Venezuela

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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Thu Sep 20, 2018 2:33 pm

Maduro denounces that conspiracies continue to give coup in Venezuela
September 18, 2018 13:22

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The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, denounced on Tuesday new attempts of coups against the constitutionally elected government.

"We have a lot of intelligence information from another general who moves through the Caribbean, retired General Francisco Baez moves between Miami and the Dominican Republic, says he will give a coup in October (...). He is involved in all conspiracies, someday we will catch him and he will come here to pay for his misdeeds, "he denounced.

During a press conference with national and international media from the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, the head of state recalled that he constantly made allegations about conspiracies against him but they were dismissed.

"I denounced it but the same international press always talking badly about Maduro dismissed my complaint, gave me the information, find out who is Colonel Oswaldo Valentin García Palomo, is responsible for meetings of US authorities with Venezuelan military, is the financier, who coordinated from Bogotá, I have been denouncing him, I ask Interpol for his capture, he is also involved in the attempted assassination attempt on August 4, "he said.

The National leader also denounced Osman Alexis Delgado Tabosky, who serves as financiers of various destabilizing plans and lives in Florida. "He participated in the meeting links to kidnap me and kill me, he led the assassination attempt with drones on August 4."

Maduro reiterated that he had full knowledge of the plans against him thanks to the counterintelligence work in Venezuela. "Of course we knew and we know much more."

"The conspiracy continues, the conspiracy is permanent but next we have the moral strength of our FANB, they will continue dismantling any conspiracy, it is maintained from the power of the USA, many dollars from the US, from Colombia, the conspiracy is maintained but they crash with the moral and the combative capacity of our FANB ".

To conclude, the head of state said that the "handful of soldiers who betrayed and put themselves at the orders of Colombia and the US" do not represent the revolutionary morality of the Venezuelan military corps.

http://www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve/madu ... venezuela/
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:21 pm

Violent groups burn food store in Venezuela

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Since April, the right wing in Venezuela has promoted violent actions that have left 79 dead and more than a hundred injured. | Photo: @RMarcoTorres
Published June 30, 2017

The Venezuelan right continues with the vandalism actions aimed at destabilizing the Government of Nicolás Maduro.

On Thursday night, a group of violent associates of the Venezuelan right burned a state food store as part of the terrorist actions taken to destabilize the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Around 40 tons of food that would be distributed through the Food Market (Mercal) were burned. The state food network sells subsidized products to Venezuelan families.

Around 40 families will be affected after the burning of this collection center, which also serves 399 Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP), 278 schools, 31 Comprehensive Diagnostic Centers, three penitentiaries, a geriatric center, a Mission center Negra Hipolita and 52 feeding houses.

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Venezuelan right fire tons of subsidized food that was to be distributed by the State https://t.co/jkplgMC6cM # 30Jun pic.twitter.com/7G5trJz7zT
- teleSUR Venezuela (@teleSURvzla) June 30, 2017


According to the governor of Anzoátegui state, Nelson Moreno, two people leaked to the collection center and threw Molotov cocktails.

He also said that local security agencies and firefighters came to the place to smother the flames and recover the remaining 60 tons of food that were not burned.

Moreno said that these actions are part of the plan of extremist opposition sectors to sabotage the Constituent process and the management of the national president.

"They will not be able to stop the advance of the call that our President Nicolás Maduro has made to the National Constituent Assembly," he said.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/Grupos-v ... -0035.html

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"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Sat Sep 22, 2018 4:06 pm

The Chinese Hospital Ship arrives in Venezuela as part of the cooperation between both countries

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"Let's continue to strengthen our bonds of friendship and cooperation, for peace," said the Minister for the Defense of Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino López. | Photo: VTV
Published 22 September 2018 (39 minutes ago)

China and Venezuela will carry out an exchange of knowledge in the field of health.

On Saturday, the Chinese Hospital Ship of Peace (He Ping Fang Zhou) arrived at the port of La Guaria in Venezuela to carry out a health operation together with the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB).

"The first thing we must emphasize is name: it is a vessel for peace, and peace is made in the world, with ties of cooperation and diplomacy," said Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López.

The operation consists of an exchange of knowledge in the field of medicine and is part of the Combined Comprehensive Strategic Operation for the defense and sovereignty of the nation.

Also, the arrival of the vessel is part of the 28 cooperation agreements signed between Venezuela and China, and is scheduled to remain a week in the country.

"This is the result of all the impulse Nicolás Maduro has given to this relationship between the People's Republic of China and Venezuela," the minister stressed.

GJ @vladimirpadrino , AJ @CeballosIchaso and Gob García Carneiro, receive with honor and joy, our brothers of the People's Republic of China, after arriving to the homeland of Bolívar and Chávez, the Hospital Ship "Ark of Peace" of the Chinese Navy #StrategicDefensive Operation . pic.twitter.com/DZAvEdnakz

- CEOFANB (@ceofanb) September 22, 2018


"We applaud the reception of this vessel as a gesture of friendship and cooperation," he said, emphasizing that "the center of this visit is in the exchange of knowledge."

He added that "it is also a defensive operation, this vessel is part of an exercise of interventions in military hospitals in the country held this Saturday."

At the same time, he stressed that Venezuela should also deepen military relations with China and that it will soon pay a visit to the Asian giant.

The Hospital Ship arrived at the Venezuelan Territorial Sea escorted by the Oceanic Patrol Carrier PO13 Yekuana and Light Attack Aircraft K8W, according to the FANB.

As part of the welcome, the girls of Danzas Naiguata made a presentation of Creole pieces.

#ENFOTOS | #Venezuela and #China celebrate the arrival at La Guaira Port of the "Arca de la Paz" Hospital Ship from #Chin , a Combined Comprehensive Strategic Operation between both nations pic.twitter.com/6mcNcqQsti

- teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) September 22, 2018




The Ark of Peace has been making visits to various countries. It is a medical platform that provides free services around the world.



Within the framework of the planning of the # OperacionEstratégicaDefensiv ; AJ @CeballosIchaso meets with the General Staff and Task Force, in order to dictate strategic guidelines for the development of the Naval Operation of exchange of knowledge with China. # 13AniversarioDelCEOFANB pic.twitter.com/XT09SlYytE

- CEOFANB (@ceofanb) September 22, 2018




On July 13, the Operational Strategic Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (Ceofanb), reported a meeting with the commission of the Hospital Ship of the People's Republic of China to coordinate details of the Combined Operation.

Also, the Simón Bolívar School Ship will arrive at the port of La Guaira in its XXX Cruise of Instruction abroad Velas Latinoamérica 2018.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/buque-ch ... -0009.html

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The Chinese Century is happening and I welcome it.
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Fri Sep 28, 2018 2:24 pm

Maduro in NY: Harlem Stands with Venezuela as US Allies Appeal to ICC
Venezuela also received the backing of a number of governments who denounced the latest round of sanctions from the Trump administration.

By Paul Dobson
Sep 27th 2018 at 5.36pm

https://venezuelanalysis.com/NZTB

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel with Baptist singers of the Riverside Church in Harlem, New York where they paid a surprise visit after the UN General Assembly session (El Mundo).

Merida, September 27, 2018 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made a surprise visit to the emblematic Riverside Church in Harlem, New York, upon culminating his official duties at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Wednesday.

The detour was made along with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, and both men spoke at a solidarity event held at the Baptist church.

Riverside has a rich history of progressive struggle, and has been the site of visits from prominent world leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro over the years. The church is also famous for holding civil rights, anti-nuclear, and peace protests, and for organising the poor, largely African-American and Latino community of Harlem. It was at this church that Martin Luther King Jr. declared his opposition to the Vietnam War in 1967.

Maduro’s participation in New York had earlier been cast into doubt when he cited security concerns over travelling to the USA. Nevertheless, he made the journey for the first time since 2015, only to be greeted by the announcement of further sanctions by the US Treasury Department and talk of a military uprising by US President Donald Trump. His presence was, though, greatly appreciated by the 2000 strong Harlem crowd.

“We arrived this afternoon in New York,” he told the Harlem community. “I took the decision to come at the last minute, I really wanted to come for two reasons: firstly, to bring the truth of the Venezuelan people to the UN, and secondly, I really wanted to come back to this historic cathedral of Harlem.”

Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, also made a habit of escaping from diplomatic duties to prioritise visits to poor US communities, a strategy which Maduro adopted from the outset on his first visit to the US as president in 2014, when he visited the Bronx.

For his part, Cuban President Diaz-Canel told the Harlem crowd that he had come “to ratify solidarity and the unwavering commitment [of the Cuban people] to justice and to achieve a better world which is, indeed, possible.”

“Cooperating with exploited people in other countries is always a political principle and a duty of revolutionaries,” he went on to state, quoting Cuban ex-President Fidel Castro.

“In this church incredible things have taken place (…), here we are amongst friends, (...) Venezuela and Cuba, together receiving the love of the US people as friends,” Diaz-Canel continued.

World leaders stand with Venezuela at UNGA
Apart from the support of his Cuban ally and the people of Harlem, Maduro also received the backing of a series of world leaders who spoke out in the UNGA against the latest US sanctions and threats.

Bolivian President Evo Morales called on the Trump administration to “withdraw the illegal and unilateral measures,” and abandon any pretension of a military intervention, stressing that “Venezuelans should sort out Venezuela’s problems.”

Speaking from New York, China’s Foreign Minister Geng Shuang also criticised Washington’s actions, stating that “each country has the right to choose their own path of development and their own social system.”

For his part, El Salvadorian President Salvador Sanchez Ceren also objected to US sabre-rattling, telling world leaders that “We reject any threat from foreign powers of military intervention.”

At parallel meetings, the governments of Russia and Iran also voiced support for Venezuela, with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declaring that “we are ready to offer [Venezuela] complete assistance.”

Likewise, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, told press that “The people of Iran and Venezuela have continuously been under the aggression and sanctions of the United States”.

Right wing governments look to further isolate Caracas
Washington’s allies were also active in New York, attempting to further isolate Caracas and undermine Maduro’s democratic credentials.

Representatives from five Latin American nations, alongside Canada, handed in a formal request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Venezuelan government on possible crimes against humanity, including murder and torture.

The document was signed by the right wing governments of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, and Canada, and accompanied by an Organisation of American States report which Venezuelan authorities have described as “propaganda” and “a grotesque media farce”.

The lack of more signatures to the petition can, though, be considered a victory for Caracas. The 17 member Lima Group has led the charge against Venezuela in the international arena, and it remains unclear why 11 of its members declined to join the petition.

Other leading opposition figures were also vocal yesterday, with Venezuela's ousted Attorney General, Luisa Ortega, who is fleeing corruption charges in Colombia, unsuccessfully calling on the Trump administration to arrest Maduro while he was in New York. A handful of Venezuelan opposition supporters also protested outside the UN building as the Venezuelan President spoke.

Washington’s allies did, however, have more success in Geneva, where the UN’s Human Rights Council passed a resolution put forward by US allies Wednesday which urged Venezuela to accept foreign-led humanitarian aid, something Caracas has repeatedly claimed is not needed, denouncing the narrative of a “humanitarian crisis” as a pretext for a foreign intervention. Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN, Jorge Valero, described the resolution as “the start of an escalation of interventionism.”

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14074
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Wed Oct 17, 2018 3:30 pm

Venezuela will eliminate the use of the dollar in its official banking system
October 16, 2018

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The Vice President of the Economic Area of ​​Venezuela, Tareck El Aissami, talks about the Recovery and Economic Growth Program. Photo: Twitter / @PresidencialVen.

At the beginning of the new stage of the Recovery and Economic Growth Program of Venezuela, the use of the euro, the yuan and other convertible currencies will be favored, except for the dollar, the vice president of the Economic Area of ​​that nation, Tareck El Aissami, reported Tuesday.

The official explained that the most recent sanctions by the US government against the country "block the possibility of continuing to trade in the Venezuelan exchange market with the dollar."

It is an "illegal, arbitrary prohibition contrary to international law," he added.

Economic measures announced:
Request to start a new scheme for the banking correspondent of the public system, of which advances have already been made in the area of ​​commercial operations with countries in Asia and Europe.
The national banking system will be incorporated into the exchange market system Dicom.
A resolution was issued to raise the legal reserve from 31 percent to 40 percent, "to prevent the sovereign bolivar from ending up in the speculative market."
Two billion euros will go to the national exchange market. For the productive sectors the State will offer currencies between November and December.
They will request the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) the approval of a law to penalize those people or organizations that smuggle Venezuelan banknotes to Colombia.

http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2018/ ... 8dU5HtKiM8

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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Thu Oct 25, 2018 2:15 pm

US VP Pence’s Accusations of Venezuelan Financing of Migrant Caravan Disproved
On-the-ground journalists have classed the accusations as “completely ridiculous” and a lie, showing that the migrants “don’t have a dollar to even pay for a bottle of water.”

By Paul Dobson
Oct 24th 2018 at 2.48pm

https://venezuelanalysis.com/NZc6

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The migrants have marched through Guatemala and are now in Mexico. (Reuters/EP)

Merida, October 24, 2018 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Journalists have joined Venezuela officials in ridiculing allegations made on Tuesday by US Vice President Mike Pence that Venezuela is financing the migrant caravan traversing Central America en route to the Mexican-US border.

Pence, in an interview with the Washington Post, claimed that US-allied Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez had told him that the 7000-strong migrant march is “organized by leftist groups in Honduras, financed by Venezuela, and sent north to challenge our sovereignty and challenge our border.”

His accusations were backed up by US ex-Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who claimed that “Honduran politicians allied with Venezuelan & Cuban socialist dictators are encouraging the caravan to undermine US-friendly gov’t of Hernandez.”

Neither Pence nor Haley provided any evidence for their claims. Pence also echoed US President Trump’s remarks that there are Middle Eastern “terrorists” within the mass of migrants.

Trump has vowed to “do whatever we have to,” including using the US military, to stop the migrants from “violating” US territory. He has also recently cut billions of dollars of funding to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to punish them for failing to detain the march.

Speaking on the ground from the march, which currently finds itself en route to Mapastepec, Mexico, after a day’s rest in Huixtla close to the Mexican-Guatemalan border, Mexican journalist Jorge Ramos resolutely disproved Pence’s accusations. Ramos pointed out that the awful material conditions of the migrants prove that no external financing, let alone government backing, exists.

“It is ridiculous, completely ridiculous. I have spent the last 48 hours with these immigrants and they don’t have a single dollar. If they are being financed, I don’t see it, because they have nothing. There is no financing, and it’s not from Nicolas Maduro. The explanation is very simple; they are here due to violence and extreme poverty,” he reported.

“[Pence] is lying. There is no proof. (…) Here people don’t have a dollar to even pay for a bottle of water. This is a lie which the White House is saying maybe for political motives, but the reality here is not that [of external government backed financing],” he went on to claim.

Ramos also stated that he saw no-one from the Middle East, challenging Trump to “speak the truth and not create fear.”

Testimony from the immigrants confirmed that motives behind the 3500km-long procession include the search for a better quality of life and employment, as well as fleeing violence, crime, and extreme poverty. No interviewed migrants mentioned political motives or any connection to Venezuela.

Likewise, the man accused by the Honduran government of organising the march, Bartolo Fuentes, a leftist journalist and migrant rights activist from the Central American country, has since clarified that the procession was self-organised through social media.

He also stated that the impoverished Hondurans wanted to leave en masse to protect themselves from organised crime and that there were no political motives behind the procession. He also blames the Honduran and US governments of generating “fictitious excuses” to shift the blame from the poverty which their policies have created in the region.

Venezuelan authorities have also responded to the accusations, with National Constituent Assembly (ANC) President Diosdado Cabello stating that “Imperialist cynicism has no limits and their lackeys repeat [their accusations] like parrots. They are blaming us for everything.”

He also went on to criticise the visit of Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie to Peru, allegedly to inspect the conditions of the Venezuelan immigrants there, claiming that the move was concocted to distract attention away from the Honduran Caravan. Jolie’s visit was sponsored by the United Nations and NATO.

“Lights, camera, action: Angelina Jolie appears to give all of her ‘love’ to the caravan of Venezuelans in Peru, sorry, the Venezuelan diaspora. Such opportune news for the right wing press which don’t talk about the Central American migrants and the ‘love’ which they will receive when they get to the US,” Cabello added.

Whilst President Maduro is yet to respond to Pence’s accusations, he has previously called on the US government to open their border and “respect” the migrants.

Speaking Saturday, he also expressed his “pain” at what is happening, assigning blame to “capitalism” for creating the conditions which force citizens to migrate in such large numbers.

ANC Vice President, Tania Diaz, also showed solidarity with the migrants Wednesday, pointing out the hypocrisy between the media coverage of the migrant caravan and the Venezuelan migratory situation. Caracas has repeatedly claimed that a narrative of migratory humanitarian crisis is being used to justify a foreign intervention in the country.

“In Central America they don’t say ‘humanitarian crisis, massive exodus, catastrophe, diaspora’. There, it is a ‘caravan’, as if it were a party, and they are thousands which are fleeing poverty, violence, a lack of opportunities, hope, and the US government is closing the door to them.”

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Path from San Pedro Sula, in Honduras, to the US-Mexican border. (Archive)

The migrant procession began in San Pedro Sula, Honduras October 13 with around 1000 people. It has since swelled to over 7,125 according to UN data. They are currently 2,734 kilometres short of El Paso, their final destination (on the US-Mexico border), which is approximately 555 walking hours away. It is unclear when the caravan is expected to arrive, and whether Mexican and US authorities will allow them to achieve their objective. Mexico is due to see a change in president this December 1, with the leftist Lopez Obrador taking over from US-backed Pena Nieto.

Since leaving Honduras, the migrants have crossed Guatemala, attracting interest from those in similar conditions who have joined the march. After a brief standoff with Mexican police on the Mexico-Guatemala border, they managed to cross into Mexico. A second, 1000-strong Caravan set off from Guatemala Tuesday, looking to join the first en route in Mexico.

Honduras has been one of the staunchest US allies in Latin America since 2009, when a US-instigated coup ousted then-president Manuel Zelaya. The country since has also been marred by violence and instability, as well as seeing a dive into poverty, with social leaders being targeted in political assassinations.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14114
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Mon Oct 29, 2018 5:36 pm

Why the Media Are Giving a Free Pass to Venezuela’s Neo-Fascist Creeps
Roberto Lovato interviews intellectual heavyweight Luis García Britto about the role of the media in the current conflict in Venezuela.
By Roberto LovatoTwitter APRIL 1, 2014
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Luis-García-Britto
Luis García Britto (Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)

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The novelist, essayist, historian and playwright Luis Britto García is a titan of Latin American literature and thought, though he’s not nearly as well known on this side of the cultural border between “America” the country and América the continent. Many consider this prize-winning author the most important writer and intellectual in Venezuela. In addition to his novels and many other books on language, culture and politics, Britto García has written extensively on the role of the media in Venezuelan politics. Last month, Nation contributor Roberto Lovato met with Britto García, 73, in his home in Caracas to talk about the role of the media in the current conflict.

Roberto Lovato: You’ve written a lot about the media and politics in Venezuela. How are the media behaving in the current conflict?

Luis Britto García: The current situation in Venezuela has a historical context that must be understood. During the previous coup attempt, in 2002, the television networks in particular played a determining role in what amounted to a media coup. The media themselves became political actors, something I’ve documented in my book Media Dictatorship [2012]. Just consider, for example, how the Carmona decree—in which the coup leaders essentially gutted the Constitution—was signed by representatives of the major media. This same media also edited out images, stories and facts that didn’t fit their narrative. During the coup, the television crews even showed up before the repressive acts were performed by the coup leaders.

And how are things similar or different today?

In this current coup attempt, the television networks have adopted a different tone, but the radio and social media and international press are playing a leading role, using images of repression in Egypt, Syria, the United States and other countries to depict supposed repression in Venezuela. Look, for example, how a few hundred violent students come to symbolize “students,” “youth” and “the country.”

Are you saying images of rock-throwing, tire-burning youth are inaccurate or fake?

No. I’m saying we’re a country of 29 million inhabitants. I’m saying that in Venezuela, nine and a half million Venezuelans are studying. Of these, more than 2.5 million are in higher education. What does that mean? That almost one in ten Venezuelans are in higher education. The overwhelming majority of them are in perpetually free institutions. This whole image that the media try to convey of a “student rebellion,” which [jailed opposition leader] Leopoldo López tries to project—the image that all youth are against the government, against [President Nicolás] Maduro, against Bolivarianism—is absolutely false. Yes, clearly there are young people who are against the government, for various reasons. We’re a free country, and people can think however they like. But it’s just a fraction, a small minority of the entire student population—something the international media aren’t reporting.

And what else do you see being edited out of the current Venezuela story in the media?

There’s an important split in the right that is also not being reported. To begin with, they’ve lost eighteen of the last nineteen major elections—and they’ve protested all of them, except the single referendum that they won. It’s also important to point out that López is being projected as the latest in a long line of messiahs of the right, even though he doesn’t even pull together the vast majority of the [voters] of the right. The right supported [former presidential candidate Henrique] Capriles Radonski in three elections, and he lost all of them. In the internal elections of the right, López ended up in third place; I think he got something like 2 percent of eligible voters. So, like I told you, the right wing in Venezuela is very divided. It plays with a messiah who’s going to hand them an instant paradise, and if he doesn’t do it, they become disillusioned, disenchanted with him, which is precisely what will happen with López, who has a strong rift with Capriles. López and his ally, María Corina Machado, another extreme right-winger, have chosen the option of desperate street violence. Capriles, meanwhile, has cautioned against “generating false expectations of change through street actions.”

So how did Capriles and López come to prominence?

There was a collapse of the traditional parties. From this void emerged the idea of founding another right-wing party. Study the rise of Capriles, López and their right-wing parties, and you see how weird politics in Venezuela are.

What do you mean?

Before becoming leaders of the right, López and Capriles spent part of their youth in an almost comical group called “Tradition, Family and Property.” It was a fanatical fascist group, somewhere between a religious and a political organization. They used to stand out on street corners of urban neighborhoods with large Superman-style red capes, berets, things like that. It was this ultra-super-reactionary, right-wing group. Yes, red-caped, like Superman! From there, they became the right-wing Primero Justicia [Justice First] party, which arose out of a television show begun by a lawyer named Julio Borges [now leader of Primero Justicia].

A television show? You mean that Primero Justicia, one of the most important parties of the right and a party that WikiLeaks cables tell us was partly funded for more than a decade by the United States through the National Endowment for Democracy, actually started thanks to a TV show?

Yes. Out of nowhere, all of the sudden Borges has a show on television that’s called Justice for All. It was a show where he played the role of a justice of the peace, and plaintiffs were brought before him. These are often neighbors suing each other, and he tries to offer a sort of charismatic mediation of disputes. [In the show they] had the litigants pass through a narrow hallway so that they would run into each other, getting into fights and hitting each other.

Sounds like court shows in the United States.

Yes, it’s copied from reality shows in the United States. The curious thing, however, is that this program was converted into a political party under the leadership of Julio Borges. From Justice for All, Borges and his allies created Primero Justicia. The right needed something like a political right wing, because the social democratic and the social Christian parties that have traditionally dominated Venezuelan politics were so discredited that they didn’t constitute a force any longer. This new party was developed on one side by Capriles, and on the other side by López. So, the media also had a role in helping to create the current leaders and splits in the right.

Are you saying that the strategy and tactics of the right have an element of political and media theater?

In a way. Look at the violent actions like grabbing and holding middle-class people prisoners in neighborhoods with barricades called guarimbas. I’ve never understood it. This “strategy” was “invented” by a Cuban-Venezuelan named Robert Alonso, brother of a Hollywood actress, Maria Conchita Alonso, who did a movie with Schwarzenegger. Mr. Alonso invented the guarimba as a way for a fractious minority to gain media attention by shutting off the street. They chuck trash or debris or waste so that their neighbors can’t get in our out. It gets media attention, but also immobilizes the right, a real political marvel. The guarimberos are cutting themselves off from the very people who could support the right. You hear the complaints, but not in the news reports. So what are you thinking, shutting down, burning down your own neighborhoods?

What do you think will happen?

We’ve seen a lot of this before. The cameras like the guarimbas, but, looked at from within the country, it’s a ludicrous political action. Insane. They tried this out before, in 2004, and it failed. They’ve had political messiahs like Leopoldo López, most of whom have been forgotten. You saw the future in the recent Carnaval celebrations. The right called for a boycott of Carnaval. The poor rejected their call and filled the beaches and the streets with their celebrations. Yet again, the international media didn’t take notice. The Colombian novelist William Ospina says that in the entire world, the rich celebrate and the poor protest. Only in Venezuela do the poor celebrate and the rich protest.

https://www.thenation.com/article/why-m ... st-creeps/

Not too bad from this source, given it's limited scope.
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:05 am

Venezuelan Opposition Celebrates Far-Right Bolsonaro Victory in Brazil, Calls for Intervention
The result sparked deep concern among Chavista sectors fearing a possible military escalation from the ex-military man, whom they describe as a “neo-fascist.”

By Paul Dobson
Oct 29th 2018 at 9.08pm
https://venezuelanalysis.com/NZct

Image
President-elect Jair Bolsonaro (center to left) poses with military police in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Cidade de Deus. Bolsonaro has pledged to give police free reign in Brazil's poorest areas in the name of fighting crime. (Facebook)

Merida, October 29, 2018 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s opposition has welcomed the victory of ultra-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential elections Sunday, calling on the new president-elect to intervene in Venezuela in line with their political goals.

Bolsonaro won the second round with 55 percent despite nearly 10 percent of ballots being marked null or void. Abstention was 22 percent, one point higher than the first round.

Following the controversial jailing and political barring of leftist frontrunner Lula da Silva on unfounded corruption charges, previously obscure nine-term congressman Bolsonaro soared to popularity in recent months, campaigning on an outsider platform of social conservatism, anti-corruption, and hardline anti-crime policies. Widely considered a “neo-fascist,” the far-right former army captain has repeatedly expressed nostalgia for Brazil’s military dictatorship, pledging to “cleanse” the country of leftists among numerous other inflammatory racist, sexist, and homophobic statements. His campaign team has also hinted at military action against Venezuela, raising concerns that Brazil could be used as a launchpad for a US-led strike on Caracas.

After the announcement of Sunday’s results the ex-president of Venezuela’s National Assembly and leader of the hard-right First Justice party, Julio Borges, took to Twitter to congratulate Bolsonaro, as well as to “invite him to work for the rescuing of democracy in Venezuela.” Borges is currently a fugitive of the Venezuelan justice system in Colombia on charges of conspiracy and alleged masterminding of the August drone terrorist attack against President Maduro.

To the right of First Justice, the Popular Will party also welcomed Bolsonaro’s victory, tweeting that they hope to “count on your struggle to rescue liberty and democracy in Venezuela.”

“We hope that your government will contribute to promoting peace and liberty in all of the countries in the region and in rescuing democracy in Venezuela,” declared Popular Will leading member Lilian Tintori.

For his part, ex-Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, another fugitive currently based in Spain, likewise praised Bolsonaro as “an ally to confront the government.”

The opposition leaders’ comments mirrored those of Organisation of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro, himself a vociferous opponent of Venezuela, who tweeted his support for Bolsonaro’s “message of truth and peace.”

“We congratulate President-elect Jair Bolsonaro and aplaude his message of truth and peace. Count on the commitment of the Secretary General of the OAS to work together for democracy, human rights, security and development in the region,” he declared.

US President Donald Trump was also quick to place a congratulatory phone call to Bolsonaro, pledging joint military cooperation with Brasilia.

Following his electoral victory, Bolsonaro also reaffirmed his commitment to Washington and against Venezuela and Cuba, proclaiming, “We will stop praising murderous dictatorships, and we will stop scorning or even attacking important democracies like the USA, Israel and Italy.”
Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
Had a very good conversation with the newly elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who won his race by a substantial margin. We agreed that Brazil and the United States will work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else! Excellent call, wished him congrats!

8:28 AM - Oct 29, 2018
For its part, the Venezuelan government issued a formal statement congratulating Bolsonaro and calling on him to “retake diplomatic relations based on respect, harmony, progress, and regional integration for the wellbeing of our peoples.” The Venezuelan-Brazilian border has turned increasingly hostile over recent months following increasing migratory traffic, xenophobic violence by Brazilian communities, and Brasilia’s militarisation of the area.

Meanwhile, Venezuela leftist organizations expressed alarm at the election result, with many leaders and social movements wasting no time in evaluating its potential implications for the country.

One of Venezuela’s leading campesino groups, the Bolivar-Zamora Revolutionary Current (CRBZ), issued a statement decrying the result as “a true right hook to progressive and transforming processes in our continent.”

“[The outcome] obliges the Left to evaluate very seriously the causes and reasons… the ultra right was able to capitalise on the deep rejection of corruption [in Brazil] which has been embodied by a perverted political class… [with the previously ruling] Workers’ Party converting itself into a symbol of this perversion,”the CRBZ continued.

International relations secretary of the Venezuelan Communist Party, Carolus Wimmer, similarly proposed that non-structural populist policies of the Workers’ Party must be factored into explaining the result. “We must retake class-based struggle… the ascension of fascism in an emerging economy (...) marks the start of a deepening of the class struggle in our continent,” he argued.

He also underlined the role of the United States in Bolsonaro’s victory, recalling that Steve Bannon, ex-White House strategist, played “an important role in the campaigning and positioning of Bolsonaro as the leader of the discontent.”

Venezuelan revolutionary intellectual Luis Britto Garcia expressed concern that the election result will spell a heightened military threat against Venezuela, stressing “We can’t carry on without border controls... This new context forces us to assume an extreme rethink of security and national defence… we must be conscious of the strategic doctrines which look to divide Venezuela.”

Chavista economist and ex-Finance Minister Luis Salas, however, took a less pesimistic position, suggesting that “the Left in general and in Latin America in general tends to have a catastrophic and depressive reading of history (…) Bolsonaro’s triumph is a step backwards, without a doubt, and there is great danger, but it is not the end of the world nor of history.”

Edited and with additional reporting by Lucas Koerner from Caracas.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14121

bolding added. As bad as it is, someone is keeping their head.
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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:00 pm

Bank of England Refusing Venezuelan Request to Return $550 Mln in Gold –

17:58 07.11.2018Get short URL896151
Earlier, Caracas indicated that it was looking to repatriate some 14 tons of gold bars back from the UK out of concern that the bullion may be affected by harsh US sanctions against the Latin American country.

The Bank of England is refusing to release Venezuela's gold bars, worth about $550 million or £420 million, back to Caracas, with British officials understood to have referred to "standard" anti-money laundering measures, The Times reports, citing unnamed sources.

"There are concerns that Mr. [Nicolas] Maduro may seize the gold, which is owned by the state, and sell it for personal gain," the newspaper explains.

On Tuesday, two informed sources told Reuters that the Venezuelan government has been trying to move its gold from Bank of England vaults back to Venezuela for nearly two months, with the shipment thought to be held up over difficulties in obtaining insurance.


Washington imposed new restrictions against Venezuela last week targeting the country's gold exports, accusing the Maduro government of "looting" Venezuela's stocks of the precious metals amid the country's economic crisis. The sanctions, which target US individuals and companies trading in Venezuelan gold, was announced by US National Security Advisor John Bolton last week, with Bolton also branding Caracas a member of a "troika of tyranny" along with Cuba and Nicaragua.
Venezuela has made a concerted effort to become a major gold exporter, and is engaged in certifying some 32 gold fields, and building 54 processing plants in a bid to become what Maduro said would be "the second largest gold reserve on Earth."

The Venezuelan government has made an effort to reduce dependence on US-led or controlled financial institutions and instruments, including the dollar, and committed last month to trading in euros, yuan and "other convertible currencies" amid US restrictions.

In recent years, Venezuela has faced an acute economic crisis accompanied by hyperinflation, the devaluation of its currency, the bolivar, and goods shortages in shops, with the crisis caused by crippling US restrictions as well as mismanagement on the part of state oil company PDSVA. Winning a second term in office in May 2018, Maduro promised to make economic recovery one of the government's top priorities. Amid the difficult situation facing his country, Maduro has repeatedly accused the US and Colombia of plotting to overthrow the Venezuelan government in an invasion or coup.

https://sputniknews.com/world/201811071 ... shortening

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Re: Venezuela

Post by blindpig » Sat Nov 24, 2018 2:04 pm

Alina Foods under workers control: a good example to follow
Posted on: November 8, 2018 By Clash of Classes

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In the community of Caño Tigre, municipality of Zea of ​​Mérida state, we find one of the emblems of struggle and worker determination, most significant of the Andean region of Venezuela. With more than 100 direct workers and more than 100 indirect employees, the Alina Foods facilities operate, since 2015, under the control and management of the workers themselves.

The Alina Foods factory, specialized in the production and packaging of snack products (fried potato chips, platanitos, curled, among others) was closed by the employer, belonging to the Colombian business group Yupi, on May 14, 2015. The allegation to justify this action was the typical "insufficiency in the allocation of foreign currency for the importation of raw material".

With the sudden news of liquidation of the payroll, the feeling of uncertainty that invaded the workers, soon became combatibility and temper. On Sunday May 16, 2015, the workers, assembled in assembly, decided to initiate the legal process to request the order of temporary occupation and reactivation of the plant, which was issued in October of the same year, although it was finally delivered in January 2016 Since then, avoiding lots of inherent difficulties in production, as well as innumerable bureaucratic obstacles and outrages; the workers of Alina Foods have taken the reins of an operative company and with prospects of opening new lines, without guardianship of bosses and bureaucrats.

After an unscheduled maneuver with the workers, the former governor of Mérida, Alexis Ramiréz, signed a decree of expropriation of Alina Foods in favor of the regional entity, which later fell into the hands of the reactionary opposition in January of this year. Currently, the workers of this company are fighting to have this expropriation decree modified and transferred from the government in their favor. These partners have not closed to allow state participation, but have made it clear on multiple occasions that the operational control of the factory must remain under the leadership of the workers.

From Struggle of Classes we express all our solidarity and unrestricted support to this worthy and exemplary struggle.

https://luchadeclases.org.ve/?p=6784

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"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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