Venezuela
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.
Caracas: Picket in Solidarity with the SIDOR 14 and against the Repression of Social Protests
On July 29, a protest was held outside the main Prosecutor's Office in Caracas. The demonstrators were protesting in defense of the right to social protest. It was a response to growing repression of political protests in Venezuela.
The demo was supported by various groups including human rights organizations as well as socialist, worker and anarchist groups. Activists pointed out at the same time as the government is repressing social protest, the murderers of farmers and trade unions have gone unpunished.
The revolution delayed: 10 years of Hugo Chávez’s rule - Charles Reeve and El Libertario
An interview with Venezuelan libertarians.
This month marks the tenth anniversary of Hugo Chávez’s coming to power in Venezuela, and ten years of the “Bolivarian revolution”.
This process has included waves of state intervention in the economy and fervent rhetoric against US imperialism.
Venezuela 2006: Continued repression of popular protest
El Libertario, the voice of the Comision de Relaciones Anarquistas of Venezuela, [# 49, March 2007] analyzes the how and the why of the increasing state repression against the growing social discontent that belies the pseudo-revolutionary discourse of the Chavez regime.
From July 1 to November 30 there were 26 demonstrations repressed, impeded or otherwise hampered by the state’s security organs; a greater number than the 18 cases accounted for in the report by the NGO PROVEA for the whole of 2005 (www.derechos.org.ve) .
Venezuela: on the dark side of the moon
The editorial group of El Libertario, newspaper of CRA, Comision de Relaciones Anarquistas from Venezuela, reflect on the prospects for the country after the seemingly indisputable electoral victory of Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela has landed on the dark side of the moon. The recently opened 21st century seems to be escaping us for good. We will not have a chance to face it with any prospect of success.
Refuting the deaf: Chavism and anarchism in Venezuela
An easy-to-read, clear article from El Libertario explaining the Venezuelan anarchist's criticisms of the Chavez regime.
From the publishers of El Libertario goes our reply to the habitual expressions that the coarse right or the easy-going left used to attribute us; the same left that, inside and outside of Venezuela allows that the mirage of the Chávez pseudo-revolution impressed them.
Reforms take away what is gained through the struggle
Editorial of El Libertario #51 (November 2007) putting forward a libertarian position on the Consitutional Reform the regime attempts to impose.
Once again we must consider the dilemma of whether to participate or not in the electoral contest (referendum), this time with the difference that it is not a case of choosing a candidate but rather constitutional norms for the government of collective life. This situation requires careful reflection.
Inurgentes against Venezuela's constitutional reform
Statement of Venezuelan anarchists against Hugo Chavez's proposed constitutional reforms in 2007, seeing social reform being used as a thin veil for the regime's centralisation of power.
Various organizations and individuals within Venezuela, each with a history of social struggle and each bringing with them diverse proposals from the anti-authoritarian and critical left, have assembled in the space of INSURGENTES (INSURGENTS) to forge a position against the proposed constitutional “reform” offered by the republic’s President, Hugo Chavez Frias.
