Venezuela

NOVANEWS ANSWER National Coordinator points out U.S. government hypocrisy The epicenter of right-wing rioting in Ukraine, Feb. 18 From RT RT: Some are saying that extremists among the demonstrators are now emboldened to be violent after such strong support from abroad. Are the EU and the US really to blame for this? Brian Becker: I think there's an inter-tangling here, of course. The internal struggle within Ukraine is complex, it is complicated, it has its own dynamic. And there is a very far-right fascist and semi-fascist force that is opting for violence and really armed struggle to overthrow the government, as a tactic to integrate Ukraine into the EU and into the Western powers. But behind that, the wind in their sails right now - and we can see it from the upsurge of violen...

NOVANEWS Hands off Venezuela! As the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) took up the current political situation in Venezuela as part of its meeting in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 19, demonstrators once again took to the streets, some in support of the revolutionary government, and others in support of the right-wing opposition. Just four days earlier, a similar situation played out in front of the Venezuelan Embassy. The OAS, an organization dominated by the United States, is renowned throughout progressive circles in Latin America and around the world as a tool to advance U.S. interests in Latin America and the Caribbean, and it lived up to its reputation in Wednesday's meeting "express[ing] their concern ..., echo[ing] the call for calm ...,...

NOVANEWS Reactionary forces have full support of U.S. government and imperialist media Venezuela’s Minister of Communication and Information, Delcy Rodríguez speaks Feb. 16 to denounce the international media’s publication of several images falsely attributed to Venezuela. Here she shows a famous photograph of a protest in Egypt falsely identified as Venezuelan police repression. This article was originally published Feb. 17. Leopoldo López has since been taken into custody, but the right wing's destabilization drive continues. A coordinated operation of Venezuelan right-wing forces, the U.S. government and imperialist media is underway against the revolutionary government of President Nicolás Maduro and the masses who back the country’s move toward socialism. On February 12, pe...

NOVANEWS By Steve Ellner Global Research The Venezuelan opposition and much of the media use the term “peaceful protests” to distinguish gatherings of protesting students and other young people from the more violent actions including vandalism and shootings carried out by those outside of the university community. “Peaceful protests,” however, is a loaded term that serves to plant doubts about the intentions of the Chavista government. In the first place, the actions of the police and National Guard are portrayed as a violation of the constitutional right to peacefully demonstrate at the same time that the government is blamed for failing to get the “violent” protests under control. In the process, Venezuela is depicted as virtually a failed state or, as opposition leader Leopoldo López ...

NOVANEWS Fear of the Domino Effect will Never Subside by JASON HIRTHLER Some things never change. The petulant and undemocratic Venezuelan opposition is at it again, with the full backing and check-writing support of the U.S. government. Recent protests have inflamed the streets of Caracas, as opposition groups, as they have in the Ukraine, called for the ouster of the sitting president. I suppose it’s needless to note that Nicolás Maduro is Venezuela’s democratically elected president, and that he won by a higher victory margin in a cleaner election than did Barack Obama in 2012. Nor is it worth asking, one supposes, that if the entire country is engulfed by dissent, as The New York Times insidiously suggested by claiming the “The protests are expressing the widespread discontent with ...

NOVANEWS Why We Should Support Democracy by PETER BOHMER Text from a talk March 5th, 2014 at Forum on Venezuela and the Ukraine at the Evergreen State College. One year ago today on March 5th, 2013, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died of cancer. It is wrong to attribute all of the changes in Venezuela since 1998 to Chavez, whether pro or con, but he played an important ant positive role in what has happened there. Hugo Chávez’s death was a major loss for Venezuelans and all people around world who are concerned about economic justice and a world not dominated by global capitalism. I am sure many people in Venezuela will express their support for him today. Hugo Chávez presente! The popular classes in Venezuela, 80% of the population, have gained not just economically but also by their...

NOVANEWS Ecnomic Sabotage by MARIA PAEZ VICTOR Again, a highly organized attack is being carried out against the democratic and popular government of Venezuela. It has involved monetary manipulations, economic sabotage, international media campaign against the economy despite excellent economic indicators, defaming the state run oil company, and this last week riots on the streets that have left 3 dead and 66 injured. The tactics are the same that the un-democratic opposition has tried for 15 years ever since the first election of President Hugo Chávez. Such tactics have been used in the so-called Rainbow Revolutions in Eastern Europe, Libya, in Syria, in Egypt and now in Ukraine. The object is to give a semblance of chaos, to provoke the forces of public order, to discredit the gover...

NOVANEWS Shadows of the Weimar Republic by CHRIS GILBERT Venezuela’s traditional “Youth Day”  President Nicolás Maduro’s 10-month-old government had planned a sizable celebration in the city of La Victoria (Aragua State) where exactly 200 years ago to the day the national hero José Félix Ribas led a youth militia against the royalist army. The celebration included new monuments, military marches, a special light show, and performances by the youth orchestra – all in a triumphalist spirit that was understandable given the electoral victories of last year. These victories establish what one analyst calls “an electoral plateau” during the upcoming two years: a period in which, without being distracted by campaigns, the new President and cabinet can concentrate on governing until late 2015....