president with the backing of the United States.
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Latin America: The War on Venezuela Is Built on Lies Sunday, February 24 @ 22:29:19 UTC | "A war has been declared on Venezuela, of which the truth is 'too difficult' to report" - John Pilger has his take on Venezuela.
By John Pilger
February 24, 2019 – johnpilger.com
Travelling with Hugo Chavez, I soon understood the threat of Venezuela. At a farming co-operative in Lara state, people waited patiently and with good humour in the heat. Jugs of water and melon juice were passed around. A guitar was played; a woman, Katarina, stood and sang with a husky contralto.
"What did her words say?" I asked.
"That we are proud," was the reply.
The applause for her merged with the arrival of Chavez. Under one arm he carried a satchel bursting with books. He wore his big red shirt and greeted people by name, stopping to listen. What struck me was his capacity to listen.
But now he read. For almost two hours he read into the microphone from the stack of books beside him: Orwell, Dickens, Tolstoy, Zola, Hemingway, Chomsky, Neruda: a page here, a line or two there. People clapped and whistled as he moved from author to author.
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Latin America: Saturday, February 16 @ 10:52:53 UTC | A grassroots leader from the 23 de Enero barrio in Caracas looks at the historical forces operating behind the showdown unfolding right now in the Bolivarian Republic.
By Cira Pascual Marquina February 16, 2019 - venezuelanalysis.com
Juan Contreras was born and raised in Caracas’s 23 de Enero barrio, famous for its revolutionary political activism and internationalism. A graduate of Venezuela’s Central University, Contreras was active in Bandera Roja, under the direction of Comandante Geronimo (Carlos Betancourt) in the late 1970s. Today he heads up the community organization, Coordinadora Simon Bolivar, in the heart of working class Caracas. In this exclusive interview with Venezuelanalysis, Contreras looks at the historical echoes of the current coup attempt and reminds us of all that is a stake.
The claim that politics inevitably involves a struggle over historical meanings received spectacular confirmation in recent weeks. That’s because the political crisis that we are in the midst of right now – following Juan Guaido’s declaring himself president – saw the opposition to trying evoke the memory of pro-democracy rebellion that began on January 23, 1958. How do you understand this effort of Juan Guaido and his imperialist masters to appropriate that historical event, which was essentially a leftist victory, in the name of a coup d’etat?
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Latin America: Venezuela: A Diplomatic Coup? Monday, February 11 @ 23:06:49 UTC | By Paul Dobson February 11, 2019 - venezuelanalysis.com
Many living outside of Venezuela have been following the ongoing attempted coup d’etat with fully deserved attention.
Not only does it set a worrying precedent of blunt-edged US meddling in the region, but it also runs against the Venezuelan Constitution and local laws. The recognition of an unelected leader by a host of governments also clearly violates the cornerstone of international law, including the United Nations and Organisation of American States charters, as well as foundational principles safeguarding countries’ right to sovereignty and self-determination.
The revelations of how Juan Guaido has achieved recognition from 25 percent of the world’s governments have made plenty of headlines, as mainstream media shines once again with its manipulation and distortion, describing the unelected coup-mongers as “democratic” and the elected president as a “dictator”.
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Latin America: How the Media Manufactures Consent for Regime Change in Venezuela Sunday, February 10 @ 23:15:10 UTC | Alan MacLeod looks at the role of the media in the regime change operation in Venezuela.
By Alan MacLeod February 10, 2019 – Venezuelanalysis.com
The latest extraordinary chapter in the bizarre world of Venezuelan politics is playing out before our eyes. After winning the 2018 presidential elections, Nicolás Maduro was inaugurated in January, only for the head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó -- a man whom, at the time, less than 20 percent of the country had even heard of -- to declare himself President.
Guaidó was immediately backed by the governments of the U.S. and U.K., with Vice President Mike Pence stating, "Nicolás Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power. He has never won the presidency in a free and fair election, and has maintained his grip of power by imprisoning anyone who dares to oppose him."
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Latin America: Friday, February 08 @ 16:08:44 UTC | Juan Guaidó: The Man Who Would Be President of Venezuela Doesn’t Have a Constitutional Leg to Stand On
By Roger Harris February 08, 2019 - Venezuelanalysis.com
Donald Trump imagines Juan Guaidó is the rightful president of Venezuela. Mr. Guaidó, a man of impeccable illegitimacy, was exposed by Dan Cohen and Max Blumenthal as “a product of a decade-long project overseen by Washington’s elite regime change trainers.” Argentinian sociologist Marco Teruggi described Guaidó in the same article as “a character that has been created for this circumstance” of regime change. Here, his constitutional credentials to be interim president of Venezuela are deconstructed.
Educated at George Washington University in DC, Guaidó was virtually unknown in his native Venezuela before being thrust on to the world stage in a rapidly unfolding series of events. In a poll conducted a little more than a week before Guaidó appointed himself president of the country, 81% of Venezuelans had never even heard of the 35-year-old.
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Latin America: Friday, February 08 @ 08:16:31 UTC | Writing for the Venezuelanalysis team, Lucas Koerner examines the (un)constitutionality of Juan Guaido’s claim to power.
By Lucas Koerner – VA Editorial Board February 06, 2019 - venezuelanalysis.com
There’s been a lot misinformation in the international media about whether what is happening in Venezuela is a brazen US-led power grab or a constitutional transfer of power aided by the international community.
On January 23, National Assembly President Juan Guaido, who was virtually unknown in Venezuela before being selected for the legislative post on January 5, swore himself in as “interim president” of the South American country and was immediately recognized by Washington and its allies.
Guaido claims that his new self-ascribed job title is fully in keeping with Article 233 of Venezuela’s 1999 constitution. But is this the case?
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Latin America: Wednesday, February 06 @ 11:34:22 UTC | By Garikai Chengu January 30, 2019 - Global Research
American economic sanctions have been the worst crime against humanity since World War Two. America’s economic sanctions have killed more innocent people than all of the nuclear, biological and chemical weapons ever used in the history of mankind.
The fact that for America the issue in Venezuela is oil, not democracy, will surprise only those who watch the news and ignore history. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves on the planet.
America seeks control of Venezuela because it sits atop the strategic intersection of the Caribbean, South and Central American worlds. Control of the nation, has always been a remarkably effective way to project power into these three regions and beyond.
From the first moment Hugo Chavez took office, the United States has been trying to overthrow Venezuela’s socialist movement by using sanctions, coup attempts, and funding the opposition parties. After all, there is nothing more undemocratic than a coup d’état.
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Latin America: Savage Capitalism or Socialism: A Conversation with Luis Britto Garcia Tuesday, February 05 @ 19:26:20 UTC | Either Washington or Venezuela, Savage Capitalism or Socialism: A Conversation with Luis Britto Garcia
In this exclusive interview with Venezuelanalysis, an acclaimed writer and committed Bolivarian talks about the short and long term defense of Venezuela's sovereignty.
By Cira Pascual Marquina February 05, 2019 – Venezuelanalysis.com
Luis Britto Garcia is perhaps Venezuela’s most highly regarded public intellectual. A firm supporter of the Bolivarian Process, he has written numerous plays, novels, historical investigations and film scripts and is also an incisive commentator on politics in the region.
Many people on the left are critical of President Nicolás Maduro’s government, but that criticism has nothing to do with a desire to join the ranks of the right-wing opposition or its foreign allies. In the face of the current imperialist attack on Venezuela, we need to defend the country and stand up against interference. Do you agree?
I have repeatedly claimed that, when both internal and external forces of reaction make a double attack on our country – and use all legal and even illegal resources they have at hand – we must all come together in Venezuela’s defense and in the defense its authorities and the political coalition that maintains them legally in power.
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Latin America: Thursday, January 31 @ 12:26:59 UTC | By Eric Draitser January 30, 2019 - counterpunch.org
The US-sponsored coup in Venezuela, still ongoing as I write, is the latest chapter in the long and bloody history of US imperialism in Latin America. This basic fact, understood by most across the left of the political spectrum – including even the chattering liberal class which acknowledges this truth only with the passage of time and never in the moment – must undergird any analysis of the situation in Venezuela today. That is to say, the country is being targeted by the Yanqui Empire.
This point is, or at least should be, indisputable irrespective of one’s opinions of Venezuelan President Maduro, the Socialist Party (PSUV), or the progress of the Bolivarian Revolution. Imperialism, and its neocolonial manifestation in the 21st Century, is there to pick clean the bones of the Bolivarian dream and return Venezuela to the role of subservient asset, an oil-soaked proxy state ruled by a right-wing satrap eager to please the colonial lords of capital.
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Latin America: The History - and Hypocrisy - of US Meddling in Venezuela Monday, January 28 @ 15:05:58 UTC | Author and activist Brett Wilkins looks at the history of US meddling in Venezuela.
By Brett Wilkins January 28th 2019 – Venezuelanalysis.com
There isn’t a nation in the Western Hemisphere that hasn’t at one time or another found itself caught in the far-reaching tentacles of US imperialism. Venezuela is certainly no exception. Washington has been meddling in its internal affairs since the 19th century and it continues to do so to this very day, when the specter of yet another US-backed coup, or even a direct American military intervention, looms larger by the day.
A Long History of Meddling
During most of the 20th century, US interference in Venezuela was mostly about oil, but that wasn’t always the case in earlier times. Washington’s involvement in the 1895 boundary dispute between Venezuela and Britain was a key event in the emergence of the United States as a world power as the Grover Cleveland administration, invoking the Monroe Doctrine prohibition against European colonization of the Americas, successfully sided with Venezuela. The Cleveland administration, which noted that “today the United States is practically sovereign on this continent,” issued thinly veiled threats of war against Britain, which eventually acquiesced to US demands.
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Latin America: Canada Is Complicit in Venezuela's US-Backed Coup D'état Monday, January 28 @ 14:56:18 UTC | Ottawa's active role in the current US-backed effort to oust Maduro is the latest chapter in a long history of Canadian imperialist meddling in the region.
By Yves Engler January 28th 2019 – Venezuelanalysis.com
Most Canadians think of their country as a force for good in the world, but recent efforts by Justin Trudeau’s government to overthrow Venezuela’s elected government have once again revealed the ugly truth about the Great White North. We are an important partner in imperialism, willing to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, up to and including the use of military force, to benefit the perceived self-interest of our elites.
Over the past two years, Canadian officials have campaigned aggressively against President Nicolás Maduro. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has repeatedly criticized Caracas’ democratic legitimacy and human rights record. Recently she said, “the Maduro regime is now fully entrenched as a dictatorship” while in September Ottawa asked (with five South American nations) the International Criminal Court to investigate the Venezuelan government, which is the first time a government has been formally brought before the tribunal by another member.
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Latin America: US Disregard for International Law Is a Menace to Latin America Friday, September 21 @ 10:11:06 UTC | This is a situation where Venezuela cannot wait or hope for any immediate help except from its own people, and it has to lean on the side of caution
By Nino Pagliccia
September 20, 2018 - telesurtv.net
International Community Principles
At the 25th U.N. session of October 1970, the General Assembly adopted a resolution titled 'Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation Among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.' Not too many people would know that, therefore I think it is important to remember what those principles are (emphasis added):
* The principle that states shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.
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Latin America: Venezuela Assassination Attempt: Maduro Survives but Journalism Doesn't Wednesday, August 08 @ 09:00:41 UTC | By Ricardo Vaz
Aug 7th 2018 – Venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuela was rocked this past Sunday by an attempted assassination of President Nicolas Maduro, during a public event, using drones armed with explosives. But as more details started to become available, the coverage of the mainstream media actually moved in the opposite direction: one after the other they have looked to sow doubt on the events, using words such as “apparent” or “alleged”, focusing instead on the government using this “alleged” event to step up repression. In the end, it is hard to tell apart the media coverage from the statements of John Bolton, one of the more hawkish advisers to the US president.
Although there are plenty of examples to choose from, we are going to focus on our personal champion of dishonest Venezuelan coverage – The Guardian. A quick search of Guardian headlines with “assassination attempt” shows that a qualifier such as “alleged” is never used. Be it Jacques Chirac, Guinea's president, or even Saddam Hussein's deputy, nobody had their assassination attempts questioned as a hoax to be used as a pretext to stamp out dissent. Such is the dishonesty of the media coverage of Venezuela. (1)
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