#Opinion | Venezuela’s former so-called “interim president” Juan Guaidó had barely gotten a word out during an event at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. before a group of activists leapt from their seats in order to confront and denounce the far right opposition figure. Among them was Leonardo Flores, a Venezuelan political analyst and activist living in the United States.

“Juan Guaidó, you’re a liar, a thief, return to Venezuela to face justice!” yelled Flores in Spanish before repeating himself in English.

The Guaidó-friendly crowd, which included notable Venezuelan opposition activists and sympathizers, shouted back. Among them was David Smolansky, a member of Guaidó’s Popular Will party, who let the disruption get the better of him and opted to deputize himself as a bouncer and forcibly removed one of the protesters, a man much older and smaller than himself. Smolansky grabbed the activist and attempted to put him in a chokehold before someone in the event hall yelled out his name several times in an effort to settle him down.


Inside Venezuela, Flores says far right figures like Guaidó and Smolansky are careful about where they hold public appearances, lest they face the wrath of Venezuelans who reject their violent methods of regime change. Popular Will is the party of far right activist Leopoldo López, who is currently in exile after fleeing house arrest the morning of April 30, 2019, when he and Guaidó led an unsuccessful military coup. López was also recently in Washington, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March, where he called for an expansion of the sanctions on Venezuela that have already caused widespread hardship for the Venezuelan people.

In Washington, however, these figures from Venezuela’s far right felt safe showing their faces just about anywhere. After all, it was only a few years ago that Guaidó was invited to attend the State of the Union, where he received a standing ovation, with applause coming from both Democrats and Republicans.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15774

#News | Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro traveled to Brazil as part of an official visit to meet with his counterpart Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva where the pair discussed regional and international cooperation, including the potential entry of Venezuela into the BRICS bloc.

“This is a historic moment. After eight years, President Nicolás Maduro is back to visiting Brazil and we have recovered our right to have a foreign policy with the seriousness we have always had, especially with the countries that border Brazil,” said Lula in a press conference from the capital of Brasilia.

The high-level meeting comes as part of joint efforts to strengthen their bilateral ties following the restoration of diplomatic and economic relations after years of tension under Lula’s predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who embraced Washington regime change plots against Maduro, backing the so-called “interim” government of opposition figure Juan Guaidó.

“Venezuela was subjected to an extremist ideological model. Suddenly all the doors and windows in Brazil were closed, all of them [...] Using this extremist approach, an attempt was made alongside other governments to impose a non-existent government on the Venezuelan people. Today that is in the past,” said Maduro.


https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15775

Landmark dishonesty from AP reporting on today's important summit of South American presidents. If poor reporting whenever Venezuela is involved is beyond expected at this point, this also shows how the corporate media is ready to attack anything that threatens the US' hegemony

Read the Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1663794145012469760

#Opinion | I recently read that at the end of 1986, when Argentinian musician Fito Páez was 23 years old, his aunt and grandmother were assassinated in their home in Rosario. In the following days, the pain and anger led to a song insulting his hometown (“En esta puta ciudad”).

It turns out that after that, the artist refused to perform a song he had written some time before, “Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazón” (“I come bearing my heart”), which had become an anthem of hope after the fall of the military dictatorship opened possibilities of democracy and justice in Argentina.

“I started to resent the young guy who had written that song, I was disgusted with myself. One always blames oneself,” Fito explained. Then one day a fellow artist told him he could not go on disparaging the songs he had written, because they had had a purpose at the time.

When I look back with not-so-fond eyes at some of the stuff I did, said, or wrote in the many years of the Bolivarian Process, I look for solace in that sentence. I also rely on it to remember why I refrained from doing, saying, or writing a number of other things.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/tales-resistance/15776

#News | Leaders from 12 South American nations have agreed to revive regional integration mechanisms during a summit held in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.

The meeting was marked by the welcomed participation of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following years of diplomatic fissures.

Tuesday’s summit was inaugurated by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, who called for integration to be a permanent goal, leaving aside political differences and focusing on the region’s challenges and inequalities.

“We need to leave strong roots for the next generations. Allowing disagreements to prevail would have a high cost [...] as long as we remain disunited, we will not succeed in making South America a continent developed to its full potential,” said Lula from the Itamaraty Palace.

Lula added that a new roadmap for regional integration will be created by the countries’ foreign affairs ministers and presented in 120 days for approval.


https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15777

#Interview | In this final part of our Communal Resistance Series, we learn about the organization’s effort to distribute food to schools and its links with the Chávez and Bolívar Commune.

"Hugo Chávez and Simón Bolívar took firm steps forward toward sovereignty, and that’s why our commune bears their name.

For me, the commune is the highest form of government, because that’s where we, the people, decide what must be done and how to do it. In a commune, the organized community – not the bosses, not the mayors or governors – is in charge and sets the rules of the game.

Also, our experience shows that communes are good mechanisms for solving problems more efficiently. A while back, we got funding to fix the Caingó road. By relying on self-management and self-construction, we were able to fix twice as much road as planned."

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15778

🧵Writing is on the wall for Venezuela's US-based oil subsidiary CITGO. A mix of corporate-friendly arbitration courts, US sanctions and opposition incompetence/collusion has been deadly. However, outlets like Reuters go out of their way to misrepresent the affair (thread)

https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1665233662437195779

#Podcast | Venezuelanalysis editor Ricardo Vaz joined Teri Mattson on the "WTF is going on in Latin America and the Caribbean" podcast to discuss Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's recent trip to Brazil, the ensuing South American presidents' summit, and the implications for the region's integration prospects.

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean is a Popular Resistance (Stop the Machine! Create a New World) broadcast in partnership with: Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team; CODEPINK: Women For Peace; Common Frontiers; Council on Hemispheric Affairs; Friends of Latin America; IRTF - The InterReligious Task Force on Central America; Massachusetts Peace Action; and Task Force on the Americas.

Watch it here: https://venezuelanalysis.com/video/15779

#News | At least 12 artisanal miners died after heavy rains flooded a gold mine in southern Venezuela.

The tragedy took place last week in the Talavera mine, located in El Callao, Bolívar state. According to the governorship’s Citizen Security secretary Edgar Colina, the victims were men between ages 18 and 34 and their bodies have been rescued and returned to their families. Another 124 miners managed to escape before the place collapsed.

"Due to heavy rainfall, artisanal miners who were working there were trapped and died of asphyxiation. We have a total of 12 deaths," said Colina on Saturday. He added that the Talavera mine had been shut down a long time ago but did not specify since when it had been operating under unregulated conditions without authorities' knowledge.

According to local sources, most of the victims were from different regions across Venezuela and had migrated to mineral-rich Bolívar state. Small-scale mining has attracted thousands of people in recent years looking for better sources of income amidst the country’s economic crisis under US sanctions.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15780

#News | Dozens of oil industry workers have staged protests in walkouts in recent days to demand improved wages and labor rights.

Since June 1, employees from the Puerto La Cruz refinery in Anzoátegui state, eastern Venezuela, have demonstrated at the company headquarters and other oil industry facilities, as well as taken to the streets.

While the refinery has been the epicenter of the mobilizations, workers and union representatives from other affiliates of state oil company PDVSA have also participated.

José Bodas Lugo, secretary-general of the Unitary Federation of Oil Workers (FUTPV), told Venezuelanalysis that the refinery workers had declared themselves in a “permanent assembly” until they secured a response from industry authorities.

“The social and economic reality of the oil industry workers and pensioners is very precarious,” Bodas explained. “Our collective contract expired 18 months ago and there has been no progress to negotiate a new one, and our wages are insufficient.”

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15782

🧵🧵🧵We just came across an incredible piece from the Financial Times (not in a good way). It has a remarkable blend of fallacious arguments, outright lies, bias, and lack of standards. This is a long thread, so bear with us!

https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1667008977488543744

#Interview | "When Chávez came to power, he had only Simón Bolívar in his toolkit: his key concepts were the “Patria Grande” and Bolívar versus Monroe. In other words, Chávez's geopolitics evolved and became more complete during his presidency; he was in constant dialogue with the Venezuelan people, and he learned from his experience in national and international politics.

A pivotal event that would push Chávez to proclaim the Bolivarian Process anti-imperialist (and later frame our project as “Socialism of the 21st Century”) was the April 11, 2002 coup d'état – which involved imperialist interference – and also the popular mobilization to rescue him and bring him back to the presidency on April 12 and 13. From that moment on, he began to purge his government of the conservative and anti-popular elements in it. He did all this because he was listening and learning from the people."

http://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15781

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro met with International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan in Caracas to announce the opening of a technical assistance office in the country amidst a probe for alleged crimes against humanity.

The pair signed a renewed memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Friday from the Miraflores Presidential Palace.

During a joint press conference, Khan said the office would focus on accompanying Venezuelan officials with “technical assistance” and “training” in order to help Venezuela “meet its obligations” under the Rome Statute, the international treaty that governs the ICC.

For his part, Maduro called Khan’s visit satisfactory, while echoing the prosecutor’s focus on the complementary nature of the work of the new ICC office in Venezuela. The Venezuelan leader added that the country’s doors would always be open. Maduro also expressed hope that collaboration with the ICC would help correct the record about human rights in Venezuela.

Khan’s latest trip to Venezuela was the third such visit since 2021, when he opted to open a full-scale investigation. His November 2021 visit led to the first MOU, with plans for an office subsequently announced in April of last year.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15784

#Opinion | In Venezuela, there is a saying that goes as follows: “Don't come to me with tales, I know stories.”

The issue of whether a perverse narrative regarding Venezuela is there or not ended up being the most controversial point at the recent Brasilia summit, where the larger issue of South American reintegration was being discussed. Why did this happen?

One possible answer is that the debates about Venezuela and the political narratives of global hegemonic power have been – and continue to be – crucial in electoral processes in the subcontinent and, as such, important for incumbent presidents.

Let's start with the one who stirred up the debate: Luiz Inácio “Lula” Da Silva, the host of the event, who received President Nicolás Maduro displaying friendship and respect, sparked controversy when he said that “a narrative” about Venezuela has been woven portraying a legitimate and legal government as a dictatorship, and Maduro as a tyrant who violates human rights. According to Lula, this maneuver had an ultimate objective: recognizing “impostor” (Lula's exact words) Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s head of state.

As it turns out, the Brazilian president has all the historical authority to be very critical of narratives because he was the victim of one of the most twisted recent ones, which ended up depriving him of his freedom and was an attempted political assassination.

No one can deny Lula's right to talk about the complex constructions built with the participation of political forces, national public powers, foreign instances, international organizations, allegedly non-governmental organizations, mainstream media, and increasingly influential social networks, all orchestrated by imperialism and its specialized meddling agencies.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/unusual-and-extraordinary/15783

In this episode, host José Luis Granados Ceja and fellow VA member Ricardo Vaz discuss how Washington continues to prop up the hardline opposition and the imminent danger for Venezuela's oil subsidiary CITGO. In the second part, guest John McEvoy talks about the United Kingdom's role in freezing nearly $2 billion worth of Venezuelan gold.

Listen here: https://venezuelanalysis.com/audio/15785

#News | Venezuelan industrial workers and social movements demanded the immediate liberation of two trade union leaders detained during recent protests at state-owned steelmaking company Siderúrgicas del Orinoco (Sidor) in Ciudad Guayana, Bolívar state.

Daniel Romero and Leonardo Azócar were arrested on June 11 following a five-day sit-down strike alongside hundreds of metalworkers to urge the company’s board to adjust salaries to rising living costs as well as reinstate health insurance and collective bargaining rights. A third worker, Juan Cabrera, was detained as well but released hours later.

On Wednesday, Sidor worker Carlos Villarroel alongside social activists and members of leftist political organizations staged a protest in front of the Attorney General’s Office in Caracas, where they delivered a letter demanding the release of the union leaders. The demonstrators also requested protection for all workers protesting for their constitutional rights and to end the military occupation of the company.

“I came all the way from Guayana to Caracas to tell the country what is happening. Workers from our industrial companies are rallying for better pay to be able to feed their families, a problem that reflects our nation’s economic and labor collapse,” said Villarroel.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15787

#Interview | Venezuela is the target of a brutal economic blockade. VA’s founder helps us understand why.

"The first reason has to do with what I already mentioned, which is that Venezuela, under President Chávez, made an explicit effort to move away from neoliberal economic policy. More than that, Chávez became increasingly more radical during his presidency and wanted to establish 21st-century socialism in Venezuela. So the imposition of US sanctions represents an effort to undermine the Bolivarian-socialist project in Venezuela at a time when the US believed that doing so would cause the government, then led by Nicolás Maduro, to topple relatively easily and quickly.

The second reason has to do with Chávez’s effort to directly confront US hegemony on the world stage by building what he called a multi-polar world."

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15786

#News | The Venezuelan oil sector has continued to raise its output levels amidst tight US sanctions.

The latest monthly report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed Venezuela’s May output at 735,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to secondary sources. The figure rose by 9,000 bpd compared to the previous month.

The numbers supplied directly by state oil company PDVSA followed a similar pattern, going from 810,000 bpd in April to 819,000 bpd in May.

Despite the production uptick, exports fell by 14 percent in May as a result of a fall in inventories of light crude required to blend the extra heavy crude from the Orinoco Oil Belt into exportable grades.

The present output is the highest registered since early 2020. However, it remains significantly below the 1.9 million bpd pumped in mid-2017 before the first US sanctions levied against the oil industry.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15788

#News | Several board members of Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) resigned from their posts Thursday leading the country’s opposition to announce that they will independently organize their primary voting contest.

CNE President Pedro Calzadilla announced during a press conference on Thursday that he and another lead member, Alexis Corredor, along with five substitute board members, had submitted their resignations, adding that they would remain in their positions until the National Assembly selected their replacements.

Calzadilla said the resignations were motivated by commitment to the country’s “economic prosperity and political and social stability” in the midst of negotiations between the government and the opposition ahead of the 2024 presidential vote.

A third primary board member, Roberto Picón, stated on Monday that he too would resign.

In response to these developments, the opposition’s “National Primary Commission” announced that it would independently organize the primary vote ahead of the 2024 election. That decision led to the resignation of Rafael Arráiz Lucca, one of the commission’s substitute members, who argued that without the support of the CNE an inclusive primary process would be “impossible”.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15789

After seven straight years of recession, the Venezuelan economy experienced growth again. However, Washington's wide-reaching sanctions program is going nowhere and Caracas faces constant challenges to reactivate its economy. Is the recovery sustainable or will it be strangled by the US blockade?

Our latest infographic examines the facts and figures to take stock of Venezuela's economy.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15790

Luis Britto García is considered Venezuela’s most highly regarded living writer. He has written numerous plays, novels, historical works, essays, and film noscripts, and is a keen political commentator. In this exclusive VA interview, Britto García talks about the relationship between the “developed” Global North and the dependent Global South, and reflects on Venezuela’s plight due to the US imposed blockade.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15791