South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that six countries will become BRICS members in January 2024.

Venezuela did not make the cut in this first phase of the expansion process but celebrated the consolidation of the multipolar world.

During the XV BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ramaphosa welcomed Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Iran to the bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. He explained that the decision was made after evaluating applications from 23 nations, mostly from the Global South, and clarified that more memberships would be considered in the future.

“We value the interest of other countries in building a partnership with BRICS,” said the South African leader on Thursday during a speech at the end of the three-day summit, which gathered some 50 heads of state and government representatives.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15835

Venezuela's National Assembly designated Thursday a new National Electoral Council (CNE) that will oversee the upcoming presidential election following the surprise resignation of the previous board in June.

The selection of the five new members of the country’s electoral authority follows an arduous process by the Venezuelan Congress to draw selections from a long-list of 104 candidates, who were previously vetted by a commission made up of lawmakers and representatives of the country’s civil society organizations.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez celebrated the process behind the selection of the new CNE board, calling it a “product of the broadest consensus” in the country’s recent history, highlighting the participation and buy-in from the country’s opposition parties.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15837

“I wish Maduro would come out and say, ‘Listen, I know I’m not Chávez,” one person told me. He meant it as some sort of apology from Maduro, for not being able to perfectly fill Chávez’s giant shoes. I understand where this feeling comes from too.

Chávez, of course, was in another realm when it came to politics. An exceptional leader who spearheaded an entire revolution. An inspiration for revolutionaries worldwide as the architect of twenty-first-century socialism and Global South liberation. Frankly, no Latin American leader from the 1990s holds a candle against him. He is a hard, if not impossible, act to follow.

Oftentimes, I’ve wondered how Maduro came to be the “chosen one.” He started as a trade union leader when he was a bus driver and supported Chávez from day one, later becoming his foreign minister and vice president. A friend once told me that Maduro struck her as the least controversial figure in the revolution, more humble than most, and even a good negotiator. Maybe that’s why he ended up in our electoral card in 2013.

Maduro’s victory and subsequent reelection in 2018 were votes of confidence given by the people who wanted to see the revolution triumph and understood the dangers of the hardline opposition reaching power. Will the vote of confidence repeat in 2024? If not, what happens with the revolution?

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15838

Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA has reportedly renegotiated the oil-for-debt deal struck last year with European firms Eni and Repsol in order to receive refined products while continuing to repay debt.

According to Reuters, Washington has already approved the new terms of the agreement and Caracas will get some 330,000 barrels of naphtha this week at PDVSA's Cardón port (western Falcón state) from Italy's Milazzo refinery, a joint venture between Eni and Kuwait Petroleum International.

The fuel deliveries would help Venezuela ease shortages, which have continued despite some improvements in recent years following the on-and-off reactivation of the country’s main four refineries. The new agreement also aims to boost oil shipments to Europe.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15839

🇻🇪🇵🇸 Hugo Chávez said it exactly right in 2010: Damn you State of Israel! Terrorists and murderers!

Venezuela's support for the Palestinian people and their right to return to their land and live in peace is unwavering. #FreePalestine ✊

In Venezuela, ever since the late 80s, every time someone is bothering us by being monotonous or repetitive, the go-to comeback is “More of this, Abigail?”

Abigail was a Venezuelan soap opera filled with absolutely hilarious drama. It spanned 257 hour-long chapters, and by the end it had managed to annoy an entire country.

The most recent time I heard the expression, it came from a neighbor, who was watching Venezuelan opposition politician Antonio Ledezma saying that the only way to push María Corina Machado’s presidential bid was by “engaging in civil disobedience.”

Ledezma, who mysteriously escaped house arrest for coup-plotting charges in 2017 and lives in exile in Spain, expressed that it was “normal” and “natural” for María Corina, who is currently serving a 15-year ban on holding public office, to be in contact with military officials to bring her 2024 plans to fruition.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/tales-resistance/15840

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced Thursday the creation of a new fund for campesinos and rural producers to help improve food production.

He made the pledge during the close of the Great Congress of Campesinos, Fishermen and Rural Producers that gathered hundreds of activists.

“We are advancing the agricultural and livestock plan with two very solid strategic objectives: to achieve 100% food sovereignty in Venezuela and to secure Venezuela as a strong food exporter to the world by 2030,” said Maduro at the Barquisimeto Bicentennial Fair Complex in Lara state.

Widely seen as a core constituency of the Bolivarian Revolution, relations between campesinos and the Venezuelan government had become strained as the rural workers suffered as a result of the sharp economic decline under of US-led sanctions on the country. Venezuelan campesino organizations recently staged a number of protests to demand changes in state policies that favor large-scale producers and agribusiness corporations.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15841

The negotiations between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago over a joint energy project are expected to take a step forward.

According to Reuters, the Caribbean island’s National Gas Company (NGC) and UK corporation Shell are reportedly set to agree to credit Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA for a US $1 billion investment in a natural gas field.

Caracas and Port of Spain have been engaged in talks to explore offshore natural gas reserves in Venezuelan waters, in a project to be operated by Shell. PDVSA had demanded that the partners recognize the construction of a pipeline connecting the field to the Venezuelan shore.

A source quoted by Reuters said the NGC and Shell are prepared to acknowledge "all legitimate claims."

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15842

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro arrived in China on Friday for a several-day visit to strengthen economic and political ties amidst the nations’ efforts to advance multipolarity.

“[We are] ready for what will be a historic visit for the strengthening of cooperation ties and the construction of a new world geopolitics,” Maduro wrote on social media when he landed in the city of Shenzhen, the first stop in his trip between September 8-14.

The Chinese government put together an elaborate welcoming ceremony for the Venezuelan delegation in Shenzhen Talents Park. This included a light show with hundreds of drones forming an animated message that read: “May the friendship between China and Venezuela be eternal.”

President Maduro thanked China for the presentation as well as for supporting Venezuela in the struggle to recover the economy from the “onslaught” of Washington’s sanctions against the country.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15843

🎙Just out! A new podcast episode focusing on a hard (yet obvious) truth: imperialism is very much a bipartisan affair on Capitol Hill.

The episode is (for now) available to patrons. Consider subscribing to get early access and support our work!

👉👉patreon.com/posts/venezuelanalysis-89075748

Venezuela is a beautiful and vibrant country in more ways than one. A rich and complex history has left its mark on Venezuelan culture, and in one area in particular: music.

Over the centuries, Venezuelans have blended colonial traits and native elements, African heritage and migrant traditions, the sacred and profane, to sing about their dreams and struggles.

A member of Venezuela’s ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV) has urged President Nicolás Maduro to crack down on allegedly corrupt scrap metal dealings.

Gastón Guisandes, a veteran journalist from Zulia state and PSUV activist, penned an open letter to Maduro on Thursday expressing “concern and condemnation” over acts of corruption involving former airforce pilot Bismark Carretero and the Pegasus company in the scrap business.

“As a concerned citizen, I ask myself how these acts of corruption might have taken place without government knowledge or actions,” he wrote. Guisandes pointed to Carretero’s “ostentatious lifestyle” as a sign of ill-acquired wealth.

“I urge you to launch an exhaustive investigation based on the publicly available information,” he went on to state,” while demanding that high-government officials “who have acted with impunity” be exposed.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15845

About time... Spain's El País reports that the $3 billion in frozen Vzlan assets will soon be released. This was agreed to between the Venezuelan govt and opposition last November! But this thread is to point out the dishonest b.s. from the Spanish establishment's mouthpiece 🧵

https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1701488452951212234

Billions in frozen Venezuelan assets destined for a social fund to be invested in education, healthcare and infrastructure repairs are expected to be released soon, El País reported Friday.

In November the Nicolás Maduro government and the hardline opposition agreed to a US$ 3 billion fund, to be drawn from Venezuelan assets abroad, as part of negotiations held in Mexico and mediated by Norway. A statement released at the time of the agreement said the money, to be administered by the United Nations (UN), would primarily be used to acquire medical equipment as well as vaccines, medicines, and other supplies; strengthen the electric system; repair school infrastructure; and expand food programs.

However, the resources were not released due to administrative barriers imposed by the United States. US President Joe Biden has largely kept in place a strict sanctions program on Venezuela designed to secure regime change in the country. Washington maintains that its sanctions are aimed at “restoring democracy” in the Caribbean country. Meanwhile, Caracas considers these frozen assets to have been illegally seized by the US and its allies.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15846

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has wrapped up a six-day visit to China with a meeting with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to strengthen political and economic ties.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, the two leaders announced they would upgrade their countries’ relations to an “all-weather strategic partnership.” This is a high category reserved by the Chinese government for important diplomatic partners. Venezuela is the first Latin American country to reach this level.

The new partnership will “expand practical binational cooperation in various fields and strengthen collaboration in international affairs so as to improve the welfare of their peoples and jointly promote the construction of a new world,” read the statement.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15848

The Venezuelan oil sector saw its production levels recede in August as a result of operational setbacks in its crude upgraders.

The latest report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed Venezuela’s output at an average of 730,000 barrels per day (bpd) last month, down from 772,000 in July, according to secondary sources.

In contrast, the figures reported directly by state oil company PDVSA stood at 820,000 bpd, up from 810,000 the previous month. OPEC data often gets updated in subsequent publications.

According to Reuters, several crude upgraders had maintenance issues or diluent shortages that forced them offline for extended periods, affecting output levels. Located in the Orinoco Oil Belt in eastern Venezuela, crude upgraders process extra heavy oil into exportable grades.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15849

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro traveled to Cuba Friday to take part in the G77 plus China Summit where he called for countries of the Global South to strengthen their ties, pursue independent development models, and reject unilateral coercive measures.

“We as peoples of the South have to find our own paths, our own political models and not accept dictates from any former power or from any power with colonial ambitions,” declared Maduro during his speech at the International Conference Center in Havana, Cuba. The meeting took place on September 16 and 17.

Calling the Cuban capital of Havana the “epicenter of the resistance of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean”, the Venezuelan president praised the host nation and his counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel for their efforts in organizing the G77 plus China Summit.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15850

When it comes to historic, memorable speeches, there is one that will always come to mind: President Hugo Chávez at the UN General Assembly on September 20, 2006.

Not only did Chávez call US then-President George W. Bush a war criminal, a tyrant and the devil, he also called out Western hypocrisy when it comes to democracy and peace. He did this in the devil’s house!

Chávez likewise stressed the obsolete nature of the United Nations to help solve the problems of the peoples of the world because it has become subservient to the US and its allies. He proposed to transform it with the Global South leading the way.

Most importantly, the Venezuelan leader reassured us that there were plenty of reasons to remain optimistic about the future as people continue to rebel and organize for a better tomorrow: A new dawn is on the horizon.

In a surprising move, the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and several smaller leftist parties broke with the government of Nicolás Maduro in July 2020 after twenty years of supporting him and his predecessor Hugo Chávez. In effect, the PCV rejected Maduro’s “defensive strategy” consisting of rollbacks designed to attract private capital in the face of adverse circumstances largely caused by US–imposed sanctions.

The PCV accused the Maduro government of embracing a neoliberal approach, abandoning the working class, and violating democratic norms. Actually, the PCV was always critical of Chávez and Maduro, but the party’s anti-imperialism had previously overshadowed criticism of the government (Vázquez, 2021). Curiously, the PCV and its allies broke with the Chavista (pro Chávez) government when Washington, supported by several dozen conservative and right-wing governments, was ratcheting up pressure on Venezuela through interventionist policies to achieve regime change.

While some analysts on the left attributed Maduro’s concessions to the need to attract capital and influence Washington policy makers, the PCV blamed the rollbacks on “the government’s dominant liberal bourgeoisie tendency” (Ellner, 2021; PCV, 2021b). The analysis of subjective conditions (the consciousness and resoluteness of the revolutionary subject) and objective conditions by Marx and Lenin in their formulation of non-offensive or defensive strategies helps frame the issue of the Maduro government-PCV split.[1]

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/objective-conditions-in-venezuela-maduros-defensive-strategy-and-contradictions-among-the-people/

The Venezuelan government has announced a new social program focused on fighting poverty and inequality, which will be supported by China’s International Poverty Reduction Center.

On Monday, during his weekly TV program, President Nicolás Maduro said that the “Social Equality and Happiness Mission” was “almost ready” to be launched and its main purpose is to “optimize the fight against inequality, against poverty and to build a more harmonious country.”

Although Maduro did not give details, he stressed that the social program will work alongside the Chinese anti-poverty center. The government led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been responsible for lifting over 850 million people out of poverty in the Asian giant since 1980.

“In 1981, almost 90 percent of the Chinese population was below the absolute poverty line as measured by the World Bank,” —the Venezuelan leader went on to explain in his national broadcast —“but in 2019 the figure did not reach 1 percent and by the end of 2020 the Chinese government announced poverty eradication in the country.”

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-govt-to-launch-china-backed-anti-poverty-program