Caracas, Venezuela – In a meeting chaired by Francisco Torrealba, past president of the Venezuela Transport Workers Union, and current deputy of the National Assembly, international trade unionists heard updates from Venezuelan leaders.

Longtime Bolivarian Revolution leader Eduardo Piñate shared an assessment of the situation in Venezuela post-January 3 with the group during a meeting in early March. As he mentioned the many fronts that U.S. imperialism is intervening in, including China, the Middle East, Russia/Ukraine, and Latin America and the Caribbean, Piñate then spoke to Venezuela’s place in the international scene. Piñate stated, “With the world’s largest oil reserves, the top ten largest reserves of natural gas, rare earth minerals, biodiversity, and fresh water, we have resources for trade and development. But since we are pursuing an alternative model, one with a revolutionary direction, we are a threat to the United States’ system of capitalism. This is why they attacked us on January 3.”

Piñate continued “But I want to make clear a number of political victories. One: President Maduro and Cilia Flores are alive; two, the U.S. could not occupy our national territory; three, there are no internal forces, no base for fascist reactionaries and no rallies anywhere in the country celebrated the bombing, in fact the people been in the streets constantly since the attack; four, we had a successful constitution transition to an acting president and swore in a new National Assembly as our laws dictate. All of this has allowed us to maintain our political direction. We had tactical flexibility in the moment that meant we did not lose power despite our leader being kidnapped.” He added, “I have trust and confidence in the revolutionary direction we have, of Chavez, of Maduro, of heroic resistance of the last ten plus years, we are not a colony of the gringos.”

After two years as minister of People’s Power in the Social Process of Labor, Piñate will continue in his other role as part of the executive secretariat of the president of United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Appointed as new minister is Carlos Alexis Castillo who brings years of legal and judicial experience in labor law.

During the subsequent meeting on March 20, PSUV Vice President of Foreign Relations Tania Dias laid bare the harsh reality of the early hours of January 3. With over 15,000 military personnel and scores of naval and aircraft on their shores, the plan to actualize the threat took place. “The cruel, barbarous regime of Donald Trump told us to negotiate or they’ll bomb the entire city in ten minutes,” she said. “One does not negotiate with kidnappers like this,” Diaz added. “While they kidnapped my close, personal friends, we are in strong, capable hands with Delcy as acting president.”

Diaz continued with an assessment of the current political situation and the failure of the U.S. to create regime change: “The power isn't just with the executive, nor the National Assembly; real democratic power is with the people. We have thousands of comunas, PSUV elected committees in nearly all the streets of the country. Popular militias coordinated with our army, the union. This is the vision of Comandante Chavez, carried further by President Maduro, and deepening the revolution.”

“This is why all the attempts at psychological warfare like false media narratives, misinformation aimed at sowing division and undermining our confidence have failed: the people have political power here,” Diaz emphasized.

#CaracasVZ #VZ #International #Venezuela #PSUV #Labor #Maudro

Chicago IL – On Saturday January 10, 50 people attended a reportback from Jae Franklin, who traveled to Venezuela for the International People’s Assembly for Sovereignty and Peace of Our Americas in December. This event came a week after Trump’s attack on of the country and kidnapping of democratically-elected President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.

The masses of Venezuela have taken to the streets demanding the return of the president and “First Combatant” and in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution against U.S. imperialism. Franklin is a co-chair of the Anti-War Committee – Chicago (AWC), which has answered the call of the Venezuelan people by taking to the streets and demanding U.S. hands off Venezuela.

The audience chanted, “Caracas, Aguanta! El pueblo esta levanta! (Caracas, hold on! The people are standing up!)” led by emcee Gio Araujo with Freedom Road Socialist Organization FRSO at the start of the program.

“The people of this country understand that the U.S. is the aggressor,” said an activist with Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) Chicago.

“There are those in Venezuela who want capitalism to return, and they are in the minority. There are those in the Philippines who are nothing but greedy and suck on the people,” said Di Balitaan from Anakbayan USA. Balitaan also demanded the release of Chantal Anicoche, who was abducted by the armed forces of the Philippines on January 1.

The room was filled with people eager to learn about the Bolivarian Revolution and the role that international solidarity plays against U.S. imperialism. Franklin recounted how Simón Bolívar fought Spanish colonialism in the 1800s and abolished slavery after spending time in Haiti while exiled.

While in Venezuela, Franklin visited several communes, which are territories with a political structure that manages the means of production. Venezuela has 4000 such communes

“Communes are a way for people to build power,” Franklin said. The delegation heard a speech from President Maduro at Comuna Amalivaca. He spoke about the process of transformation in Venezuela and the need to combat imperialist lies.

Franklin described their joy at seeing how Maduro’s party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) was composed of young people, queer people and women.

Franklin presented videos of Venezuelan people dancing to revolutionary music during the conference. Their tireless drive for self-determination mirrors the videos and images of the Chavistas in the streets protesting the American imperialist invasion. They also showed pictures of publicly accessible medicine cabinets in the communes, and a billboard celebrating the Palestinian resistance.

“When we say ‘Hands off Venezuela’ we also mean ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘ICE off our streets’ and ‘Justice for Laquan McDonald!’” Franklin declared. “We have to weaken U.S. imperialism every way we can from here within the belly of the beast.”

Franklin encouraged attendees to keep demanding the release of President Maduro and Cilia Flores, and to support AWC’s campaign to divest Illinois from Israel bonds and companies complicit in the genocide in Palestine. Illinois residents can sign the petition to divest at bit.ly/awcdivest.

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #Maduro #PSUV #ChicagoAWC

Caracas, Venezuela – On December 17, the Constituent Assembly of the Venezuelan Working Class welcomed international delegates to share in their historic achievement of integrating the trade union movement into the national plan of resistance and advancing the cause of the working class in the national democratic Bolivarian Revolution.

Officially titled the Congress of Latin America, the Caribbean, and World in Defense of Peace, the gathering was chaired by trade union leader and member of the national leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Francisco Torrealba.

After spirited renditions of the Venezuelan national anthem and The Internationale, Torrealba introduced Wills Rangel as the first speaker to a roaring standing ovation from all. Rangel is an elected representative of the National Assembly and President of the Central Bolivariana Socialista de Trabajadores de La Ciudad, El Campo, y La Pesca (CBST-CCP) and president of the Oil Workers Federation (FUTPV).

Rangel opened his remarks by stating “We started this process in October of meeting and developing at every level of workers right down to the base with the fundamental objective of mobilizing the working masses at the national level. What happened yesterday, with our first-ever worker-president, Nicolas Maduro, was the first time workers presented their demands to the president. This is just the start, we need to continue with our constituent assemblies and involve more workers who want to participate.”

One of the delegates from Cuba, Niurka González Orberá, a union leader at the University of Havana and secretary-general of her national union, added that this is the “first constituent assembly of the working class was democratic from the base to the national level.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Yvan Gil spoke next with a message to Trump and the Venezuelan oligarchy who want war and privatization: “We welcome the confrontation because we will come out of this [situation] independent and capable of heading toward complete liberation.” He added that “the horizon is ours, our struggle is not just resistance but a revolutionary offensive in unison with the communes.”

After a series of international delegates from Chile, Niger and Brazil spoke, the Congress’ final speaker, Blanca Eekout closed the proceedings. Eekhout served as the Minister of People’s Power for the Communes and Social Movements of Venezuela and is the current president of the Instituto Simón Bolívar for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples (ISB) which advocates for peace, solidarity and human rights in Venezuela.

Eekout stated, “We are here in front of a new threat, a leader of the corporations with his new Monroe Doctrine, a representative of the most powerful multi-millionaires. On the other side, with Bolivar, is a worker. A worker-president at the head of a revolution that doesn’t give up for nothing and nobody.”

Eekhout continued “In this moment it is crucial to go on the offensive. This phase of imperialism, in absolute decline and desperation is no longer using a mask. The only way it can maintain itself is barbarity, war and genocide like in Gaza.”

Eekhout concluded, “Why Venezuela? Why is the head of the capitalists putting their aggression toward Venezuela? We know they’ve said that our oil is theirs, that they want our natural resources. But that’s not really it. It is because we decided to transition to socialism, toward a communal state, with the working class as the protagonist. They don’t want an example of what the people can do, they can govern themselves. They can’t accept it.”

#International #Venezuela #Labor #PSUV #AntiWarMovement

Caracas, Venezuela – Venezuelan trade unions gathered on December 15 to discuss plans and proposals to expand their participation in the defense of the country and the goals of the working class. The Congress of the Working Class invited international delegates to join them in solidarity.

On December 16, the Deputy of International Affairs of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Tania Diaz, spoke to over 90 international delegates representing trade unions from over 30 countries. She began by highlighting the economic growth of Venezuela in the face of U.S. sanctions, stating that they have had 6 to 8% growth that past couple of years, with 18 straight quarters of growth. She made clear that the economic growth reflected the qualitative aspect of the transformation from an economy extremely dependent on imports to an economy that is more self-sufficient, especially in basic food staples.

Politically, Diaz honored the legacy of past President Hugo Chavez by emphasizing that the PSUV is a party of bases, not just an electoral party. She spoke to the foundations of the PSUV being rooted in consciousness and on-the-ground organization so that “every street, every corner has an organ for collective decision making.”

The PSUV has recently restructured internally to add more vice presidents to better integrate the expanded number of committees and communal councils into the “Plan de Resistencia.” Diaz added “We don’t see Donald Trump and U.S. imperialism’s aggression toward us as just a threat but an opportunity to demonstrate an alternative and more importantly, be victorious. A triumph of life over capitalism, which is the culture of death.”

#International #Venezuela #Labor #PSUV

La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad denuncia el más reciente ataque del presidente de EE. UU., Donald Trump, contra el presidente de Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro. Es otro intento escandaloso de EE. UU. por criminalizar a Venezuela y a sus líderes. La fiscal general de EE. UU., Pam Bondi, declaró que EE. UU. ofrecía 50 millones de dólares por información que llevara al arresto del presidente venezolano. ¡Nosotros decimos que el presidente Maduro vale mucho, mucho más!

Como cualquier otra recompensa que EE. UU. ha puesto sobre el presidente Maduro, ésta no será reclamada. Está basada en acusaciones falsas de mentirosos que mienten – el presidente Trump y la fiscal general Pam Bondi. Como ex conductor de autobús y presidente de un sindicato, confiamos en que el presidente Maduro es moral y digno de confianza, especialmente en comparación con sus acusadores. Maduro tiene mucha fortaleza de carácter y se enfrenta al imperio que intenta derrocarlo.

El Departamento de Estado de Trump acusa al presidente Maduro de corrupción y narcotráfico, vinculando al gobierno de Maduro con las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). Sin embargo, las FARC firmaron un acuerdo de paz en 2016. Pero, a la Casa Blanca de Trump simplemente no le importa la información actual. Trump quiere fingir que es fuerte, mientras a su alrededor el imperio estadounidense se debilita.

Trump se presenta públicamente como si dictara a otros, mientras que en la realidad envía equipos de negociadores a conseguir acuerdos sobre prisioneros, inmigrantes e incluso niños separados de sus padres por la Patrulla Fronteriza de EE. UU. y ICE. Otros países que negocian con EE. UU. deberían tomar nota de cómo lo hace el presidente Maduro.

Las acusaciones de Trump son una serie de narrativas falsas, informantes pagados y traidores a Venezuela que robaron millones en su camino a Florida. Al parecer, entre más grandes son las mentiras, más aumenta la recompensa, duplicándose de 25 millones de dólares.

El último intento de voltear a un alto funcionario venezolano terminó mal para Trump en su primer mandato. En otra victoria del presidente Maduro, Venezuela logró la liberación de Alex Saab, el negociador responsable de romper las sanciones económicas de EE. UU. El diplomático venezolano Alex Saab mantuvo la frente en alto a pesar de tres años detenido en EE. UU. y ser torturado. Se negó a someterse a las mentiras de la DEA, convirtiendo la única audiencia realizada en un desastre para el Departamento de Estado. Maduro negoció el regreso de Saab, y Saab se desempeña como Ministro de Industrias y Producción Nacional de Venezuela desde el 18 de octubre de 2024.

Increíblemente, los intentos de EE. UU. por desestabilizar y derrocar la Revolución Bolivariana de Venezuela ya llevan 25 años. El presidente Bush apoyó un fallido golpe de Estado contra el presidente Hugo Chávez, lo que solo fortaleció la Revolución Bolivariana y la determinación de sus líderes. Luego, el presidente Obama declaró al gobierno venezolano una amenaza a la seguridad nacional e impuso sanciones económicas, que fueron intensificadas por Trump y después por Biden.

La respuesta del PSUV (el partido gobernante de Venezuela) a las sanciones estadounidenses fue ampliar y profundizar la economía venezolana y orientar la producción a servir a su propia gente en lugar de a Wall Street. La Revolución Bolivariana implementó rápidamente y de manera constante reformas en educación, vivienda, producción de alimentos, atención médica y gasto social. A pesar de las dificultades generadas por las sanciones de EE. UU., esas reformas, y las innovaciones que requieren, siguen avanzando hoy en día.

Durante el último mandato de Trump, hubo mercenarios estadounidenses capturados intentando derrocar violentamente al gobierno electo de Maduro. Más mercenarios estadounidenses fueron capturados el año pasado. Anticipando más incursiones armadas respaldadas por EE. UU., investigadores descubrieron un gran arsenal de explosivos justo esta semana. Las Fuerzas Armadas de Venezuela siguen al frente en la defensa y avance de la Revolución Bolivariana. Las milicias populares continúan entrenándose y preparándose para repeler a invasores extranjeros. EE. UU. sería tonto al atacar. A pesar de sus muchos fracasos y con pocas opciones restantes, el intento de Trump por desestabilizar a Venezuela continúa con esta recompensa de 50 millones de dólares.

Nosotros de la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad nos solidarizamos con el presidente Maduro de Venezuela, el PSUV y la Revolución Bolivariana. Les deseamos lo mejor en su avance hacia una nueva sociedad democrática, intentando construir y renovar su economía para servir a la clase trabajadora y sus aliados.

¡Abajo los ataques de Trump contra el presidente Maduro!

¡Alcen los puños en solidaridad con el PSUV y la Revolución Bolivariana!

#International #Venezuela #FRSO #Statement #OSCL #PSUV #Maduro

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization denounces U.S. President Donald Trump’s most recent attack on Venezuela’s President Nicholas Maduro. It is yet another outrageous U.S. attempt to criminalize Venezuela and its leaders. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi declared the U.S. was offering $50 million for information leading to the arrest of the Venezuelan president. We say President Maduro is worth much, much more!

Like every other U.S. bounty placed on President Maduro, this one will go unclaimed. It is based on false claims coming from lying liars who lie – President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi. As a former bus driver and union president, we trust President Maduro is moral and trustworthy, especially in comparison to his accusers. Maduro has a lot of backbone and stands against the empire that is attempting to unseat him.

The Trump State Department accuses President Maduro of corruption and drug trafficking, linking Maduro’s government to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). However, the FARC signed a peace agreement in 2016. Timely facts just do not matter to Trump’s White House, though. Trump wants to pretend he is strong, while all around him the U.S. empire grows weak.

Trump publicly postures as dictating to others, while in reality he sends teams of negotiators for deals on prisoners, immigrants and even children separated from their parents by U.S. Border Patrol and ICE. Other countries dealing with the U.S. should take note of how President Maduro does it.

Trump’s accusations are an array of phony narratives, paid informants and traitors to Venezuela who stole millions on their way to Florida. Apparently the bigger the lies grow, the higher the bounty goes, doubling from $25 million.

The last attempt to turn a high-ranking Venezuelan official ended badly for Trump in his first term. In another victory for President Maduro, Venezuela won freedom for Alex Saab, the negotiator responsible for breaking U.S. economic sanctions. Venezuela’s diplomat Alex Saab stood proud despite spending three years in U.S. detention and being tortured. He refused to submit to the lies of the Drug Enforcement Agency, turning the only hearing held into a debacle for the U.S. State Department. Maduro negotiated Saab’s return, and Saab has served as Venezuela’s Minister of Industry and National Production since October 18, 2024.

Incredibly, U.S. attempts to disrupt and overthrow Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution go back 25 years now. President Bush backed a failed coup attempt against President Hugo Chavez, which only strengthened the Bolivarian Revolution and its leaders’ resolve. Then President Obama declared the Venezuelan government a national security threat and imposed economic sanctions, which were deepened by Trump and then Biden.

The PSUV (Venezuela’s ruling party) response to U.S. sanctions was to broaden and deepen Venezuela’s economy and orient production to serving their own people instead of Wall Street. The Bolivarian Revolution quickly and steadily made reforms in education, housing, food production, health care and social spending. Despite the difficulties created by U.S. sanctions, those reforms, and the innovations they require, continue advancing today.

During Trump’s last term there were U.S. mercenaries captured attempting to violently overthrow Maduro’s elected government. More U.S. mercenaries were captured in the past year. Expecting more U.S.-backed armed incursions, searchers discovered a large cache of explosives just this week. Venezuela’s Armed Forces remain at the forefront of defending and advancing the Bolivarian Revolution. People’s militias continue to train and prepare to fend off foreign invaders. The U.S. would be foolish to attack. Despite many failures, and without many options left, Trump’s attempted destabilization of Venezuela continues with this $50 million bounty.

We of the FRSO stand in solidarity with Venezuela’s President Maduro, the PSUV, and the Bolivarian Revolution. We wish them well as they advance toward a new, democratic society, attempting to build and renew their economy to serve the working class and its allies.

Down with Trump’s attacks on President Maduro!

Raise your fists in solidarity with the PSUV and the Bolivarian Revolution!

#International #Venezuela #Maduro #PSUV #FRSO #Statement

Mientras los venezolanos celebran la inauguración del Presidente Maduro el 10 de enero, la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad saluda la Revolución Bolivariana, el Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV), y sobre todo al Presidente Maduro por otra gran victoria. Superando las sanciones estadounidenses, la interferencia electoral y las mentiras, el pueblo de Venezuela ha triunfado una vez más.

Grandes números de personas llenaron las calles de Caracas para ver la toma de juramento del Presidente Maduro. Miembros del PSUV, sindicalistas, organizadores comunitarios y multitudes de jóvenes salieron a las calles de la ciudad capital, mientras decenas de miles más de trabajadores y campesinos viajaron en autobús desde todo el país. Se están congregando para apoyar la continuación de la Revolución Bolivariana y el tercer mandato de Maduro.

Por su parte, el Presidente Maduro tendrá un mandato de seis años para fortalecer el legado del Comandante Hugo Chavez. Maduro proclamó, “Este nuevo mandato presidencial será un tiempo de paz, prosperidad, igualdad y una nueva democracia.” Añadió, “¡Lo juro por nuestra historia y por mi vida, lo lograremos!”

Maduro sigue construyendo una Venezuela independiente y soberana que beneficia a la gente en lugar de a los bancos estadounidenses y las corporaciones extranjeras de petróleo. La Revolución Bolivariana ha traído enormes cambios, incluyendo la construcción de más de 5 millones de apartamentos y casas pequeñas, un programa de alimentación, CLAP, que suministra comida a más de 80% de los hogares, y sistemas de salud y educación que alcanzan a todos los venezolanos en vez de solo las clases altas. La riqueza del petróleo ahora sirve a la gente.

El presidente electo Trump ya está interfiriendo en los asuntos internos de Venezuela. Trump y sus candidatos para el gabinete están promoviendo al perdedor de las elecciones de Venezuela del verano pasado. Edmundo Gonzalez perdió porque no es popular. Maduro ganó y él tiene las masas organizadas de la gente trabajadora y la lealtad de las fuerzas armadas revolucionarias a su apoyo.

En su último mandato como presidente, la política de Trump hacia Venezuela fue miserable y no logró nada. Trump impuso sanciones económicas más graves desde los EE. UU. para castigar a la clase obrera de Venezuela. El problema para los EE. UU., sin embargo, es que a pesar de algunas dificultades, la economía venezolana continuó creciendo y desarrollando. La agricultura sostenible redujo las importaciones de alimentos y los precios, mientras que nuevas industrias y tecnología moderna están llegando a todo el país.

Trump también respaldó un intento de golpe de Estado fallido en 2019 contra el Presidente Maduro. Luego hubo mercenarios estadounidenses capturados por milicias locales mientras intentaban infiltrar Venezuela. Un número de intentos de asesinato también fueron frustrados. Los ataques a la infraestructura eléctrica y petrolera de Venezuela fueron superados por la gente de las empresas dirigidas por sus trabajadores, quienes están constantemente vigilantes. Otra gran derrota para los EE. UU. fue verse obligado a liberar al diplomático venezolano Alex Saab, quien ahora está trabajando duro para derrotar las sanciones estadounidenses.

La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad está orgullosa de estar en solidaridad con el PSUV y el Presidente Maduro. Venezuela es un faro de esperanza para la independencia y el progreso en América Latina y el Caribe.

¡Viva el Presidente Maduro! ¡Viva la Revolución Bolivariana!

#International #Venezuela #Maduro #PSUV #FRSO #OSCL #Statement

As Venezuelans celebrate the inauguration of President Maduro on January 10, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization salutes the Bolivarian Revolution, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and especially President Maduro on another great victory! Overcoming U.S. sanctions, election interference and lies, the people of Venezuela have triumphed once again.

Huge numbers of people packed the streets of Caracas to watch President Maduro’s swearing-in ceremony. PSUV members, trade unionists, community organizers and youth poured out into the streets from the capital city, while tens of thousands more workers and farmers travelled by coach from across the country. They are rallying to support the continuation of the Bolivarian Revolution and Maduro’s third term.

For his part, President Maduro will have another six-year term to build upon the legacy of Comandante Hugo Chavez. Maduro proclaimed, “This new presidential term will be a time of peace, prosperity, equality and a new democracy.” He added, “I swear on our history and on my life, we shall achieve it!”

Maduro is continuing to build an independent and sovereign Venezuela benefiting the people instead of U.S. banks and foreign oil corporations. The Bolivarian Revolution has brought huge changes, including the building of over 5 million apartments and small houses, a food program, CLAP, that feeds over 80% of homes, and healthcare and education systems that reach every Venezuelan instead of just the upper classes. The oil wealth of Venezuela now serves the people.

President-elect Trump is already interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela. Trump and his cabinet picks are promoting the loser of Venezuela’s elections this past summer. Edmundo Gonzalez lost because he is not popular. Maduro won and he has the organized masses of working people and the loyalty of the revolutionary armed forces to back him up.

In his last term as president, Trump’s policy towards Venezuela was miserable and achieved nothing. Trump enacted harsher U.S. economic sanctions to punish the working people of Venezuela. The problem for the U.S., however, is that despite some difficulties, the Venezuelan economy continued to grow and develop. Sustainable farming cut food imports and prices, while new industries and modern technology are reaching the whole country.

Trump also backed a failed coup attempt in 2019 against President Maduro. Then there were U.S. mercenaries captured by local militias while attempting to infiltrate Venezuela. A number of assassination plots were foiled as well. Attacks on the electric and oil infrastructure of Venezuela were overcome by the people of the worker-run enterprises, who are constantly on the watch. Another big defeat for the U.S. was being forced to free Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who is now working hard to defeat U.S. sanctions.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization is proud to stand in solidarity with the PSUV and President Maduro. Venezuela is a beacon of hope for independence and progress in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Long live President Maduro! Long live the Bolivarian Revolution!

#International #Venezuela #Maduro #PSUV #FRSO #Statement

Caracas, Venezuela – “A PSUV victory is the most important present for Commander Hugo Chavez. Today, July 28, is the anniversary of his birthday, the same day as the popular triumph of the people,” says international observer Diakaridia Diakita, the president of the youth of the Yelema party in the Republic of Mali. PSUV stands for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

Over 800 international observers from around the world are in Venezuela to observe the historic elections between the Chavista PSUV leader Nicolás Maduro and the opposition pro-imperialism parties.

The main opposition candidate is Edmundo Gonzalez, who supports the privatization of the oil companies, schools, healthcare, and the removal of social programs that former President Chavez started.

These international observers come from unions, left parties, newspapers, and organizations from around the world. The grandson of Nelson Mandela, Nkosi Zwelivelile, is also observing this important election. Observers talk about the importance of this election for Venezuela, Latin America and the world.

Observers from Africa, Latin America, Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and all over the world will be monitoring today’s election.

“Venezuela has been strangled by sanctions for over a decade. This election will show us if Maduro has been able to lead his country to persevere, or if smear campaigns and national betrayal of the opposition will bring the country back down into vassal status. The fate of Venezuela rests on July 28,” says Ahmed Eltouny, the former cochair of the Green Party in the U.S.

Booker Omole, the vice president of the Communist Party of Kenya, says, “I am here in Caracas to attend this very important event of the revolutionary history of Venezuela. Particularly, the Communist Party of Kenya is an internationalist organization, and we support the Bolivarian Revolution. Also, there are certain commonalities between the Venezuelan revolution and the ongoing processes in Kenya, which is still a neocolonial entity.”

Omole continued, “In 1989, in Caracas and major cities in Venezuela, there was a social explosion in the streets, where the IMF and World Bank had imposed austerity measures, the anti-people policies. In Kenya today, the masses and the working class are also resisting. We have seen millions of people pouring into the streets to resist the puppet regime that is sponsored by the USA imperialism. This reminds of similarities where the IMF has designed policies, particularly here in Venezuela, that took ten years after the social explosion for the Bolivarian revolution to materialize. Hugo Chavez still lives among us, not only here in Caracas, but also in Kenya.”

#CaracasVZ #Venezuela #Caracas #Venezuela #Maduro #NicolasMaduro #Elections #VZElection #HugoChavez #PSUV #Chavista #EdmundoGonzalez #Mali #DiakaridiaDiakita #GreenParty #Kenya #IMF #WorldBank #Kenya #BookerOmole #HastaLaVictoriaSiempre

Caracas, Venezuela – “Hasta la victoria! El pueblo unido jamás se ha vencido!” tens of thousands chanted, filling the streets, in the rally for President Nicolás Maduro on July 26.

The presidential elections of Venezuela are July 28. These historic elections are crucial in continuing the PSUV-led Bolivarian revolution of former President Chavez and the current President Maduro.

Under Chavez and now Maduro’s leadership, widespread social programs such as free schools, literacy centers, free universal healthcare and free universities have been established. Due to these widespread literacy centers and free education, UNESCO declared Venezuela free of illiteracy. The PSUV also launched a program called, “La Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela” (Great Mission Housing Venezuela) and built over 5 million units of free housing for Venezuelans. You can see these buildings all over Venezuela, with Chavez’ signature in big letters on the outside of the buildings.

Under Maduro’s leadership, the government launched the People’s Assembly, made up of leaders from Las Comunas, the neighborhood organizations. The democratic People’s Assembly has real power and can pass laws and establish new programs that serve the Venezuelan people.

They have also nationalized the oil companies to bring more profit into Venezuela, instead of having the profits go to other imperialist countries like the USA. Before Chavez, five-sixths of the profit from petroleum went out of the country. Now, most of the profits stay in the country to support social programs. 

In Venezuela, the pro-imperialist opposition parties want to take control away from the people and remove social programs. The main opposition candidate is Edmundo Gonzalez. His neoliberal program, called the “Land of the Grace,” states that his first measure will be to privatize the oil and gas industry. The opposition wants to privatize schools, so they will no longer be free; privatize companies; amend the Organic Law on Labor to remove the restrictions on labor rights; remove pensions so workers will pay their own retirement in private banks.

The opposition party has close relations with the United States government. The U.S. government has major interest in these elections due to the profit they would make from the opposition’s right-wing program and to crush the Chavista national democratic movement. 

Venezuela is an inspiration to workers all around the world that another world is possible, a world where the power is in the hands of the “pueblo” (the people).

#CaracasVZ #Venezuela #Caracas #Venezuela #Maduro #NicolasMaduro #Elections #VZElection #HugoChavez #PSUV #Chavista #EdmundoGonzalez #HastaLaVictoriaSiempre

In a compelling victory, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its allies won 68% of the vote for the Venezuelan National Assembly on December 6. This strengthens the position of President Nicolas Maduro and buries any hope the U.S. had of installing a right-wing pretender in office.

The PSUV and its allies will now take 189 of 277 seats in the National Assembly. Rightist opposition parties won only 28% of the vote and lost control of the body, which functions like a senate. Despite U.S. corporate media claiming the right-wing opposition boycotted the election, there was very public campaigning by Democratic Action and COPEI, both former ruling parties. Dozens of other smaller parties representing a wide array of views participated, but there are none like the PSUV with its millions of members.

On the left there are many smaller parties as well. The APR or Popular Revolutionary Current, which ran as a left opposition to the PSUV and President Maduro, won six seats on the Communist Party of Venezuela ticket.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and punishing economic sanctions, the PSUV was better able to motivate their voters to the polls early in the day. Election turnout was lower than most previous elections at 31%, but higher than the 25% turnout of the 2005 election. International observers from Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and the Middle East confirmed the validity of the election process. U.S. election observers included professors, trade unionists and community organizers.

After the opposition victory in the last National Assembly election there were multiple illegal and violent attempts to overthrow President Maduro. This includes U.S. imposing sanctions to try to ruin the economy, an assassination attempt on President Maduro, the April 30, 2019 coup attempt, and more recently, U.S. mercenary invasions on the coast in May 2020.

The PSUV victory in the National Assembly election provides assurance for President Maduro. Along with the other legislative institution, the Constituent Assembly, the large PSUV majority means President Maduro has a free hand to implement PSUV policies. A new unity of purpose exists between the president, the legislative bodies and the masses of people. The PSUV is set to advance the Bolivarian Revolution on the road toward socialism.

#Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #PSUV #Americas

Other countries that are also in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialist maneuvers – like China, Cuba and Nicaragua – fielded delegations. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions expressed their solidarity with the workers of the world and explicitly their solidarity with Bolivarian Revolution and the people of Venezuela. All participants and parties stood firm in their resolve to end the U.S. blockade of Venezuela and to support the upcoming December 6 elections in Venezuela.

The vice-president of the Working Class section of the PSUV, Nelson Herrera, pointed out, “COVID-19 has taken the mask off of capitalism, it has removed the veil. The workers will strengthen their unity to confront the financial corporations in the service of capitalism.”

As the topic of working class solidarity arose, James Jordan, co-director of the Alliance for Global Justice, added that “there is a difference in the working class in the U.S., too often it is the enemy of the struggles in the Global South. With the AFL-CIO so-called Solidarity Center, this is false solidarity. It is solidarity with the ruling class, with U.S. imperialism. And we must fight to transform the working class in the U.S. into a weapon against the ruling class, and to fight for and with the peoples of the Global South.”

Tom Burke of the FRSO added, “The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center should not be carrying out the agenda of Wall Street. The Solidarity Center played a vital role in the oil worker lockouts from 2002-03 that saw a number of a U.S.-orchestrated coup attempts against President Hugo Chavez.”

FRSO members have been proud participants in recent international delegations to Venezuela, including a trade unionist delegation and an anti-imperialist delegation.

At the closure of the conference, former trade union bus driver turned elected President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, addressed the international meeting. “We are creating a great alliance of trade unionist workers around the world to confront U.S. imperialism, to liberate ourselves.” Paraphrasing Karl Marx, Maduro added, “the proletarians of the world, united, organized, together we will build our future!”

#Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #frso #PSUV #Americas

Lucha y Resiste está promoviendo una declaración del Presidente de Venezuela Nicolás Maduro al pueblo de los Estados Unidos. El administracion del Trump esta subiendo el nivel de atentados a derrotar el Presidente Maduro y La Revolucion Bolivariana por poniendo cargas de narco-terrorismo al Maduro y otros en el gobierno. El administración del Trump también publicó un plan a alterar el gobierno Venezolano para permitir la oposición de los elites que toman más poder. Eso es a preparar un otro atentado del golpe del estado por los EEUU en apoyo de los no elegidos bobolongos. La semana pasada el Presidente Trump ordenó un grave augmentacion de los barcos de la Armada patrullando en el área del Caribe cera a Venezuela como una provocación. Al Pueblo de los Estados Unidos de América:

Desde hace semanas, el mundo está paralizado, intentando controlar una pandemia que sin duda es el desafío más grande que hemos enfrentado juntos como sociedad y comunidad internacional. Al igual que para el pueblo de Estados Unidos, confrontarla es nuestra prioridad.

Afortunadamente, en Venezuela hemos contado con algunas ventajas. Tomamos medidas muy tempranas de aislamiento y el despistaje ampliado, apoyándonos en nuestro sistema público y gratuito de salud, que cuenta con médicos de familia alrededor de todo el país. Contamos también con la invalorable organización comunitaria para ayudar a elevar la conciencia social y brindar apoyo a los más vulnerables. Igualmente, la solidaridad de Cuba, China, Rusia y el apoyo de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, nos ha permitido obtener insumos médicos necesarios, a pesar de las sanciones ilegales de Donald Trump.

Al expresarles mi solidaridad ante este importante desafío histórico y nuestra consternación y dolor por las consecuencias de la pandemia en EEUU, me veo obligado a también alertarles que, mientras el mundo se enfoca en atender la emergencia del COVID-19, el gobierno de Trump, instrumentalizando una vez más las instituciones para alcanzar sus objetivos electorales y basándose en infamias bajo pretexto de la lucha contra las drogas, ha ordenado el despliegue militar más grande de Estados Unidos hacia nuestra región en 30 años, con el fin de amenazar a Venezuela y de llevar a nuestra región a un conflicto bélico costoso, sangriento y de duración indefinida.

Como antecedente a esta maniobra falaz, el pasado 26 de marzo, William Barr, un Fiscal General de cuestionable independencia (quien recomendó la invasión de 1989 a Panamá contra Noriega y ayudó a encubrir las irregularidades del escándalo Irán-Contra), presentó, sin mostrar prueba alguna, acusaciones de narcotráfico hacia los Estados Unidos contra mí y contra altos funcionarios del Estado venezolano, a pesar de que la información del propio Departamento de Defensa demuestra que Venezuela no es un país de tránsito primario de drogas hacia los Estados Unidos, como sí lo son países aliados de Washington como Colombia u Honduras.

Es claro, que la administración Trump construye una cortina de humo para ocultar el improvisado y errático manejo de la pandemia en Estados Unidos. Desde un principio Donald Trump le restó importancia y la negó, tal como ha hecho con el cambio climático. Hoy la crisis se agrava simplemente porque, pese a contar con recursos, no está dispuesto a transformar el sistema de salud en uno que priorice el cuidado pleno de la población y no el lucro de ganancias de la medicina privada, las compañías de seguros y las farmacéuticas.

Nosotros en Venezuela no queremos un conflicto armado en nuestra región. Queremos relaciones fraternales, de cooperación, de intercambio y de respeto.

No podemos aceptar amenazas bélicas, ni bloqueos, ni tampoco la intención de instalar un tutelaje internacional que viola nuestra soberanía y desconoce los avances del último año en el diálogo político sincero entre el gobierno y gran parte de la oposición venezolana, que desea soluciones políticas, y no guerras por petróleo.

Por todo lo anterior, hago un llamado al pueblo de los Estados Unidos para que ponga freno a esta locura, para que responsabilice a sus gobernantes y los obligue a enfocar su atención y sus recursos en la atención urgente de la pandemia. Pido, junto al cese de las amenazas militares, el fin de las sanciones ilegales y el bloqueo que restringe el acceso a insumos humanitarios, tan necesarios hoy en el país. Les pido, con el corazón en la mano, que no permitan que su país se vea arrastrado, una vez más, a otro conflicto interminable, otro Vietnam u otro Irak, pero esta vez más cerca de casa.

No somos tan diferentes, como nos quieren hacer creer con infamias. Somos pueblos buscando una sociedad más justa, libre y compasiva. No dejemos que los intereses particulares de minorías cegadas por ambición nos separen. Nosotros, como dijo una vez nuestro líder Hugo Chávez, compartimos el mismo sueño. El sueño de Martin Luther King es también el sueño de Venezuela y de su gobierno revolucionario. Los invito a luchar juntos por hacer realidad ese sueño.

No a la guerra de Estados Unidos contra Venezuela No más sanciones criminales Queremos Paz

#Venezuela #Socialism #PeoplesStruggles #PSUV #USA #NicolásMaduro #Trump #Americas

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to the people of the US. The Trump administration is escalating attempts to bring down President Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution, making bogus charges against Maduro and other officials. The Trump administration also published a plan that would radically alter the Venezuelan government's branches of power. This is to prepare for yet another coup attempt by the U.S. in support of unelected scoundrels. This past week President Trump ordered a serious increase of US Naval ships patrolling Caribbean waters near Venezuela as a provocation.

Caracas, April 3, 2020

To the People of the United States of America:

For weeks now, the world stands still, trying to control a pandemic that, without any doubt, is the greatest challenge we have faced together as a society and as an international community. Our priority is confronting it, as is the priority of the people of the United States.

Fortunately, in Venezuela, we have been able to count on some advantages. We took very early measures of social distancing and amplified testing, relying on our free and public healthcare system that counts doctors throughout the country with what we call family. We also rely on the invaluable community-based organizations to help raise social awareness and support the most vulnerable sectors. The solidarity of Cuba, China, and Russia, and the support of the World Health Organization has likewise allowed us to obtain necessary medical supplies despite Donald Trump's illegal sanctions.

In expressing my solidarity to you in this important historic challenge, as well as our consternation and grief for the consequences of the pandemic in the U.S., I also have the obligation to make you aware that as the world focuses on dealing with the COVID-19 emergency, the Trump Administration, once again instrumentalizing institutions in order to fulfill electoral objectives, and based on infamies under the pretext of the War on Drugs, has ordered the largest U.S. military deployment in our region in the last 30 years, with the purpose of threatening Venezuela and bringing to our region a costly, bloody, military conflict of indefinite duration.

In the runup to this fallacious maneuver, last March 26, William Barr, an Attorney General of questionable independence (who recommended the 1989 invasion of Panama against Noriega and helped cover up the irregularities of the Iran-Contra scandal) filed, without showing any evidence whatsoever, accusations of drug trafficking towards the United States against myself and against senior Venezuelan State officials, even though data from the Department of Defense itself show that, unlike Colombia and Honduras, two of Washington's allied countries, Venezuela is not a primary transit country towards the United States.

It is clear that the Trump Administration is creating a smokescreen to cloud the improvised and erratic handling of the pandemic in the United States. The most optimistic forecast shows that close to 240,000 souls will be lost in the United States. From the beginning, Donald Trump downplayed and even denied it, the same way he has done with climate change. Today, the crisis in the United States aggravates simply because, despite having the resources, he is not willing to transform the healthcare system to prioritize full care for the population instead of profit-based private medicine, insurance companies and pharmaceutical industry.

Wein Venezuela do not want an armed conflict in our region. We want brotherly relations of cooperation, exchange and respect.

We canot accept war threats, nor blockades, nor can we accept the intention of installing an international tutelage that violates our sovereignty and disavows the progress made in the last year in the sincere political dialogue between the government and a large part of the Venezuelan opposition that wants political solutions and not oil wars.

Based on the foregoing, I call upon the people of the United States to stop this madness, to hold your officials accountable and to force them to focus their attention and their resources on urgently addressing the pandemic. I also ask, together with the end to military threats, the end to the illegal sanctions and blockade that restrict the access of humanitarian goods that are so necessary for the country today. I wholeheartedly ask you not to allow your country to be dragged once again into another unending conflict, another Viet Nam, another Iraq, but this time, closer to home.

The peoples of the United States and Venezuela are not as different as their lies intend us to believe. We are peoples seeking a more just, free, and compassionate society. Let us not let the particular interests of minorities blinded by ambition set us apart. We, as our leader Hugo Chavez once said, share the same dream. The dream of Martin Luther King is also the dream of Venezuela and its revolutionary government. I invite you to struggle together in order to make that dream come true.

No to a United States war against Venezuela.

No more criminal sanctions.

We want peace.

#Caracas #Venezuela #Socialism #PeoplesStruggles #PSUV #USA #NicolásMaduro #Trump #Americas

The following essay was written by Vladimir Castillo, the International Affairs Coordinator of the Ministry of Communes of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. In it, Castillo lays out the anti-imperialist nature of the Venezuelan military and its strategic involvement in the Bolivarian Revolution. The essay was originally published by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and is translated here by the Fight Back! staff.

The Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) directly descends from the people's armies of Simón Bolívar, the army of Liberators; from our indigenous warriors; from the liberating hosts of José Leonardo Chirino; and from the humble but conscious montoneras of Ezequiel Zamora. Our soldiers are of the people and our officers are of the people. Our Supreme Comandante [Hugo Chávez Frías] is the greatest example of this historic occurrence. Emerging from the depths of the homeland, from its humblest people, he knew how to embody the hopes and needs of the people and he knew how to exemplify tenacity, honesty, and he gave his life to make better the lives of our entire Nation, of Our America, of the helpless and needy across the world. He gave his life to make the ideals of Bolívar, Robinson and Zamora a reality. And without a doubt this obligates, drives and gives strength to an entire country, and above all to its people in uniform.

Commitment

Our FANB – the dignified and brave heir of this entire history – is setting an example for the world by its lucidity, courage and respect for the people, and at the same time maintaining and deepening its Bolivarian and Chavista nature. By creating military doctrine according to these ideas, it is able to defeat the bravado of the “paper tiger” and its sad puppies (the Lima Cartel and Europe, with the important exception of Greece, Italy, Serbia, Belarus and Russia). It organizes itself with the methods of people's struggle, victoriously demonstrated by the people and leadership of Vietnam. Becoming more and more People – Armed Forces, Armed Forces – People.

War

The white world – western Europe and its toxic emanations of the United States, Canada, Australia, the invaders, thieves of the land and resources, murderers of worlds, languages, cultures and many human beings – are imposing a war on us with a diversity of fronts: communicational, psychological, economic, diplomatic. They use a diversity of doctrines and theories: of “legitimate defense,” of “strategic intelligence,” of “rogue states,” of “the right to protect,” of “chaos,” of “failed states,” etc. All of these aggressions are converted, in one way or another, into terrorist acts against the civil population of our nation. The financial blockade (and now as well of goods and services), the theft of our accounts and assets are evil acts that violate all international conventions, diplomatic norms, and the norms of the financial system, the World Trade Organization. They also violate the established law in their own states, the Charter of the United Nations, the Vienna Convention... I stopped counting. Each and every one of these violations are converted into acts of terrorism and human harm, affecting the children, elderly, men and women of a country, without distinction of class, religion, age or political position.

Since they have failed to achieve their objective with this assault, they are now saying and acting that they intend to escalate to more violent, physical and direct attacks, through the financing of paramilitary groups, mercenary groups, of terrorists recruited from the criminal lumpen and the worst gangs of murderers in Colombia, Honduras and El Salvador. They have suggested the possibility of “importing” reactionary extremists from the Middle East. All of their “options” are criminal and obviously seek the death of innocent people.

The intent of sedition

The Venezuelan right wing, and the right wing in general, have always had their greatest ally when they have managed to separate the soldiers from the people, when officers come from oligarchic and wealthy families and are therefore the lackeys and servant of the empire. In Venezuela, historically, the people have provided the vast majority of officers, mainly from the middle classes, and not to mention the soldiers and lower-rank officers and even more our Bolivarian Militia. But what is most important is that they have taken up social consciousness – Comandante Chávez sowed consciousness in all the outposts and components of the FANB. They have tried to buy these patriots and have encountered a wall. Today, the very few that have betrayed us are found suffering the fate of every traitor to the homeland: despised by the people and their former comrades, made into rags in the dustbin of history, hated and discarded by those that convinced them to betray. They were not worth much, and now they are worth nothing.

Loyal forever

Venezuelan soldiers, Bolivarian and Chavista, are offering an exceptional example to the future generations of patriots across Our America and the world. Their struggle for sovereignty, for our second and definitive independence, their commitment to the people that they come from, their respect for our Constitution and the decisions emanating from the depths of the homeland. Their commitment with the ideas of Bolívar, Robinson, Zamora and Chávez. Their struggle against imperialism and neo-colonialism, their struggle for a multipolar world with social justice, providing for all and always respecting the rights of our Mother Earth. Their capacity to integrate with base organizations and our organized reality, the communes and communal councils and above all their loyalty to the Bolivarian project and to our Constitutional President Nicolás Maduro. For this and more, the FANB has and will have the full respect and admiration of the noble and fighting people, and all free peoples in the world, and together we will continue to make more solid and perfect our civic-military union.

Loyal Forever! Traitors Never!

#Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #PSUV #Americas

The following essay was published in the latest party bulletin of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). It comes after two weeks of open debate within the Bolivarian movement about how to deepen the revolutionary process in the country. The piece was translated into English by Fight Back! staff.

It is no small thing what we are facing. It is no small thing who we are fighting against – even less so because we are resisting, we are advancing, we are reaching forward. Our Homeland is under permanent attack and our people suffer from a criminal imperial assault, aggressions of all types, in a war of immense dimensions and multiple expressions, methods and actions. They are a part of daily life. This is what we have faced: coup d’états, the theft of our accounts around the world, the robbery of our economic goods and benefits, the illegal appropriation of our natural resources by the U.S. government and its European accomplices. The setting up and financing of an escalation of violence, not only with an urban focus, but one that is xenophobic, fascist, mercenary and putschist, as well as attacks on democratic institutions and an attempted assassination of the president. These are some of the thousands of acts against this noble and sovereign republic and, worse still, against the life, peace, tranquility and dignity of our heroic and loyal people.

Since the arrival of our forever-beloved Hugo Chávez Frías, Venezuela has surged forward – leaving behind the muck of misery, floating to the surface with the air of hope, swimming, struggling and stepping onto dry land and marching forth as victors, beating back obstacles, overcoming barriers, pulverizing the barricades of hatred and violence built against us by a nationless far right at the service of the gringo empire, who try to hold at bay this humble and victorious people and their revolutionary government, a government led by a man born in the bowels of the people. It is this people that never tires of walking in revolution; the great resistance and triumphant offensive that the Bolivarian-Chavista Revolution possesses, has in Nicolás Maduro Moros the correct strategy – sober, focused, with nerves of steel, studious, determined and with the aim of being a genuine inheritor of Chávez.

We live in extraordinary times – times that lapse in abnormal measures; where the cyclical rhythm of an occurrence stops or slows down the passing of another event; where the constant imperial aggression has implanted in the people an unyielding consciousness of Homeland; where the haughty, stubborn and obsessively eager putschists have erected the greatest articulated and mobilized force of the civic-military union that feels no fear, no doubts, that is loyal and fierce.

In this very dynamic historic evolution, we cannot detach ourselves, we cannot abandon spaces, we cannot leave unfinished what must be done. One is not allowed to doubt, nor vacillate. We are in a new beginning that is being configured into a great revolutionary offensive.

On October 10, 2012, the Eternal Comandante Hugo Chávez Frías, at a meeting of the Council of Ministers following the October 7 victory [in the presidential elections], urged a great leap towards socialism – necessary, just, true and vital – and its basic nuclear formation, the Commune.

Hugo Chávez Frías delegated then-Vice President Nicolás Maduro Moros the task of pushing to Communal Power: “Nicolás, I entrust to you as I would entrust my own life: the Communes, the Social State of Rights and Justice.”

Hugo Chávez mentioned that with the new cycle that opened following the October 7 victory, we must be more efficient in the building of the new political, economic, social and cultural model: of Bolivarian Socialism.

On this our Supreme Comandante was precise: “It is about the steps that we have taken, which is why we speak of transition, of stages. None of this existed in Venezuela and none of this would exist in Venezuela if capitalism was imposed upon us, if we converted once again into the colony that we once were. This is why the political revolution, liberation comes before the economic revolution.”

Hugo Chávez Frías then broke in, centering the reflection on the need to incorporate the Commune in all consolidating processes of the Bolivarian and socialist revolutionary project, and warned that many sectors will think that these bodies should only matter to the Ministry that focuses on the matter. “This is a very grave error that we are committing. We can no longer commit it. We must revise,” he affirmed.

However, it must be stated with clear objectivity that the Communal Council, the Commune and other social expressions are the living essence and nature of People's Power. The Commune forms the new geopolitical makeup of the Homeland. It is a rooted, organized, popular force that advances to satisfy, attend to and resolve the needs of a people as well as be a motor for local development, for the prosperity of citizens, for national happiness. The Commune is the womb where the new Homeland is created.

In Aló Presidente No. 351, the Supreme Comandante Hugo Chávez Frías stated: “The Communal Councils form part of the essence of the Revolution. We have been working on this theme for years and testing it. Today we can say that we have the reform to the Organic Law of the Communal Councils that includes novel and interesting aspects that will be the framework for the building of the Communes.”

He said that the Communes and Communal Councils are “the territory where Socialism is going to be built,” and insisted on the need to build a new socialist economic model to defeat capitalism, which is promoted by North American imperialism around the world.

“We must give form to popular organization, in order to build the material basis for socialism.”

He also stated that the Commune, as a territorial cell and nucleus, must be established in order to build a new society that guarantees human wellbeing and affirms socialist values, in order to counteract consumerism and individualism.

“A new productive system, a new system of distribution, a new way to establish the true value of things, in order totally dismantle this idea of surplus value and the commodity characterization that capitalism gives to everything. Capitalism converts everything into a commodity,” he declared.

Hugo Chávez Frías detailed that the Communes and Communal Councils can guarantee the active and protagonistic participation of People's Power, by taking direct decisions within their territorial area, and applying social control to ensure the good administration and management of resources granted by the national government.

“In the Commune, the new regime of property must be conformed to, the social ownership of the means of production – of land, machinery, capital, labor, technology, labor relations – all of this has to function in a different way.”

The Communes, the Comandante emphasized, must transcend the local, national and international as a new system, the forming of the Social State and Constituted People's Power.

From there, everything is left very clear: “Commune or Nothing.” This is neither a slogan nor a war cry – it is the strategic objective, it is the Homeland sculpted into the most decolonized and anti-imperialist form that it must have... the Commune!

Amid this atrocious economic war – this destabilizing, violent, insurrectionary dynamic against our Republic and people – our People's President Nicolás Maduro Moros has called for a communal offensive; an offensive that moves to the consolidation and growth of the communal fabric, that requires the best and greatest strength of People's Power, which must be characterized by an optimization that ensures:

1. The activation and empowerment of productive activity, especially that which has to do with meeting the most felt needs of the people such as clothing, food, goods and services; a production that breaks from the pernicious criteria of imports, a production that comes from us, ourselves, original, what we know exists, where the techniques and mechanisms are known, where our people are the conscious productive force.

2. The organization to grow and advance to the creation of the Communal Social State, to that link that will break with the antiquated bureaucratic structures left to us by colonialism, to advance to a system of relations where the people and the community will be protagonists, where the dynamic will be direct and efficient, where bureaucratism and corruption will not belong; Hugo Chávez indicated this construct to us, and now Nicolás Maduro promotes this and joins us in its construction.

3. The Integral Defense of the Homeland is a daily task, an obligation of life, a republican responsibility, a loyal duty, and the Communal Councils and Communes are a patriotic army where the anti-imperialist spirit, class consciousness, nationalist stance and the conviction of sovereignty and freedom are the motors to create the needed strategies and correct tactics to confront and defeat the enemy of humanity.

The communal offensive is this and more – it is a permanent deployment, an attitude that cannot be delegated, an act of combat for the life of the Homeland. The communal offensive touches the core of social and productive relations, of new institutions, of geopolitics and of the defense of life, sovereignty and national peace.

The communal offensive has a widespread national fabric: 47,800 communal councils, more than 3100 communes; hundreds of thousands of men and women in all of our parishes, in every municipality and every state, moving and working, living and fighting, advancing and contributing to the building of the Communal State, of an anti-imperialist and socialist state. It requires of our Party to be part of this vanguard that, together with other expressions of People's Power, interlaces all of the fabric and forms the network and system of a new Homeland. The communal offensive is an offensive of unity, struggle, battle and victory.

#Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #PSUV #Americas

Caracas, Venezuela – En el primero de mayo, día del trabajador, en el centro de la ciudad, 400,000 trabajadores acudieron a las calles por dos razones: para honrar su día, el Día Internacional de los Trabajadores; y para celebrar la derrota del intento de golpe de Estado contra su presidente electo Nicolás Maduro.

La energía fue increíble en lo que solo se puede describir como una manifestación de victoria, ya que la clase trabajadora ha derrotado todos los ataques infligidos contra ella por el imperialismo en los últimos 20 años. Los trabajadores marcharon en sus uniformes de trabajo, detrás de las banderas de sus sindicatos socialistas: mineros, trabajadores petroleros, trabajadores del cemento, maestros y todos los demás sectores de la economía. Mientras marchaban, cantaron junto a “Bella Ciao” y otras canciones revolucionarias tocando desde el escenario principal, al pie de una colina fuera del palacio presidencial.

Marchando al lado de los sindicatos estaban las milicias bolivarianas, que descendían sobre la ciudad desde todos los rincones del país. En Venezuela, el proceso revolucionario es impulsado por una alianza estratégica, la “unión cívico-militar”, bajo el liderazgo de los partidos revolucionarios del país. Esta unión es orgánica y viva, y está ahí para que todos la vean. Muchos de los miembros de la milicia son trabajadores y marchan con orgullo en sus uniformes de color canela. Son la segunda línea de defensa de la nación, y no puedo imaginar que cualquier ejército en el mundo pueda romper su espíritu.

El único orador en la manifestación fue el Presidente Maduro, el “Presidente Obrero”, el presidente de los Trabajadores, y todo el público se mantuvo firme en cada una de sus palabras. Habló de la oposición por lo que son: cobardes y criminales, cuyas únicas propuestas políticas para el pueblo venezolano son la violencia y el terrorismo. Cuando Maduro notificó a la multitud que el soldado al que le disparó la oposición estaba finalmente estable en el hospital, toda la avenida estalló en aplausos.

El presidente trabajador habló sobre los desafíos que enfrenta el movimiento revolucionario y que, si bien el imperialismo estadounidense ha sufrido una gran derrota con el colapso de la oposición liderada por Guaido, no se detendrán y la patria debe permanecer vigilante. También habló abiertamente sobre los errores que el gobierno ha cometido, e incluso leyó las críticas que había recibido de la gente común sobre las debilidades en su trabajo. En un acto de autocrítica, declaró su acuerdo con la crítica. En respuesta, Maduro pidió un gran Congreso de los Pueblos Bolivarianos este fin de semana, para que el gobierno tome en cuenta todas las propuestas de las organizaciones sociales y los sindicatos y cree un nuevo plan más radical para trazar el camino del país hacia adelante.

Maduro explicó que su lucha es como la de un boxeador: con un puño, defienden la patria de todas las amenazas externas y con el otro puño lleva su revolución a nuevas etapas. Cerró su discurso con el canto del movimiento bolivariano: “¡Leales siempre, traidores nunca!” (Siempre leal, nunca traidores). Y mientras la multitud gritaba de nuevo “Traidores nunca”. 400,000 puños se dispararon al aire. Ganarán.

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #PSUV #Socialism #NicolásMaduro

Caracas, Venezuela – The delegation from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) had the honor May 2 of meeting with Blanca Eekhout, Minister of Communes and Social Movements and a member of the National Directorate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

Despite having lost her voice during the massive May Day demonstration, she spoke with the FRSO members for nearly two hours about the experiences of the Bolivarian Revolution and the struggles in the United States.

Minister Eekhout talked with the delegation about President Maduro's call for a rectification process during his May Day speech. “Now is an important moment to deepen and radicalize popular power, to build the bodies of self-government,” she said. “We have been resisting, but not advancing. Yesterday President Maduro said 'enough!' – we must advance despite all of the forces against us.”

As the Minister of Communes, it is Eekhout's responsibility to deepen the role of the communes, bodies of popular power consisting of communal councils and social property enterprises (EPS). She added, “Maduro has also called for us to transform the state,” and that since the election of the Constituent National Assembly in 2017, “two states have been in a struggle with each other, and what has to die must die.”

When asked by Tracy Molm from the FRSO delegation about what message she wishes to share with the people of the United States, Eekhout did not hesitate to say, “Make revolution happen, for the benefit of the entire humanity. The words of Rosa Luxemburg, 'socialism or barbarism,' are more true now than ever. Barbarism cannot be allowed to continue.”

#CaracasVenezuela #Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #PSUV #Socialism #Americas

Chicago, IL – The contradictions at the heart of Venezuelan society have burst asunder. A fierce struggle is now underway to determine the foundations of the country's future. The Venezuelan bourgeoisie have wholeheartedly decided that they are willing to endure civil war and foreign invasion so long as it leads to the repression of the upright masses. The working class and other popular sectors, meanwhile, can no longer tolerate the economic suffering inflicted upon them from the business owners, and are ready to do battle against any invaders that seek to return their class enemies to power.

From this struggle can only emerge either the most vicious reaction, or a qualitative leap forward in the struggle to establish a real socialist state. All depends on the strength of the Bolivarian revolutionary movement, and above all on the leadership of this movement by the advanced detachments of the working class. This in turn depends on their strength of organization, their ideological firmness, and their capacity to carry out every form of struggle necessary to beat back imperialism and its running dogs.

As the United States and its proxies inch closer to war, it is important to reflect on what is at stake for the Venezuelan working class. Over the past 20 years of the Bolivarian Revolution, the workers have built power for their class and for all oppressed sectors. While there is more to be won, the concrete victories must be held up, because they are what will be defended in the coming days.

What have workers won in these two decades, and what still must be won for them to become the leading class in Venezuelan society?

Workers take control of their own organizations

When Hugo Chávez was first elected president in 1998, the Venezuelan labor movement was led by class collaborators. It was dominated by the Democratic Action (AD) party, which acted as one of the main defenders of bourgeois rule during the 40 years of the Fourth Republic (1958-1998). They had done everything they could to repress working-class struggle and ensure that oil production continued to serve foreign interests. Chávez's election was a rejection of AD rule, and the party opposed his movement from the start. When the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce orchestrated a coup in April 2002, the AD trade union leaders of the trade unions cheered them on. They did the same when managers at PDVSA organized a lockout of the country's oil industry in the spring of 2003, sending the economy into free-fall.

By then, the AD was incredibly unpopular with the working masses, who saw their interests clearly represented for the first time by Chávez and his administration. Bolivarian trade unionists organized to oust the class collaborators from leadership. In the midst of the 2003 lockout, they founded a new federation – the National Workers Union (UNETE) – and called on unions across the country to break from the AD-led Venezuelan Labor Confederation (CTV). The old formation collapsed as local after local split off and joined UNETE.

Over a period of several years, UNETE was replaced by the Bolivarian Socialist Central of Workers (CBST) as the main labor federation of the country and of the Bolivarian movement. Today, the CBST is a key player in the Bolivarian Revolution and works to ensure that the working class is active in the constant struggle for political power. Many of its leaders have been brought into positions in the national government, such as Eduardo Piñate, the current Labor Minister. Communists play a critical role in the labor movement. A good example is the CBST federation in the industrial state of Lara, which has been led by the Marxist-Leninist Labor Current (CSML) for nearly a decade.

A major step forward in the Bolivarian Revolution was the consolidation of many of its political organizations into a single party, the United Socialist Party (PSUV), in 2008. Many of the advanced workers were now brought together into one body, although critical elements of leadership remained outside of the PSUV, such as the Communist Party. The consolidation of parties meant the bringing together of the many classes of the Bolivarian movement, and internally there is a struggle for which class will lead. While the PSUV leadership is mostly made up of petty bourgeois elements (military officers, professionals, professors) the workers, who make up the vast majority of the party rank and file, are well-represented at all levels of the party. The great example of this, of course, is Nicolás Maduro himself, the bus driver and trade unionist who became the president of Venezuela and the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.

Workers fight for control of the economy

It cannot be disputed that the working class holds significantly more economic power today than it did 20 years ago. In general terms, the Bolivarian process can be defined by a working class on the advance, and a bourgeoisie on the retreat.

One concrete measure of this shift in power is in the types of labor laws that have been won. Today in Venezuela, workers in all sectors have the right to form a union, to strike, to occupy their workplace, and are legally protected from mass layoffs and firings – courtesy of the Organic Law for Work and Workers (LOTTT) passed in 2012. They also have the right to elect delegates from among themselves to ensure that their bosses are meeting safety and environmental standards, and are legally empowered to levy fines, and even shutter, non-compliant companies – courtesy of the Organic Law of Prevention, Conditions and Work Environment (LOPCYMAT) passed in 2005. These constitute some of the most progressive labor protections in the world, and far surpass the repressive laws that we workers live under in the United States.

The depth of coverage of the LOTTT and LOPCYMAT reflect the intensity of class struggle in the past 20 years. Strike waves hammered the bourgeoisie, and led not only to significant economic victories but political ones as well, such as the state seizure of companies and even shifts in the political direction of the government. For example, the 2008 strike at the Sidor steel complex – the largest in South America – led Chávez to re-nationalize the plant, fire the Labor Minister, and replace Sidor's CEO with an elected “worker president.”

When the Constituent National Assembly (ANC) was seated in August 2017, it ended nearly two years of political gridlock. Contradictions were sharp due to the greater politicization of the working class – and its corresponding desire to see deep revolutionary change happen – and the increasing isolation of the bourgeoisie, and as such the ANC delegates, many of them workers themselves, moved to ratify new laws to reflect the changing conditions. They passed the Constitutional Law of Workers' Productive Councils (CPTs) in February 2018. Workers now had the legal support to do what many had done already – form workers councils at their companies to take over production and redirect the productive capabilities to meet the needs of the nation instead of the drive for profit.

Venezuelan workers are not only building class power in the workplaces, but in society as a whole. Today tens of thousands of communal councils exist, forms of local self-government established by workers and other oppressed peoples to run the daily affairs of their neighborhoods. As the Bolivarian process has deepened over the years, the communal councils have been consolidated into communes, which bring communal councils together with “socialist enterprises” that produce to meet the needs of the people in the area. Some communes focus on the production of food, others on cultural work, yet all represent the same thing: workers having control over their own lives. Today there are thousands of communes across Venezuela, and the process to build them is ongoing. They are a true inspiration to Marxist-Leninists in the country, who demand that the current bourgeois democratic state be replaced with a “worker-campesino-communal state.”

Workers on the front lines of the economic war

The past six years have been brutal for the Venezuelan people. The plummet in oil prices from over $160 to less than $60 a barrel – a deliberate act by the United States – meant that 95% of Venezuela's exports lost over a nearly two thirds of their value. The economy buckled and there was serious doubt as to how the government could maintain their social programs. It was amid this crisis that the bourgeoisie launched their economic war, with a single goal in mind: to break the morale of the Venezuelan people in order to bring down the Maduro government and end the Bolivarian Revolution.

Goods were hoarded, prices were hiked exorbitantly, and subsidized basic goods were smuggled out of the country. Business owners openly broke the country's labor laws, engaging in mass layoffs and shuttering plants without any warning. As the economy spiraled into crisis, the working class and the poor were made to feel great pain.

The working class responded with strength, backed to the hilt by President Maduro. Shuttered plants were occupied and either turned over to the state or taken over by a commune. To counter the worst effects of the economic war, Maduro led the creation of Local Committees of Supplies and Production (CLAP), which to this day deliver free food to millions of the country's poorest families. In the past year, the government called for the forming of a “new economy” as the way out of the crisis. Workers took it upon themselves to renew the country's productive capabilities in order to meet the needs of the people. Groups like the Productive Workers Army travel the country, repairing factories and other productive means that have fallen into disrepair and repurposing to meet the population's immediate needs. The government has announced a series of “socialist micro-missions” which amount to handing over to the workers key sections of the state sector to reactivate production.

It is a provable fact that no social stratum has done more to pull the Venezuelan people out of the economic crisis than the working class, and they do so in the interests of founding a new, socialist society.

The future is at stake

Mountains have been moved in Venezuela. Workers are stronger and more well-organized in the economy and the broader society than they have ever been. They have more to lose than we can imagine if imperialism's running dogs retake power. They will defend their victories by all means available to them.

But more mountains must be moved. Marxist-Leninists in Venezuela say that for the revolutionary struggle to succeed, there must be immediate action against all sources of corruption, bureaucratism, opportunism and reformism within the ranks of the movement. Space must be made for the workers to become the vanguard force of the Bolivarian process, and they must be given the support necessary to break bourgeois rule. These are not demands for an unforeseeable day down the road – they feel within grasp. The immediate task of the movement is the defeat of imperialist forces and their domestic cronies, the bourgeoisie and the forces of fascist reaction. If they win this battle, then the world belongs to them.

Sean Orr is a trade unionist, a writer for Fight Back! and a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Labor #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #Strikes #PSUV #Socialism #NicolásMaduro #DonaldTrump #BolivarianSocialistCentralOfWorkersCBST

Milwaukee, WI – Venezuela has been in the news lately. For the first time in decades, the threat of war between the United States and a Latin American country hangs over our hemisphere.

The Colombian government, led by the far-right paramilitary ally Iván Duque, openly calls for the end of the Bolivarian Revolution by any means necessary. Their call is echoed by war-hungry Luis Almagro, secretary-general of the pro-imperialist Organization of American States (OAS), and the Trump administration, which has been revealed to be in open collaboration with putschist military officers and other anti-democratic elements in Venezuela.

In South America, the Venezuelan government is as isolated as it has ever been. Former allied governments in Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Ecuador are long gone, replaced by politicians who coldly work in the interests of imperialism. The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) – the result of years of hard work by Chávez and Maduro to create a continent free of imperialism – is defunct. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) has been weakened with the withdrawal of Ecuador, putting progressive projects like TeleSUR at financial risk, and by the surprising explosion of violence in Nicaragua, a key player in the formation.

A years-long economic crisis, the result of foreign intervention, internal sabotage and structural economic weaknesses, has caused severe harm to Venezuelan society, and thousands have moved to neighboring countries as a result. This in turn has added fuel to the calls for intervention, as far-right politicians in Brazil and Colombia call for more troops to be sent to their borders with Venezuela to respond to the “humanitarian crisis.”

Without a doubt, this is the most challenging moment yet in the 20 years of the Bolivarian Revolution, inaugurated with the election of Hugo Chávez to the presidency in 1998. How is the national democratic movement, now headed by Nicolás Maduro, responding to these attacks on all sides? Is the goal of “Bolivarian socialism” in peril? Is retreat on the agenda?

The answer is a resounding “no.” The Maduro government and the Venezuelan masses – daily threatened by reactionary violence, economic ruin and imperialist war – are resolute in their commitment to building a sovereign nation, and continue forward despite all of the odds.

Venezuelan workers and the new economy

At the 4th Congress of the United Socialist Party (PSUV), President Maduro announced the government’s Plan for Economic Recuperation, Growth and Prosperity, a sweeping program that aims to rebuild and transform Venezuela’s economy into one that is self-sustaining, independent of monopoly capital, and that works in the interests of the Venezuelan people.

The national government has already begun to implement the Plan’s monetary policy, converting the hyper-inflated national currency, the bolívar, into a new bolívar soberano currency, and placing all currency exchange under the control of the Central Bolivarian Bank.

While much-needed monetary policy is being decided by the national government, the goal of economic transformation is being left to the Venezuelan people themselves. Labor Minister Eduardo Piñate describes the economic program to Noticiero Digital as “an integrated program of transformation that has at its center the contradiction between capital and labor, within the development of class struggle. And the position of the government is to favor labor in the framework of this contradiction… [the Plan] is a profoundly revolutionary proposal which will guide the construction of our Bolivarian socialism.”

To determine the roles they will play in the new economy, national assemblies of different social sectors are being organized by the Bolivarian movement. The first to be gathered is the Constituent Congress of the Working Class, which began on August 31 and will continue until Sept. 28. It will soon be followed by a similar congress for campesinos and for communes.

In every corner of the country, workers are gathering to discuss the role their class will play in the new economy. The overwhelming answer seems to be: the leading role. Trade unionists are hosting local and regional assemblies to gather the proposals of the workers, which will then be brought to the Constituent Congress by elected representatives. At the center of the debated proposals is the ownership of production itself, and there is serious talk of formalizing a “socialist sector” – made up of state-run, worker-run and communal enterprises – that will be dominant yet coexist alongside private ownership.

Alongside the debates, workers are taking action to take control of the economy themselves. Workers’ Production Councils (CPTs), which were legalized in January and allow workers to control production at their workplace, are being formed across many economic sectors. They have the full support of the Labor Ministry. As of this month, there are over 900 workers’ production councils in control of businesses in Venezuela, with the twin goal of worker control and elevating production in the interests of ending the economic crisis. When asked by the newspaper Última Noticias on the role the councils will play in the coming economic debate, Piñate stated “the working class is the vanguard of socialist construction, and the CPTs are its concrete expression.”

China stands with the Bolivarian Revolution

On September 16, President Maduro signed over two dozen bilateral agreements with the government of Xi Jinping, strengthening a strategic alliance with what is quickly becoming Venezuela’s main international ally. Included in the agreements was a $6 billion loan to help re-activate oil production.

All told, the Chinese government is the largest creditor for Venezuela, further enabling the country’s economy to separate itself from U.S. monopoly capital. A strong commitment of support from China gives Venezuela something it desperately needs – a way to function in the global economy while facing crippling sanctions from the United States.

Many leaders of the Bolivarian Revolution hope to learn lessons from China's success in building socialism with Chinese characteristics in their goal of building a new economy. Nicolás Maduro's first official act in China was to lay a wreath at the mausoleum of Mao Zedong. While there, the Venezuelan president called Mao “one of the great founders of the multi-polar 21st century,” a century where “the future of humanity will be marked by a common destiny, one of diversity and peace, and without hegemonic empires that blackmail and threaten the world.”

Conclusion

Given all of this, it is no surprise that the lackeys of U.S. monopoly capital openly talk of war with Venezuela. Every day that the Bolivarian Revolution continues, it advances further down the road of national and economic freedom. And with every step towards this goal, it becomes more unacceptable to and incompatible with U.S. interests. The empire has done monstrous things to movements in the past that have taken a similar route in the Americas. From Mexico to Chile, millions of families have had loved ones cut down by death squads and reactionary militaries. They are testament to the iron will of U.S. imperialism, which refuses to step back from the global stage even though its time has clearly come. We must work together with all progressive forces in the Americas to bring down the U.S. monopoly capitalist class.

#MilwaukeeWI #AntiwarMovement #Venezuela #Americas #Maduro #PSUV #Socialism #BolivarianRevolution