Venezuela

NOVANEWS Untimely Meditations by CHRIS GILBERT Today, with President Nicolás Maduro more than one year in office, the situation in Venezuela seems rather bleak for the left. The right-wing opposition believes it’s hot on the trail of a wounded quarry. That is why they conspire in Miami and Washington and why they cleverly combine forms of pacific and violent struggle. Like Lenin in the autumn of 1917 (though with a completely different purpose) these pro-imperialist forces ask the question: Can the post-Chávez government retain state power? Can it last for years or even months? They believe it cannot last long. Deciding the issue of the government’s longevity is not easy, but what is clear is that the riddle of contemporary Venezuela, for both the political left and right, is unanswerabl...

NOVANEWS   Proletarian issue 59 (April 2014) US imperialism looking to stage yet another coup A new violent offensive has been mounted by Venezuela’s comprador bourgeoisie and feudal relics, with the 100 percent backing and instigation of US imperialism, to try to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Nicolás Maduro. As in Ukraine and Thailand, US imperialism, having failed at the ballot to secure a regime compliant to its imperialist needs, has backed reactionary elements to try to obtain by naked force what it cannot gain by constitutional means. In all three countries, US imperialism’s pose as a ‘champion of democracy’ has been exposed for all to see as the purest hypocrisy. The right to choose is strictly limited in the bourgeois world to those...

NOVANEWS Mr Kerry said that the US is not planning to take any action at this stage   US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that impatience with the Venezuelan government is growing across the region over its failure to address the country's serious political crisis. Mr Kerry called on President Nicolas Maduro to reopen negotiations with the opposition. Talks collapsed over a dispute about the release of political prisoners. At least 42 people, from both sides of the political divide, have been killed in street protests this year. Speaking during a visit to Mexico, Mr Kerry said that the United States was still considering imposing sanctions against Venezuela, but he hoped such measures would not be necessary. "The power is in the hands of the government, and the government has to ex...

NOVANEWS  by Ma'an News  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pledged to send oil and diesel to the Palestinian Authority, as part of agreements signed with its leader Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to Caracas. Venezuela, which sits atop the world's largest oil reserves, said it would provide an initial shipment of 240,000 barrels of oil, but gave no details as to how it would send them. "Thanks to Venezuela for supporting Palestine ... to break Israel's monopoly on our economy, for your response to our needs, for your willingness to support the Palestinian people in their long struggle," Abbas said, according to an official translation. During the meeting, Maduro also agreed to support the Palestinian Authority's quest to be granted observer status in three Latin American regional organiz...

NOVANEWS An anti-government protester in Caracas kicks back a gas canister to police during a demonstration in which masked youths clashed with police on April 21, 2014 Venezuela has announced the arrest of 58 foreign natives for involvement in inciting anti-government riots and other forms of violence that have plunged the Latin American nation in chaos in recent months. The detained foreigners include Colombians, an American, a Spaniard and an Arab, said Venezuela's Minister of Interior, Justice, and Peace Miguel Rodriguez Torres in a Friday news conference. "Up to now, there are 58 detainees of other nationalities, almost all implicated in the use of arms," Rodriguez said, displaying a large number of flowcharts and photos of meetings, phone calls and plotting. The US citizen, identi...

NOVANEWS Much Different From What You've Heard by Mark Weisbrot In reacting to the protests in Venezuela, the biggest Western media outlets have drafted a charmingly simple narrative of the situation there. According to this story, peaceful protesters have risen up against a government because of shortages, high inflation, and crime. They have taken to the streets and been met with brutal repression from a government that also controls the media. It doesn’t take much digging to take down this narrative. First, while there have been some peaceful opposition marches, the daily protests are anything but peaceful. In fact, about half of the daily death toll from Venezuela that we see in the media – now at 41 — are actually civilians and security forces apparently killed by protesters. A mu...

NOVANEWS By Eva Golinger Global Research   Anti-government protests in Venezuela that seek regime change have been led by several individuals and organizations with close ties to the US government. Leopoldo Lopez and Maria Corina Machado- two of the public leaders behind the violent protests that started in February – have long histories as collaborators, grantees and agents of Washington. The National Endowment for Democracy “NED” and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have channeled multi-million dollar funding to Lopez’s political parties Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular, and Machado’s NGO Sumate and her electoral campaigns. These Washington agencies have also filtered more than $14 million to opposition groups in Venezuela between 2013 and 2014, including f...

NOVANEWS Dismantles fascist strongholds Right-wing street barricades are more than physical barricades; people in affected neighborhoods are virtually kidnapped, with food, fuel and services blockaded. It is a form of terrorism against the population. Child being rescued from nursery set on fire by right-wing terrorists on April 1 While the U.S. government and media support the Venezuelan opposition to the Bolivarian Revolution and portray it as a peaceful movement, the violence of this movement is exposing the right wing’s true nature. There have been dozens of violent actions by fascist organizations, intent on carrying out terrorist plots in several urban areas of Venezuela. While the attacks are not widespread through the country, they are nevertheless causing serious d...

NOVANEWS In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Venezuela's president claims the Obama administration is fomenting unrest with the aim of provoking a Ukraine-style 'slow-motion' coup. Seumas Milne and Jonathan Watts in Caracas theguardian.com, Tuesday 8 April 2014  Link to video: Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro: 'We are all a little bit hippy, a little bohemian'Venezuela's president has accused the US of using continuing street protests to attempt a "slow-motion" Ukraine-style coup against his government and "get their hands on Venezuelan oil". In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Nicolás Maduro, elected last year after the death of Hugo Chávez, said what he described as a "revolt of the rich" would fail because the country's "Bolivarian revolution" was more...