Venezuelanalysis

The Venezuelan government has announced a new social program focused on fighting poverty and inequality, which will be supported by China’s International Poverty Reduction Center. On Monday, during his weekly TV program, President Nicolás Maduro said that the “Social Equality and Happiness Mission” was “almost ready” to be launched and its main purpose is to “optimize the fight against inequality, against poverty and to build a more harmonious country.” Although Maduro did not give details, he stressed that the social program will work alongside the Chinese anti-poverty center. The government led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been responsible for lifting over 850 million people out of poverty in the Asian giant since 1980. “In 1981, almost 90 percent of the Chinese population was below the absolute poverty line as measured by the World Bank,” —the Venezuelan leader went on to explain in his national broadcast —“but in 2019 the figure did not reach 1 percent and by the end of 2020 the Chinese government announced poverty eradication in the country.” https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-govt-to-launch-china-backed-anti-poverty-program

In a surprising move, the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and several smaller leftist parties broke with the government of Nicolás Maduro in July 2020 after twenty years of supporting him and his predecessor Hugo Chávez. In effect, the PCV rejected Maduro’s “defensive strategy” consisting of rollbacks designed to attract private capital in the face of adverse circumstances largely caused by US–imposed sanctions. The PCV accused the Maduro government of embracing a neoliberal approach, abandoning the working class, and violating democratic norms. Actually, the PCV was always critical of Chávez and Maduro, but the party’s anti-imperialism had previously overshadowed criticism of the government (Vázquez, 2021). Curiously, the PCV and its allies broke with the Chavista (pro Chávez) government when Washington, supported by several dozen conservative and right-wing governments, was ratcheting up pressure on Venezuela through interventionist policies to achieve regime change. While some analysts on the left attributed Maduro’s concessions to the need to attract capital and influence Washington policy makers, the PCV blamed the rollbacks on “the government’s dominant liberal bourgeoisie tendency” (Ellner, 2021; PCV, 2021b). The analysis of subjective conditions (the consciousness and resoluteness of the revolutionary subject) and objective conditions by Marx and Lenin in their formulation of non-offensive or defensive strategies helps frame the issue of the Maduro government-PCV split.[1] https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/objective-conditions-in-venezuela-maduros-defensive-strategy-and-contradictions-among-the-people/

When it comes to historic, memorable speeches, there is one that will always come to mind: President Hugo Chávez at the UN General Assembly on September 20, 2006. Not only did Chávez call US then-President George W. Bush a war criminal, a tyrant and the devil, he also called out Western hypocrisy when it comes to democracy and peace. He did this in the devil’s house! Chávez likewise stressed the obsolete nature of the United Nations to help solve the problems of the peoples of the world because it has become subservient to the US and its allies. He proposed to transform it with the Global South leading the way. Most importantly, the Venezuelan leader reassured us that there were plenty of reasons to remain optimistic about the future as people continue to rebel and organize for a better tomorrow: A new dawn is on the horizon.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro traveled to Cuba Friday to take part in the G77 plus China Summit where he called for countries of the Global South to strengthen their ties, pursue independent development models, and reject unilateral coercive measures. “We as peoples of the South have to find our own paths, our own political models and not accept dictates from any former power or from any power with colonial ambitions,” declared Maduro during his speech at the International Conference Center in Havana, Cuba. The meeting took place on September 16 and 17. Calling the Cuban capital of Havana the “epicenter of the resistance of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean”, the Venezuelan president praised the host nation and his counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel for their efforts in organizing the G77 plus China Summit. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15850

The Venezuelan oil sector saw its production levels recede in August as a result of operational setbacks in its crude upgraders. The latest report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed Venezuela’s output at an average of 730,000 barrels per day (bpd) last month, down from 772,000 in July, according to secondary sources. In contrast, the figures reported directly by state oil company PDVSA stood at 820,000 bpd, up from 810,000 the previous month. OPEC data often gets updated in subsequent publications. According to Reuters, several crude upgraders had maintenance issues or diluent shortages that forced them offline for extended periods, affecting output levels. Located in the Orinoco Oil Belt in eastern Venezuela, crude upgraders process extra heavy oil into exportable grades. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15849

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has wrapped up a six-day visit to China with a meeting with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to strengthen political and economic ties. In a joint statement on Wednesday, the two leaders announced they would upgrade their countries’ relations to an “all-weather strategic partnership.” This is a high category reserved by the Chinese government for important diplomatic partners. Venezuela is the first Latin American country to reach this level. The new partnership will “expand practical binational cooperation in various fields and strengthen collaboration in international affairs so as to improve the welfare of their peoples and jointly promote the construction of a new world,” read the statement. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15848

Billions in frozen Venezuelan assets destined for a social fund to be invested in education, healthcare and infrastructure repairs are expected to be released soon, El País reported Friday. In November the Nicolás Maduro government and the hardline opposition agreed to a US$ 3 billion fund, to be drawn from Venezuelan assets abroad, as part of negotiations held in Mexico and mediated by Norway. A statement released at the time of the agreement said the money, to be administered by the United Nations (UN), would primarily be used to acquire medical equipment as well as vaccines, medicines, and other supplies; strengthen the electric system; repair school infrastructure; and expand food programs. However, the resources were not released due to administrative barriers imposed by the United States. US President Joe Biden has largely kept in place a strict sanctions program on Venezuela designed to secure regime change in the country. Washington maintains that its sanctions are aimed at “restoring democracy” in the Caribbean country. Meanwhile, Caracas considers these frozen assets to have been illegally seized by the US and its allies. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15846

About time... Spain's El País reports that the $3 billion in frozen Vzlan assets will soon be released. This was agreed to between the Venezuelan govt and opposition last November! But this thread is to point out the dishonest b.s. from the Spanish establishment's mouthpiece 🧵 https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1701488452951212234

A member of Venezuela’s ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV) has urged President Nicolás Maduro to crack down on allegedly corrupt scrap metal dealings. Gastón Guisandes, a veteran journalist from Zulia state and PSUV activist, penned an open letter to Maduro on Thursday expressing “concern and condemnation” over acts of corruption involving former airforce pilot Bismark Carretero and the Pegasus company in the scrap business. “As a concerned citizen, I ask myself how these acts of corruption might have taken place without government knowledge or actions,” he wrote. Guisandes pointed to Carretero’s “ostentatious lifestyle” as a sign of ill-acquired wealth. “I urge you to launch an exhaustive investigation based on the publicly available information,” he went on to state,” while demanding that high-government officials “who have acted with impunity” be exposed. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15845

Venezuela is a beautiful and vibrant country in more ways than one. A rich and complex history has left its mark on Venezuelan culture, and in one area in particular: music. Over the centuries, Venezuelans have blended colonial traits and native elements, African heritage and migrant traditions, the sacred and profane, to sing about their dreams and struggles.

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro arrived in China on Friday for a several-day visit to strengthen economic and political ties amidst the nations’ efforts to advance multipolarity. “[We are] ready for what will be a historic visit for the strengthening of cooperation ties and the construction of a new world geopolitics,” Maduro wrote on social media when he landed in the city of Shenzhen, the first stop in his trip between September 8-14. The Chinese government put together an elaborate welcoming ceremony for the Venezuelan delegation in Shenzhen Talents Park. This included a light show with hundreds of drones forming an animated message that read: “May the friendship between China and Venezuela be eternal.” President Maduro thanked China for the presentation as well as for supporting Venezuela in the struggle to recover the economy from the “onslaught” of Washington’s sanctions against the country. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15843