November 21, 2024

Venezuelan far-right former presidential candidate, Edmundo González, appears at Puerta del Sol Square in Madrid, Spain, to support the "protest" against the election results in Venezuela, on September 28, 2024. Photo: Ana Beltran/Reuters/File photo.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has announced that his government recognizes the former far-right Venezuelan opposition candidate, Edmundo González, as so-called “president-elect of Venezuela,” in their insistence to repeat a script that failed and now seeks to impose a new Juan Guaidó.
During the last session of the G20 Summit held this Tuesday, November 19, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Antony Blinken announced the US entity’s decision to recognize González as the so-called “president-elect,” reflecting a change in the administration of Joe Biden, who is about to leave the White House.
Following the July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, the US empire had not openly recognized the former far-right candidate as the alleged winner of the Venezuelan election, where President Nicolás Maduro had been proclaimed the winner by the National Electoral Council (CNE) and later by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).
In clear disregard of the will of over six million Venezuelans, Blinken published a message via social media, in which he claimed that on July 28, Edmundo González was named—under an authority that the US empire does not hold—as the so-called “president-elect” of Venezuela.
In a new act of US imperial intervention, Blinken ironically also demanded “respect” for the will of the voters.
In response, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil condemned Blinken, “a self-confessed enemy of Venezuela,” for insisting on “making a fool of himself now with a Guaidó 2.0.”
Through social media, Gil invited the US official to dedicate his last days in government to reflecting on his failures and ridding himself of such deeply ingrained imperial and colonial complexes.
“The fictive plan of yet another Secretary of State,” wrote the Venezuelan diplomat, “who sank, along with his puppets, trying to reverse Venezuelan democracy, never fails [to expose themselves].”
González rejoices
Less that one hour after Blinken’s post, the far-right Venezuelan politician—still under asylum in Spain—responded on the same platform in deep appreciation of the US entity’s interventionist gesture.
“We deeply appreciate the recognition of the sovereign will of all Venezuelans,” González claimed on his X account. “This gesture honors our people’s desire for change and the civic feat that we carried out together on July 28.”
Until now, Joe Biden’s government had not made any formal statements on the matter, nor had it used the term “president-elect” in relation to Edmundo González Urrutia. Time will tell if, after January 10, the date on which President Nicolás Maduro will be sworn in, the US government will name González as the new “legitimate president” of Venezuela, as happened at the time with Juan Guaidó, in the empire’s attempt to oust Nicolás Maduro and the strength of the Chavista movement.
https://orinocotribune.com/white-house- ... venezuela/
Venezuela: Organic Law on Communal Peace Justice Reform Dismisses Right-Wing Propaganda
November 20, 2024

Comuneros having a meeting at the Comuna El Maizal in 2019. Photo: Cira Pascual Marquina/Venezuelanaysis/file photo
After extensive debates, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved last Wednesday, November 13, the Organic Law of Special Jurisdiction for Communal Peace Justice. This is a legal instrument that seeks to establish a new form of justice that is not punitive, but rather deeply rooted in solidarity, neighborhood, and family principles that serve as the basis of the Communal State promoted by the Bolivarian Revolution.
In this regard, President Nicolás Maduro has called for the election, by direct and secret vote, of the Communal Peace Justices of the 5000 communal circuits of Venezuela, marking a new milestone in participatory and protagonist democracy. Elections that will be held with a high symbolic value, scheduled for next December 15, 25 years after the constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was approved.
The responsibilities of the communal Peace Justices, according to Article 8 of the recently reformed Organic Law of Special Jurisdiction for Communal Peace Justice, published in the Venezuelan Official Gazette #6854 on November 14, 2024, are:
• To hear conflicts or disputes that arise between individuals or legal entities in their local territorial area, and which have been entrusted to them for decision-making.
• To hear conflicts or disputes arising from the rental or horizontal property relationship, except those assigned to ordinary and special courts or administrative authorities.
• To be aware of conflicts or disputes between members of the community arising from the application of ordinances relating to coexistence, community charters; coexistence regulations of the Community Councils or instruments of a similar nature issued by neighborhood organizations.
• To hear conflicts or disputes between members of the community related to the operation, performance and administration of neighborhood organizations.
• To act as a receiving body for complaints in cases of gender violence, in accordance with the terms established in the special law that regulates the matter, and may dictate protection and security measures in favor of the victim or the family.
• To assist with the monitoring and enforcement of measures relating to family coexistence and the obligation to provide support issued by the Courts for the Protection of Children and Adolescents.
• To ensure respect for the rights of children, adolescents, older adults, people with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations
• To be aware of the action arising from the ownership, possession and protection of domestic, community or endangered animals.
• To be aware of conflicts or controversies that arise between members of socio-productive organizations in the communities.
• To hear all disputes related to the actions of the Communal Councils, Communes and People’s Power organizations.
• To promote educational campaigns on civic values, peace, solidarity, human rights and conflict resolution in the communities within its territorial scope.
• To promote the adoption of ordinances, community charters, regulations for coexistence of the Community Councils or instruments of a similar nature originated by neighborhood organizations, in order to promote harmony, peace and solidarity in community relations.
• To request the support of municipal, state or national police, when required for the effective performance of their duties.
Far-right journalists and influencers in Venezuela and abroad have been claiming for weeks that the reform is another step taken by the Maduro administration to control the Judiciary, when in reality the reform reduces communal justices’ responsibilities if compared with the 2012 original law.
The new version of the law removes the civil registry and the supporting control role over food and services from the duties of the communal justices. In the 2012 law, the justices had the authority to register marriages and divorces, however, that has been removed in the reformed version of the Organic Law
(RedRadioVE) by Fransay Riera with Orinoco Tribune content
https://orinocotribune.com/venezuela-es ... -justices/
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Sabotage as a political tactic: a new chapter against PDVSA
Nov 19, 2024 , 1:33 pm .

El Palito refinery, located in Carabobo state (Photo: Yuri Cortez / AFP)
In a press conference, the Executive Vice President and Minister of Petroleum, Delcy Rodríguez, reported the details of the sabotage against critical infrastructures of the national oil and gas industry during November 10 and 11 in different parts of the country.
So far, 11 people have been arrested. The minister described those responsible as "anti-Venezuelan extremists" and alleged that these agents worked in collusion with "internal gangs" that are being investigated and attacked by the industrial security system of Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA).
The facts
On the morning of Sunday, November 10, a grenade was launched (without detonating) at the PDVSA North Dock facilities, near the Zulima field, Lagunillas municipality on the Eastern Coast of the Lake, Zulia state.
That same day, in the afternoon, a fire broke out in the Petrocedeño joint venture's Upgrader area, the largest for processing crude oil from the Hugo Chávez Orinoco Oil Belt, located in the José Antonio Anzoátegui Industrial Complex (CIJAA).
At 10:40 a.m. on Monday, November 11, a fire broke out in the 26" Muscar-Soto gas pipeline, belonging to the Muscar Operational Complex of the Punta de Mata Division, located in the Ezequiel Zamora municipality of Monagas state.
Both the Vice President and the President of PDVSA, Héctor Obregón, reported that a multidisciplinary technical team has deployed an action plan on three simultaneous fronts, working 24 hours a day with the necessary equipment, from the moment the incidents were recorded, to recover the damaged facilities and resume production and distribution operations quickly.
In Monagas, five workers were injured by the arson attack.
Economic impact
While the first incident had no repercussions, the next two had a significant negative economic impact, broken down as follows by affected areas:
Oil and gas: $157.8 million
Petrochemical industry: 55.8 million dollars
CVG and basic companies: 29.8 million dollars
Electricity service: $3.5 million
In total, $246.9 million in losses to the national economy were estimated due to crimes against Venezuela's main industry.
However, the Minister said, the impact on other "industrial and transport sectors" has yet to be seen, although "thanks to the contingency plans we have in place, we have managed to address diesel distribution and ensure minimal impact on the electrical system."
Damage and repercussions
The unsuccessful attack in Zulia was aimed at interrupting the crude oil and gas production operations that supply the Paraguaná Refining Center (CRP) in Falcón state.
Let us remember that the CRP is made up of the Cardón, Amuay and Bajo Grande refineries, and is the largest refining conglomerate in America and the second largest in the world. In its facilities, crude oil is transformed into gasoline, diesel, asphalt and other derivatives for subsequent national distribution.
The sabotage in Anzoátegui state caused a fire that, due to preventive measures, caused the respective emergency shutdown according to protocols, halting the improvement and refining processes for diesel production.
This has a negative impact on the distribution of fuel, required by the automotive, agri-food and industrial sectors, impacting 25% of national consumption.
The Petrocedeño Upgrader also produces Leona crude oil, extracted from the Belt, which is then transferred to the CRP.
The explosion, the result of sabotage, and the large-scale fire at the Muscar Operational Complex affected the infrastructure of these facilities, which distribute 80% of the gas to the entire country. Vice President Rodríguez described it as the Guri of gas in Venezuela, or the heart of its national distribution.
During the press conference, it was emphasized that the chain of events has a direct impact on key areas of the country, such as oil and gas production (liquefied petroleum gas and methane), fuel (gasoline and diesel), petrochemicals, basic industries, the National Electric System, the cement, manufacturing, textile, and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as other public services.
This series of attacks, chained together in the same time frame, has a negative impact on the national economic structure, while generating anxiety and discontent among the population due to the impact on basic services.
Political objectives
Venezuela is in a period marked by economic growth, the comprehensive regeneration of the national energy industry and the recovery of the social state. The attacks, therefore, have political objectives based on sabotage tactics against vital infrastructure for the full functioning of the country's economic structure.
These are methods that have already been practiced in the past by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in our territory, according to recent American journalistic reports .
In this way, the destabilization of Venezuelan society is sought, in a month marked by Christmas and popular celebrations. The interruption of services is intended to produce unrest and anxiety in the population, at a time when the economy is stabilizing and tending to growth.
The incidents have repercussions on core processes in the economic heart, and therefore on the strategic plans for the recovery of the industry and the national economy in general. The disruption of energy production processes has a political distinction, since it affects different domains, as the Vice President denounced:
"They had already attacked the Guri reservoir (where the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Power Plant is located), now they are attacking the vital raw material for thermoelectric plants: gas. In order to also harm oil production, the petrochemical sector; to damage the production of basic companies and affect, of course, the electric service, mainly in the east of the country."
The aim is to disrupt the energy supply and create a climate of socio-economic disorder, affecting industrial production, transport and the daily life of the population.
Furthermore, the attack on critical infrastructure such as gas pipelines and industrial production facilities would aim to erode the state's legitimacy and authority in the eyes of national and international investors, raising doubts about the security of the facilities. This would have a direct impact on losses for both PDVSA and the country in general.
Moreover, the incidents occurred during the Christmas season, in a country that celebrates these festivities with devotion, a period in which there is also a general relaxation of work conditions typical of the holidays.
Undermining confidence in the authorities and generating a climate of instability, just weeks before re-elected President Nicolás Maduro assumes a new presidential term before the National Assembly, is an important factor for analysis.
In the current political context, the attacks against PDVSA are experienced close to the date of assumption of the new presidential period, linked to the threats of mercenary invasion and coup d'état by Erik Prince with the campaign "Almost Venezuela" , the statements of María Corina Machado and Edmundo González during the last months of assuming the Presidency on January 10 and the possibility of manufactured protests to destabilize the sociopolitical climate.
Thus, a possible new phase of Machado's "until the end" next January is tangible with the accompaniment of sabotage tactics against critical infrastructures, in search of a picture of instability in different areas of the daily life of the Venezuelan population. It would be the continuation of the attacks against PDVSA in a framework of political destabilization, supported by foreign factors.
This is in the unlikely event that the State does not take measures to protect the security of the national energy industry. The deployment to repair the damage caused and the arrest of those responsible confirms that, in effect, the highest authorities are considering this and other scenarios. This is how Vice President Rodríguez concluded the press conference:
"We are monitoring each situation and you can be assured that together with the working class of the oil industry, Venezuela will continue on its path of good and guarantee all the essential and fundamental elements for national development and for the economic development of our people and their social happiness."
https://misionverdad.com/venezuela/el-s ... ntra-pdvsa
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