Far-right Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado reversed her stance and submitted a last-minute appeal of her official disqualification from public office.

“[The Venezuelan government] is looking for excuses to prevent me from participating. That is why we are here today, to show that they are not going to force us to abandon the electoral route […] the ball is in their court,” said Machado upon exiting the offices of the Venezuelan Supreme Court on Friday.

Her decision to present her case before the country’s highest court comes after first refusing to challenge her political prohibition, arguing as recently as Thursday that there was “nothing to appeal.”

Upon leaving the Supreme Court premises, Machado insisted to local reporters that her appeal was to demonstrate that her ban on running for office “does not exist.” The filed document was later posted online.

Ahead of a deadline imposed by the United States, government negotiators reached an agreement last month with the hardline opposition allowing for the country’s Supreme Court to review the cases of candidates presently disqualified from running for public office.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelan-far-right-candidate-reverses-course-appeals-election-disqualification/

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https://youtu.be/Bl6LYANnNrg

The recent urgency of resolving the Essequibo quandary has everything to do with actions taken by ExxonMobil Corporation.

In 2015 ExxonMobil discovered copious off-shore oil reserves under Essequibo’s territorial waters. Guyana’s government expanded the bidding process for oil explorations. A previously humdrum territorial dispute had turned into a momentous contest with potentially far-reaching consequences.

ExxonMobil epitomizes power and wealth. Profits in 2022 were $56 billion. ExxonMobil’s revenues of $413.7 billion for 2022 were greater than the GDPs that year of all but 34 countries in the world; it ranked seventh for income-generating capacity among the world’s corporations. ExxonMobil sees Guyana as its potentially most productive oil-producing region, a place accounting for more than 25% of ExxonMobil’s total hydrocarbon production.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/opinion/oil-wealth-us-intervention-aggravate-venezuela-guyana-border-conflict/

In Venezuela, there is a popular saying that goes, ‘A turtle can’t climb a tree and an armadillo doesn’t shave,’ which is used to describe something impossible to change or achieve, or when someone refuses to see reality as it is.

This clever expression has provided me with clarity on a long-standing internal conflict: Venezuela should not resume selling oil to the United States after US sanctions devastated our oil industry and our livelihoods in the name of regime change. Is this a crazy idea, or is it the logical, if difficult, choice towards true liberation?

In other words, should the Maduro government allow the commercialization of Venezuelan oil by corporations of the aggressor country and continue to bind our economy to the whims of Washington’s foreign policy goals? I think the answer is simple: Choose the path free of extorsion.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/the-subversive-truth-we-shouldnt-sell-oil-to-the-united-states/

Venezuela successfully negotiated the release of Alex Saab, a government envoy who spent more than three years detained.

Saab landed in Caracas on Wednesday afternoon and was greeted by his family and Venezuelan government officials. His release comes as a result of a negotiation between the Nicolás Maduro government and the Joe Biden administration that will see the release of up to 36 people, 10 of them US citizens, currently detained in Venezuela.

The Maduro government envoy was arrested during a refueling stopover in Cape Verde in June 2020 on his way to Iran to negotiate food and fuel import deals amidst US sanctions. In October 2021, he was forcefully flown to Florida to face a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Venezuelan government and Saab’s defense lawyers have maintained that he was acting as a special envoy and therefore was subject to diplomatic immunity. Caracas viewed the detention of Saab as a violation of international law, tantamount to a “kidnapping” and his persecution as a politically motivated trial. Saab maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering.

Caracas placed immense diplomatic pressure on Washington to secure his release, with the Venezuelan government delegation walking away from talks with the US-backed opposition in October 2021 when the envoy was taken to Florida and charged.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-secures-release-of-govt-envoy-alex-saab/

The governments of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago signed an agreement on Thursday to jointly produce and export offshore natural gas from the Dragon Gas Field.

According to a Venezuelan statement, Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA has granted a 30-year license to Trinidad’s National Gas Company (NGC) to develop Dragon, located in Venezuelan waters, with Royal Dutch Shell as the project’s operator.

In its first phase, the project is expected to yield an output of 185 million cubic feet per day of natural gas and it involves building a 17-kilometer pipeline from Venezuela’s Dragon field to Shell’s Hibiscus field in Trinidadian waters for the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petrochemicals. Part of the output will be earmarked for export to international markets.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-signs-30-year-alliance-with-trinidad-to-develop-dragon-gas-field/

Venezuela’s US-based oil refiner CITGO suffered a fresh setback with a judicial ruling favoring oil corporation ConocoPhillips.

On Thursday, Delaware District Judge Leonard P. Stark dismissed a motion seeking to stop the firm from joining a court-mandated auction of shares of CITGO’s parent company PDV Holding to satisfy a string of creditors.

Worth an estimated US $13 billion, CITGO, a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, risks being broken up in the coming months after Stark set the share sale process in motion.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-conocophillips-closer-to-seizing-citgo-shares-over-massive-award/

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https://youtu.be/Bl6LYANnNrg

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered large-scale military exercises around the disputed resource-rich Essequibo region following the arrival of a British warship to neighboring Guyana.

In a televised broadcast on Thursday, Maduro announced “a joint defensive action of the entire Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB)” along the eastern Caribbean coast and Atlantic front “in response to the provocation and threat of the United Kingdom against peace and the sovereignty of our country.”

According to the Venezuelan Defense Ministry, the operation will involve over 5,600 military personnel and will encompass patrolling land, air, and sea areas alongside the disputed Essequibo territory.

Maduro’s order came as Britain’s Defense Ministry announced Sunday it would send the Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Trent to Guyana “as part of a series of engagements in the region during her Atlantic Patrol Task deployment.” An anonymous source told AFP the war vessel would arrive on December 29 but would not dock on Georgetown and would stay for less than a week for open sea defense exercises.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelan-military-conducts-exercise-in-response-to-uk-warship-provocation/

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It’s an important time to write about Venezuela but it’s also terribly difficult – it’s complex, convoluted, combated and controversial. There’s so much crossfire around this country that it’s difficult to make any sense of what’s really going on. But there is bright light in this turbulent tunnel, light toward which an owl of Minerva files, at the dusk of one century and toward the dawn of the next, there to rendezvous with eagles and condors. The metaphors are mixed, like the magic, like the oil and the water and the revolution. I hope this short story of a few chapters from the end of a century of oil in Venezuela, might open some windows through which that bright light might shine – from other side of the sanctions, live from the revolution that won’t be televised.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/opinion/venezuela-2023-oil-and-water-and-untelevised-revolution/

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Biden's recent easing of Venezuelan restrictions has elicited diverse responses. Despite talks of lifted constraints in banking, mining, and debt, the US Treasury's General License 44 seemingly facilitated engagement in Venezuela’s energy sector. However, nuances are crucial.

While there's heightened energy activity, limitations persist. Recent deals reflect a pattern of foreign partnerships, akin to the 'Chevron model.' These partnerships promise production increases but fall short, barely impacting Venezuela’s output—casting a shadow on hopes for economic recovery.

Ventures in natural gas show promise but remain constrained. Trinidad and Tobago's Dragon project exemplifies partnerships sidelining Venezuela, tied to intricate licenses.

Sanctions erode Venezuela's negotiating power, hurting its sovereignty. The struggle for autonomy continues.

Explore more at: bit.ly/48pcDM3

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Thierry Deronne is a Belgian-born filmmaker who has long accompanied working-class and campesino struggles in Latin America. In the mid-1990s in Venezuela, he fostered popular media and educational projects and later played a key role in the community television movement during the Bolivarian Revolution. Deronne is currently a professor at the National University of the Arts [Unearte]. His most recent documentary is “Nostálgicas del futuro”, a film about working-class feminism in Venezuela.

In Part One of this two-part interview, Deronne talks about the philosophy driving the community media movement earlier this century and the different experiments in communication that went along with it.

Read the complete interview by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3TP4wE6

General Domingo Antonio Sifontes, a courageous military leader from the 19th century, has been elevated to the National Pantheon for his valor in defending Venezuelan territory against British expansion. His legacy resonates as tensions rise over the Essequibo Strip.

Who was Sifontes and how does he relate to the current Essequibo dispute between Venezuela and Guyana (a former British colony)?

Read more and explore the gallery here: https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/venezuela-19th-century-general-elevated-to-national-pantheon/

Venezuela has issued a statement backing South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“Venezuela, as a country committed to diplomacy for peace, recognizes South Africa’s firm and historic step in defense of the Palestinian people and international law,” stated the communique released by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

The text also encouraged the international community to support South Africa’s legal action and urged multilateral justice institutions to “act in accordance with international law” and “rise to the seriousness” of the current events in the Gaza Strip “that constitute a clear aggression against humanity.”

Venezuela has consistently condemned Israel’s US-backed occupation, military attacks and apartheid regime against the Palestinian people since the Hugo Chávez era. In 2009, the former president broke diplomatic ties with Israel after a deadly assault on Gaza.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-backs-south-africas-icj-genocide-case-against-israel/

Thierry Deronne, the visionary filmmaker and professor at the National University of the Arts [Unearte], shares his journey within the Bolivarian Revolution and discusses his current project, the Hugo Chávez Popular Cinema and Theater School.

"Dreams of a revolution need to be documented and shared. Our school is a space for studying reality through documentary filmmaking and theater," says Deronne.

In this interview, explore the challenges of fostering a new narrative and breaking away from conventional storytelling. Discover the transformative potential of theater workshops and the school's collaboration with Brazilian experts.

Read the complete interview here: bit.ly/3tVY0AL

Venezuela's National Assembly President, Jorge Rodríguez, condemns the country’s asset dispossession by the US-backed opposition. "The National Assembly must remind them that this is a country of laws," Rodríguez said.

Amid legal battles and the looming CITGO auction, Venezuela’s parliament launches a probe against opposition politicians jeopardizing national heritage. “Political parties have assets subject to the Domain Extinction Law," stated Rodríguez.

Explore the intricacies of this pivotal moment in Venezuela and understand the challenges the National Assembly faces by clicking here: bit.ly/3SrNY49

The Venezuelan economy wrapped up 2023 on a positive note, boasting reduced inflation and a stabilizing exchange rate. According to the Venezuelan Central Bank, monthly price increases have been in single digits for the past nine months, culminating in an accumulated inflation of 190%

President Nicolás Maduro attributes this economic upswing to coordinated efforts among various sectors. In an exclusive interview with Ignacio Ramonet, he highlighted growth in agriculture (5%), manufacturing (4%), retail (4%), fishing (25%), and aquaculture (20%). The positive momentum also showed in a 25.8% increase in tax collection.

Despite these strides, challenges persist, including a lingering threat of sanctions limiting foreign investment. The Maduro administration has pursued liberal economic policies, including tax breaks and state asset concessions, to attract private capital. However, skepticism remains among foreign investors.

Economist Juan Carlos Valdez warns of increasing inequality in the recovery and advocates for an indexation policy, tying public sector wages to inflation markers. He argues that enhancing spending power can stimulate economic growth.

Read the full article at https://bit.ly/3S1tayI

President Maduro outlines a major political initiative for Venezuela's sustainable economic recovery in his annual address to the National Assembly. The plan focuses on economic modernization, political independence, safety, social issues, political participation, the environment, and geopolitics.

Despite economic challenges and US sanctions, Venezuela saw a 5% GDP increase in 2023 and has a target of 8% growth in 2024. Efforts include economic diversification to reduce reliance on oil.

Acknowledging inflation's impact, Maduro doubled the "economic war bonus" for public sector workers, indexed to the US dollar, although facing criticism for not impacting formal wages.

Read the full article at https://bit.ly/3S2zANZ