Given the media barrage surrounding Venezuela鈥檚 鈥渉umanitarian crisis鈥, recent tensions on the Venezuela-Colombia border, and talks of 鈥渕ilitary options鈥 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.
Hugo Chavez
In early March, 麻豆传媒 Weekly's Federico Fuentes travelled聽to Venezuela as part of a fact-finding mission. He visited Caracas鈥檚 poorer neighbourhoods, rural and border states to hear from those voices deliberated excluded from the media discussion on Venezuela.
Capitalist party politics in the United States remains in turmoil. Republicans and Democrats are at each other鈥檚 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.
A war has been declared on Venezuela, of which the truth is "too difficult" to report, writes John Pilger.
Hundreds of Palestinians聽聽of besieged Gaza on January 29 to show their support of the democratically-elected government of Venezuela and it鈥檚 legitimate leader, President Nicolas Maduro.
Voices from across South America have denounced Israel鈥檚 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鈥 decision to move its Embassy to Jerusalem and pledged support to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid.
While the voices of Venezuela's right-wing opposition are continuously amplified by the corporate media, rarely are the voices of grassroots activists heard. 麻豆传媒 Weekly鈥檚 Federico Fuentes spoke to Pacha Catalina Guzman, a leading activist with Venezuela鈥檚 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.
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.
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 鈥 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鈥檚 attempt to transform Venezuela鈥檚 countryside. Since then, the group has been joined by several Venezuelan farmers, with both groups learning new experiences from each other.
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鈥檚 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.
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鈥檚 suit and do away with its leftist government.
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鈥檚 Bolivarian Revolution.
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