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#Opinion | VA columnist Jessica Dos Santos reflects on a banking system that is very much tilted in favor of larger companies.

"It’s been a while since we heard of homebuying loans in Venezuela. Credit to buy cars, so ubiquitous at some point, are also a thing of the past.

Not just that, credit cards have also been long gone because the constant currency devaluations might have left the limits at the price of a candy bar. Banks did not have it easy either, because devaluation for a while was way higher than interest rates, meaning they never got their money back.

Though this is not a primary necessity issue, it affects a lot of people in Venezuela. Under Chávez, there was a massive drive to have people open bank accounts and eventually get credit cards or loans with relative ease. Wages were also rising all the time.

In my case, I managed to save enough for a downpayment and get a loan to buy a car shortly after graduating from university and working for a state company."

https://venezuelanalysis.com/tales-resistance/15658

🧵🗞Following the agreement signed by the Venezuelan government and the US-backed opposition last weekend, there’s been a lot of debate and speculation. Here’s Venezuelanalysis’ perfect blend of cold reasoning and hot takes (thread)

https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1597425211921829888

#Opinion | Chevron's six-month license to restart drilling and exporting Venezuelan crude after a nearly three-year US-imposed prohibition hardly amounts to relief from the sanctions program. The country’s oil industry continues under siege with financial sanctions and a full-fledged blockade imposed between 2017 and 2019. The US then threatened foreign companies into abandoning operations and only allowed Chevron to stay for maintenance work.

Before the first sanctions, Venezuela was pumping around 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) with Chevron’s four joint ventures producing some 200,000 bpd. By the end of 2020, output fell to historic lows, reaching 350,000 bpd. The starved income worsened an economic crisis and further drove a massive migration wave.

Admittedly, Chevron's renewed operations could represent a small (and future) boost to Venezuela’s oil output but the license goes very far to block any profit for the country. And Washington calls this “sanctions relief.”

The only way to alleviate the years-long suffering of the Venezuelan people would be lifting all US-led sanctions against the economy, returning foreign-based seized assets and frozen funds, and stopping the financing of violent coup attempts and self-proclaimed “presidents” who facilitate the aforementioned crimes.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15659

#Opinion | VA columnist Reinaldo Iturriza sets his gaze on an "army" of workers that sort through waste to complement poor wages:

"A human contingent walks the streets of working-class Caracas carrying bags or boxes full of plastic, glass, paper, or some other recyclable material. A few of them are pushing supermarket carts.

As I enjoy the masterpiece that is The Wire (2002-2008) by David Simon for a second time, I have also seen Bubbles in some faces in Caracas. Like Bubbles, our waste-sorting workers mimic the urban landscape. But if this circumstance can be considered an “advantage” for our fictional character (allowing him to go unnoticed, to slip away, etc.), in the second case it tells us the tale of the worker’s disadvantageous social situation. Of course, Bubbles doesn’t have it good: Lumpen, black, heroin-addicted, and often on the verge of death, he is almost the epitome of everything that can go wrong in US society. He is a man who has hit rock bottom. But he is also a person who has learned to move with ease in the underworld.

Our waste-sorting workers, on the other hand – or at least the vast majority –, are not lumpen (and I use the term without judgment). They are members of the sub-proletariat. That is, they are members of the working poor whose job does not provide them with sufficient means to ensure the reproduction of their labor force. Moreover, they have joined the sub-proletariat of recent date – and this is a datum of the most significant relevance. They are part of an enormous mass of workers impoverished by the collapse of the Venezuelan economy."

https://venezuelanalysis.com/politics-commons/15660

Don't take it from us, this is coming from Tariq Ali, who hasn't said anything irrelevant for some 40 years now!

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#News | Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro welcomed the Chevron license to restart oil operations as “a step in the right direction” but urged Washington to move forward with complete sanctions relief.

“The licenses, the public ones and the non-public ones, granted by the US government to Chevron are a step in the right direction, although they are not enough for what Venezuela demands, which is the complete lifting of all criminal sanctions on the oil industry,” said Maduro during a press conference at Miraflores Palace on Wednesday.

Nonetheless, Maduro celebrated that Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA will be signing new contracts with US corporation Chevron in the next few days. “This will be very positive and a win-win situation for Venezuela, Chevron, and even the world,” recalling that the Caribbean country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

Read more 👇

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15662

#Interviews | We talked with Ernesto Villegas, Culture Minister, about cultural life in Venezuela and about the most recent FILVEN book fair.

"The blockade has limited the state’s ability to get its production, including oil, to market, and this has limited the state’s ability to finance policies, including cultural ones.

Even so, the Venezuelan state is stubbornly working to preserve the population’s cultural rights. Of course, we have had to adapt to changing circumstances but we continue to advance.

For instance, it would be very petty to not recognize that in the sphere of music, Venezuela remains a powerhouse: we have kept the Simón Bolívar National Youth Orchestra and Choir System alive. Around the world, this initiative is understood to be a landmark project, opening doors to working-class youths and offering a beautiful path for international cooperation."

Read the full interview 👇

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15661

As w/ most things, Noam Chomsky is totally right about this one 😁. Our news, analysis and twitter threads counter what is left unsaid or distorted by the western media.

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John Bellamy Foster is the editor of Monthly Review, a publication that has long been a reference for the left in the US and beyond. His praise means a lot to us, and pushes us to double down on our efforts.

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After a slowish start, our fundraiser has begun to pick up pace. Still a long way to go! Any one-time donation or monthly subnoscription makes a big difference. Follow links below to support Venezuelanalysis

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#News | Venezuela’s bolívar (BsD) is going through a fast devaluation despite government efforts to halt it.

The national currency has seen the exchange rate against the US dollar increase by nearly 35 percent since November 1, going from 8.57 BsD per USD to 11.86. The decrease severely hits working-class wages and pensions.

The Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV) has rushed to inject a reported US $190 million into so-called exchange tables run by public and private banks over the last week in an attempt to stop the depreciation cycle. However, it has not yielded effects, with more monetary interventions expected in the coming days.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15664

Lee Camp is a proper trailblazer in this field, calling out imperialist propaganda even if it invites a massive censorship campaign. His praise is truly appreciated in these parts.

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Medea Benjamin has been fighting for peace and holding representatives accountable for as long as we can remember. VA's mission is to provide accurate, on-the-ground reporting that helps organize against US intervention.

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#News | Dozens of Venezuelan corn and rice producers staged a protest in Caracas on Thursday to demand state-led responses to a number of issues.

Small and midsize campesinos have denounced practices from agroindustrial groups and a lack of government policies that endanger their ability to produce.

Organizers reported around 200 participants in the mobilization, mostly coming from the agricultural states of Barinas, Guárico and Portuguesa.

A commission of spokespeople met with officials from the Agriculture Ministry. However, the gathering did not produce an agreement, only a commitment to hold further assemblies and set up working groups with government, campesino and agroindustry representatives to discuss crop prices, fuel subsidies, credit instruments and other matters.

Venezuelan campesinos have repeatedly raised alarm bells in recent weeks and demanded more regulation. Protests have included the blocking of major highways and a symbolic dumping of corn outside the facilities of major food conglomerate Polar.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15665

#News | Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced the parliamentary coup against democratically elected President Pedro Castillo in Peru.

Castillo who was ousted by parliament and subsequently detained Wednesday after announcing the dissolution of Peru’s Congress in an attempt to outmaneuver the legislative body.

“[Peruvians] elected a teacher to the presidency, Pedro Castillo, and from the first moment of the election they [the opposition] didn't want to recognize his victory. In the end, compelled by reality, they had to recognize his triumph as president [but] once sworn in on July 28th 2021, the conspiracy for a parliamentary coup begins,” said Maduro during a television broadcast Thursday.

The ouster of Castillo came days after an Argentine court sentenced Vice President Cristina Fernández to six years in prison and ordered her political disqualification from office for life. The case against Fernández has been widely labeled a “lawfare” campaign aimed at neutralizing political candidates.

Commenting on the attempts to use lawfare and parliamentary coups to weaken leftist rivals, Maduro warned that the far right was sending a message.

“This is the message the extreme right is sending to the popular movements, to the progressive movements, ‘We are not going to allow you to govern’,” the Venezuelan president stated.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15666

As'ad Abukhalil is a leading Middle East expert, w/ principled and uncompromising stances against imperialism. He's an absolute go-to source and his endorsement means a lot to us.

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John Pilger is a legend in this line of work, a prime example of a journalist/filmmaker who always fought against imperialism and in defense of the just causes, Palestine chief among them. To say we're honored is an understatement!

Click here to support VA: https://venezuelanalysis.com/donate

#News | The government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) successfully concluded on Monday the first round of peace talks held in Caracas, Venezuela.

Representatives from both delegations signed a joint statement highlighting the “respectful, transparent and cordial” atmosphere in the negotiations.

In addition to outlining the agenda and procedures for the dialogue with ”clear rules”, the joint declaration also specified a series of humanitarian measures in areas of the country most affected by armed conflict, as well as a communications strategy that the parties are calling “pedagogy and communication for peace”.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro celebrated the positive development in peace talks in neighboring Colombia.

“For our country, its people and its government, it has been an event of transcendental importance to have been able to serve as the host of this first round, which concludes with highly positive results, contributing to the development of peace talks promoted by the government of President Gustavo Petro,” read a statement from the Venezuelan government.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15667

#News | Venezuela’s crude production continues to hover below 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) as the industry enters its sixth consecutive year under US sanctions.

Despite the output standstill, exports increased moderately with 619,300 bpd of crude and refined products shipped in November, 16 percent more than in October, but still below August's peak of 813,000 bpd, as registered by Refinitiv Eikon.

Another surge in exports is expected by year-end as US corporation Chevron is reportedly ready to ship one million barrels of Venezuelan crude to US refineries in the Gulf of Mexico by late December. This would be the first US-bound shipment since 2018 following Washington’s financial sanctions against PDVSA the year prior.

Currently, Chevron and PDVSA’s joint oil ventures are producing a reported 20,000-50,000 bpd, a significant· fall from the 160,000 barrels a day pumped in 2018 and well below the 200,000 bpd maximum capacity.

Although there is room for an increase, Chevron officials have discarded an immediate boost in output. Earlier this month, the firm’s Chief Executive Michael Wirth said the company will not invest in exploration and production in the next six months, with the company instead focusing on shipping a reported 1.79 million barrels of exportable crude it has in stock to US refiners.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15668