VENEZUELA ANTHOLOGY #5 AUGUST 27, 2024

https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2024/08/omni-venezuela-anthology-5-august-27.html

COMPILED BY DICK BENNETT FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY

CONTENTS VENEZUELA #5

US WAR AGAINST VENEZUELA
De La Cruz, et al.  Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War.
Ensberger and Podur.  Extraordinary Threat: The U.S. Empire, the Media, and 20 Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela.
“Biden Extends U.S. Campaign to Crush Venezuela.”(5 articles).Alan MacLeod.  “…US Plans for War and Terror against Venezuela.”
Dan Beeton.  “The Venezuelan Coup, 20 Years Later.”
Ryan Swan.  “Venezuela Seeks Investigation [of war crimes] by ICC.”
“Alex Saab Is Being Tortured….”
Ricardo Vaz.  US Meddling in Elections.
Jonathan Ng.  “The US Is…Strangling Venezuela.”
UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan Reports on US v. Human Rights in Venezuela.
Douhan.  “Call for Sanctions Relief.”
Andreina Chavez Alava.  “UN Expert…Impact of U.S.-led Sanctions against Venezuela.”
Ana Perdigon.  “U.S. Seditious Policy against Venezuela.”
Lucas Koerner. “U.S. Empire’s Fixation with Chavismo.”
Ricardo Vaz.  Extraditing Venezuelan Envoy to US.
“U.S…Using Guaido to Rob Venezuela.”
Cira Pasqual Marquina.  Venezuela’s Communal Past.
Emersberger and Podur.  Myth of Venezuela’s Prosperous and Democratic Past.

“The Blockade against Venezuela…Deadly Impact of Sanctions.”
Emersberger.  Alex Saab Case.
Caitlin Johnstone.  US History of Interfering with Elections.

SUPPORT OF VENEZUELA

Legacy of Hugo Chavez Lives On.  (2 articles)
Leonardo Flores.  “Five Reasons the Left Won in Venezuela.”
Vargas and Sonja.  Venezuela’s Insurrectionist and Communal Past.
Mision Verdad.  FAO Food Report on Venezuela Is Positive.
Ben Norton.  “Venezuela’s Economy Will Grow. . .in 2022.”
Ociel Lopez.  “Venezuela and the New Latin Left.”
Morning Star.  “…Maduro’s Successful Socialist…Strategy.”
Cira Pascual Marquine.  “Radical Land Reform…”
Federico Fuentes.  “’Commune or Nothing’….”
Dakotah Lily.  “…Ecosocialism in an Oil-Rich State.”
Jovanni.  “…DemilitarizedU on Venezuelan Elections.”

TEXTS of VENEZUELA #5 (36)

A long time ago I was asked: Shouldn’t you present both sides?  I replied: No, when the opponent is the richest nation on earth, with its allies possessing the largest propaganda (“public relations”) organization in the history of humankind, and I am a single, unpaid volunteer.  Dear Reader: Do you agree with me that knowledge is the foundation for any nonviolent resistance?  I have a hundred Anthologies on a hundred different topics in preparation.  Will you take one to finish?   –Dick

THE US WAR ON VENEZUELA

CLAUDIA DE LA CRUZ; MANOLO DOS SANTOS; VIJAY PRASHAD.  Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War.  International Publishers, 2021.

·      DESCRIPTION

 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

pUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION

Ever since the Bolivarian Revolution began in Venezuela in 1998-99, the United States government – on behalf of its various allies – pursued a policy of hybrid war to undermine and destroy Bolivarianism. This hybrid war has included the unilateral, criminal sanctions regime which has been deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic; the Venezuelan people are being suffocated by a policy imposed on them. Venezuela’s only provocation was to chart out a path for itself that consolidates the country’s sovereignty and improves the life of the Venezuelan people. Viviremos, say the Venezuelans as they struggle to uphold their dignity, we will live.

The authors of this book chart out the character of the unilateral, criminal sanctions and offer heartfelt assessments of how this hybrid war is being prosecuted by the United States and how it is being resisted by the people. Their essays are a contribution to ending the imperialist attack on Venezuela.

Contributors: Carlos Ron, Claudia De La Cruz, Manolo De Los Santos, Vijay Prashad, Prabhat Patnaik, Ana Maldonado, Paola Estrada, Zoe PC, Samuel Moncada, Joe Sammut, Gregory Wilpert, Anya Parampil, Belén Fernández, Miguel Stédile, and George Ciccariello-Maher.

Joe Emersberger and Justin Podur.   Extraordinary Threat.   Monthly Review P, 2021.

Publisher’s description:
 A primer for answering questions like:
What is the nature of Venezuela’s government? Is it a dictatorship?
Are Venezuela’s problems due to misgovernment, or are they due to U.S. interference?
What would happen if Venezuela fell to U.S. imperialism?
How has the U.S. been able to get away with this?

Taking Venezuela as a case study, how does regime change propaganda work? 

From Chapter 3:
….In March 2020, the United States began imposing sanctions on foreign firms that trade with Venezuela. It also announced a Wild West-style bounty on the head of Maduro and other officials, based on drug trafficking allegations that were transparently political in nature—and in some instances, totally preposterous. For example, it was alleged that Maduro’s government intended to “flood” the United States with cocaine. This claim, no matter how unhinged, was consistent with the officially declared U.S. “national emergency” that said that Venezuela was an “extraordinary threat” to the United States: a clear example of the aggressor demanding victim status….

…As 2020 came to a close, the United States seemed unwilling to declare an end to the Guaidó era any time soon—the very long attempt to oust Maduro through threats, appeals to the Venezuelan military to perpetrate a coup, and, worst of all, constantly escalating economic warfare. The lack of opposition to this prolonged coup attempt where it would be most effective—in Western governments, media, and prominent nonprofits—has proven lethal. The empire centered in Washington is an extraordinary threat to the world.
The following piece is adapted from Extraordinary Threat: The U.S. Empire, the Media and 20 Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela, Monthly Review Press, 2021.

In his State of the Union address on February 6, 2019, Donald Trump said:

We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom—and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.

Monthly Review Press, 2021

Trump’s ridiculous comment was not considered controversial, because the Western media, including the anti-Trump outlets like the New York Times, have spent many years conveying a lie: that Venezuela had been very prosperous and democratic until Hugo Chávez, and then his successor Nicolás Maduro, came along and ruined everything. If readers believe that, then they may indeed wonder, “Why shouldn’t the U.S. government help Venezuelans return to that prosperous state?”

But this attitude is the result of common deceptions about Venezuela’s economic history, and it ignores how the rise of Chávez actually brought democratic reform, not regression, to Venezuela. The story the Western media tell should instead make people wonder how Chavismo could have become the dominant political force if everything had once been wonderful in Venezuela. . . .  MORE

“Biden Extends U.S. Campaign to Crush Venezuela”

CovertAction Magazine via gmail.mcsv.net 
Biden reinstates sanctions on Venezuela    April 18, 2024.  NPR  https://www.npr.org › 2024/04/18 › biden-reinstates-sa… 
Biden will allow Venezuelans who fled the Maduro regime …  Vox  https://www.vox.com › policy-and-politics › venezuela-…

Mar 8, 2021 — Former President Donald Trump previously offered Venezuelans in the US the opportunity to apply for another kind of humanitarian protection …
Will the Biden Administration Abandon Democracy in …   Council on Foreign Relations

https://www.cfr.org › blog › will-biden-administration-…

Mar 30, 2024 — “President Biden is committed to a foreign policy that…is centered on the defense of democracy and the protection of human rights, Secretary …
U.S. Will Allow Nearly 500000 Venezuelan Migrants to …  The New York Times   https://www.nytimes.com › biden-adams-migrants

Sep 20, 2023 — The move, announced late Wednesday, followed intense lobbying by New York Democrats before and during President Biden’s visit to New York …
US reimposes oil sanctions on Venezuela as hopes …AP News  https://apnews.com › article › venezuela-united-states-sa…   Apr 17, 2024 — The Biden administration reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela in a rebuke to President Nicolas Maduro.

“Mark Esper’s tell-some reveals U.S. plans for war and terror against Venezuela.”  Mronline.org (5-29-22).

By Alan MacLeod (Posted May 28, 2022)

Originally published: MintPress News  on May 23, 2022 (more by MintPress News).   Empire, Imperialism, State Repression, WarAmericas, United States, VenezuelaNewswireMark Esper, Operation Gideon

A new book from former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has revealed shocking new details about the Trump administration’s war on Venezuela. “A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times” admits that the Trump administration plotted to invade Venezuela and discussed assassinating President Nicolas Maduro, carrying out a wave of terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure, and raising a mercenary army to start a Contra-style terror war. Esper also all but confirms Washington’s involvement in Operation Gideon–a botched military invasion of the country, and a 2018 attempt on Maduro’s life.

While barely covered in Western media, Esper’s confessions have caused a storm of commotion in the South American nation. However, Diego Sequera, a Caracas-based investigative journalist, told MintPress that few were taken aback by the news. “It is, in a way, shocking. But on the other hand, it is pretty much usual for us here,” he said, adding:

The news is not surprising at all; we in Venezuela are used to it. Since 2004, when the first Colombian paramilitary unit with a plan to assassinate President [Hugo] Chavez was arrested, there have been a lot of exposés of this nature. . . .  MORE

“The Venezuela Coup, 20 Years Later”  By Dan Beeton, CEPR.  PopularResistance.org (4-16-22).   On April 11, 2002, Venezuela’s democratically elected government, headed by Hugo Chávez Frías, was ousted in a military coup d’etat. Then, dramatically, two days later, the coup was overturned by a mass mobilization of Venezuelans. They demanded the restoration of democracy and the return of a government that appeared to be making good on its commitment to redistribute Venezuela’s oil wealth to benefit the country’s most marginalized sectors. These events led to lasting ramifications not just for Venezuela, but for Latin America and…  -more-

“Venezuela Seeks Investigation by International Criminal Court (ICC) as to Whether U.S. Sanctions Constitute Crimes Against Humanity” By Ryan Swan on Apr 11, 2022.

Adopted as part of regime-change operation, sanctions have killed at least 40,000 Venezuelans.

Economic coercive measures, commonly known as economic sanctions, are a means of coercive pressure through disruption of trade relations and economic isolation. The use of sanctions under international law is governed chiefly by Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, providing that the Security Council may decide to enact a “complete or partial interruption of economic relations” in order to restore international peace and security.

Measures not authorized by the Security Council, or “unilateral coercive measures” (UCM), have become an increasingly common coercive tactic of the United States, which presently imposes sanctions on approximately one-third of the global population.

Since 2010, the United States has also been enforcing select secondary sanctions against international actors that maintain economic relations with sanctioned states. The adverse effects of these measures on civilian populations of targeted countries—“especially severe for vulnerable groups,” including “women and children”—have been repeatedly and unequivocally documented.  MORE

The post Venezuela Seeks Investigation by International Criminal Court (ICC) as to Whether U.S. Sanctions Constitute Crimes Against Humanity appeared first on CovertAction Magazine.

“Alex Saab is being tortured in the U.S., denounces Diplomat’s wife Camila (+Oscar López Rivera).”  Editor.  mronline.org. 

Originally published:Orinoco Tribune  on February 6, 2022 (more by Orinoco Tribune)  |  (Posted Feb 09, 2022).    Empire, Imperialism, Incarceration, InequalityUnited States, VenezuelaNewswireKidnapping, Torture

Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab “is suffering torture and inhumane treatment everyday in the United States,” decried his wife Camila Fabri Saab during a solidarity event for the diplomat, hosted last Friday, February 3, by the U.S.-based human rights organization Alliance for Global Justice.

“Today, as we are speaking here, another day passes in which my husband Alex Saab, a Venezuelan diplomat, remains kidnapped,” she continued. Saab, a special envoy of the Venezuelan government to Iran and Russia, and Venezuela’s alternate ambassador to the African Union, was illegally arrested in June 2020 in Cape Verde while he was on his way to Iran on a diplomatic mission. Since then, the diplomat has been illegally held for more than 600 days, first in Cape Verde, and since October 16, 2021, in the United States.

Ambassador Saab, in an open letter, denounced the Cape Verdean authorities for torturing him for days—under U.S. orders—to force him to make false accusations against the Venezuelan government and President Nicolás Maduro. . . .  MORE

Ricardo Vaz.  “In Venezuela, Elections Aren’t ‘Democratic’ unless Winners Are US-Approved.”   Extra!  (Jan-Feb. 2022), a publication of FAIR.         

Biden’s State Dept. imitates earlier ones by trying to discredit election results when the US empire does not like the results.  Vaz writes for Venezuelanalysis, Peoples Dispatch, and other news media.

“The U.S. is intentionally strangling Venezuela.”  mronline.org (1-11-22).    By Jonathan Ng (Posted Jan 10, 2022).  

Empire, Imperialism, Movements, Political Economy, RevolutionsAmericas, VenezuelaCommentary, NewsFeatured

. . . In recent years, a raging humanitarian crisis has slowly but brutally undermined the Venezuelan Revolution, which had virtually eradicated malnutrition and slashed poverty in half. Inflation has devoured savings, while compelling families to make severe economies. Many must regularly decide whether to eat or buy medicine. Hunger has become a constant for the skeletal figures walking the streets of Maracaibo, forming food lines, and populating hospital beds.

Mismanagement of the economy and state corruption partly explain their misery. Yet it is also an official policy of the U.S. In the world of high politics, suffering is an instrument of statecraft, and officials are trying to strangle the Venezuelan Revolution with sanctions. Above all, they fear the radical ambitions of the popular classes, which once transformed Venezuela and may do so again. The current crisis is incomprehensible apart from this deeper history of collective struggle and imperial backlash. 
Aló Presidente
That history begins in the Cold War. . . .   MORE

“Preliminary findings of the visit to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela by the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights.”  Mronline.org (2-16-21).

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Ms. Alena Douhan, visited the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from 1 to 12 February 2021. She thanks the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for enabling and supporting her visit to the country. The purpose […]  | more… 

“Washington Maintains Seditious Agenda Against Venezuela”

By Ana Perdigón .  Orinoco Tribune. Popular Resistance.org (11-23-21).  The government of the United States ratified its seditious policy against Venezuela by continuing to recognize former deputy Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela. On Tuesday, November 16, the Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Brian Nichols, confirmed that the US still recognizes former deputy Juan Guaidó “and his government.” The statement was made during Nichols’ appearance before the Foreign Subcommittee of the Chamber of Deputies, in which Nichols was asked whether the US administration plans to recognize the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. -more-

“UN Expert Releases Full Report on Impact of U.S.-led Sanctions Against Venezuela.”  Editor.  Mronline.org (9-21-21).

Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan reiterated her call for sanctions relief, stating they undermine Venezuelans’ human rights.

Originally published: “UN Expert Releases Full Report on Impact of U.S.-led Sanctions Against Venezuela”  on September 18, 2021 by Andreína Chávez Alava (more by UN Expert Releases Full Report on Impact of U.S.-led Sanctions Against Venezuela) (Posted Sep 20, 2021).    Human Rights, Imperialism, Inequality, State RepressionUnited States, VenezuelaNewswireAlena Douhan, Sanctions, U.S. sanctions, United Nations (UN), Venezuela sanctions

United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan presented a 19-page report detailing the negative consequences of US-led sanctions on the Venezuelan people.

The document compiles Douhan’s complete assessment of her 12-day visit to the Caribbean country in February. Presenting the findings at the 48th UN Human Rights Council session on September 15, the independent expert reiterated that the wide-reaching sanctions program against Venezuela has had a “devastating” effect on the entire population’s living conditions.

Douhan went on to explain that Venezuela’s pre-existing economic and social crisis was exacerbated by the imposition of “sectoral sanctions on the oil, gold and mining industries” as well as “the economic blockade and the freezing of the Central Bank assets.”

Consequently, the country’s revenues, essentially from oil exports, were significantly reduced, affecting “public electricity, gas, water, transport, telephone and communication systems, as well as schools, hospitals and other public institutions.”   MORE

“‘The Blockade Against Venezuela: Measures and Consequences’.”   Editor.  Mronline.org (8-25-21).

Originally published: Venezuelanalysis.com  on August 22, 2021 by Venezuelanalysis.com (more by Venezuelanalysis.com)  |  (Posted Aug 24, 2021).   Health, Imperialism, Inequality, State RepressionUnited States, VenezuelaNewswirecoronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, U.S. blockade, Utopix’s Kael Abello

In recent years, the United States and its allies have unleashed a devastating blockade against Venezuela in hopes of triggering regime change. In this infographic, designed by Utopix’s Kael Abello, we detail the measures and deadly  consequences of this multi-pronged aggression.

“Who’s afraid of Hugo Chávez? Race, Empire, and Chavismo’s revolutionary subjectivity.”  Lucas Koerner examines the U.S. Empire’s fixation with Chavismo.  April 10, 2021 | Newswire.   Mronline.org (4-11-21).   Originally published: Black Agenda Report  on March 17, 2021 (more by Black Agenda Report).  Empire, Imperialism, Revolutions, State RepressionUnited States, VenezuelaNewswireChavismo

What is it about Chávez and the national-popular movement bearing his name that is so threatening to the U.S. Empire to this day?

For years, a specter has haunted the West, the specter of populism. Spawned originally by the leftist “Pink Tide” sweeping Latin America in the 2000s, the populist menace has morphed into a generalized moral panic following the election of Donald Trump in 2016. The far-right real estate mogul has come to personify the proverbial barbarian at the gates of liberal democracy, in the eyes of the U.S. ruling class, alongside an unlikely doppelganger: Venezuela’s socialist Afro-indigenous president, Hugo Chávez Frías, who according to Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani recently returned from the grave to rig the 2020 U.S. election. How are we to understand U.S. elites’ obsession with Chávez and what can that tell us about the racial ideology underpinning U.S. imperialism? What is it about Chávez and the national-popular movement bearing his name that is so threatening to the U.S. Empire to this day? In what follows, I will make a case for reading the reactionary fixation with Chávez as an index of Chavismo’s enduring world-historical significance. I argue that Chávez must be taken seriously as a Marxist thinker whose praxis of “mutual interpellation” with the popular masses–perhaps unique in the post-Cold War world–has crucial implications for revolutionary theory and practice across the globe. . . . MORE

“Cape Verde greenlights Venezuelan gov’t envoy extradition to U.S.”    Ricardo Vaz.

The Cape Verde Supreme Court has approved a request to extradite Venezuelan government envoy Alex Saab to the U.S.

MR Online |March 27, 2021 .   Newswire

By Ricardo Vaz (Posted Mar 27, 2021).   Empire, Ideology, Movements, StrategyUnited States, VenezuelaNewswireAlex Saab, Sanctions

The Cape Verde Supreme Court has approved a request to extradite Venezuelan government envoy Alex Saab to the U.S.  “The Supreme Court confirms the legal authorization for Saab’s extradition to the United States,” the ruling issued on Wednesday read.

The Colombian-born businessman was detained on an Interpol warrant in June 2020 during a stopover in the African archipelago. He was reportedly on his way to Iran to negotiate trade agreements on behalf of the Nicolás Maduro government.

Caracas protested his arrest, arguing that Saab was protected by diplomatic immunity as “an agent of a sovereign government,” and launched a campaign for his release. The subsequent months saw Washington’s request approved by lower courts, in spite of the absence of a mutual extradition treaty between the two countries, and appealed to higher instances by Saab’s lawyers.  His defense team, which includes high-profile Spanish jurist Baltasar Garzón, secured his transfer to house arrest in January and vowed to appeal the latest ruling before the Cape Verde Constitutional Court. . . .     MORE

“U.S. to continue using Guaido to rob Venezuelan assets abroad.” Mronline.org (3-7-21).

The continuation of the Trump administration’s aggressive policies toward Venezuela by the Biden administration is reflected in the recent meeting between the new U.S. Secretary of State and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.  more…

Originally published:teleSUR English  on March 4, 2021 (more by teleSUR English).   Imperialism, Inequality, State Repression, StrategyUnited States, VenezuelaNewswireDestabilization in Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Venezuela Opposition

The conversation held by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken with opponent Juan Guaidó is evidence that Joe Biden’s government will continue to use the former Venezuelan parliament member to appropriate all the resources Venezuela holds abroad, according to international analyst Laila Tajeldine, Sputnik reported.

Blinken held a telephone conversation with Guaidó on March 2 and reiterated that the U.S. government continues to support all kinds of pressure on President Nicolás Maduro, with allies such as the European Union, the Lima Group, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the International Contact Group.

“The United States is completely following Citgo (a subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela), which is still in a legal process, and the figure of Guaidó allows it to retain Venezuelan assets abroad; until that is not done, the United States is going to continue using the figure of Guaidó to steal all the resources, and once the objectives are fulfilled it will discard it,” Tajeldine said.

Pair this with Blinken’s explicit admission of support for “Interim President Juan Guaido” (https://t.co/1B9dwoeZEK ) and it’s clear the attempted coup in Venezuela is only beginning. Reluctant continuation of Trump policy? Doubtful. Imperialists stick together: blue and red. https://t.co/4UmP0LxhyG

— drew (@undercover_drew) March 4, 2021

According to the lawyer, Venezuela is not surprised by this stance of the new U.S. administration since Blinken had vowed publicly before assuming his current position a continuation of the Trump policies (2017-2021).

Early in the year, President Maduro had indicated hope in a change in relations with the United States “on the basis of mutual respect, dialogue, communication and understanding” after Biden’s arrival to power.

However, the analyst emphasizes the existence of a right-wing sector in the U.S. opposed to any change in the current status of confrontation because it bets on the destabilization of Venezuela to get hold of its resources.

“The U.S. economic lobby opts rather for the destabilization or destruction of the institutions and the State in Venezuela, and that lobby is the one that is saying that it is more convenient a destroyed Venezuela, a failed State in which they can arrive through intervention and steal all the resources,” he argued.

In his dialogue with Guaidó, Blinken also highlighted the “importance of a return to democracy in Venezuela through free and fair elections.”              MORE

“The media myth of ‘once prosperous’ and democratic Venezuela before Chávez.”   Joe Emersberger.  Mronline.org (8-29-21).

Economists typically use GDP per capita to assess how rich a country is. It is basically a measure of the average income per person. If journalists cared to be at all precise when they say that Venezuela had once been “rich,” then that’s a statistic they’d cite.

By Joe Emersberger, Justin Podur (Posted Aug 28, 2021)

Originally published: FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting)  on August 26, 2021 (more by FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting)).  Democracy, Economic Theory, Imperialism, State RepressionUnited States, VenezuelaNewswire

 “Saab case shows Western media’s casual acceptance of U.S. atrocities.”   Joe Emersberger.  Mronline.org (7-24-21).  

Imagine being imprisoned for nonviolently attempting to prevent a heinous crime. That sums up the absurdity of Saab’s predicament–and Western media’s coverage of it.

Originally published:Venezuelanalysis.com  on August 22, 2021 by Venezuelanalysis.com (more by Venezuelanalysis.com)  |  (Posted Aug 24, 2021.)   Health, Imperialism, Inequality, State RepressionUnited States, VenezuelaNewswirecoronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, U.S. blockade, Utopix’s Kael Abello

By Joe Emersberger (Posted Jul 23, 2021)

Originally published: FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting)  on July 21, 2021 (more by FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting).  Empire, Imperialism, Incarceration, InequalityUnited StatesNewswireAlex Saab

A Colombian businessperson named Alex Saab was traveling to Iran on behalf of the Venezuelan government in June 2020. His official mission was to negotiate shipments of medicine and other essential products to Venezuela. He was arrested in Cape Verde at the behest of the U.S. government, where he remains to this day; President Joe Biden has continued Donald Trump’s effort to extradite him to the U.S.

Western corporate media have been frank about the fact that Saab was targeted for helping Venezuela get around U.S. sanctions. Though you’d struggle to learn it from those media, these sanctions have been directly linked to tens of thousands of Venezuelan deaths since 2017 (FAIR.org, 6/14/19). Articles about Saab’s case have also ignored all the powerful arguments that the sanctions are illegal under both U.S. and international law. . . .   MORE
“The case of Alex Saab – U.S. abduction of Venezuelan diplomat, a global challenge.”   Editor.  Mronline.org (6-27-21).

The case involves the kidnapping of a diplomat by the world’s sole superpower locked in an unequal struggle to destroy the formerly prosperous, oil rich country of Venezuela.

June 26, 2021 | Newswire

“America’s soup-brained president says ‘the U.S. never interferes in other countries’ elections.”   Caitlin A. Johnstone.  Mronline.org (6-19-21).   The U.S. is far and away the single most egregious offender in the world on this front, which is largely why it is perceived around the world as a greater threat to democracy than any other government.

June 18, 2021 | Newswire

Originally published: CaitlinJohnstone.com  (more by CaitlinJohnstone.com).  Empire, StrategyUnited StatesNewswirePresident Joe Biden

During an astonishingly sycophantic press conference after the Geneva summit with Vladimir Putin, President Biden posited an entirely hypothetical scenario about what the world would think of the United States if it were interfering in foreign elections and everybody knew it.

When AP’s Jonathan Lemire asked the president of the most powerful government in the world what “consequences” he’d threatened the Russian leader with should the Kremlin interfere in U.S. elections going forward, Biden meandered his way through one of his signature not-quite-lucid word salads, and then said the following:

Let’s get this straight: How would it be if the United States were viewed by the rest of the world as interfering with the elections directly of other countries, and everybody knew it? What would it be like if we engaged in activities that he is engaged in? It diminishes the standing of a country that is desperately trying to make sure it maintains its standing as a major world power.

The fact that the entire press corps did not erupt in side-splitting laughter at this ridiculous utterance is in itself proof that western news media is pure propaganda. The United States has directly interfered in scores of foreign elections since it began its ascent to global domination at the end of the second World War, to say nothing of all the coups, color revolutions, proxy conflicts and regime change military invasions it has also participated in during that time. The U.S. openly interfered in Russia’s elections in the nineties, and literally just tried to stage a coup in Bolivia by interfering in its democratic process. The U.S. is far and away the single most egregious offender in the world on this front, which is largely why it is perceived around the world as a greater threat to democracy than any other government.

This is not a secret, internationally or in the United States. Anyone who has done any learning about the U.S. government’s actual behavior on the world stage knows this. Hell, a former CIA director openly joked about it on Fox News a few years ago.

Fox’s Laura Ingraham unsurprisingly introduced former CIA Director James Woolsey as “an old friend” in a 2018 interview about Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s indictment of 13 alleged members of a Russian troll farm, in which Woolsey unsurprisingly talked about how dangerous Russian “disinformation” is and Ingraham unsurprisingly said that everyone should actually be afraid of China. What was a bit surprising, though, was what happened at the end of the interview.

“Have we ever tried to meddle in other countries’ elections?” Ingraham asked in response to Woolsey’s Russia remarks.

“Oh, probably,” Woolsey said with a grin.

But it was for the good of the system in order to avoid the communists from taking over. For example, in Europe, in ’47, ’48, ’49, the Greeks and the Italians we CIA-

“We don’t do that anymore though?” Ingraham interrupted.

We don’t mess around in other people’s elections, Jim?

Woolsey smiled and said said “Well…”, followed by a joking incoherent mumble, adding,

Only for a very good cause.

And then they both laughed.

The fact that not one person in the press pool questioned or criticized Biden’s outrageous remarks tells you everything you need to know about the western media and what its real function is. This is further illustrated by the rest of the behavior of these odious propagandists during the summit, which was illustrated quite well by the glowing praise of Democratic Party insider Andrea Chalupa on Twitter: 
“The winners of #GenevaSummit2021 are the White House press corp,” Chalupa said.

Excellent questions confronting Putin and challenging Biden on holding a summit with a ruthless dictator. And they literally held their ground when shoved by Putin’s security and propagandists.

That actually says it all. Western reporters are forbidden by their oligarchic owners from ever confronting power in any meaningful way; the closest they’re ever allowed to get to punching up is challenging the leaders of CIA-targeted governments, and demanding to know why their own officials aren’t being more hawkish and aggressive toward those leaders.

As RT’s Murad Gazdiev pointed out, “ABC, NBC, BBC, CNN, and many other Western outlets were invited for Putin’s press conference. No Russian media was invited to Biden’s press conference.” The whole thing was a navel-gazing, masturbatory cold war propaganda orgy where western “journalists” made up fantasies about their soup-brained leader staring down Putin, where they yelled nonsense about Alexei Navalny at the Russian president and then fangirled at Biden’s response.

SUPPORT OF VENEZUELA, ACHIEVEMENTS

“Hugo Chávez didn’t die, he multiplied!”

Editor.  Mronline.org (3-10-23).

Ten years since his passing, the legacy of Commander Hugo Chávez lives on in the people. Originally published:Peoples Dispatch  on March 7, 2023 (more by Peoples Dispatch) (Posted Mar 09, 2023).  Culture, Ideology, Movements, PhilosophyAmericas, VenezuelaNewswire

March 5 marked ten years since the passing of Commander Hugo Chávez, former president of Venezuela and the father of the Bolivarian Revolution. Chávez was Venezuela’s president from February 2, 1999, until his death on March 5, 2013.

Chávez inaugurated a new period in Venezuela’s history. Through his comprehensive and inclusive social and economic policies, he brought back dignity and pride to the Venezuelan people and transformed the social reality of the country. He forged important projects for Latin American unity and integration such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America—Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). He died at the age of 58, following a two-year battle with cancer.

On the tenth anniversary of his death, thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of the capital Caracas to pay homage to Chávez and ratify their commitment to defend his anti-imperialist and socialist legacy. . . .  MORE

“Those who die for life–like Hugo Chávez–cannot be called dead: The Ninth Newsletter (2023).”  Vijay Prashad.  Mronline.org (3-4-23).  

On 28 October 2005, a special event was held in Caracas at the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. At this gathering, held on the birthday of Simón Rodríguez (Simón Bolívar’s teacher), the Venezuelan government announced that nearly 1.5 million adults had learned to read through Mission Robinson.

Originally published: Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research  on March 2, 2023 (more by Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research).  Human Rights, Protest, Revolutions, StrategyAmericas, Global, VenezuelaNewswireTricontinental Newsletter

Five Reasons Why The Left Won In Venezuela” By Leonardo Flores,. Popular Resistance.org (11-24-21).   For the first time in four years, every major opposition party in Venezuela participated in elections. For the fifth time in four years, the left won in a landslide. Voters elected 23 governors, 335 mayors, 253 state legislators and 2,471 municipal councilors. The governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won at least 19 of 23 governorships (one race remains too close to call) and the Caracas mayoralty in the November 21 “mega-elections.” Of the 335 mayoral races, the vote count has been completed in 322 of them, with PSUV and its coalition taking 205, opposition coalitions 96 and… -more-

“The imprint of an insurrectional past: a conversation with Iraida Vargas and Mario Sanoja.”   Cira Pascual Marquina.  Mronline.org (10-17-21).   

Two eminent anthropologists talk about Venezuela’s history and its relation to the present.

. . .In The Long March toward Communal Society you write: “The persistence of communitarian traditions of both aboriginal and black-Venezuelan societies contributes to supporting the development of extensive communal systems, both rural and urban, propelled by the Bolivarian Revolution.” This is interesting but could a culture as urban as that of most Venezuelans today really preserve elements of that communitarian past?

Vargas: If anything has been revived thanks to the Bolivarian Revolution, it is communal life. The Chavista people have put into practice Chávez’s slogan Commune or Nothing! and this, in turn, is a product of popular organization or popular power.

We see communal construction not only in rural areas but also in cities. To understand the phenomenon we should point to the fact that urban barrio cultures here have a campesino origin. In the 50s, 60s, and 70s people from rural areas came to the cities, and with them they brought vestiges of communal life. In fact, you can see this in the distribution of domestic spaces, which are somewhat reminiscent of the houses in the Llanos [center-south of the country] and Andes [Venezuela’s mountainous region] where common spaces with flower gardens are often found.

In Caracas barrios, rural forms of solidarity also express themselves in the cayapas [indigenous Caribe word referring to collective labor activities] and in other practices of mutual aid. In fact, the collaborative construction of houses in some Housing Mission initiatives [Campamentos de Pioneros] is a good example of mutual or collaborative work processes.

Communal solidarity also operates among women in the barrios. Those who work outside the community will often get help from other women to care for their children, who may even eat at the community canteens that offer food to those who need it. The canteens likewise maintain campesino culinary traditions.

Finally, when we think about the living traditions that we inherit from communal societies, we cannot overlook the festivities nominally dedicated to patron saints. These distinctive cultural practices have much to do with sharing, joy of life, and the love for music. Venezuelans tend to be cheerful, lively, and relaxed, and these are traits that don’t have their origin in the colonizers.

Sanoja: One case that is relevant to the debate about communes in urban spaces is 23 de Enero in western Caracas. Up until 1954 poor black communities inhabited Caño Amarillo [a part of 23 de Enero barrio] maintaining many practices of solidarity and powerful cultural traditions. As it turns out, 23 de Enero is an epicenter of communal organization in Caracas today. That isn’t coincidental: the vestiges of communal organization are a key factor.

When Chávez began promoting the construction of communes, the people in 23 de Enero were better positioned to advance. No doubt the recent history of rebelliousness against the governments of the Fourth Republic [1958-99] strengthened these communities. However, I am convinced that the pre-existing forms of communality and cultural identity also played an important role.

If you go to El Panal Commune, you will find not only a new political organization but also a radio, a TV station, etc. They have a socio-political project in which one can see past communal practices reemerge and shape the new society. . . .  MORE

“FAO report refutes Venezuelan food crisis narrative.”

Editor.  mronline.org (7-29-23). 

The most recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has revealed positive news for Venezuela.

Originally published: Orinoco Tribune  on July 26, 2023 by Misión Verdad (more by Orinoco Tribune)  |  (Posted Jul 29, 2023)

Agriculture, Culture, Political Economy, StrategyAmericas, United States, VenezuelaNewswireFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Food Crisis

The most recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has revealed positive news for Venezuela. According to the report, the number of people suffering from undernourishment in the country has decreased significantly compared to previous years. This trend reflects slow but steady economic progress, despite the challenges imposed by U.S. illegal sanctions.

Researcher Clara Sánchez mentions this finding with the aim of dismantling the narrative that Venezuelan opposition candidates are currently using in their political campaigns, in which they refer to an alleged “food crisis” in the country. . . .  MORE

“Venezuela’s economy will grow 20% in 2022, despite illegal U.S. sanctions, predicts Western bank.”  Editor.  Mronline.org (4-9-22).

By Ben Norton (Posted Apr 08, 2022).

Originally published: Multipolarista  on April 6, 2022 (more by Multipolarista)

Economic Theory, Imperialism, Political Economy, StrategyAmericas, United States, VenezuelaNewswireCredit Suisse, illegal U.S. blockade, Sanctions, Western bank

The major Switzerland-based bank Credit Suisse has predicted that Venezuela’s real GDP growth will be 20% in 2022.  The prominent Western financial institution also forecasted that Venezuela’s real GDP will increase by an additional 8% in 2023.  These predictions come despite an illegal U.S. blockade imposed on Venezuela, which has starved the government of revenue, locked it out of the international financial system, and fueled an economic crisis.

The top United Nations expert on sanctions estimated that the Venezuelan government lost 99% of its revenue due to the Western unilateral coercive measures, which are illegal under international law.  “Unilateral sanctions increasingly imposed by the United States, the European Union and other countries have exacerbated the [economic crisis],” stated Alena Douhan, the UN special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, after she took a two-week fact-finding trip to Venezuela in February 2021.

“The Government’s revenue was reported to shrink by 99% with the country currently living on 1% of its pre-sanctions income,” Douhan wrote. . . . MOPRE

“Crisis & Critique: Venezuela and the New Latin American Left.”  Editor.  Mronlne.org (3-13-22).

With leftist leaders winning back power in Latin America, how will they handle the “Venezuela issue”? Ociel López breaks it down.

Originally published: Venezuelananlysis  on March 10, 2022 by Ociel López (more by Venezuelananlysis)  |  (Posted Mar 12, 2022).

Culture, Democracy, Ideology, MovementsLatin America, VenezuelaNewswireChile’s Gabriel Boric, Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, Former Brazilian president Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silv, Peru’s Pedro Castillo, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

Recent diatribes between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Chile’s Gabriel Boric and Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro allow us to analyze two things: the Latin American left’s internal state and future relations between these governments.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva and Peru’s Pedro Castillo should also be added to the discussion. All have shown a clear intention to radically distance themselves from Caracas, shielding against the so-called “Venezuelanization” of the region’s politics.

The progressive leaders have denounced an alleged “democracy deficit” in the Venezuelan government. Meanwhile, Caracas has blasted the Latin American leftists for not taking a strong stance against U.S. sanctions on Venezuela or conveniently forgetting to even mention the issue.

These leftist sectors’ position is no coincidence. Venezuela has become one of the main arguments the region’s right-wing bloc uses to attack any progressive formula or proposal that arises. Especially in countries with a large presence of Venezuelan migrants. . . .   MORE

“Radical Land Reform in Venezuela: A Conversation with Juan Carlos Loyo (Part I).”     Cira Pascual Marquina.  Mronline.org (2-1-22).

Chávez’s agriculture minister talks about the revolutionary changes in land tenure that took place under the former president.
Interviewed by Cira Pascual Marquina (Posted Jan 31, 2022). 

Originally published: Venezuelananlysis  on January 28, 2022 (more by Venezuelananlysis)  | 

Agriculture, Environment, History, MovementsVenezuelaExchangeBolivarian Project, Hugo Chávez, Juan Carlos Loyo, land reform, Land Reform Laws, Peasants/Campesinos

Juan Carlos Loyo held various posts in Chávez’s Land Rep, including Minister of Agriculture from 2010 to 2013. Today Loyo is a researcher and a professor of political economy at the Bolivarian University in Caracas. In this two-part interview, he talks about the origin of Venezuela’s latifundia–large tracts of landed property, under a regime of low-intensity production–and the radical agrarian reform that Hugo Chávez tried to carry out during the heyday of the Bolivarian process.

In the debates about Venezuela’s ongoing struggle for the land, the origins of the latifundia are often left out. However, the latifundium was the defining form of landed property before the Bolivarian Revolution. What can you tell us about its history?

Let’s take the Spanish colonization as a starting point and the many rebellions and insurrections that followed the intitial process of dispossession.

When the Spanish occupied this territory, the crown handed over large tracts of land to what today we might call the agrarian bourgeoisie. People who had served the interests of the crown were retributed with land, which of course meant violently displacing the people inhabiting the territory. If we look at our history, we will discover that the latifundia structure implanted by the colonists survives up until the 21st century. . . .  MORE

“‘Commune or nothing’: New laws reignite old debates over communal power in Venezuela’.”  Federico Fuentes  mronline.org (6-12-21)

Venezuela’s National Assembly (AN) has approved two bills with the aim of further empowering the communal councils and communes that lie at the heart of the country’s project of communal power.

June 11, 2021 | Newswire

“Mision Arbol: Ecosocialism In An Oil-Rich Nation”

By Dakotah Lily, Popular Resistance.(5-22-21). President Chavez was ahead of his time for a head of state, but was merely reiterating what thousands of activists and thinkers had been saying for decades. “But wait!” many readers and commentators alike may say; “Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution exported oil, so any claims of environmentalism must just be talk!”. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as I will show in the following article how Chavez, his successor Nicolas Maduro, and the Bolivarian process as a whole has an outstanding record in terms of combating climate change and defending the environment.  -more-

“New DemilitarizeU episode on Venezuelan election.”  Jovanni via email.actionnetwork.org 3-1-21 .  ABOUT FACE.
Dick,
This week we’ve organized a special edition of our free DemilitarizeU political education series on Venezuelan elections. Unlike previous livestreamed episodes, this one will take place this Wednesday, March 3rd at 8pm ET in Zoom as a panel discussion so that we can offer Spanish and English translation.  RSVP NOW

In this webinar, we will learn more about the U.S.-led hybrid war on Venezuela, the significance of the 2020 National Assembly elections, and the recent visit of UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan’s to investigate the impacts of US sanctions on the Venezuelan people.     We are joined by special guest, Gabriel Aguirre, geopolitical analyst and Secretary General of the Committee of International Solidarity in Venezuela (COSI) along with Monisha Ríos, a US Army veteran and president of Psychologist for Social Responsibility, and Jovanni Reyes, a US Army Veteran, Member Coordinator for About Face a long time Latin American observer. The conversation will be moderated by Wendy Barranco, a US Army Veteran, and Community Care Organizer with About Face.
Hope to see you there!
Jovanni Reyes(he/him)Member Coordinator
About Face: Veterans Against the War

OMNI VENEZUELA ANTHOLOGY #4, February 14, 2021, https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2021/02/venezuela-omni-newsletter-4-2-14-21.html , Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology

#3, 9-9-20 https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2020/09/omni-venezuela-newsletter-3-compiled-by.html; #3 reaches back to 2018)

#2, July 16, 2020  https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2020/07/omni-venezuela-newsletter-2.html

CONTENTS Venezuela #4

UN to Assess US Sanctions (2-10-21)

U.S. GAO: U.S. sanctions on Venezuela have killed tens of thousands

Former UN Rapporteur for Human Rights Evaluates Destructive US Sanctions.

Realizing the Dream of Communal Cities.

How a lawbreaking international coalition failed to overthrow Venezuela’s government.

U.S. Embassy caught scrubbing Tweets urging Venezuelans not to vote.

[Venezuelan] Embassy Protection Collective Members.

Why imperialism is obsolete in Latin America.

Standing by a radical Chávez.

Why Venezuela’s Dec. 6 election is legitimate.
Center-Left convergence in Venezuela: A blow to U.S. interventionism. 

Chavismo and the Left (Part II).

Revolutionary organization in Venezuela. 

Hate: A key strategy of the Venezuelan opposition. 

850 thousand Insulin kits from Russia arrived in Venezuela (9-9-20)

END VENEZUELA #5