�鶹��ý - Hugo Chavez

Venezuela: Left opposition forms alliance to ‘recuperate democracy and sovereignty’

Atenea Jiménez — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:15:00 +1100

Federico Fuentes sat down with Venezuelan sociologist Atenea Jiménez, co-founder of the Alliance for Sovereignty and Democracy, which is bringing together Venezuelan left-wing movements and activists.

Venezuela: Maduro’s ‘neoliberalism with patrimonialist characteristics’

Malfred Gerig — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:00:00 +1100

�鶹��ý’s Federico Fuentes sat down with Malfred Gerig, a sociologist from the Central University of Venezuela, to discuss what he calls Maduro’s “neoliberalism with patrimonialist characteristics”. This is the final in a three-part interview.

The Maduro government and Venezuela’s ‘Long Depression’

Malfred Gerig — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 13:15:00 +1100

In the second of a three-part interview, �鶹��ý’s Federico Fuentes sat down with sociologist Malfred Gerig to discuss Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s economic policy response to what he terms the country’s “Long Depression”.

Imperialist sanctions and Venezuela’s ‘Long Depression’

Malfred Gerig — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 23:15:00 +1100

Federico Fuentes sat down with sociologist Malfred Gerig from the Central University of Venezuela to discuss the United States’ sanctions on Venezuela in the context of the country’s “Long Depression”.

Anti-US imperialism and Maduro’s Venezuela

Steve Ellner — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:30:00 +1100

In the second part of our interview, Steve Ellner, Associate Managing Editor of Latin American Perspectives and a retired professor of the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela, speaks to Federico Fuentes about opposition to United States imperialism and the left’s appraisal of the Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela.

Prioritising the struggle against US imperialism

Steve Ellner — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 11:45:00 +1100

Steve Ellner, Associate Managing Editor of Latin American Perspectives and a retired professor of the Universidad de Oriente in Venezuela, speaks to Federico Fuentes about the need to prioritise the struggle against United States imperialism and the challenges for international solidarity.

Venezuela: ‘The left needs to take a stand against Maduro’s authoritarian drift’

Atenea Jiménez — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 11:15:00 +1100

Michael Karrer spoke to Atenea Jiménez, a sociologist and founder of the National Network of Commune Activists and the Campesino University of Venezuela Argimiro Gabaldón, about the situation following Venezuela’s July 28 elections.

Venezuela: How has people’s power fared under Maduro?

Gerardo Rojas — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:45:00 +1000

In part two of our interview, �鶹��ý’s Federico Fuentes speaks to community organiser and Chavista activist Gerardo Rojas about the current state of community organising in the country under the combined impacts of sanctions, opposition political violence and the government’s shift away from promoting people’s participation.

Venezuela: ‘At stake is not just democracy but Chavismo’s future’

Gerardo Rojas — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 11:30:00 +1000

Federico Fuentes spoke to community organiser and Chavista activist Gerardo Rojas on September 4, about why we might be witnessing the Nicolás Maduro government’s final break with the Bolivarian process of radical change initiated by former president Hugo Chávez.

Hugo Chavez’ legacy commemorated

Chris Slee — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 12:45:00 +1100

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was a leader for Venezuela, Latin America and the whole world, a meeting to mark 10 years since his death, was told. Chris Slee reports.

Venezuela: Thirty years since the seeds of the Bolivarian Revolution were planted

Andreína Chávez Alava — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 15:15:00 +1100

Hugo Chávez broke into Venezuela's political scene 30 years ago at the head of a civilian-military rebellion. Andreína Chávez Alava takes a look at the roots of the Bolivarian Revolution.

Venezuela: US sanctions leave millions without water

Susan Price — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 11:00:00 +1000

On May 26, journalists from the Real News Network (RNN) interviewed residents and local representatives from the barrios in Caracas about the impact of US sanctions on critical water supplies.

Venezuela: Why is Maduro still in power?

Federico Fuentes — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 18:30:00 +1100

Forget about the right-wing opposition and its self-proclaimed “interim president” Juan Guaidó — the fate of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro will be decided by the political movement forged under his predecessor, writes Federico Fuentes.

Venezuela: Despite the crisis, Chavez’s legacy endures

Federico Fuentes — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 16:00:00 +1100

Given the media barrage surrounding Venezuela’s “humanitarian crisis”, recent tensions on the Venezuela-Colombia border, and talks of “military options” and coup attempts, it was hard to know what to expect on returning to the country for the first time in five years, writes Federico Fuentes.

Venezuelans: 'We want to resolve our problems by ourselves'

Federico Fuentes — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 15:00:00 +1100

In early March, �鶹��ý Weekly's Federico Fuentes travelled to Venezuela as part of a fact-finding mission. He visited Caracas’s poorer neighbourhoods, rural and border states to hear from those voices deliberated excluded from the media discussion on Venezuela.

‘Grand alliance’ threatens Venezuela

Barry Sheppard — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 17:00:00 +1100

Capitalist party politics in the United States remains in turmoil. Republicans and Democrats are at each other’s throats. Factionalism exists in both parties. Despite this situation, Democrats and Republicans have common cause in support of the Washington-organised attempt to overthrow the government led by Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, writes Barry Sheppard.

John Pilger: The war on Venezuela is built on lies

John Pilger — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 10:45:00 +1100

A war has been declared on Venezuela, of which the truth is "too difficult" to report, writes John Pilger.

Gaza rallies for Venezuela to oppose US coup

Ramzy Baroud — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 16:00:00 +1100

Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of besieged Gaza on January 29 to show their support of the democratically-elected government of Venezuela and it’s legitimate leader, President Nicolas Maduro.

South America: Israel’s massacre in Gaza denounced, support for BDS grows

Federico Fuentes — Thu, 17 May 2018 16:30:00 +1000

Voices from across South America have denounced Israel’s massacre of more than 50 Palestinians on May 14 and its ongoing repression of protesters participating in the Great March of Return that began in Gaza on March 30.

They have also condemned the United States’ decision to move its Embassy to Jerusalem and pledged support to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid.

Venezuela: Rural communities organise to confront economic crisis

Pacha Guzman — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 17:30:00 +1000

While the voices of Venezuela's right-wing opposition are continuously amplified by the corporate media, rarely are the voices of grassroots activists heard. �鶹��ý Weekly’s Federico Fuentes spoke to Pacha Catalina Guzman, a leading activist with Venezuela’s largest peasant-based organisation, the Ezequiel Zamora National Campesino Front (FNCEZ), to get her view on the current economic crisis and how rural communities are organising to deal with the situation.

Venezuela: Building computers for liberation

Coral Wynter — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 11:00:00 +1100

The Canaima Industries factory in Caracas is the assembly point for computers that are given to students for free across Venezuela. Its name comes from the huge Canaima National Park in the south of Venezuela, home to extraordinary landscapes and the highest waterfall in the world, Angel Falls.

We visited the small computer factory, located in the middle of a military base in the east of the capital, as part of the international solidarity delegation organised by Venezuela Analysis in August.

Venezuela’s hidden rural revolution

Coral Wynter — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 11:00:00 +1100

The Agricultural Social Production Unit (UPSA) Caquetios, located in Cabudare, in Palavecino municipality, Lara state, is run by the Brazilian Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST). A campesino organisation, the MST shares similar objectives to those of former president Hugo Chavez and the pro-poor Bolivarian Revolution he led – in particular, land collectivisation as the best way to grow food and put an end to rural inequality.

In 2006, the MST was invited to Venezuela to take over a 40-hectare estate as part of Chavez’s attempt to transform Venezuela’s countryside. Since then, the group has been joined by several Venezuelan farmers, with both groups learning new experiences from each other.

Venezuela: Chavez’s life commemorated amid new struggles

Coral Wynter — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 10:00:00 +1000

Travelling past El Calvario Park, just a few blocks from the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, we see a familiar image: an outline of late former president Hugo Chavez’s eyes, painted across several stairs.

This image can be seen all over Caracas. The government of President Nicholas Maduro has converted it into a recognisable trademark, much like the iconic image of Che Guevara that is splashed across T-shirts, flags and walls the world over.

Chavismo’s hidden victory: a new twist in Latin America’s Pink Tide

Luis Angosto-Ferrandez — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 10:00:00 +1000

In January last year, Henry Ramos Allup, president of the then newly-installed Venezuelan parliament, hastened to make a demonstration of institutional power. The opposition bloc had obtained a strong victory in the 2015 legislative elections and the veteran political leader of Democratic Action (AD) was probably thinking that Venezuela would soon follow Argentina’s suit and do away with its leftist government.

Why Venezuela needs our solidarity

Federico Fuentes — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 10:00:00 +1000

Opposition groups in Venezuela are currently engaged in a campaign to overthrow the democratically-elected government of President Nicolas Maduro.

Portrayed by the media as a peaceful, democratic movement, it is clear that what Venezuela is experiencing is a right-wing destabilisation campaign that not only seeks to remove Maduro but to roll back the important gains of the country’s Bolivarian Revolution.

Andrew Bolt's 'column of shame' on Venezuela

Jim McIlroy — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 10:00:00 +1000

Infamous right-wing ideologue Andrew Bolt penned a "column of shame" about Venezuela in the Murdoch media on July 13. The column is a clear example of what might be dubbed "Bolt's Law": anything he writes is the opposite of the truth unless proved otherwise.

Why is a Greens senator promoting right-wing violence in Venezuela?

Jim McIlroy — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 10:00:00 +1000

In a speech to parliament on June 21, Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson attacked the Venezuelan government and President Nicolas Maduro, while praising right-wing opposition protests in the country.

It is not clear whether Whish-Wilson’s position reflects the official policy of the Australian Greens or is merely a personal view. In either case, the Greens should reject this position that promotes violence and confrontation, rather than dialogue and respect for Venezuela’s democracy and sovereignty.

Venezuela is under attack for asserting that Black lives matter

Fred Fuentes — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 10:00:00 +1000

It is important to note that while the vitriolic right-wing government opposition is concentrated among the white and economically elite elements of the population, the barrios, shanty towns and rural areas that are home to the poor, Indigenous communities and the Afro-Venezuelans have not erupted into protest for the most part because they support the government. In order to understand the roots of the elite opposition's hate and racism toward Black and Indigenous government supporters, one has to understand the history of the presidency that preceded Maduro's – that of Hugo Chavez.

South Africa's ANC: Mistaking consequence for cause

Fred Fuentes — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 10:00:00 +1000

South African President Jacob Zuma’s recent cabinet reshuffle is nothing more and nothing less than the latest instalment of a long-running story of the capture of the African National Congress (ANC) and the post-1994 democratic state it has politically run.

It is but a consequence of a political, economic and social crisis that has been forged and fed by the ANC – and its Alliance partners, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) – as a whole, in conjunction with capital.

Brazil: ‘The future of generations will be defined in 2017’

Fred Fuentes — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 11:00:00 +1100

Massive mobilisations involving 1 million people across Brazil and a mood for general strike unlike anything seen in some time marked March 15, as various organised sectors came onto the streets to protest a packet of pension and labour reforms proposed by the government of President Michel Temer.