The approval ratings of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rose to 23.2% at the end of September, according to a new poll conducted by private centre-right think tank聽Datanalisis.聽
The increase in the head of state鈥檚 popularity comes just weeks ahead of regional elections scheduled for October 15, when Venezuelans will choose their state governors for the next four years.聽
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.
Venezuela鈥檚 right-wing opposition announced on September 26 that its representatives would not attend the upcoming round of exploratory talks that were set to be held in the Dominican Republic the following day.聽
The boycott came one day after a small group of masked opposition militants took to the streets of the wealthy eastern Caracas municipality of Chacao in renewed anti-government roadblocks.聽
Having spent our first few days in Caracas, we travelled to Higurote, the capital of Brion municipality, in Miranda state, which is part of the coastal region known as Barlovento 鈥 a centre of African culture in Venezuela.聽
Using the Metro Cable car system built under former president Hugo Chavez, our solidarity delegation to the South American nation, organised by Venezuelanalysis.com, travelled high up into the mountain to the neighbourhood of San Agustin.
The Metro Cable system, the first of its kind in Venezuela, was inspired by a visit by Chavez to Austria where he saw dozens of chairlifts going up and down the mountains.
Since the start of the year, 76 women have died while giving birth in Lara state 鈥 the highest rate of any state in Venezuela and three times the rate for the rest of the country.
Speaking about the situation to 麻豆传媒 Weekly, Katrina Kozarek from the Women鈥檚 Movement for Life in Barquisimeto, the capital of Lara, explained: 鈥淏oth the doctors and nurses treat poor, black women really badly. They slap their bottoms, call them filthy names and say 鈥榮top screaming because you didn鈥檛 scream like that when you were having sex鈥.鈥
With the Venezuelan right-wing opposition in disarray after failing to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro through violent protest, and divided in the face of the upcoming October 15 regional elections, the frontline of the battle for Venezuela鈥檚 future has shifted outside its borders.
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.
Hurricane Irma has just passed through the Caribbean, in a procession of tragedies that have destroyed lives and left material damage behind.
In response to this natural disaster, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sent humanitarian aid to Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda (with 95% of buildings in Barbuda destroyed), and the French colony of Saint Martin on September 10.
鈥淭he US is doing the same thing as it did with the economic blockade on Cuba, to try and suffocate the Venezuelan economy鈥 explained Williams Camacaro, a long-time Venezuelan grassroots activist based in New York.
Speaking to 麻豆传媒 Weekly in Caracas, Camacaro said 鈥淭he sanctions will cause a lot of difficulties for Venezuela鈥, but 鈥渢he reality is that a lot of time has passed since [the blockade was first imposed on Cuba]. Many things have changed.鈥
Flying into Caracas, the plane was full of middle class Venezuelans travelling home from Miami. On board, no one spoke to the passenger next to them for fear of finding out they were on the opposite side of the political divide.
In highly polarised Venezuela, these things are best left unsaid.
A few days after arriving in Venezuela, we drive past La Carlota military base in the east of Caracas, which was a regular site for the violent street protests commonly known here as guarimbas.
The highway we were travelling on was often blockaded by protesters 鈥 guarimberos 鈥 who made up the backbone of the self-dubbed 鈥淟a Resistencia鈥. They received glowing praise in the international media during the wave of protests that rocked the country from April to July.