Venezuela - President Maduro issues arrest warrant for opposition leader Lopez

[La Guaneña]

The only reasons that Russia or China haven't started throwing their weight around is that they haven't reached the hegemonic heights that the USA has, where everything south of Texas is considered it's back yard, and everything south of Florida is it's swimming pool. For now Russia and China have to be content with throwing their weight around in geographically contiguous areas, which they most certainly do, and try to build blocs to counter the USA's economic/political influence. IMO there can be no true independence or sovereignty under capitalism, at least not for the people the left-wing cares about.

Well you are basically saying that "if they had a chance, they would be"? Well, as you said, they would be, but they aren't now. And Venezuela needs strong friends to hold off the USA now, or it won't be able to give the next steps.

[Red Commissar]

There's a good article I read breaking down some of the protests in Venezuela, it repeats a lot of points that've been made in this thread and elsewhere but here they are in one collection.

http://roarmag.org/2014/02/venezuela...position-coup/

Of interest to this thread is the fact that one of Lopez's associates, Yon Goicoechea, who tries to pass himself off as a youth leader, received a $500,000 scholarship from the Milton Friedman foundation (A project of the Cato institute) to study in the US. Of course said scholarship is meant for people who'll parrot neo-liberalism and treat any notions of public programs like kryptonite. What's gold in the Cato's article of him is they try to draw parallels between his movement and that of MLK

3. Venezuela’s opposition receives active support from the United States. While there is no evidence that the ongoing protests have been directly machinated by the White House or the CIA, it is publicly known that leading Venezuelan opposition groups receive millions of dollars in financial support from the US government and US-based NGOs and think tanks. In 2008, a leader of Venezuela’s student movement — which organized similar anti-Chávez protests back in 2007 — won the $500,000 Milton Friedman Award from the right-libertarian CATO Institute, which is funded by major corporate sponsors like the Koch Brothers and the Ford Foundation, headed by an “ardent devotee” of Ayn Rand, and driven by a zealous mission to defend “the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.”


All in all, it is estimated that various “youth outreach” programs in Venezuela received at least $45 million from US sponsors. Furthermore, the Obama administration has earmarked at least $5 million to directly support Venezuela’s opposition parties through 2014 — not to mention the secret ties that undoubtedly exists between the opposition and the US intelligence community. This comes on top of the dozens of millions of dollars that have been donated to the opposition over the years. Not surprising, perhaps, given that Venezuela is sitting on top of the largest known oil reserves in the world, just around the corner from the US.

Elsewhere the article also points out Lopez's involvement with the previous coup which included the abduction of the then interior minister.


Venezuela should be prepared however. With the Ukrainian situation nearing a resolution the US's undivided attention will be on Venezuela again, and with it the media as well as they try to present Venezuela being a parallel to the Ukrainian situation.

[ckaihatsu]

Dueling protests in Venezuela

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqrmcpzq_Vs

[ckaihatsu]

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro announces dialogue to end unrest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaK9cg_Vzj4


Turmoil in Venezuela

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_bfJSqXEsA


Clashes in Venezuela

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgHPybDbDks


Caracas cops clash with protesters as thousands rally against govt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isCUfifHMc4


Caracas: anti-Maduro protests continue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF-0wL4Einw


Violent clashes at Venezuela march - BBC News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljITh5aCH_s

[ckaihatsu]

Thousands of 'iron horses' swarm streets in Caracas to vow support for Venezuela's Maduro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAdg76Z2cpo

[ckaihatsu]

Maduro sends mixed messages about U.S.-Venezuela relations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr3KrwCgh9A


Anti-government protests continue in Venezuela

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ADDPC5yKI

[ckaihatsu]

Capriles says Venezuela is 'consuming itself'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNjgL5rMzOc


Venezuela peace conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX4HMQb1j0k


Venezuela's president calls for national peace conference as protests continue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6q73OdN68k

[RedMaterialist]

This post looks like a deliberate provocation. I think it ought to be taken down. the photograph of, i suppose, mussolini and his wife.

[ckaihatsu]

This post looks like a deliberate provocation. I think it ought to be taken down.

Not intentional -- thought it was newsworthy enough to include.

[RedMaterialist]

Not intentional -- thought it was newsworthy enough to include.

No. I mean the photo of the three people hanging.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Well you are basically saying that "if they had a chance, they would be"? Well, as you said, they would be, but they aren't now. And Venezuela needs strong friends to hold off the USA now, or it won't be able to give the next steps.

What next steps? Being in the pocket of some other nation which would replicate the exact same phenomena that it's experiencing currently?

[ckaihatsu]

We stand with the Bolivarian Revolution

http://www.answercoalition.org/natio...R%20Newsletter


The Third Insurrectionary Moment of the Venezuelan Right

http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/942.php

[adipocere]

I have noticed that Caprilles is laying low during this, only coming out to condemn violence and feign concern. I think the strategy here is to legitimize the Caprilles opposition by using a Pinochet-style ideologue to obviously stir shit up that will make Caprilles seem like a sensible "alternative" to far left/far right politics- to obfuscate the US support for Caprilles by overtly supporting Lopez. Bet hedging I suppose.

[Luís Henrique]

Ordering his arrest was already a bad move for him, this is only gonna anger the public more. If he executes him, like it appears you are suggesting, that's gonna set off a riot!

Oh good grief.

There is no death penalty in Venezuela for starters, not to say only the judiciary branch can issue penalties.

Luís Henrique

[ckaihatsu]

Socialist Project - home
The B u l l e t

Socialist Project • E-Bulletin No. 947
March 10, 2014

Socialist Project - home


Violence in Venezuela Caused by Opposition,
Not Government


Steve Ellner

The slant of Venezuela's private media and the international media on what is happening in Venezuela is clear: the government is responsible for the violence. In the first place, it is said, government-ordered gunmen are shooting at peaceful demonstrators and the violence generated by the opposition is just a response to the brutality of police and military forces.

But there is considerable evidence that shows the violence, including that of unidentified motorcyclists against demonstrators, is being carried out by the opposition. Consider the following:


An opposition group in Merida, February 19. [Photo: Ewan Robertson / Venezuelanalysis]

1. Violent actions have been carried out by the opposition since the time of the 2002 coup. The guarimba, which means urban violence (or “foquismo”) was publicly advocated by opposition leaders in 2003-2004 as the only way to prevent the establishment of a “dictatorial regime” in Venezuela.

2. On April 11, 2002, the day late president Hugo Chavez was overthrown, the Venezuelan and international media, and the White House, used juxtaposed images of Chavistas shooting pistols in downtown Caracas, on the one hand, and peaceful anti-government demonstrators, on the other to justify the coup.

However, the Irish-produced documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised and other documentaries demonstrated by the flow of the camera that the demonstrators were far away from the Chavistas and they were shooting in response to sniper fire against them. If snipers were responsible for the 15-20 killings (of both Chavistas and opposition demonstrators) that justified the 2002 coup, is there any reason to doubt that the unidentified individuals who are attacking demonstrators are acting on behalf of sectors of the opposition?

Public Buildings and Services Targeted

3. The violence that has rocked Venezuela during the past two weeks has targeted public buildings, such as the headquarters of the attorney-general, the public television Channel 8, the state-owned Banco de Venezuela, the house of the Chavista governor of Tachira, trucks of the state grocery store chain PDVAL, and dozens of metro buses in Caracas.

4. None of the opposition leaders have explicitly condemned the opposition-promoted violence. Opposition mayors in Caracas and elsewhere have refrained from using their police force to contain the violence.

5. The so-called “peaceful” demonstrators engage in disruptions by closing key avenues in a bid to paralyse transportation. Where I live, on the main drag between the twin cities of Barcelona and Puerto La Cruz, the demonstrators occupy two of the three lanes on both sides, causing traffic to back up for miles. A number of tragedies have been reported of people in an emergency unable to make it to a hospital or clinic on time.

6. The term “salida,” which has become a main slogan of the protesters, implies regime change. The opposition is not calling for a constitutional solution, in which [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro resigns and is replaced by the president of the National Assembly (and leading Chavista) Diosdado Cabello, as the constitution stipulates. Regime change is a radical slogan that implies radical tactics.

7. Political scientist and Venezuelan specialist David Smilde of the University of Georgia, who is not pro-Chavista but rather evenhanded in his analyses, points out the Venezuelan government has nothing to gain by the violence.

8. The government has nothing to gain by the violence because the media is largely on the side of the opposition and present a picture of the violence that directly and indirectly blames the government. Consider the following front page article in the February 20 El Universal titled “Capital City Suffers Night Violence,” one of Venezuela's major newspapers:

“Last night, the National Guard and National Police attacked almost simultaneously different demonstrations that were taking place in distinct areas of the capital city. In the confrontations there was gunshot [and] tear gas while people banged on pots and pans from their windows (opposing the government).”

9. The Venezuelan government has shown great restraint in the context of opposition-promoted violence and disruption. In nearly any other country in the world, the disruption of traffic in major cities throughout the country would have resulted in mass arrests.

10. Governments, particularly undemocratic ones, which lack active popular support and completely control the media use repression against dissidents. This is not the case in Venezuela. None of the non-state channels and newspapers (that the vast majority of Venezuelans get their news from) supports the government and most of them are ardently anti-government.

Furthermore, unlike governments that use massive repression (such as Egypt under Mubarak), the Chavista government and movement has a greater mobilization capacity, particularly among the popular sectors of the population, than the opposition. As Smilde says, the use of violence by the government makes absolutely no sense. •

Professor Steve Ellner has taught at the Universidad de Oriente in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, since 1977. He is the author of many books on Venezuelan politics. This article first appeared on the greenleft.org.au website.

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[Die Neue Zeit]

In response to Daniel Harvey's article on Venezuela, there is one issue I would like to point out:

The majority of Venezuela's adult population doesn't have a working-class background or profile. It is imperative that the Bolibourgeoisie be ousted and liquidated as a class, but also necessary to recognize the revolutionary pragmatism of seeing through via Communitarian Populist Fronts the political ascension of national or socioeconomic "patriotic" elements of the petit-bourgeoisie, a sort of petit-Bolibourgeoisie, for the urban and rural petit-bourgeoisie do form the majority of the country's adult population.

[Bala Perdida]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrfM...e_gdata_player

This video author was made previously unpopular on another Venezuelan protest thread for his quoting and commentary of Cuban troops in Venezuela. Nonetheless, I think this video give a good analysis of the inflation and economic problems. It also reveals the economically crippling activities used by Venezuelan bourgeoisie.

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/957.php


Socialist Project - home
The B u l l e t

Socialist Project • E-Bulletin No. 957
March 25, 2014

Socialist Project - home


The Strategy of the Venezuelan Opposition
and How it Works


Steve Ellner



The strategy and tactics of the Venezuelan opposition is a replay of events that took place leading up to the coup against Hugo Chávez on April 11, 2002 and is similar (although in some ways quite different) from the script that has been used in the Ukraine and elsewhere. The blatant distortions and in some cases lies of the media (CNN in Spanish playing a lead role) represent an essential element in the strategy.


There are two main groups that the opposition has mobilized and from all appearances the two act in coordination even though their style, and even social background, differs from one another. One group is non-violent and the other engages in acts of aggression in some cases endangering lives.

On the one hand, students and other young people carry out protests which the media and the opposition deceptively call “peaceful.” These mobilizations involve to a disproportionate extent students from private universities and operate almost exclusively in wealthy areas whose mayors (and in some cases governors) belong to the opposition. The protests are not legal, even though many of the protesters are convinced (or have been convinced by their leaders) that they are exercising the constitutional right of dissent. However, nearly all of these protests take over main avenues and highways in urban areas, typically forcing traffic to a halt and then having to pass through just one lane. It often takes hours for cars to pass through these points. In most cases the protesters consist of between 15 and 80 people, and in a few cases over one hundred.

The second group sets up barricades using garbage bags, trees, boulders and barbed wire. In addition, they have dispersed oil on roads in some cases causing fatal accidents. For an excellent description of these actions in the city of Merida near the Colombian border where the violence has been most intense, see the article by Miguel Tinker Salas, who resided there over the last month: “What is happening in Venezuela?”

Peaceful and Violent Protests

All efforts by security forces to get both situations under control have been portrayed in the private media as fierce acts of repression carried out by police, National Guardsmen and motorcyclists and other Chavistas organized as “collectives.” While the media generally recognizes that some of the protesters have engaged in violence, attention is focused on the so-called “peaceful protesters” with little acknowledgment of the chaos that they cause. Furthermore, these reports fail to point out that a large number of the victims including the fatal ones are Chávez supporters including security forces. In most violent urban protests throughout the world, the ratio of protesters to security forces who are wounded and killed ranges from 25 to one or 500 to one. Here the ratio may be in the single-digit range (a similar situation occurred in the Ukraine). Claims in the social media that the violent actions are provoked by “infiltrators” (the implication being that the infiltrators are Chavistas) are sometimes reflected in the media.

The script's end game consists of a large “peaceful” protest that heads to the center of Caracas with a “vanguard” that creates violence and provokes shootings, resulting in deaths on all sides (protesters, Chavista civilians and security forces), thus forcing the government to resign or setting off a military coup. This scenario was exactly what occurred on April 11, 2002. On that occasion, the media and the opposition deceptively claimed that the government's contingency plan known as “Plan Avila” consisted of widespread brutal repression. The opposition and media also falsely claimed that armed Chavista groups known as the Bolivarian Circles were poised to violently attack peaceful opposition concentrations and that these groups even had tanks at their disposal. The 20-some odd deaths on that day (consisting of both Chavistas and opposition) was the excuse to carry out a military coup, which the government of George W. Bush (which as documents demonstrate knew perfectly well who was behind the killings) used to justify its support for the de facto government headed by Pedro Carmona.

The Chavista government has learnt from the experience of April 11. President Nicolás Maduro and the mayor of Caracas’ “Libertador” municipality where the popular sectors are concentrated have adamantly refused to allow the demonstrators to go from the wealthy eastern part of Caracas to the downtown area. Time and time again the protestors organize marches designed to reach the city's center even though they have not been given permits. CNN and the media in general harp on the government's failure to issue a marching permit as an example of the restriction on democratic liberty, without mentioning that the government has good reason to prevent marches from reaching the downtown area.

The phony issue of government repression raised by the opposition and the private media is an essential part of the script. Without the issue there is really no justification for the opposition's sole demand for regime change embodied in the slogan “salida” (exit). Certainly there are pressing problems in Venezuela including shortages of basic (and some non-basic) commodities, inflation and delinquency. But these problems do not justify the overthrow of the government. If these were the issues, people in general would say “wait until the next elections and vote the Chavistas out of office.” Obviously, the opposition's strategy is either create conditions that may set off a coup (which is highly unlikely given the military's well demonstrated loyalty) or (much more likely) bring about a wearing out process in which in the next electoral cycle the average voter supports opposition candidates who distance themselves from the violence allegedly coming from both sides. •

Professor Steve Ellner has taught at the Universidad de Oriente in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, since 1977. He is the author of many books on Venezuelan politics, including his latest Latin America's Radical Left. This article first appeared on the Venezuelanalysis.com website.

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[ckaihatsu]

Hands Off Venezuela! What Has Been Happening Since February and Why It Matters

http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/978.php

[Rafiq]

I can emphasize enough that there is absolutely no doubt that the turmoil occurring in Venezuela today is one distinctively of class struggle, that greatly exceeds the political interests of Maduro and the PSUV. All I can say, is that any form of sympathy with the protesters, the privileged reactionary expression of the petite bourgeoisie, can never be granted by any self proclaimed Communist. We can hope that Maduro and his lot get theirs, for their repulsive international politics, but only from the revolutionary proletariat, whom in coalition with the rural peasantry they are unified by the PSUV against the counter revolution.