Venezuela & ALBA Weekly Newsletter

Venezuela & ALBA News: New US Attempts at Coups in Venezuela and Bolivia; Daniel Ortega Speech; Venezuela Again Raises Minimum Income

Nicaragua

Statement by the Nicaragua Government  concerning the Ruling of the ICJ on its case against Germany in the ICJ  In its application to the high court Nicaragua made essentially two requests, first, that Germany suspend its military support to Israel, and, second, that it renew its financial support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The Court decided that under the current circumstances there was no need for interim measures, as Germany explained that it had significantly decreased the amount of material to be exported to Israel from 200 million in October 2023 to 1 million in March 2024, and that no further arms licenses had been approved. In addition, Germany also stated that it had provided new funds for UNRWA, which as of today have been completely renewed…. Finally, the Court rejected Germany’s request to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction and will therefore continue with the process which involves a review of Germany’s conduct before it reduced its material support to Israel, among other points.

Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo Speeches on the Anniversary of the Death of Tomas Borge: Now it is no longer a question of one country against another, but one where all of humanity is exposed to crimes such as those now being committed against the Palestinian People  “And we see youth in North America raising the protest, the condemnation of the genocide that is being committed against the Palestinian People. North American youth protesting, right now, yes, they are protesting, and the protest is multiplying not only in North America, but in every country of our planet. The Peoples cannot accept, they cannot understand that a genocide is being committed with the participation of the powers of the Empires, headed by the North American Rulers, the Germans, the English, the French. That is, precisely that World where the Rulers pride themselves on being the most just, the most democratic, the most respectful of Rights, of International Law, they are unmasking themselves….

What threat is the People’s Republic of China? It’s just because the People’s Republic of China has been growing, developing and has become close with the world’s developing countries, which the colonialist, imperialist countries used as nothing more than a source of wealth that they could steal…

Today, April 30th is Benjamin Linder’s birthday. Ben Linder’s murderers were nothing more than mercenaries, from an army of mercenaries trained by the United States itself, armed by the United States.

Venezuela

Orinoco Tribune: Former Minister El Aissami Confirms He Planned to Overthrow President Maduro Attorney general Tarek William Saab reported that former oil minister Tareck El Aissami was proven to be “negotiating with far-right politicians through Samark López to overthrow the constitutional government of Venezuela,” as evidenced in confessional recordings from Samark López. “Aissami himself has acknowledged that he knew everything that Samark did, because he was too close to Samark, he was the political operator of that ring in their conspiracy against the Venezuelan state, against the legitimately constituted government of President Nicolás Maduro.”

Venezuelanalysis: Maduro Faces Election with Relative Prosperity and Pending Tasks President Maduro faces an electoral campaign under better conditions than in 2018 when the country grappled with an extremely dire economic situation and the government endured a fierce international onslaught led by the Trump adm. Although the economic recovery has not yet reached large segments of the population, the overall climate is much less bleak than between 2014 and 2020, a period marked by shortages of basic goods, hyperinflation, massive migration, and other adverse effects caused by the US-EU blockade. Maduro has managed to earn recognition from at least a portion of the electorate for his enormous capacity to resist the enemy onslaughts, his tenacity, and stubbornness to stand tall despite being the target of attacks that not even Chávez had to face. He has also managed to stabilize the economy, pulling it back from a real precipice.

In addition to the grassroots organizations of the PSUV, the government also has a network of social organizations that have been responsible for fundamental issues such as the distribution of subsidized food (Local Supply and Production Committees, CLAP); water and public services technical groups; communal councils, communes, Bolívar Chávez Battle Units (UBCH), Missions, and Great Missions.

Maduro still faces urgent matters: healthcare, salaries and incomes, electricity supply problem, the police and judicial system, and land ownership in the countryside.

Orinoco Tribune: May Day: President Maduro Announces Comprehensive Minimum Wage Raise of 30% After participating in the May Day march, the president announced the increase of the comprehensive monthly minimum comprehensive indexed income to the equivalent of $130, to be paid in bolívars at the currency exchange rate at the time of each payment. President Maduro explained that since January 1, when the indexed income was at $70, the Chavista government has raised it by 86% so far this year. In 2008, the country had an income of $65 billion, and Chávez raised the minimum income to $380. In 2013, the country’s revenue was at $53 billion, and the minimum salary maintained at above $200. Then came the “total economic war,” the president said, and In 2020, during the pandemic, revenue fell to $700 million, and the minimum comprehensive indexed income fell to $4.

Venezuelanalysis: Government Delivers 4.9M Homes, Unveils Women-led Housing Project Venezuela can do this, yet the US does not do it here. The Venezuelan government marked the 13th anniversary of Venezuela’s Great Housing Mission (GMVV) by celebrating the 4.9 millionth home delivered to working-class families. President Maduro recalled that GMVV, created by President Chávez in 2011 to allocate homes to low-income families at a low cost or free of charge, suffered under US sanctions but moved forward through people-led self-construction brigades.  Maduro plans to build two million homes over the next six years. Maduro recognized the women-led housing project in Caracas that has become a reference of grassroots feminism and resistance.

Orinoco Tribune: Washington Indicts 10 Individuals for Bypassing Illegal Sanctions Against Venezuela A total of 10 people, including Venezuelan, Spanish, and Costa Rican nationals, were accused by the US regime of evading sanctions imposed by the US against PDVSA by exporting aircraft parts, reported the US Dept of Justice. Each could face 20 years in prison…One of the defendants is George Clemente Semerene Quintero, 60, who, according to the Department of Justice, was arrested on April 19, 2024, upon arrival at the Miami International Airport.

Reuters: Venezuelan oil exports fall on US sanctions, lower sales to Asia Venezuelan oil exports declined 38% in April after tanker owners and customers pulled several vessels waiting to load out of the country’s waters as a reimposition of U.S. sanctions approached. The U.S. Treasury last month said it would not renew a six-month license extended to Venezuela’s oil sector, and gave companies until the end of May to wind down pending transactions.

Maria Paez Victor:  Games Biden Plays During 2023, Washington made formal promises to Venezuela it had no intention of keeping. It is obvious now that the aim was to lay the groundwork for discrediting the upcoming Venezuelan presidential elections, to bolster the extreme, violent opposition parties they favour…Five linked conspiracies to overthrow the Venezuelan government were dismantled, including two to assassinate the president, planned with the CIA, DEA, and FBI in Colombia…President Biden fails to understand who he is dealing with. Venezuela is no banana republic. Its Bolivarian Revolution is now 24 years old, and it has changed dramatically the social and economic structure of the country, and especially its political culture.

Peoples Dispatch: Jorge Arreaza: On July 28, the Venezuelan people will choose between being patria or a colony “At the end of the 20th century, we were governed by the IMF and the World Bank. Chávez then came to his own [conclusion] through reflection, an ideological evolution: the only way to overcome capitalism is socialism, our democratic socialism, with popular power. Without that path, without that project, we will not have a homeland….We have had to make concessions in some sectors, we have had to accept the dollar as the currency that circulates for commerce. The State was the great importer of everything strategic and today it is the private sector and we are grateful that the private sector has collaborated. But there are important contradictions there.” The opposition “have a lot of power. They control social networks. You start to see when they make a decision or something happens in national politics, they immediately become a trend, they have videos produced with excellent quality, they have an unusual strength.”

Bolivia

TeleSur: U. S. Plan to To Seize Lithium in Bolivia Revealed This new interventionist plan is aimed at consolidating the rupture of the political party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) and creating an “outsider” candidate for the 2025 elections, with the aim of seizing natural resources such as lithium and rare earths containing significant resources. It was also leaked that the National Foundation for Democracy, the Institute of International Relations, the DEA, the Freedom and Democracy Foundation, the Fundación Construir, Comunidad Ciudadana, the Alianza Informativa Latinoamericana, Military Church Support Group – Centurian Project (Fort Bragg), and others are the organizations through which the plan is financed.

Orinoco Tribune: Venezuela Warns that Washington Is Trying to Divide Revolutionary Forces in Bolivia “The main goal of the US empire and the Bolivian fascists is to divide the Bolivian socialist and revolutionary forces, and to turn them against each other to a point impossible to reconcile the leadership of comrade Evo Morales, the leadership of President Lucho Arce, that is the plan,” said Nicolas Maduro. “The material objective is lithium, but the political objective is to root out the cultural democratic revolution that has taken place in Bolivia in the last two decades. So it is up to the leadership and the Bolivian people to rediscover, reunify, and to defeat this imperialist plan to recolonize Bolivia.”

Events:

Delegations to Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua

  1. AFGJ Delegation to Venezuela July 21-31Join us in Venezuela during its presidential elections to witness, experience and learn about popular democracy in action and celebrate 22 years of the Bolivarian Revolution since the attempted coup against President Hugo Chávez.
  2. Cuba Delegations
  1. Nicaragua Delegations Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations
  • Email [email protected] to apply:
    • November 8-17 2024: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua
    • February 2025: The Bird Brigade: Birding in Solentiname Arquipelago
    • March 2025: Power & Protagonism: Women in Nicaragua

If you have events to publicize or find helpful articles for readers on the ALBA countries, please send them to [email protected],  or you can post them on Facebook here: Venezuela; Nicaragua; Bolivia; Latin America in general (here or here) Or send them to  [email protected]

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