Venezuela
Articles about workers' struggles and events in Chavez' Venezuela.
No light, no water and now not very much money...what next for Venezuela?
A currency devaluation, military expropriations, demonstrations, resignations, TV channel closures, more demonstrations – it’s been an eventful start to 2010 in Venezuela.
The country hadn’t even returned to work from the Christmas break when they were hit by the first coñazo, that being the devaluation of the bolívar from 2.15/US$1 to 2.6/US$1.
The crisis in Venezuela: understanding the causes, assigning blame and suggesting solutions
The public pronouncement from the Editorial Collective of El Libertario in mid-January 2010 on the current situation in Venezuela.
While we are still suffering from the impact of the problems which had intensified towards the end of 2009, such as the fraudulent ‘Bolibourgeois’ bankers and the ongoing malaise throughout public services, a host of measures recently undertaken by the government signal a bitter start to 2010 for Venezuela.
Chavez: When red and yellow don't make green
It may seem like an age ago now in the midst of all the subsequent economic tumult over here, but I wanted to write about Chávez’ recent rhetorical excursion at the emergency Climate Change summit in Copenhagen last month.
Never the one to spare any expense or effort on PR, the Venezuelan President first managed to address a group of Danish leftists through a translator (a somewhat ad hoc exercise in rabble-rousing which turned into a succession of "Vivas!" for his anti-imperialist allies, with Iran a curious omission).
Venezuela: Vetelca - the story of the first ever Bolivarian factory
This report originally appears in issue #57 of Venezuelan anarchist newspaper El Libertario. It is a detailed examination of the events behind the mobile telephone manufacturer Vetelca, in which the notion of a socialist industrial production model in Venezuela is unmasked.
On 10th May, 2009, President Hugo Chávez appeared on national television from the El Tigre region of Barinas state in order to announce to the nation the availability of a mobile telephone made under the supervision of the Bolivarian government. Some weeks earlier, he himself had named it “El Vergatorio” [a crude term which roughly translates as “the biggest dick” - translator].
Chomsky as Chavez's Clown
This article criticises the position held by the noted American linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky on Hugo Chavez's government in Venezuela. It originally appeared in the Venezuelan anarchist newspaper El Libertario.
Contrary to what many think, the ability to believe in fairy tales and to blindly accept a fiction, no matter how fantastic or grotesque, is not the sole attribute of the dumb and ignorant. The famous writer Noam Chomsky has just proved that intelligent and cultivated intellectuals are also capable of believing and adopting conduct and political action totally dogmatic, false and authoritarian.
The first ever Caracas Libertarian Bookfair
From 16-22 November, Caracas-based anarchist newspaper El Libertario hosted the first ever Libertarian Bookfair of its kind in Venezuela. Below is something of an evaluation of the week, plus some analysis of the political spectrum inside the country.
The event - which coincided with the state-organised Bookfair but five stops away on the Caracas Metro - was small in its size and modest in its ambitions, but at times inspiring and motivating.
Venezuela: anti-police impunity activist assassinated
In just the latest attack on social movements in the country. unidentified gunmen shoot dead a 24-year-old cameraman involved with the Comité de Víctimas en Contra de la Impunidad (CVCI) in Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela. Below is the translation of an official communiqué from Caracas-based anarchist newspaper El Libertario.
On the morning of 26/11/2009, Mijail Martínez – 24 years old – was assassinated in the city of Barquisimeto, Lara state. Martínez was a cameraman and activist with the Victims’ Committee Against Impunity in Lara state (commonly referred to as CVCI-Lara in Spanish - translator).
War all the time: the differences between the internal and external aggressor in Venezuela
As President Hugo Chávez beats the war drum with Colombia over the presence of US military bases near the Venezuelan border, violent crime and scarcity in the República Bolivariana continue to soar to almost bewildering levels.
”Therefore, señores and señoras, my military comrades, let’s not waste one day in the completion of our primary mission: preparing ourselves for war.”
Hugo Chávez, ”İAló, Presidente!”, 09/11/2009
[i]”PREPARE OURSELVES?
Tropical waterfight: the struggle for basic services in Caracas, Venezuela
A combination of climate change and an incompetent, inefficient state bureaucracy has left basic services such as water and electricity as something of a luxury for many caraqueños, and contrary to the rhetoric of the chavista propaganda machine, it's a situation that is worsening.
Get up, check the taps, then plan your day. That's pretty much routine for the vast majority of caraqueños. In the rancho (hilltop barrio) where I live, the water goes off - on average - 2-3 days a week, and that's actually pretty good going in comparison.
Bread, blood and circuses - The Red Menace
Article drawing parallels between the March 1989 riots against austerity measures in Venezuela, and food riots in Burma.
For four days at the beginning of March, the Venezuelan poor staged what amounted to a nationwide uprising against the government’s austerity programme, recently agreed with the International Monetary Fund.
