Venezuela & ALBA Weekly Newsletter

Venezuela & ALBA News: US Military makes threat against ALBA Countries; Venezuela prepares for Presidential Election

PeoplesDispatch: Venezuela’s election in the crosshairs of new US regime change scheme Venezuela has long been a target for US intervention because of its efforts to build an alternative model to the neoliberal capitalism. First theorized and implemented under the leadership of Chávez, the Bolivarian Revolution puts forward a new model that emphasizes using the country’s resources, such as its oil revenue, to fund crucial missions. These then guarantee rights such as education, food, housing, transportation, culture, and sports to historically excluded majorities, to decrease longstanding socioeconomic inequality. A central part of the Bolivarian Revolution is the political and cultural transformation of the people through the promotion of Venezuelan national culture, internationalism, anti-imperialism, and the empowerment of all people as political subjects with rights and responsibilities. It is a project in direct contradiction to US interests in the oil-rich country and the region Washington considers its backyard… After years of political instability caused by right-wing plots to overthrow the democratically elected government and even assassinate the leader, the Venezuelan government has pursued a straight-forward principle: political forces of any ideological variety can participate in elections as long as they do not conspire with foreign powers to undermine the independence of Venezuela or its sovereign institutions.

Orinoco Tribune: ALBA-TCP Condemns Interventionist Comments by US SOUTHCOM Head During a presentation in the Atlantic Council, General  Richardson referred to Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua as supporting “malignant activity in the region” and said the following: “We would like to get rid of that, obviously, mitigate it, and it is not good for democracy”. In response, “As executive secretary of ALBA-TCP, I reject the cynicism, arrogance, and impudence of this American ‘military chief,’” wrote Arreaza. “Nothing has contributed more to the destabilization and development of democratic processes in the region than the permanent and warlike interference of Washington.” “It is not enough for them to confess that they intend to steal the natural resources of our countries, to now qualify and threaten governments of the Bolivarian Alliance,” wrote Arreaza.

Ultima Noticias: Venezuela Condemns United States’ Unilateral Coercive Measures Against Nicaragua “Venezuela ratifies today before the world its unconditional support in solidarity with the people and government of Nicaragua, and reiterates its deep admiration for President Commander Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo and their loving commitment to loyalty, resistance, and constant defense of sovereignty, peace, stability, and the sacred right of the Nicaraguan people to continue working for their well-being. We vindicate our oath of love to the people and government of Nicaragua made by our Eternal Commander Hugo Chávez on January 10, 2007: “Nicaragua, give me the chance to serve you and you will have in me a son, and you will have in Venezuela a daughter, a sister, a companion.””

Peoples World (Tom Whitney): U.S. policy implicated in the economic crisis driving Cuban protests Hundreds of Cubans demonstrated peacefully in Santiago de Cuba and other cities across the island on March 17. Portrayed in some U.S. corporate media outlets as “anti-government” protests, the demonstrations were focused on electrical power outages and food shortages. Cuba is in the midst of a sharp economic crisis. Surging inflation is battering the economy, which shrank by almost 2% last year. Fuel prices rose by more than 500% just this month, while electricity rates climbed 25%.

Exports for 2023 were far below predictions, food production was less than 2022, and tourism income has only recovered to 69% of pre-COVID levels. Shortages of fuel and other supplies—largely because of the U.S. blockade—continues to hamper production in most sectors…While communicating the urgency of the situation, Díaz-Canel explained that his government’s approach would be “to attend to the complaints of our people, listen, dialogue, explain the numerous efforts that are being carried out to improve the situation, always in an atmosphere of tranquility and peace.”

Granma: Cuban President Diaz-Canel speaks on recent protests and US Media War on Cuba “social networks are a platform of cultural colonization in which we have to be with our contents, but it is not to be colonized, but to counteract that colonization.” Diaz-Canel  did not fail to denounce the propagandistic and provocative articulation of the enemies of the Revolution, in their eagerness to generate a social explosion and the destabilization of the country, exacerbated by the claim of a group of citizens in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo.

“To describe today what we are subjected to as a nation, I would say that there are two elements that are being combined from the logic of the United States Government: on the one hand, economic asphyxiation, and on the other hand, media intoxication. Economic asphyxiation, with the tightening of the blockade and the inclusion of Cuba on the list of countries that supposedly support terrorism”, of which, he said, “we have not yet been able, no matter how much we have explained, to really explain to the Cuban population what it means to be included on that list, which is the most restrictive of all. And with all that combination, then to propitiate the social outburst.” Fake news and images with artificial intelligence, lies, false videos, constructions, the transmission of supposed direct transmissions from the places where the events were supposed to be happening, which maintained as a line that things were happening, when in those places there was total normality.

In view of what really happened -explained the President-, the leaders talked to the people, and things were clarified and they returned to their places, some stayed longer.

“They were desperate for there to be a social outburst in Cuba yesterday, and they did not succeed. They did not succeed because we worked with unity, we worked as we do politics, taking into account history, taking into account the Law, which is fair, and taking into account the truth, and explaining the truth to the people, and facing with the truth the doubts that the population might have,” said the Cuban President.

Steve Ellner: Venezuelan Presidential Elections: Maduro Plays Hardball but There Are Drawbacks The mainstream media and pro-establishment pundits limit their electoral predictions to two scenarios: Maduro loses, or he engages in electoral fraud. Over the last decade, with the acute polarization of Latin American politics, rightist pro-US leaders have edged out centrist ones to face progressive governments. Now right-wing candidates are more open about their plans for a radical shakeup of the welfare state.

Veteran leftist Eligio Damas said, “Maduro’s leftist critics fail to consider that compared to him, Chávez had it easy, both politically and economically. Maduro is politically astute, otherwise he wouldn’t have lasted in power.” As part of its economic strategy, the Maduro government has opened the nation up to much-needed capital from abroad, particularly in designated “Special Economic Zones” (SEZ’s) in which legal requirements are lifted to attract investments. The PCV and others on the left claim that the government has taken a neoliberal turn. But Maduro and his advisors make clear that the bulk of the investments for the SEZ’s will come not from the U.S. but from China and other BRICS nations.

Venezuelanalysis: Oil Output Shows Steady Increase as PDVSA Reaches Out to Foreign Partners The latest monthly report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed the Caribbean nation’s February output at 820,000 barrels per day (bpd) as measured by secondary sources. The figure represents a 16,000 bpd increase compared to the previous month. It also marks seven straight months of production growth and the highest output since February 2019, when the US Treasury Department imposed an oil embargo. Venezuela’s key industry has been targeted by US coercive measures since 2017. Output plummeted from nearly 2 million bpd in mid-2017 to historic lows below 350,000 in 2020.

Nicaragua Statement to UN on the Gains for Women in the Second Sandinista Revolution In 2023, the World Economic Forum ranked Nicaragua as the first country in Latin America with the highest gender equality and as the number 7 worldwide, while we are ranked fourth in countries with women in Ministerial positions and third with the most women in the National Assembly. For the empowerment of women, the Government of Nicaragua promotes education and credit, programs for business ideas aimed at promoting their economic rights; we have also encouraged the participation of women to the level of 68% of those already enrolled for 2024 in technical education. In 17 years of Good Governance, 548,000 women have been provided with loans through the Zero Usury Program, allowing them to contribute to the family economy, and to strengthen women’s full participation, leadership and protagonism in all spaces. In addition, the rights of women and girls are promoted through a Prevention and Security Plan developed by the 293 Women’s Police Commissariats located in rural neighborhoods and Communities.

Events

Delegations

Nicaragua Delegations Casa Ben Linder 2024 delegations: 

  • June 8-16: Global Health Intensive
  • July 9-21: Solidarity in Action: Celebrating 45 Years of Revolution in Nicaragua
  • November 8-17: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

Cuba Delegations

Please Donate:

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]

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram