🇻🇪🎙️ New podcast episode!

In this episode, we present to you two new books on Venezuela. First, host José Luis Granados Ceja talks to fellow VA member Cira Pascual Marquina about “A War Without Bombs: The social, political and economic impact of sanctions against Venezuela,” written and published by the Venezuelanalysis team. With the US offering Venezuela a temporary lifting of sanctions, it’s essential to understand these measures and take stock of their deadly consequences.

The second segment features Chris Gilbert, author of “Commune or Nothing! Venezuela’s Communal Movement and its Socialist Project,” a book that details and analyzes how Venezuela’s communards have plowed ahead with the construction of socialism even under the most difficult circumstances.

LISTEN NOW 👇

https://venezuelanalysis.com/podcasts/the-venezuelanalysis-podcast-episode-19-a-war-without-bombs-and-communal-resistance/

Venezuelan popular organizations are demanding greater state support for their economic projects.

The issue of the state purchasing the production from communes came to the forefront during a public meeting featuring President Nicolás Maduro, several of his ministers, and communards from across the country on October 20.

The gathering was held in Caracas to commemorate the 11th anniversary of former President Hugo Chávez’s final major public speech, the so-called “Strike at the Helm.”

During his speech, Maduro queried his cabinet members on whether state institutions were buying the output from communal enterprises. The loud jeers from the crowd saw the Venezuelan president order his ministers to draw up a plan.

“We have not delivered on the promise to prioritize the purchases of communal production,” he said.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelan-communards-urge-govt-to-increase-support-for-grassroots-production/

If a genie, or a demon, showed up and said “I’m granting you six months to improve your precarious life,” what would you do? That is more or less the dilemma the Venezuelan government faces today.

As everyone has read by now, the United States government provided a partial and time-limited (six months) suspension of the oil and gas sanctions levied against Venezuela. Other measures relating to the gold trade, banking and state airline Conviasa have been lifted with no expiration date. Still, yankee officials remind us every day that they will slap back these sanctions if the government does not “behave.”

In other words, there is sanctions relief in areas that Washington deems strategic, especially given the oil volatility caused by conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East, and also the significant pressure caused by the arrival of Venezuelan migrants at its southern border.

Surely if Venezuelans, the very ones who did not get a dime from the “humanitarian aid” loudly touted by the US and the Juan Guaidó imaginary government, had ended up on someone else’s doorstep it would not be a problem. But alas, they dared to go north.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/tales-of-resistance-a-perilous-honeymoon-with-the-us/

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has signed at least three spot sales contracts and is in the midst of negotiating more supply deals following Washington’s temporary easing of sanctions on the country’s energy sector.

Since 2017, PDVSA has been under US sanctions, including an export embargo that has blocked the Venezuelan company from selling crude to international markets. On October 18, the US Treasury Department issued time-limited licenses allowing production, investment and sale in the Venezuelan oil and gas sectors.

The sanctions waivers followed the resumption of the dialogue process between the Nicolás Maduro government and the US-backed opposition on October 17, which concluded with the signing of an electoral accord.

Although the six-month exemptions will not significantly impact oil production, they have allowed PDVSA to secure spot sales and reactivate contracts to boost exports in the upcoming months. Currently, the South American country has a reported stock of 30 million barrels of crude and fuel ready to be shipped.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/pdvsa-signs-spot-contracts-as-companies-rush-to-buy-venezuelan-crude/

The Electoral Branch of the Venezuelan Supreme Court suspended the opposition primary process that saw far-right opposition politician Maria Corina Machado chosen to represent the “Unitary Platform” in upcoming presidential elections.

The selection of Machado was conducted on October 22 by the self-styled National Primary Commission without the assistance of the country’s National Electoral Commission (CNE).

“All effects of the different phases of the electoral process conducted by the National Primary Commission are suspended,” read the Supreme Court ruling.

The motion to suspend the primary process was brought forward by José Brito, an opposition lawmaker that is at odds with the leadership of the “Unitary Platform” and its parties. Brito, who is described in the ruling as a “aspiring participant in the primaries”, requested an injunction by the court over the process’ alleged “illegal and unconstitutional acts.”

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelan-supreme-court-suspends-opposition-primaries/

In the 1940s, a Hollywood movie called “Gaslight” left us a few lessons on how psychological terrorism and manipulation work. In this black-and-white thriller, an unscrupulous man convinces his young wife she is crazy through a campaign of false accusations and fabricated problems.

Quite literally, the husband spends the movie secretly hiding objects and dimming the gaslights in the house, then accusing the wife of being forgetful and imagining things, thus diminishing her self-worth and distorting her sense of reality. The goal was to get rid of her while maintaining his image of a good, caring husband, a hero who only tried to save her.

Usually, we the audience would be just as bewildered as the wife about her sudden insanity, but in this film we are forced to watch her self-blaming journey from the point of view of the manipulator, leaving us with a mix of helplessness, sadness, anger and terror.

It is easy to sympathize with the wife. We’ve all had our lights dimmed at some point in our lives, whether we realize it or not. Unfortunately, this is not limited to interpersonal relations, it can also happen in political contexts with entire countries being subjected to psychological abuse. There’s no better example of what a gaslighter is than the United States—the world’s biggest narcissist and bully.

This old Hollywood film being the origin of the term “gaslighting” is actually quite fitting given that the US government relies heavily on its massive entertainment industry and corporate media to peddle its propaganda and manipulate the world into believing it stands for democracy and human rights. All this while wreaking havoc in the Global South through wars, coups, blockades, and sanctions, killing thousands and sinking countries into humanitarian crises.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/columns/the-subversive-truth-us-collective-gaslighting-will-be-defeated/

VA talked to Vladimir Ramírez Sánchez, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez's brother, about the extraordinary history of the Venezuelan man who committed his life to the Palestinian cause.

"Ilich had become an international target for the French, for US imperialism, and for Zionism, and he had to stay on the move. However, he continued to organize and participate in actions for the Palestinian cause. He was also in contact with the Italian Red Army, Germany’s Red Army Faction [RAF], Ireland’s IRA, the Basque Country’s ETA, and the Japanese Red Army. They were building an international alliance to confront Imperialism and Zionism."

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/ilich-ramirez-sanchez-a-venezuelan-who-fought-for-palestinian-liberation-a-conversation-with-vladimir-ramirez-sanchez/

In their impromptu camp built in the median just outside Mexico City’s northern bus terminal, a group of Venezuelan migrants adjusted the plastic bags covering their tents in an effort to keep the rain out. It was a cold and wet night with the rains caused by Otis, the massive Category 5 hurricane that struck the state of Guerrero on October 25, reaching all the way to the Mexican capital. Mexican officials are still assessing the damage wreaked by the storm, and the fallout of the tragedy will likely be felt for years to come.

Days earlier, leaders from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean had gathered in the city of Palenque, Chiapas, to discuss a regional strategy to deal with the growing migration crisis in the hemisphere. The official joint statement stemming from that meeting adopted a decidedly political posture, warning that the negative effects of climate change were among the root causes of migration. The Palenque Declaration also stated from the outset that “the main structural causes of migration are political, economic, social and the negative effects of climate change.”

In commentary seldom seen in official summit communiqués, the joint statement explicitly criticized the “negative effects” of unilateral coercive measures, commonly known as sanctions, on “the most vulnerable people and communities.”

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/latin-american-leaders-reject-us-imposed-migration-policies-at-palenque-summit/

Far-right opposition politician Maria Corina Machado, winner of the opposition primary, has pledged not to step aside under any circumstance despite being officially disqualified from running for the presidency.

Machado expressed her position in an interview with Spanish newspaper El País published Saturday where she also signaled that she is relying on pressure from Washington, and the US Department of State in particular, in order to secure her name on the ballot.

“I’m sure you read [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken’s statement where he clearly said that enabling candidates to participate in the primaries is a core point within the agreement that was signed,” said Machado, referring to the Barbados agreement signed between the Venezuelan government and opposition on October 17.

However, the agreement does not compel the government to lift her disqualification.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-far-right-candidate-ratifies-hardline-stance-reliance-on-us-support/

US unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela were imposed with the sole purpose of causing human suffering in order to spark regime change. As usual with Washington’s human rights violations in other countries, those affected ended up at the US southern border. Meanwhile, no US-backed politician got any closer to the presidential post.

Fast forward seven years since the first US measures were imposed against the Caribbean country’s oil industry, it turns out the Venezuelan people vehemently reject sanctions and do not accept regime change, but also, US and European corporations are desperate to return to Venezuela to recover accumulated debt and supply their struggling markets.

Abracadabra, just like magic, the US government decides to begin lifting sanctions against the oil, gas and gold sectors, although temporarily. With the backdrop of US presidential elections on the horizon, the sanctions waivers included a deal with the Venezuelan government to deport (or repatriate) migrants.

A win-win situation? For the Venezuelan people, it represents an opportunity to heal some of the nation’s economic war wounds. For the US government and its corporate allies, it represents a chance to profit until foreign policy goals lead to a “snap back.”

https://venezuelanalysis.com/infographics/resistance-and-dialogue-venezuelas-temporary-sanctions-relief/

The Venezuelan government has vehemently criticized an alleged joint announcement between Guyana and the United States to increase US military presence in the Essequibo Strip amidst an ongoing territorial dispute.

On Wednesday, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil issued a communique stating that Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali refuses to engage in “direct dialogue” with Venezuela while associating with “the most aggressive military power in the history of mankind.”

For his part, Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd denied a military expansion in the 160,000 square kilometer Essequibo Strip and accused the Venezuelan side of spreading misinformation and fueling division in the region.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelan-govt-warns-against-us-military-presence-in-essequibo-strip-guyana-denies-accusations/

The anti-politics, anti-party, anti-state, and anti-power ideas had become hegemonic within the left by the last decade of the 20th century and converged with the neoliberal premise that argues that a smaller state and a weaker government are better for the economy.

Hugo Chávez came to power in that context, marking the beginning of the Pink Tide. It’s incredible that so many progressive governments that are center-left or left are still in power – some in and out and in again like Lula, and some more steady. This is a unique phenomenon in the world, and it’s important to analyze and learn from these experiences.

Some academics demonize the progressive governments: a few will say that Rafael Correa of Ecuador was a sellout, but Evo Morales of Bolivia was better, while others will say that both Evo and Chávez were sellouts. These currents focus on issues such as the environment or the relationship between the left in power and social movements. In many cases, they have some interesting points, but the problem is that they end up bunching together progressive movements with neoliberal ones.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/venezuelas-critical-conjunctures-a-conversation-with-steve-ellner/

Venezuela presented its appeal before the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the court’s decision to resume an investigation into alleged human rights abuses committed during violent anti-government protests.

In June, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court accepted Prosecutor Karim Khan’s petition to resume a formal investigation into the conduct of Venezuelan officials that could constitute crimes against humanity.

Lawyers representing Venezuela are requesting the court suspend its probe on the basis of the complementarity principle. The Hague-based tribunal is defined as a court of last resort that should only open legal proceedings in cases in which national legal institutions fail to address alleged violations.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-and-prosecutors-trade-barbs-as-icc-considers-petition-to-suspend-probe/

Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez traveled Monday to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands as part of efforts to defend her country’s claim to the Essequibo Strip amidst a longstanding territorial dispute.

The World Court recently summoned Guyana and Venezuela for hearings this week after the former asked the court to suspend a referendum in Venezuela.

“No one is going to stop the expression of our people in the consultative referendum of this [December 3rd] to defend our Guyana Essequiba,” said Rodríguez in a video shared to social media.

Calling the planned referendum an “existential threat”, Guyana is seeking urgent orders from the ICJ to halt the vote in its current form. Georgetown views the referendum as a step toward the “annexation” of the disputed territory by Venezuela.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-vp-visits-icj-in-the-hague-to-defend-essequibo-referendum/

It is not by chance that there is a notable absence of analysis on the most important political phenomenon in Venezuela these days: political disaffiliation. Confronting this phenomenon would mean, for the political class as a whole, coming to terms with its own weaknesses, shortcomings, and hardships. Consequently, it is swept under the rug, as if it were dust, in order to maintain the appearance of cleanliness and good manners.

The immediate political effect of all this is the over-representation of this same political class and the under-representation of the vast majority of the disaffiliated popular masses. Whether the former antagonizes or eventually negotiates and comes to an agreement, the crucial point is that the latter does not feel truly represented.

In the specific case of María Corina Machado, it’s not just that she doesn’t represent an alternative. In reality, she is far from representing anything significant beyond that historically minority portion of the anti-Chavista movement that longs for the complete annihilation of an enemy to whom they attribute all the evils and all the blame. As a phenomenon, there is absolutely nothing new here: she embodies a certain anti-political fervor of elites who have been disoriented and bewildered since the moment Hugo Chávez came to power through democratic and electoral means.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/politics-of-the-commons-the-problem-with-the-representation-of-the-majority/

Following an electoral accord between the Nicolás Maduro government and the US-backed opposition signed on October 18, the US Treasury Department issued time-limited licenses allowing production, investment and sale in the Venezuelan oil and gas sectors. Since then, Venezuelan oil authorities have prioritized hiring services and equipment to reactivate wells and rigs, which would expand production capabilities, while looking to export long-stored crude.

According to a July presentation by Venezuelan Oil Minister and PDVSA president Pedro Tellechea, the company is looking to revive 27,966 wells, mostly located in Venezuela’s western region, with the stated goal of reaching 1.7 million bpd by the end of 2024.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-signs-deal-with-frances-maurel-prom-amid-efforts-to-increase-oil-production/

This may be somewhat controversial, but if you’re familiar with Venezuela’s history, it’s straightforward. Our political process liberated Bolívar from the chains of an oligarchical discourse and restored him as a symbol for the pueblo. Before Chávez, Bolívar had been in the possession of the elites.

Chávez revised and rewrote history hand-in-hand with the pueblo. That’s why it’s not uncommon to accuse the Venezuelan process of rewriting history. To that, we say, why not? History is a battleground like any other, and we should not have doubts about revising a history that had been in the service of a few! We should be proud to reinterpret history!

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/venezuelan-history-is-a-battleground-a-conversation-with-pedro-calzadilla/

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro pledged to deepen economic integration and cooperation between their two countries following a presidential-level meeting Saturday.

The two leaders discussed a variety of topics, including migration, tourism, Venezuela’s support for Colombia’s ongoing peace process with the ELN guerrilla organization, economic revitalization for both countries, and energy integration.

“Excellent work meeting with Gustavo Petro, President of the Republic of Colombia, with whom I spoke about the broad bilateral agenda of our nations and, above all, the map of mutual cooperation that advances with the principles of union and fraternity,” said the Venezuelan president on social media.

Petro has made a deliberate effort to mend economic and political ties with neighboring Venezuela, with the meeting at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas marking the fifth such meeting between the two heads of state.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/colombias-petro-touts-deeper-cooperation-and-energy-integration-with-venezuela-during-visit

Got 40 minutes to spare today? You can listen to our latest podcast episode to learn about Washington's calculations regarding its sanctions relief against Venezuela to access its oil resources and how this affects the 2024 presidential election.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/podcasts/the-venezuelanalysis-podcast-episode-20-sanctions-relief/

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) has carried out a “successful” dry-run to prepare for the December 3 referendum intended to measure popular support over the country’s centuries-long claim over the Essequibo Strip.

On November 19, Venezuelans participated in an electoral simulation drill with 800 voting centers opened nationwide, which registered long queues throughout the day. The ballot had five questions regarding the country’s territorial dispute with neighboring Guyana over the 160,000 square kilometer resource-rich Essequibo region.

Venezuela and Guyana’s dispute over the Essequibo Strip dates back to colonial times and remained dormant for years until Texas-based ExxonMobil found significant oil reserves in the region in 2015. Since then, the Guyana government, presently led by President Irfaan Ali, has expanded a bidding process for oil exploration in Essequibo’s undelimited territorial waters, which Caracas argues violates the unresolved legal battle.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-maduro-warns-of-exxonmobil-interference-ahead-of-historical-essequibo-strip-vote/