#News | Venezuela’s crude output continues last year’s path while exports dropped to their lowest level in seven months as Venezuelan state oil company (PDVSA) tightens sale contracts.

The Caribbean country pumped 686,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, according to secondary sources from the latest Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) report, 20,000 bpd more than the previous month. For its part, PDVSA reported a higher figure of 732,000 barrels, above December’s 669,000 bpd.

International analysts have predicted that crude production this year will not vary from the 690,000 bpd averaged in 2022 as long as Washington’s blockade against the country’s oil industry remains largely unaltered.

Recent licenses issued by the US Treasury Department to US company Chevron, Spain’s Repsol and Italy’s Eni only allow taking Venezuelan crude to offset PDVSA debt while severely limiting any cash payments.

Despite the renewed Chevron cargoes, the South American country saw its export numbers plunge with 558,419 barrels per day of crude and refined products shipped in January, a 19 percent dropped compared to December.

The decline reportedly responds to PDVSA’s new president Pedro Rafael Tellechea ordering a freeze of crude and fuel exports in early January to address payment defaults from buyers, forcing vessels to wait near Venezuelan ports for authorization to load.

According to internal documents seen by Reuters, PDVSA has now set tougher rules for exports, including full payment in cash before customers receive oil.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15707

#Interview | Tony Boza is a Venezuelan economist, a National Assembly member for the Socialist Party (PSUV), and a well-known television personality. In Part II of this interview, he evaluates the economic policies currently being applied in Venezuela.

"If you go to any university’s economy department or if you listen to the spokespeople from a think tank, you will hear that the most important issue is to keep inflation down. In other words, inequality or poverty are not the main problems. In their terms, the main objective is “economic stability.”

Now, you may wonder, why is it so important to have low inflation? Is it because these “enlightened” professors and researchers feel the pain that the poor feel when inflation goes up? No, the point is that inflation actually does hurt banking and financial interests: the most consolidated economic powers in the world.

Joseph Stiglitz, who is by no means a leftist, says that inflationary problems should not become the be-all and end-all of a country’s economic policy, and that fixating on inflation will generate other larger problems.

In a capitalist world, market ideas are, as we know, hegemonic, and they affect those designing Venezuela’s economic policy. Fortunately, there is a debate about this, and our hope is that the government, which is no doubt in a very difficult situation due to external attacks, will soon correct its economic policies."

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15706

#News | Venezuelan opposition parties have laid out a road map to hold a primary contest to choose a presidential candidate.

A “National Primary Commission” (CNP) appointed by the “Unitary Platform” that brings together a number of anti-government forces announced a schedule leading up to the primary vote on October 22.

“The die is cast. We will move forward with determination toward our target alongside all citizens who want a political change,” CNP President Jesús María Casal said during a press conference in Caracas on Wednesday. Casal is an attorney, academic and former Supreme Court justice.

According to a publicly released calendar, the candidate list will be completed in June, the electoral registry will be published in July and there will be nearly two months of campaigning ahead of the October 22 vote.

Presidential elections should be held in 2024 according to the Venezuelan Constitution. However, electoral authorities have yet to announce a definitive date. In recent months, both government and opposition spokespeople brought up the possibility of the presidential elections being brought forward.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15708

🧵🗞The level of dishonesty of Reuters' Venezuela coverage is just staggering. Here's a piece on trade agreements between Venezuela and Colombia (https://reut.rs/3k7FcJZ). It has 8 bland paragraphs, very little context, and then boom! Propaganda on steroids

Read the twitter thread: https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1627202489278689287

Colombia and Venezuela – together with Ecuador and Panamá – are part of what Simón Bolívar called “Great Colombia.” They share a history, a culture, and the same project of emancipation. That is why a substantive peace in Colombia is of huge importance not only for the Colombian people, but also for Venezuela and the region.

In this exclusive VA interview, Commander Pablo Beltrán – a member of the ELN’s [Colombia’s National Liberation Army] Central Command and the head of the ELN Dialogue Delegation – talks about the Peace Dialogues that began in Caracas last November and are currently being held in México. Venezuela is a “guarantor country” in the negotiations now underway.

Pablo Beltrán: "We insist that, while the consequences of the armed conflict in Colombia must be dealt with, its causes must also be addressed. We have also said that these dialogues won’t make a “revolution by decree,” nor can they be expected to lead to a demobilization of the rebellions by decree.

We understand deactivating the conflict’s original causes as a process that entails eradicating poverty and social exclusion and ends the looting of national resources, their ruthless depredation. It must also bring an end to the old regime’s Security Doctrine of persecution and political genocide, systemic corruption must be done away with, and the country’s policies must not be dictated by Washington."

Continue reading 👇

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15709

#News | Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro met Thursday in the Venezuelan border-state of Táchira to sign an updated bilateral trade agreement.

“This is one more step for the integration of both countries, a process that should never have been suspended," said Petro during the signing ceremony on the Atanasio Girardot International Bridge that connects the two nations.

The meeting between Maduro and Petro is the latest step in the effort by both countries to advance the normalization of relations, which comes after previous meetings in Caracas, last year in November as well as in early January.

“Our relations have been taking on a new dynamic: one of political dialogue; diplomatic dialogue; a new economic, commercial, and population dynamic,” said Maduro during the televised summit.

The agreement concerns trade regulations, tariffs and investment conditions for both countries following the official reopening of the border in September.

“New winds are blowing,” Maduro added.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15710

For more than five years, the US has levied a raft of sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry in an effort to strangle the country’s main source of income.

In this infographic, we present a chronology of the measures. (Spoiler: the Biden administration has barely touched the Trump-era sanctions)

https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15301

#News | The Venezuelan government ratified its sovereignty over the disputed Essequibo region and denounced the territory’s exploitation by transnational corporations.

On Friday, Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a communique celebrating the 57th anniversary of the UN-brokered Geneva Agreement signed by all parties on February 17, 1966, and reaffirmed the country’s adherence to the accord as the only binding international framework “to solve the territorial controversy in an amicable way.”

The statement recalled that the Geneva Agreement overruled the controversial 1899 arbitral award granted to then-British colonized Guyana in a five-jurist tribunal that denied the presence of Venezuelan negotiators. The 1966 deal called for a negotiated solution between the two countries following Guyana’s independence in May of that year. However, no understanding has ever been reached.

The diplomatic quarrel over the 160,000-square-kilometer territory had been mostly uneventful for several decades but it awakened in 2015 following the discovery of massive oil reserves in the Essequibo’s maritime waters totaling an estimated 11 billion barrels. US multinational Exxon Mobil has been carrying out drilling operations after receiving Guyana’s authorization to explore the disputed area.

Caracas has repeatedly denounced Guyana’s violation of the 1966 accords by allowing the continuous resource exploitation of the Essequibo Strip, first by gold transnational companies since the late 1880s and more recently by oil corporations.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15711

#News | Venezuelan campesinos staged a protest on Thursday in Portuguesa state.

Over 50 sugar cane growers rallied outside the local headquarters of the Agriculture Ministry in the town of Acarigua. They demanded the Venezuelan government address a number of issues currently hurting production in the countryside.

“We find ourselves in a state of emergency right now,” spokeswoman Blondy Sangronis told Venezuelanalysis. Sangronis currently serves as the national coordinator of the Confederation of Bolivarian Sugar Cane Producers (CONCABOVEN).

The campesinos presented a document proposing a number of solutions which was received by Agriculture Ministry director Gustavo Rojas. They expressed their desire to “collaborate” with authorities but did not rule out further demonstrations, including in Caracas, should there be no response.

The main concern brought up was access to subsidized diesel.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15712

"The trial against the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab is likely to become one of the most emblematic cases that will determine the future of the relationships between countries in the years to come," writes filmmaker and activist Carolina Graterol.

"On 23rd December 2022 Florida Federal judge Robert Scola denied the Venezuelan Special Envoy’s motion to dismiss the indictment against him. According to the judge, Saab cannot be recognized as a representative of Nicolas Maduro’s government since the United States does not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy, according to a court filing.

Scola’s decision marks the conclusion of a shambolic case for the US government, where its witnesses were disqualified by the same judge and one had to be withdrawn to avoid further embarrassment. Scola gave US prosecutors a stroke of luck in a case they were about to lose by ignoring the strong evidence presented by the Venezuelan government related to Saab’s diplomatic credentials and overlooking the issue during the evidentiary hearing.

This case sends a clear message to the international community that nothing is out of bounds, not even the rights and protection normally assigned to diplomats, something even the US has consistently defended in recent history until now."

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15713

A few days ago I was telling a friend that I feel bad for not knowing what to think. This is me, someone who always had clear-cut views about just about anything. And now, when it comes to certain topics of our current political reality, I can’t really settle on an opinion.

I reached this (awful!) conclusion because of a new and shiny baseball stadium: the Simón Bolívar Caracas Monumental, with a 38,000-seat capacity and which cost some 70 million dollars.

It is a beautiful, modern venue. At first sight it is easy to think: “damn, it looks awesome.” In fact, during the opening of the recent baseball Caribbean series, I recall that journalists were asking fans about their impressions of the newly unveiled structure. A young man, with humble looks, proudly answered: “I worked here!”

I’m a sucker for these things, so his look and smile were enough to make my eyes tear up. It was a reminder that the workers of the world, then and now, are the protagonists of all the major works, regardless of what professional opinion makers may try to spin.

But in this case, the issues are different and there is no avoiding them once we place this major project in the country’s present context.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/tales-resistance/15714

#News | The Venezuelan government stepped up its criticism of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a statement issued Tuesday that charged the court with engaging in “judicial colonialism” as a result of the ongoing probe of alleged human rights abuses.

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced in November 2022 that he would resume a formal investigation into alleged human rights violations committed by Venezuelan state security forces in its response to violent anti-government protests in 2017.

The statement from the Venezuelan government strongly criticized the manner in which that investigation has been since carried out. In a document submitted to the court, the government alleged that “various irregularities and violations of due process” had transpired, creating a climate of “defenselessness” for the Venezuelan state.

Specifically, the statement criticized the “proven links” of the ICC Prosecutor's Office with biased NGOs. The government maintains that the “impartiality and objectivity” of the court is undermined.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15715

🧵The neverending love affair between the corporate media and fascism. For all the talk (or b.s. really) about being gatekeepers of civilization, establishment outlets have yet to meet a Global South politician they deem to be too far right. Let's look at another example...

Read the twitter thread: https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1630714697593831426

Do you know any mainstream media outlet that explains just how wide-reaching US sanctions against Venezuela are and their devastating consequences?

At VA, we are committed to showing the truth of this imperialist crime by explaining these measures in detail and providing an overview of the most glaring effects these measures have had on the country over the years.

Truth is, the deadly consequences of US sanctions against the Venezuelan people are incalculable and only time will show the true horrors they caused.

View the full infographic here: https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15295

#News | Venezuelan campesino leader Carlos Bolívar was killed on Thursday by alleged hitmen in Guárico state, prompting outrage from popular and rural organizations across the country.

“With great pain and indignation, we inform that comrade Carlos Bolívar was murdered this morning by hired assassins while he worked in Puerto Carrizalero-Camaguán, Guárico,” announced the Campesino Struggle Platform in a communique.

Bolívar is remembered as the leading figure in the rescue of Los Tramojos landstead, located in the Camaguán municipality, which became a symbol of rural communities’ struggle against wrongful dispossession by private landowners.

According to the Ezequiel Zamora Collective spokesman Ramón Soto, Bolívar had received public death threats since 2018 from local businessman José Elías Chirimelli.

Venezuelan campesino movements have repeatedly denounced a “landowner offensive” in the countryside in the last 22 years, including judicialization cases and over 350 targeted killings ordered by powerful landowners in an attempt to dispossess families.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15716

"The political will to address sexual and reproductive rights is very limited at the moment. Although there are some allies within the government, the correlation of forces is not favorable. That is why we have opted to open a channel so that the law will get to the National Assembly floor via popular initiative.

Venezuela’s Constitution has a provision by which a law that is supported by 1% of the electoral register must enter the parliamentary debate. As we speak, we are in the process of collecting some twenty-two thousand signatures.

In truth, it is altogether possible that – when our proposal gets to the National Assembly floor – it won’t be approved. However, forcing a public debate will be an important first step toward the social and legal depenalization of abortion."

With International Women’s Day coming up, we talk to a feminist lawyer about women’s rights in Venezuela.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15717

This very special podcast episode is dedicated to the legacy of Venezuelan revolutionary leader Hugo Chávez.

To understand his impact on Venezuela, we have to go back in time, to Venezuela before Chávez. What were the conditions in the country that opened the door for a figure like Chávez? What was it about his connection with the people that made him such a powerful leader? And once in power, how did the revolutionary project evolve?

Host José Luis Granados Ceja is joined by fellow VA member Cira Pascual Marquina and by Venezuelan intellectual Reinaldo Iturriza to discuss the Comandante and everything he represents.

Listen here: https://venezuelanalysis.com/audio/15718

Back in 1998, the year I time-traveled to rewatch the solar eclipse, the privatization of the oil industry was in full swing, non-oil sectors were deeply underdeveloped and the country had 50% and 62.1% of poverty and extreme poverty rates. Yet to this day, corporate journalists like to exercise editorial authority over our history and praise our “once prosperous nation.”

Taking into consideration everything I describe above, is there any doubt that Hugo Chávez, with his emancipatory and antiimperialist political project, won the 1998 presidential election with overwhelming popular support and that his first task was taking back control of the oil sector to pour those resources into our people?

Yes, Chávez's electoral win on December 6, 1998, is the most important memory I or anyone has of that year. A new era had arrived and it could be felt in every corner of the country, even in my small neighborhood, where the occasional eclipse had been the only thing that shook us from our slumber.

Despite the media underlining his military background and failed 1992 rebellion, nobody was afraid of “El Comandante.”

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15719

Ten years after his death, Hugo Chávez remains by far the most popular political figure in Venezuela. Why is that? In this video, produced jointly with Tatuy Tv, we look at the pillars of Chávez’s revolutionary legacy.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/video/15720

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Dozens of world leaders, intellectuals, and solidarity activists descended on Caracas last weekend to celebrate the life and impact of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

The “World Meeting on the Relevance of the Bolivarian Thought of Hugo Chávez” gathered more than 140 international guests from 55 countries who took part in forums, conferences, and talks about Chávez's legacy on the occasion of the 10-year anniversary of his death on March 5, 2013.

The gathering counted on the participation of political leaders such as Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves; Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega; and Bolivian President Lucho Arce.

Also in attendance were former presidents such as Cuba’s Raúl Castro, Honduras’ Manuel Zelaya, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, and Bolivia’s Evo Morales.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15721