Chicago, IL – While the U.S. Navy aggressively patrols their coast, another U.S.-inspired attack on Venezuela failed during the morning of May 3. Venezuelan military and police captured two, and killed eight, armed mercenaries during the confrontation. Traveling by speedboat from Colombia, the invaders’ plan was to join local accomplices near the port of La Guairá. La Guairá is next to Venezuela’s international airport and only 20 miles from Caracas.

According to those captured, the invaders planned to initiate terror attacks, including assassinations of government officials. They mistakenly thought they could gather forces as they moved towards Caracas. One of the captured claimed to be an asset for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Since banning the DEA from their country, drug shipments from Venezuela dropped significantly.

During the operation police seized weapons and communications equipment brought in on the boat, as well as a makeshift armored car built by accomplices in Venezuela. High-caliber rifles, uniforms and satellite phones were among the items seized.

This follows the March 26 attempt to invade Venezuela from Colombia by a former major general of the Venezuelan Army, Cliver Alcala. Alcala shared his plans with the Colombian government, and as his vehicles were transporting an arsenal of weapons to the Venezuelan border, Colombian officials seized them.

In response, U.S. authorities acted quickly and whisked Alcala away to New York, where he is cooperating with them. Colombian authorities refused to hand Alcala over to Venezuela to face justice despite Alcala’s plan to violently overthrow Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

Among the dead mercenaries in La Guairá was a notorious traitor, the former Captain Robert Levid Colina, known as “Pantera.” Alcalá publicly identified Pantera as one of his accomplices in the March failure. Pantera was also tied to the failed U.S.-backed coup against President Maduro on April 30 last year. Right-wing opposition politicians Juan Guaidó and Leopoldo López led that fiasco.

President Trump and the U.S. government continue to enforce harmful sanctions against Venezuela during the coronavirus pandemic. Combined with President Trump ordering warlike U.S. Navy patrols, it gives the green light to mercenaries and opportunists to launch attacks. These attacks backfire though, as Venezuelans rally around their elected president Nicolas Maduro. The right-wing attacks, sponsored by the U.S., strengthen the grip of the Bolivarian Revolution as the people practice defending their country.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #Socialism #Antifascism #DonaldTrump #JuanGuaidó #HandsOffVenezuela #VenezuelaCoup

Caracas, Venezuela – On January 23, thousands marched in Caracas and listened to a fiery speech from President Maduro to mark two important historic events. In 1958, mass movements joined with patriotic forces in the military to bring down the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jímenez. This was the model of civic-military unity that President Hugo Chávez used in his vision of a Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. Unfortunately for Venezuelans, the fall of the Jímenez dictatorship was a short-lived victory. The betrayal of this victory ushered in 40 years of violent repression of communists and other dissidents and disastrous economic policies like import substitution and neoliberal privatizations of important public services. By 1989, the massive poverty created by neoliberal policies led to an urban rebellion of workers and the poor, which led to a vicious police crackdown that killed over 3000 people. Three years later, paratrooper commander Hugo Chávez led a military uprising that ultimately failed but created a lasting popularity in the minds of millions of Venezuelans.

Also, On January 23 one year ago, the largely unknown National Assembly member Juan Guaidó, with full support and coordination from billionaire President Trump and the U.S. government, declared himself the new president of Venezuela. Like the U.S.-sponsored coup attempt against Hugo Chávez in 2002, it was the masses of working people and campesinos who rescued their leader and saved their revolution from the oligarchs in the opposition.

From the historic balcony of the Miraflores Presidential Palace, former union bus driver President Nicólas Maduro recounted the past year of coup attempts and mocked the political circus of the opposition to the crowd of supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution. “Did they win?” he asked the crowd. “No!” they roared. “Did their actions serve the people?” “No!” “Are they more divided?” “Si!” “Are they powerless?” “Si!” went the exchange between Maduro and the crowd of the various sectors of social movements.

Maduro continued with his plan to create dialogue between the government and the right-wing opposition by inviting international partners like UN General Secretary Antonio Gutierrez to observe this year’s National Assembly election. “We want everybody to participate in this coming National Assembly election so that we can crush the opposition and leave no doubt!” boomed Maduro to a thunderous approval.

At many points during his speech Maduro addressed the hundreds of international delegates from the World Anti-Imperialist Congress in attendance as he declared the firm position of anti-imperialism of the Bolivarian Revolution.

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #AntiwarMovement #Venezuela #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #Socialism #NicolásMaduro #BolivarianRevolution #DonaldTrump #JuanGuaidó

Chicago, IL – Juan Guaidó is not that smart of a politician. He never seems to care much about strategy, or coalition building, or putting forward a serious political platform. The only political talent Guaidó seems to have is in front of the cameras. He knows how to put on a good show for the audience he wants to please.

While that could be seen throughout the past year, as Guaidó and his allies bumbled their way through one of the worst coup attempts in recent memory, it is the best way to understand what has happened in Venezuela these past few days.

On Sunday, January 5, Guaidó's support among opposition lawmakers fell apart. A vote was scheduled to elect the president of the National Assembly, the position that Guaidó held and that he used to justify his attempt to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Nicolás Maduro.

There was no change in the composition of the National Assembly within the year since Guaidó's election, save for the fact that 49 PSUV and allied deputies had retaken their seats. Yet, where there had been unanimity among the right-wing majority for Guaidó a year ago, there was now great division.

On Sunday, several parties of the right-wing opposition broke from Guaidó, declared him to be a political disaster, and nominated in his place Luis Parra to be the president of the National Assembly. Guaidó, who purposefully showed up late to a vote he knew about well in advance, tried to climb a fence outside as the majority of the National Assembly removed him and put Parra, himself a right-winger, in his place.

All of the usual U.S. media outlets, inexperienced in journalism, repeat Guaidó's line that “Maduro has taken over the National Assembly.” The only reason Guaidó is out is because the majority of his supporters could no longer stand his growing list of astounding political failures.

2019: The year of Guaidó's failure

One year ago, Juan Guaidó, as leader of the far-right Popular Will party, was elected president of the National Assembly of Venezuela. Upon taking office, he declared himself the “legitimate president of Venezuela,” launching a campaign to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Nicolás Maduro. Guaidó was backed by a coalition of opposition parties and the Trump administration, and over the course of the next few months he took the nation to the brink of civil war and foreign invasion.Guaidó showed total unrestraint at the use of thug violence to meet his political goals. Before 2019, the only knowledge that the Venezuelan public had of him, outside of his constituency, was that he was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the violent roadblocks that took the country to the brink of civil war in 2017. Numerous photos showed Guaidó, grinning ear to ear, alongside armed fascists who were responsible for the deaths of over a hundred people. Somehow, Guaidó had convinced himself (or been convinced by U.S. advisors) that threats of military intervention would succeed where the democratic process had failed. They were wrong. Guaidó promised U.S. Vice President Mike Pence that half of the armed forces would defect to him. Barely 100 did. He promised them that millions would fill the streets to join the coup. Instead, the opposition's public support shrank the longer that the crisis wore on, and by the time that he made his foolhardy coup attempt on April 30, demonstrations in his favor were few and scattered. Meanwhile, over a million marched in support of the Bolivarian Revolution that following day. Throughout the months-long crisis, poll after poll showed that the vast majority of Venezuelans wanted peace and wanted the opposition to abandon their treasonous path. If the year played out the way that U.S. politicians like John Bolton, Marco Rubio and Pete Buttigieg wanted, then Guaidó would be sitting in the Miraflores presidential palace. From there, he would oversee the destruction of the Bolivarian Revolution, and the return of Venezuela to the fold of the United States. Instead, one year later, Guaidó is putting on another performance for his fans, showing up late to a legislative meeting and trying to climb a fence as his former supporters vote to remove him as president of the National Assembly. In typical fashion, he brings with him several deputies who have been barred from entry over charges of treason and corruption. A political farce if there ever was one.The final nail in Guaidó’s career?Juan Guaidó must have known for some time that this was going to happen. When his coup attempt on April 30 turned into a political fiasco, his support among the political opposition broke. Dozens of opposition lawmakers signed an open letter condemning Guaidó's adventure for the violent terror that it was and called for opponents to the Bolivarian Revolution to return to the democratic path. A few months later, several top opposition figures, against the explicit demands of Guaidó, met with representatives of the Venezuelan government and agreed to a peace deal. Pro-government deputies would be allowed to retake their seats in the National Assembly, and in return the government would be willing to negotiate through some of the opposition's demands, including appointing a new National Electoral Commission and releasing some right-wing prisoners. In the months since then, the bloc of socialist deputies, referred to as the Bloc of the Homeland, have used their position to their advantage, exposing Guaidó's connections to Colombian gangs along with his crimes of treason and embezzlement. Soon, the Bloc of the Homeland began to be joined by opposition politicians in these accusations, as it became evident that the right wing had given up any hope that Guaidó would know how to lead them going forward. In one final attempt to hold on to power, Guaidó tried to pass a law through the National Assembly that would allow deputies to vote online for the leadership election – so many of his die-hard supporters have fled the country over charges of treason that he knew he would not have the votes in Venezuela to stay on. Where to go from hereGuaidó, despite what he might have thought, was not playing a game. When he launched his months-long coup attempt, there was genuine fear in the South American nation of 30 million people of a total war. Guaidó knew that the only way he could take power was in the wake of U.S. air strikes, and he welcomed it. Time and time again, Guaidó called for the U.S. and its allies to intervene in Venezuela. This, because the Venezuelan people had the audacity to re-elect Nicolás Maduro in internationally observed elections with nearly 86% of the vote. Untold lives were put at risk because of his actions. The Venezuelan people want, and deserve, peace and self-determination, two notions that Guaidó put himself against. In the end, Juan Guaidó proved himself to be an enemy his nation – just not a very good one.

#ChicagoIL #Venezuela #JuanGuaidó #Americas

Chicago, IL – On May 20, a massive rally filled downtown Caracas as Venezuela’s revolutionary movement marked one year since Nicolás Maduro was elected to a second term as president. The celebration comes just three weeks after Juan Guaidó, the Trump-appointed leader of the Venezuelan far right, launched a failed military coup against Maduro.

Since that foolish day, events in Venezuela have accelerated. The opposition lies defeated, and the revolutionary movement advances, millions strong, to with the aim of socialism.

The collapse of the counter-revolution

On April 30, Juan Guaidó declared the “final stage of Operation Liberty.” He called on his supporters to take to the streets and for the military to defect to him and storm the presidential palace. Guaidó made this demand at dawn. By noon, he and his cohort were running to hide in an embassy as the few hundred armed protesters who came to his call were being dispersed, and 80 of the 100 soldiers who defected to his side were surrendering to police. At the same time that this spectacle of malcontent unfolded outside La Carlota airbase in eastern Caracas, over 50,000 workers and “pueblo humilde” encircled the presidential palace, standing guard to defend their revolution with their own lives.

In the days since the crescendo of Guaidó’s ‘Operation Liberty,’ the extent of his defeat has become known. His whereabouts remain unknown, since he was refused entry at the Chilean and Spanish embassies. He is wanted by the police for armed insurrection and treason. The handful of defected soldiers who managed to escape to Colombia are now being told by that country’s government to either seek employment or leave – they cannot sit around pretending they are about to overthrow a neighboring state. Manuel Figuera, the head of the state security service and the highest-level defector to Guaidó, was immediately dismissed and is expected to be found in Colombia as well.

Guaidó’s co-conspirators in the National Assembly are in similar dire straits. On May 7, they were stripped of parliamentary immunity and the attorney general opened cases against all seven of them for “betrayal of the homeland, conspiracy, attempt at insurrection, civil rebellion, conspiracy to commit a crime, usurpation of their elected duties, public instigation to disobedience, and hate crimes.” All have fled the country or are in hiding, except for Guaidó’s second-in-command, the vice president of Democratic Action (AD), Edgar Zambrano, who was arrested while attempting to flee with thousands of U.S. dollars and several weapons.

Guaidó’s stunt also led to the collapse of the opposition camp, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). COPEI, one of the founding parties of the coalition, published an open letter signed by 350 opposition politicians and figures that condemned Guaidó and his support for an invasion of their own country. While they refused to support Maduro and continue to demand his removal from power, the signatories acknowledged that the armed attacks on the government were not a winning strategy.

In a surprise to everyone in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado – the most prominent opposition figure besides López and Guaidó, someone who openly embraces their bourgeois lifestyle and cannot hide their contempt for the poor – publicly broke with the U.S. narrative and said that “Maduro is not a dictator.” She then went on to say that the opposition’s tactics have failed to dislodge the revolution, nor prevent it from spreading beyond Venezuela, and that the only option left is U.S. military intervention.

When one of the opposition’s top figures believes that they no longer have the popular support to defeat the government, by any avenue, this can only be understood as the opposition admitting that they have been soundly defeated within Venezuela.

At one time, the opposition could call on hundreds of thousands of people – mainly students, professionals and lumpen elements – to take to the streets at their call. Now, after embracing the fascist violence of the Popular Will Party and following the direction of its leaders Leopoldo López and Juan Guaidó, the opposition is socially ostracized, politically illegitimate, and is in open revolt with itself. No wonder then, that the remnants of Guaidó’s conspiracy are rumored to be considering Maduro’s long-offered invitation to peace talks.

“The New Beginning” of the revolution

On the other side of Venezuelan society, we find the Bolivarian revolutionary movement more organized than ever before, and more determined to seize the future.

Just one day after the April 30 coup attempt, hundreds of thousands of workers marched through Caracas in commemoration of May Day. Speaking at the rally at the end of the march, to thunderous applause, was President Maduro. He thanked the workers for standing behind their government against all of the attacks of imperialism in recent years, but he went on to say that it was not enough. Maduro compared the revolutionary movement to a boxer – with one fist, it defends the gains of the process from all threats foreign and domestic, but with the other it must attack, advancing decisively towards socialism. He admitted that errors have been made, making an open self-criticism before all those assembled, and called on the masses to raise up their criticisms of the revolutionary government, to bring forward their own proposals in order to rectify errors, and to ensure that the Bolivarian movement continues to advance. “Let us go on to great changes, to a great renovation, a great rectification that is urgently needed within the revolution,” he declared to chants and cheers. “Towards the New Beginning, always together with the people.”

The events of the “great rectification” over the next two weeks reflect the unprecedented level of organization of the revolutionary movement. Three nationwide gatherings took place simultaneously: the reopening of the Fourth Congress of the United Socialist Party (PSUV), the Bolivarian People’s Congress and the gathering of Bolivarian governors and mayors.

The PSUV Fourth Congress, held in several sessions across the country, brought together delegates from roughly 13,000 Bolívar-Chávez Battle Units (the basic party unit of the PSUV) and 32,000 Local Supplies and Production Committees (the revolutionary committees tasked with distributing free food to families in need). Over 800 proposals were submitted through the sessions, many of them with overlapping ideas. Among them, according to PSUV Bulletin #153, was: ideological training for all public functionaries, employees of state-owned companies and police officers; “the elimination of the ideology of colonialism” in the education system; and the direct involvement of the Party in establishing new “social property enterprises” focused on food production in every municipality within the next six months. The most discussed proposal, however, had to do with the need to establish the new state – the communal state. “The slogan ‘commune or nothing’ must be made reality,” the bulletin declared, “strengthening the communal organization's ability for economic and productive control.”

The Bolivarian People’s Congress took place on a similar scale to the PSUV, that is to say, staggering. The Congress was established by Maduro to bring together the social formations of the revolution: the communal councils, the communes and the social movements. Its sessions held across the country brought together representatives from all of them – from 47,896 communal councils, 3094 communes and 56 social movements. From this wide net across Venezuelan society, the Congress collected over 21,000 proposals from the masses. Like the sessions of the PSUV Congress, the single-largest number of proposals called for the revolutionary transformation of the state – the creation of the communal state that has been the goal of the Bolivarian movement for years.

At one of the assemblies of the Congress, Education Minister Aristóbulo Istúriz stressed the need for the government and the mass movements to work as one to deepen the revolutionary process. “Here we ratify our loyalty and certainty in the building of the future,” Istúriz declared. “It is not with the escuálidos, nor with the imperialists, but with the people that we solve our problems, it is with the Bolivarian Revolution that we deepen the construction of socialism.”

The second fist strikes

Time moves fast in Venezuela. It had been moving fast since Maduro was elected in 2013, and it has been moving even faster since Guaidó began his charade in January. Despite the opposition falling flat on their face, again and again, U.S. imperialism has not stepped back from its commitment to crushing the revolutionary movement. Now it knows that, when it makes its final move to bring down the Bolivarian Revolution, it will face a nation of 30 million people as firm as steel, united behind their militias, their armed forces, their mass organizations and their party.

An organized people cannot be defeated – America’s ruling class learned this lesson very well in Vietnam, but it seems that Venezuela must offer it a reminder of this historic truth.

#ChicagoIL #Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #NicolásMaduro #JuanGuaidó #Americas

Chants heard at the rally included, “Hey hey, ho ho, who the heck is Juan Guaido? Hey hey, ho ho, you won’t get rid of Maduro!” Signs read “Hands off Venezuela!” and “No blood for oil!”

“I think that being out here, especially in this weather, helps cement just how important of an issue this is,” said attendee Elias Wall. “My hope is that at least a few people driving by will see our signs and perhaps rethink what they think they know about what’s going on, and that will lead them to want to educate themselves and look into exactly what the U.S. is trying to do in Venezuela.”

Response from passersby were mixed with roughly three quarters expressing support with honks, thumbs up, and raised fists. The minority of detractors were very vocal, however, spewing nonsensical phrases like “Make America great again!” and “Move to Venezuela then!” The majority of the American people are against another war, but a vocal and belligerent minority can be used by Trump and company to create an illusion of support.

Those of us who stand strongly against war must be equally vocal in our complete opposition to the United States’ long standing policy of regime change and attempts to destroy any country which strays from the U.S. path of global domination. We must stand in solidarity with those struggling for freedom from imperialist oppression in Venezuela and in all nations targeted by the U.S.

#LaCrosseWI #AntiwarMovement #Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #JuanGuaidó

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society (National).

Trump has recognized the self-appointed presidency of the Venezuelan right-wing opposition leader, Juan Guaido. SDS denounces this move of aggression and says, “Hands Off Venezuela!”

This is a clear violation of the democratic process and sovereignty of Venezuela. The US has a long history of backing right-wing coups, dictators and dirty wars in Latin America, in order to keep the region subjugated by US multinational businesses. Recently Venezuela has been a major target, facing debilitating sanctions and US-backed coup attempts, from violence in the streets to armed robbery to drone bombings.

Tens of thousands of Maduro supporters are rallying in the streets right now in a show of support for Venezuelan sovereignty and for Maduro's administration. His administration has thus cut off relations with the White House.

Trump and Pence have no interest in human rights in Venezuela, but are hoping to gain control to privatize industry and resources and exploit the Venezuelan people. For this reason we oppose intervention in Venezuela and call for the end to all sanctions.

#HandsOffVenezuela #StopTrump #DumpTrump #USHandsOff #NoWar #AntiWar #FuerzaMaduro #FuerzaVenezuela

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #NicolásMaduro #DonaldTrump #JuanGuaidó #HandsOffVenezuela

Chicago, IL – On January 11, the illegal National Assembly of Venezuela decided to ignore the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro and appointed Juan Guaidó, their leader, as the true president of the country. They say that the Constitution grants the nation's highest legislative body the right to appoint a president in the event of a power “vacuum.” This move has won the support of the Organization of American States (OAS), the fascist president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.

Guaidó embraced the appointment and has called on the Venezuelan military and the people to support his claim. Neither have done this. Why?

For one, support for Guaidó and the National Assembly ends at the mansion gates. Their authority was stripped by the Supreme Court for refusing to remove illegally elected deputies and refusing to recognize presidential authority. Guaidó's main support now comes from the wealthy elite – many now living in Bogotá, Colombia or Miami – who have had their political and economic power eroded by 20 years of the popular Bolivarian Revolution.

But more than anything, Juan Guaidó, his political party Popular Will, and the entire opposition are opposed by Venezuelans because they have more blood on their hands. No one has forgotten what they did in the spring of 2017. After the Supreme Court took away their authority, the opposition gave up on achieving change through the democratic system and instead turned to overthrowing the Maduro government through violence. They organized the infamous guarimbas, street blockades enforced through bullets and bombs in every Venezuelan city. Nearly 200 innocent people were murdered in the violence, including the young Orlando Figuera (see accompanying photo). The violence only came to an end when Maduro called for the founding of a constituent assembly, which was elected in July with the largest-ever voting total in favor of the Bolivarian movement in the course of its history. The Constituent National Assembly is now the highest legislative body in the land, leaving the National Assembly without any power, a lonely group of some rich people griping in a room.

The violence of 2017 permanently divided the opposition from the Venezuelan people. In every election since then – free, fair, internationally observed and with less questionable results than our country's most recent midterms – the United Socialist Party and its allies have won by huge majorities. It was during this wave of victories that Maduro was re-elected president with over 67% of the vote, against a number of opposition candidates who could not unite themselves on a common ticket. Popular Will – the party of which Guaidó is a co-founder, and a main organizer of the 2017 violence – refused to run in these elections. Instead, they continue to call for the overthrow of Maduro, but, recognizing that there is no popular support for this idea in Venezuela, instead call on the United States and its proxy states to do it for them. Now, Guaidó is known not only as a leader of the guarimbas, but a politician willing to invite foreign invasion who win what he cannot win by democratic means.

If you believe in popular rule and the right of nations to decide their own destinies, then you have no business supporting Guaidó. He is a usurper, a foreign puppet, and someone with a deep hatred for the tens of millions of poor, working-class Venezuelans who have dared to stand up and demand a better world. Guaidó and his band of fools chose to abandon their nation. Nicolás Maduro represents the hope for a better future. We must stand against this anti-democratic move that can only lead to total war, and defend the Venezuelan people from the cruel machinations of the Trump government and its Latin American puppets.

#ChicagoIL #Venezuela #PeoplesStruggles #NicolásMaduro #JuanGuaidó #Americas