Venezuela

NOVANEWS   FOIA filed demanding information on possible assassination plans Within hours of the announcement of the death of President Hugo Chávez, civil rights groups in the United States filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) demands with federal agencies seeking information and documents that "relate to or reference or discuss any information regarding or plans to poison or otherwise assassinate the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez."  The records demands have been made to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Defense Intelligence Agency and have been filed by the civil rights legal organization, the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, the anti-war group, ANSWER Coalition and Liberation Newspaper. The Venezuelan government is also calling fo...

NOVANEWS   A tale of two demonstrations: Eyewitness report In front of the Venezuelan Embassy - Washington, D.C., Feb. 15, 2014 En Español Yesterday (Sat., Feb. 15) at a demonstration in Washington, D.C., the racist, privileged and pampered character of the ultra-right-wing opponents of Venezuela’s revolutionary government revealed itself in a grotesque display. Vividly unmasking the true class nature of the opposition to Venezuela’s progressive government, the enraged children of Venezuela’s upper classes, who live a coddled existence in Washington, D.C., yelled insults and racist slurs against a multi-racial group of demonstrators who rallied for six hours to condemn the U.S. government and the CIA for trying to carry out another coup against the progressive government le...

NOVANEWS published by Tom Sullivan Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president, has accused Washington of plotting with anti-government protesters and expelled three US diplomats in retaliation. Maduro's ordered the expulsions on Monday, the same day that opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez called for a mass rally on Tuesday and challenged the government to arrest him at the event.

NOVANEWS After days of protests led by students and opposition forces, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the expulsion of three US consular officials whom he accused of conspiracy and meeting students involved in anti-government protests. Maduro did not identify the US officials, but pledged that the Venezuelan foreign minister would give more details later. "It's a group of US functionaries who are in the universities. We've been watching them having meetings in the private universities for two months. They work in visas," Maduro stated in a nationally televised broadcast. It's believed that the expulsion has been provoked by the Obama administration's support for the Harvard-educated opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, whom Maduro accuses of leading a US-backed "fascist" pl...

NOVANEWS Tehran, Dec 10, IRNA – Venezuelan Ambassador to Iran Amenhotep Zambrano said that Iran boasts of an influential role in international equilibrium due to its outstanding position in the international scene. Talking to IRNA on the ninth anniversary of Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), he added that December is the month of revolution, convergence for the Latin America and ALBA was set up in this month. This year, Venezuelan Embassy in Tehran has arranged various programs and seminars to mark the occasion, he said. Since its establishment nine years ago, ALBA has issued various statements in support of the Palestinian nation, Syrians’ right to resolve their internal problems, Iran’s entitlement to peaceful nuclear energy. Stating that ALBA favors changes in...

NOVANEWS BY BRIAN ELLSWORTH 1 OF 11. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro talks to supporters during a meeting at Plaza Bolivar in Caracas December 8, 2013. (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pledged to deepen his "economic offensive" to force businesses to cut prices after his ruling Socialist Party won most votes in Sunday's municipal elections. A partial count showed government allies won 49 percent of the votes in 337 mayoral races, compared to 42 percent for the opposition coalition, derailing efforts by Maduro's critics to turn the vote into a plebiscite on his government and the legacy of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. Maduro's candidates benefited from his crackdown in November to force merchants to slash prices of goods such as TVs, car parts and home h...

Proletarian issue 57 (December 2013) NOVANEWS After the recent UK premiere of the documentary April: Between Peace and Rage, the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign spoke to Alvaro Sanchez, chargé d’affaires at the Venezuelan embassy, about the film, what it reveals about Venezuela’s right-wing opposition and the ongoing destabilisation ahead of December’s elections. We reproduce below extracts from this informative interview, with thanks to VSC.     Why is this film, April: Between Peace and Rage, important? The film shows the political violence that took place earlier this year in Venezuela, in the aftermath of the presidential election in April. Eleven innocent people lost their lives as a result of this unnecessary and outrageous political violence, encouraged by ...

NOVANEWS Popular mobilizations back revolutionary leaders   Ernesto Villegas in campaign rally, Dec. 1 Photo: Villegas campaign As the Dec. 8 mayoral elections approach, Venezuela’s revolutionary government is employing extraordinary measures to curb sabotage, price-gouging and massive hoarding of food and other essentials by giant conglomerates. Beginning with revolutionary leader Hugo Chávez’s first election as president in 1998, the Bolivarian Revolutionary process has undergone 18 national elections, with economic and social gains for the people advancing each time. But the right-wing opposition, backed by U.S. imperialism, has tried to sabotage those elections by creating economic chaos and consumer panic. The capitalists foment economic dislocation in an attempt to adversel...

NOVANEWS by MARIA PAEZ VICTOR Since the election of President Hugo Chávez in 1999 there has been antipathy and deliberate media distortion of the political events in Venezuela. Last Sunday, the Toronto Star (newspaper that self-identifies as liberal, broad thinking, progressive) published a defamatory article about the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.  Once again the Canadian press goes on the attack against Venezuela, ridiculing and misrepresenting its president. And if at any time you thought that it was the personality of President Chávez that offended the world press, think again because all that media aggression now focuses on his successor, President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro is a tall, dark, handsome man, a good orator, intelligent and friendly, but he is not charismatic like Chá...