Venezuela

Three weeks after Juan Guaidó declared himself president of Venezuela, on 23 January, neither Guaidó nor the sitting president, Nicolás Maduro, shows any sign of backing down. On Thursday 7 February, a convoy of lorries carrying humanitarian aid reached the Tienditas international bridge on the Venezuela-Colombia border. Venezuelan troops barricaded the bridge with two shipping containers and a fuel tanker. From Guaidó’s perspective, the international aid convoy presents something of a win-win scenario in terms of political pressure on Maduro. If Maduro accepts the shipments, he will look weak...

Over the weekend 2-3 February, thousands of protestors gathered in rival demonstrations on the streets of Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim President on 23 January, remains committed to forcing out Nicolás Maduro. Guaidó has announced further opposition rallies for Wednesday 6 February and Saturday 9 February. The latter date is the last day of the ultimatum to Maduro set by several leading European states, including France. On 31 January, Guaidó gave a speech outlining his “national plan” for Venezuela, in which he prioritised coordinating humanitarian...

On 23 January 2019, Juan Guaidó, member of Voluntad Popular and leader of the opposition, declared himself Venezuela’s interim President. Thousands have taken to the streets, to support Guaidó or to oppose him and back incumbent President Nicolás Maduro. The US, Canada, Brazil, and the UK, and others have recognised as Guaidó as president. Maduro has severed diplomatic relations with the US; Russia and China continue to support him. Maduro still holds government power, largely thanks to the Venezuelan military leadership’s enduring loyalty. On 10 January the opposition-held National Assembly...

On 23 January 2019, Juan Guaidó, member of Popular Will (Voluntad Popular) and leader of the opposition in Venezuela, declared himself the country’s interim President. The governments of several states, including the US, Canada, and Argentina, have already recognised Guaidó’s Presidency. The ostensibly ousted President Nicolás Maduro urges resistance to this power grab and has given all US diplomats 72 hours to leave Venezuela. This dramatic turn of events follows the opposition-held National Assembly declaring Maduro’s victory in the May 2018 Presidential election void, alleging a rigged...

“Despite being elected with over two thirds of the vote last May in an election given a clean bill of health by hundreds of international observers…” began the Morning Star’s editorial on 12 January, under the headline: “Venezuela is under siege – it needs our solidarity.” Working on the principle that getting basic facts straight, and not telling downright lies, is a good place to start, let’s deal with that opening statement. The May election that (unsurprisingly) returned Nicolás Maduro as president was marked by low turnout and lack of serious options (the main opposition groups all...

One of the most positively transformative events in my life was joining the AWL in January 2016. Although I had long considered myself a socialist of some form or other, when I first encountered the AWL in the autumn of 2015, my politics were very ill-defined. Years of seeing Labour under Blair, Brown, and Miliband had made me view the left as a lost cause in British politics, to the point that I was sceptical of even attempting activism. This is why, to my shame, I distanced myself at age 18 from the then-ongoing 2010 student protests. I had simply become so resigned to the fact that...

Amid economic crisis and civil unrest in Venezuela, the New York Times reported on 8 September 2018 that the Trump administration has been in secret talks with Venezuelan military officers to stage a coup against President Nicolás Maduro. This follows Trump’s indications in August last year of a ‘military option’ for Venezuela. Given the long and bloody history of US-backed coups in Latin America, this news is very alarming. As supporters of self-determination and consistent democracy, socialists should vehemently oppose any move towards a right-wing military coup supported by an imperialist...

El Cinco de Julio (July 5) is Venezuelan Independence Day. It marks the day in 1811 when a congress of Venezuelan provinces declared Venezuela’s separation from the Spanish Crown. In doing so, Venezuela became the first Spanish American colony to declare independence. For most Venezuelans, this is a day to commemorate not only the initial signatories to the Declaration of Independence, but also the major figures in the broader fight for national liberation from Spanish rule. Chief amongst these is Simón Bolívar, popularly known as El Libertador. Bolívar is lionised for bringing freedom to not...

Nicolás Maduro, the successor to Hugo Chávez, won the Venezuelan presidential election on 20 May – a result that offers little for workers in Venezuela or elsewhere in Latin America. Maduro received two-thirds (67%) of the vote, defeating rivals Henri Falcón (21%), Javier Bertucci (10%) and Reinaldo Quijada (

The Bonapartist regime in Venezuela has stabilised its rule for now, but is becoming increasingly authoritarian while still failing to meet the elementary needs of workers. Nicolas Maduro’s regime has managed to quell right-wing opposition protests through a combination of repression and gerrymandering. The government faced down last year’s opposition demonstrations and proceeded to establish a parallel parliament – the National Constituent Assembly, breaking the stalemate in the legislature. In December’s municipal elections the ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV) won 308 out of 335 local...